California Trip: Thursday and Friday

These were the days of the trip where it was just me with my parents, while the kids were up in Orange County. On Thursday, we had a busy day! Mom and Dad took me (early) birthday shopping at the mall. I picked out a really cool parka (on sale for $30! Buying winter clothing in California is awesome!). I also got a shirt and some shoes. After that, we went out to lunch at the Yard House (which, incidentally, no longer serves yard-sized beers. Interesting!). Then we went to go to the movies, but we had some time to kill... so we walked around the shopping center where the theater was located, and went inside of Hobby Lobby. Now, I had never been in one before. And politics aside... HOLY COW THAT PLACE IS AWESOME! I could see blowing an entire paycheck in there! It seemed to go for miles, with every sort of thing I've ever wanted or needed all in one place. Amazing. Sadly, the nearest one to us here is 36 miles away (I checked!). All I bought was a $2 heart-shaped wire wreath frame. But really, there was SO much. Especially in terms of wall decor. Incredible!

Eventually, though, it was time for the movie. So we went to watch "Anchorman 2," which my mom grudgingly agreed to. We got some good laughs out of it!

Meanwhile, in Orange County... I don't know precise details about what the kids did, but Yiayia did text me several pictures like this in the afternoon. They went to Theia's apartment and went swimming in the hot tub (the pool was too cold). It's safe to assume that they were having a great time!

------------------------------------- Friday morning was more of the same. We took care of some banking things that could only be done with me present. We went for a long walk up to the radio tower at the edge of the neighborhood. We had an awesome view!

Later, we went out to lunch at a really excellent Mexican restaurant. Ohhhh, Mexican food! I do love living in Central Massachusetts, but Mexican food here (the REAL stuff) is nonexistent. sigh. This was so good! And we (Dad and I) had margaritas. We celebrated National Margarita Day one day early!

Back at the ranch, Mom sewed a cape to go with Maya's super awesome birthday present that I had picked up on one of our shopping trips (an Elsa dress from the movie "Frozen." Don't tell her!!!! She is going to flip!!). And I packed for the next segment of our trip, where we were headed up to my brother's house for most of the weekend. Dad picked up "The Heat" from RedBox, and we had a lovely time!

Meanwhile in Orange County (again! hehe!)... I don't know the details. But somewhere during their visit, the kids got to see Niko's godparents, which I was very thankful for! They also went to the movies-- Maya saw "Frozen" (again!) with Theia, while Niko went to see "The Lego Movie" with Yiayia and Papou. They also went to the beach and the park. I hope Yiayia doesn't mind that I'm sharing some of her pictures, but they were adorable!

California Trip: Wednesday

Wednesday morning, the kids actually slept in a little bit. Niko was up at 6, and Maya got up around 6:30. Not too shabby, given the time change and all! Thankfully, my dad gets up early, so he kept them company until I came out (also around 6:30... I never did fully adjust to the time change on this trip!).

After breakfast, we all walked down the road to the neighborhood park. The weather was lovely! As our swing set is currently buried in the snow, the kids were were excited to swing and climb and slide to their hearts' content! Niko demonstrated his swinging mastery, and played some baseball with Grandpa on the grass. Another little boy at the park approached Maya and offered her a plastic crystal "jewel," which she silently accepted by opening up her pocket and nodding her head. Silly kids!

Back at the house, we did laundry and got the kids packed to go spend a few days with Yiayia and Papou. Mom and I went to get In-N-Out for lunch. Maya only recently discovered her love for cheeseburgers, and I wanted her to have one! She approved! (Niko had a hot dog)

Shortly after that, Yiayia arrived to pick the kids up and take them back to her house for a few days! She even brought them their favorite vanilla bean scones from Starbucks. And, just like that, I was kid-free. It was weird! We hung out at the house. I edited pictures. We drank wine. I repeat: weird. I am so used to having my kids with me 24/7. I almost didn't know what to do with myself!!

California Trip: Tuesday

Tuesday morning dawned bright and early. Despite going to bed well after midnight, both kids were up and ready to go at a quarter to six. Totally typical behavior for them, with the time change and all, but it was sort of painful for me! However, since we were all up and ready to go so early, we figured we might as well go to Knott's Berry Farm. We had toyed with the idea, but wanted to wait and see how the kids were feeling before committing to the plan. And they seemed up to it! So off we went. We left so early that we actually arrived before the park opened, and had to kill time by getting gas. I guess that's a perk to having children who wake up so darn early????

Anyway, we had a great time! The kids, especially Maya, were completely loopy because of their late night and early morning. But they had fun! I'd considered taking them to Disneyland, but it is SO expensive, and I wasn't sure how they would react (Niko is TERRIFIED of people in costume. Seriously.). Knott's was MUCH cheaper, and there were NO LINES. The place was practically empty! It was awesome!

We hung out mostly in the Camp Snoopy area, though my dad and I managed to squeeze in one "real" roller coaster. We also took Maya on the log ride later on, because she was begging to go on it. We tried to convince Niko to join us, and it's a good thing he refused-- he would have been freaked out by all the animatronic lumberjacks/animals and all the loud noises. Seriously, he would NOT have been a fan. At all. Here's a link to a YouTube video someone made of the ride. Yeah. He would've tried to climb out of the log!!

Without further ado... pictures!! I'd say they are pretty self-explanatory!

Mid-afternoon, the kids were just wiped. So we headed back to the house, and worked to keep them awake until their real bedtime (when they went to sleep immediately! they were SO tired!). I was pretty tired, too. I headed to bed early, planning to read for a bit before falling asleep... only to discover that my Kindle was gone. WAAAAH!!!! As soon as I discovered it was missing, I knew I had left it on the plane. And I was very, very sad. I filled out a "Left On Board" form on the United website, but it's been a week already... I think it's gone. It was a good old Kindle Keyboard, and I certainly got a lot of use out of it. I've ordered its replacement, which should be here this week. RIP, friend. (seriously... I was SO SAD. I love my Kindle!)

Going to California

So, the kids and I thawed out this past week... in California! Both kids had the week off from school, and I thought it would be a perfect time to escape the tundra for some warmer weather and family time in good old Southern California. We woke up at 2:30AM last Monday morning and headed to the Providence airport for our flight-- to San Diego via Washington DC. The kids were so excited, even with the early wake-up call!

Gus dropped us off at the curb, and we were all set to go! Until, that is, I learned that the flight had been canceled. My eyes filled with tears as the guy behind the counter told me he could re-book us on a flight for Wednesday, losing over two days of our already-short vacation. No. Way. Not happening. I told him to keep looking. Finally, after suggesting other equally-ludicrous things (like driving nearly 4 hours to the Newark airport right that minute!), he was able to find seats for us on a direct flight from Boston to Los Angeles, leaving later that day.

Luckily, I had called Gus as soon as I'd heard the bad news, and he was parked near the airport, waiting for me to call him back. He circled back quickly, and we headed back home. I cried (this will be a theme of the day-- just wait!). I was so massively disappointed. In the end, we only lost about half a day, but I wanted to maximize our time with our families! And I was so nervous that the flight later that day would be canceled, too. And it was just so early in the morning, and we were all tired. We drove back home and went back to sleep for a few more hours! Or rather, most of us did. Niko announced that he was Not Tired, and I told him to entertain himself while we slept. And he did!

I wish I could say that the evening flight went off without a hitch, but it didn't. Because we were last-minute additions to the flight, our seats were not together. The guy I'd spoken to that morning said it was not an issue, and that they wouldn't let the kids be separated from me. I just needed to talk to someone at the gate before boarding. So, I did just that. I was at the desk when it opened, and the man working there seemed understanding. But the flight was full, and he was having a very tough time getting a third seat for us. He kept having to call people up to the desk and ask them if they'd be willing to switch. That's how he got the first two seats together. Then I heard him call up this older man, and ask him if he'd be willing to move. He said, and I quote, "Nope, I'm good!" and walked off to board the plan. And... that was that. Most people were already on the plane, and the guy told me that he'd gotten me two seats, but that I'd have to negotiate the third one for myself once we got on board. GREAT. Exactly what I wanted to do!

So the kids and I walk onto the plane, and locate the two seats that were together. An aisle and a middle seat. And you can guess who was sitting in the window seat... I already knew he'd said no to the workers so rudely, but I had to ask if he'd be willing to move. It would have been so easy. Nope. He informed me that he'd "paid good money" for that seat, and that he planned to sit there. (Mind you, I had ALSO paid for three seats together, including a window, but that was on the flight-that-didn't-happen.) Anyway, he was just awful. I couldn't help it-- I started to cry. Big, ugly cry! It had been a long day, and I couldn't hold it in. And shortly after that, the two other passengers seated near my single seat volunteered to go sit with the jerk himself, allowing me to be with my babies. Which, of course, caused me to cry even more. I couldn't stop! The dam had burst, and all the stress of the day just came pouring out. I was woefully unprepared in the tissue department!

Anyway... the rest of the trip was fine. The kids got a few hours of sleep, and our bags arrived without issue at LAX. By the time we got to my parents' house, it was midnight Pacific time-- so 3am for us! It had been a physically and emotionally draining day.

The rest of the trip was much better, and I will post about it over the next few days. Prepare for tons of pictures! It's just too much for one post. :)

Happy Blogiversary to Me! :)

I've got babies on the brain lately. I just found out a very good old friend is pregnant, and it made me think of way back when I first learned I was pregnant with Niko after months and months of trying. And it was on February 12th, 2007 that I finally saw a second line on a pregnancy test. I remember it so vividly. It was super early in the morning, and I forced myself to turn off the light and rest while I waited for the "results." Gus was in the shower, and I didn't tell him until after work that day. I did, however, tell the cat and the bird! haha!

Anyway... I wrote my very first blog post the next day, on February 13th. Seven years ago today! I meant to blog to just keep a record of my pregnancy, but then it was a great way to share baby pictures... and then I was pregnant again... and I've never gotten to a point where I've felt like I should stop. So, I won't. Not yet, anyway. I've definitely slowed down, as the kids (and life) have sped up. But I still like blogging about my babies, who really aren't babies anymore. sigh...

And yes, this baby factory is most definitely CLOSED! I will gladly enjoy other peoples' babies for short periods, while I enjoy the independence and freedom that have come with having slightly older kids. It is so nice having kids who can climb into/out of the car on their own, and one who can even buckle himself in. They can wipe their own noses and rear ends, dress themselves, brush their own teeth, entertain themselves in the morning without waking us up, and one can even take showers all by himself. It's taken a long time to get to this point, but I plan to relish it!! Times have certainly changed since seven years ago!

And, since I am feeling nostalgic... How about some pictures? Followed by a recent one. Happy Valentine's Day (tomorrow)!

Evolution of a Kitchen

Yesterday was the moment I'd been waiting for preeeeetty much ever since we bought the house. When we bought this place, we could both see the potential in it. This house is old and full of character, and could one day be something truly special. But it was also old. And full of the BAD kind of character, too. Take the kitchen. It was... lovely.

I actually took those pictures the very first time we saw the house. The cabinets were in good shape, but they sort of clashed with the floor. And the walls. And then there were the counters... dated laminate that was a)ugly, and b) in terrible condition. But I don't know... Gus and I could see what it would become, with some time, money, and elbow grease. We were in love with the house and what it could be!

The first change came when I painted the walls. That happened fairly early on-- paint is cheap, and it was cold outside! I spent a lot of our first winter here painting walls. Two years later, I am still not done. It never ends!

Next, we replaced our dishwasher. We knew we wanted to get rid of all the white appliances and replace them with stainless, but the dishwasher started leaking and pushed us into action. And really, seeing that nice new appliance motivated us to buy others. Soon we had purchased a new refrigerator, freestanding range, and hood. But then these lovely appliances made the cabinets looks so much worse! I had sworn that I would never, ever paint kitchen cabinets again... but then I did. I knew what I was doing this time, though, and did a much better job. But then, of course, we needed cabinet hardware. Have you ever read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..."? Yeah. The same concept applies to home improvement projects. It never ends, really. Still, at that point, things were looking a lot better!

However, no matter what we did, the counters were still ugly. It was nice, in a way... I didn't worry about wrecking them, that's for sure! They were cut, burnt, and just generally awful. I let the kids color/paint/make messes on them with reckless abandon (maybe because I subconsciously hoped they would completely destroy them and I would get new ones?? haha). But the truth is, they were reeeeally ugly. And I spend a lot of time in the kitchen-- it is truly the hub of our house (literally and figuratively). And every day, I thought, "Wow, these are ugly. One day..."

Then, a few weeks ago, we got our check back from our childcare flex-spending account (preschool). That's the money we always forget about until it's here. And it was a nice sum! Nice enough that I suggested going to look at new counters, and Gus agreed. We had actually thought we might get new (much nicer) laminate counters. I am not a snob... I just wanted them to look nice, but didn't really care what they were made of. As it turned out, the counters we wanted ended up being very comparable in price to granite. And, well, granite trumps laminate pretty much every day of the week. And so we went for it!!!

The installers came yesterday. I am in love. Really, it is just so amazing!!

Close-up of the sink (and a better pic of the granite... it's called San Gabriel Black):

One of the best parts? We had them extend the kitchen island on two sides, so now we have seating for four people (possibly five). I love the bigger work area, but also love that we can all sit there together and eat breakfast!

Anyway, we are so, so happy with how our kitchen is turning out. Two years in, and it's looking great! And today, I just ordered a bunch of Bianco Carrara marble tiles for the backsplash. It should look something like this, which will be AWESOME!

Anyway, that's the biggest news around here. Snowstorm Nika brought us all a much-needed snow day today, and we never changed out of our pajamas! Life is good! :)

Three Eggs a Day!

That's where we're at! WOOHOO! All three of the older chickens are officially laying eggs now! Crispy beat them by a few weeks, but then Hanky and Leia started within a day or so of each other. Hanky lays pretty brown eggs, and Leia's are green just like her sister's (of the four chickens, only Leia and Crispy are true biological sisters, hatched at the same time from the same parents). So, so exciting!! Barbie is still too young to lay, but she will lay brown eggs like Hanky's, restoring balance to the force!

Anyway, the chickens have been taking turns in the nesting boxes, squawking loudly and letting us know when they are working on an egg (poor chickens!). It is such fun to open the nesting box to find an egg, or two, or three just sitting there! Even Crispy has finally started making use of the nesting box, as opposed to jumping the fence and looking for her cardboard box. Which I now realize I never shared. She was laying her eggs in an Amazon box on our side porch, haha!!

As of today, though, Crispy can no longer jump the fence, even if she wants to. Because Gus spent most of the morning working on the fencing out there, and it is now next to impossible for them to escape. Sorry, chickens!

Anyway, we are now getting three eggs a day from our girls, and they are awesome! I even found this cute basket for them at HomeGoods yesterday! I love being able to see them, and fresh eggs do NOT have to be refrigerated (because they are not "powerwashed," like commercial eggs... I rub them clean with a dry cloth when we first gather them, then wash with soap and water before using them). Don't they look cool?

Meanwhile... our newly-laying chickens seemed to have also undergone a collective personality change. They are more mellow. Perhaps you would be, too, if you birthed a giant egg every day! They don't really pick on Barbie anymore, which is HUGE progress! Poor Barbie had been spending the nights in a cage in our garage, because we were afraid that the others (especially Leia) would hurt her/kick her out of the coop in arctic temperatures. She spent many of her days NEXT to the other chickens, but separated from them by chicken wire for her own protection. The past few days, she's been in there with them all day without issue. And last night, she slept with them in the coop. HALLELUJAH! It was a success! She is still definitely the lowest chicken in the pecking order, but it's great that they are finally getting along. And really, they have all become much more friendly/less skittish, running over to us the minute we go outside. I never in a million years thought I would say this, but I really enjoy the chickens. As long as they stay off of the deck!!!!!

In other news... we bought a gorgeous new faucet today, to go with our new counters and sink which are being installed on Tuesday. Our new entertainment center arrived on Thursday, and part of a table came today (with more furniture scheduled to arrive on Monday). Busy busy!!

It's been a while...

I'm about to go to bed, but I feel compelled to update this blog, albeit briefly! Since we last spoke...

• We went to the store with the plan to buy new laminate countertops for the kitchen, and we left with granite! Well, it's not in yet, but it will be soon!
• I cashed in my credit card points to buy three round-trip tickets to California for the kids' February break. They are BEYOND excited. Me, too! Honestly, February is THE coldest and snowiest month in Massachusetts. It will be nice to defrost for a week!
• Several days of bitterly cold temperatures caused the hot water line in our kitchen sink to freeze (which also feeds the dishwasher and the sink/tub in the kids' bathroom). As if that wasn't bad enough, three of our four heating zones froze up-- which shouldn't have happened, since they have antifreeze in them! Our plumber (who we last saw almost exactly one year ago...) came out and put more antifreeze in. He also sawed a nice hole in the back of our kitchen sink cabinet so that I could heat up the pipes more efficiently. Everything is thawed now! And no broken pipes-- thank goodness!!
• We went to Bingo Night at Niko's school, where I volunteered at the food table the entire time and hardly saw my family. BUT they had fun, and got as much food as they wanted. :) Actually, Niko had fun up until the very end, at which point he became bitter that he hadn't won anything. But he handled it alright.
• We decided to list our entertainment center for sale, thinking it would take a really long time to sell it. It is gigantic! And we ultimately want to put windows into that wall so that we can look at the back yard. Instead, I got one person who expressed interest. He and his family came on Saturday, paid the full price in cash, and hired movers to come and pick it up today. It's gone! In less than a week! So we have some new furniture headed our way. In the meantime, I am using our coffee table as a TV stand, and I need to paint the wall where the entertainment center used to be. Because I painted it AFTER we moved in and the furniture was in place. It looks really funny now, haha!
• Finally, we went to our first AHL hockey game! It was a fundraiser for Niko's school. And it was fun! I've never been to a real hockey game before. I don't know why I was surprised by all the fighting, but I was. Still, it was entertaining. And it was free bobble-head night, so the kids were super excited to get PRESENTS as soon as we walked in, haha! Niko is still disappointed that his team lost, though. Oh, well.

And that's been our life in a nutshell! It was actually almost 40 degrees today, which felt like summer in comparison to what we've had! We're in the thick of winter, and are just hunkering down. I've already planned one summer camping trip, and am fantasizing about setting up my hammock on the deck, once the deck is actually visible again... :)

Goodbye, Deck... Hello, Balcony!

I'm so happy! Gus needed to get cracking on better Chicken Containment this weekend, which meant putting up more permanent fencing. Our coop has an enclosed run attached to it but, as the chickens have grown, we have realized that it's just too small for them to stay in all day. The girls need more space! So Gus put up some very temporary chicken wire to cordon off a bigger area for them. But, as we know, Crispy can launch herself over said fencing and lay eggs on the woodpile. And that just isn't safe for her, especially since there are hungry hawks out there! So the new plan is to completely enclose the area under our second-story deck with chicken wire, and add a gate on one end for access.

HOWEVER... the stairs up to the deck got in the way. And they were completely unstable (and unsafe). And they obstructed our view from the dining room. So, obviously, they had to go! The first thing Gus did was remove a section of the railing and install it in the opening up at the top. We don't need a deck with a dangerous opening! So he closed that off, then went around with the reciprocating saw and cut all the connecting points. Then he tied it to the truck and pulled! I was a little nervous that the entire deck would come crashing down, but it didn't. Whew! Gus then chopped up the stairs into smaller pieces and loaded them into the truck. Success! And look at what a difference it made in the view from the dining room!

Anyway, it went well, and he did it all in the snow! We got about 4 inches today! Thankfully, it really wasn't that cold. Just snowy. Soon the chickens will be fully contained in their new, more spacious run! Woohoo!

P.S. Because they were locked up for a while this morning, Crispy laid her egg in the nesting box. Yay! Progress!

Big Chicken News!

It's been a while since I posted, so I need to back up a bit!

Late last week, the chickens were acting weird. They were being vocal to the point where I actually went outside to see if everyone was okay. Hanky was wandering around, squawking loudly. I noticed that Crispy was sitting in the nesting box, pulling straw and shavings in towards her. Naturally, I got excited! Was she laying an egg??? I told Gus about it, but I waited for him to come home so he could check. And nope... no eggs. Bummer! But the chickens were all behaving strangely, so Egg Watch 2014 was underway!

Then, this past weekend, Gus was out cleaning the coop when he discovered a rubber egg! A rubber egg is an egg that basically only has a membrane, no shell, and is fairly common when chickens lay their very first eggs. This one had gotten stepped on and destroyed, which is why we didn't see it at first. But then, we didn't know who had laid it, or when. My first guess was Crispy, but Gus was sure that it had to be Hanky. Hanky's quite a bit older, so would be the logical choice... but my gut told me it was Crispy, since she'd been acting so strangely. Anyway, we knew someone had started laying! And while it's common for chickens to NOT lay an egg every day during the winter months, we were checking the nesting box every day. And... nothing appeared. Sadness.

Yesterday, Crispy kept getting out. She is our escape artist-- she launches herself over our temporary fencing (which we will hopefully prevent from happening after we work on it this weekend). I kept going out and putting her back in with the others. But one time, she ran away from me and zipped over to where we stack the wood for our fire pit. She hopped up on top, and that was where I cornered her. When I picked her up, I suddenly realized that there were TWO GREEN EGGS sitting on top of that wood pile! They were the prettiest mint green-- at first, I thought they were fake, or were toys or something. It didn't register that they were CRISPY'S EGGS! But then it clicked, and I yelled for the kids to come and see. We were so excited! Two fantastic eggs!!!

So then I got Niko on the bus for school, and Maya and I went to run some errands. When we came back, Crispy was out AGAIN. I went out to put her away, and noticed a THIRD EGG! I think the other eggs had been from previous days. And the poor chicken had been trying to lay her egg all morning, but I kept thwarting her efforts (they generally lay in the same place every time... so she apparently likes the wood pile). Anyway, look! Three eggs! And that first one on the left most likely has a double-yolk-- also common in young layers.

The good news is that fresh eggs can be kept unrefrigerated for at least a week without any issues. The eggs you get at the supermarket are "power-washed," which strips them of their natural protective coating-- which is why they need to be kept in the refrigerator. So even though the eggs were a few days old, they are still totally fine to eat! Woohoo!

In other chicken news... We got a small package from my mom in the mail yesterday. A few weeks back, Gus had showed me a picture of a chicken wearing a winter hat, and we both thought it was hilarious. I told my mom about it, and she decided to make a chicken hat and send it to him as a surprise. So I knew what was in the envelope, but Gus and the kids didn't. We all had a good laugh when he opened it after work yesterday! And the hat was a little small, so we knew Barbie (our youngest chicken) would be the perfect model! Look-- it's a chicken wearing a hat!!! hahahahaha!!!

For the record, Barbie was NOT impressed. But I got the picture, and we all laughed hysterically. It was an excellent time!

Sadly, our fun day was capped off with a little boy throwing up in the middle of the night... Poor thing seems to have caught the stomach bug that is apparently going around his school. So we are all staying home today, wearing our pajamas and watching "Star Wars." He hasn't thrown up since very early this morning, and is just woozy and tired today. Fingers crossed that he's back to 100% soon, and that the rest of us are spared!

Mother Nature's Mood Swings...

I haven't posted in a little while, but the big story around here (and most of the country) has been the weather! On New Year's Day, in the afternoon, winter storm Hercules blew in and it snowed pretty steadily all the way through Friday. Schools were closed, which meant that we got an extra few days of winter break. And when it was all said and done, we ended up with only about eight inches of snow. But it was bitterly cold, even getting down to -15 degrees overnight on Thursday. BRRRR!!!!! Saturday dawned sunny and clear, though, so as soon as it got somewhat warm enough (around 17 degrees), we went out to play for a bit...

We didn't stay for too long, though, because anything below 20 degrees is what I consider to be TOO cold... and even though we had our warm gear on and the kids weren't complaining, their little cheeks and noses were bright pink! It was time to defrost.

On Sunday, we actually warmed up to right around freezing. And it felt wonderful, haha! It's amazing how one's perspective can change. We played outside for hours!! The sledding was great, but the building was very difficult. The snow just wasn't sticky enough. I made a little "fort," but it took forever!

Then, overnight, the temperature just kept climbing and climbing... Monday morning, it was pouring rain and over 50 degrees!! Say what?!? By the time I took Maya to preschool at 9am, most of the snow was just gone. Poof! Our yard, which had been buried under 8 inches of snow, was now just green grass again. Weird.

Even weirder was when, around 3pm, the temperatures plummeted twenty degrees and the rain turned to wet, heavy snow. And then stopped abruptly, then the temperature dropped even more. Yesterday, we never got above 8 degrees. Today, it was noon before we made it to 10 degrees, and we peaked at about 14. In other words, it's been COLD!!!! But the forecast says it's all about to change, with several days of above-freezing temperatures (they're calling it an "extended thaw" on the news). But at this point, who knows?!?!? The weather here is crazy and constantly changing. It definitely keeps us on our toes!

In the middle of all this craziness... We had karate class last night. And despite a really long, exhausting day for Niko, he did great and earned his first yellow stripe! He has to earn three stripes before he can take his belt test, so this just means he is making good progress. But he went from being tired and grumpy to being beside himself with happiness. He was so proud! Love that kid!

In other news... We had dance class today, and got to see the costumes they've picked out for the girls' big recital in June! They will all be wearing this dress, in yellow, and performing to "Spoonful of Sugar" (ballet) and "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" (tap). Yup. Pretty sure it's going to be the cutest thing EVER! Is it June yet???

Little Reader

I am just so proud of our little guy. For over a year now, he's been able to sound out words and phrases. I knew he could read, but pages with too much print were overwhelming for him, and he wouldn't try. But ever since starting kindergarten, he's been very eager to read, and his confidence in his own abilities has soared! As a result of this (and his constant talking about sight words and the songs they learn in class), Maya has also started sounding out words, attempting to spell things on her own, and pointing out sight words when she sees them. AMAZING! They are both so motivated right now. So when I (half-jokingly?) told Niko to go read a bedtime story to his sister, they were both thrilled! They ran off to the bookcase to choose a book, and chose "Danny and the Dinosaur" (the "I Can Read" version, which ends up being 64 pages long). I left them on their own for a while before heading upstairs. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he would actually be reading, or if the two of them would be giggling and joking around. But nope! He read the entire thing, and Maya listened to it all. She even helped him figure out some of the harder words (I think based on context, not because she could necessarily read them). They'd talk about the pictures and everything as they went. I recorded just a few seconds of his reading before I snuggled on the bed next to them to listen to the rest of the book... So proud of him!!! And his sister. I can't believe what big kids I have. And such sweet ones, at that! :)

(Oh, and Maya is saying "That's not a crosswalk!" because the dinosaur's long tail is resting across the road in that picture, and people are walking on it)

Happy New Year!

What a great night we had! I had picked up a few party supplies at the store (hats, noisemakers, and the like), and was fully expecting the kids to go to bed well before midnight. They surprised us, though, and made it just long enough to see the ball drop. I was shocked! Maya did take a little snooze around 10pm, and they were both ready to climb in bed as soon as the clock struck midnight, but they DID it! I was proud of them-- they really wanted to do it, and they made it happen! There is a first time for everything!

We started the evening with a dinner of various appetizers, followed by general merriment...

After dinner, we settled down and watched "The Wizard of Oz." The kids then wanted to watch another movie, but I knew that they would fall asleep (and the didn't want to do that!). So Niko and I played some video games together on the Wii, while Maya played on the Kindle Fire and snuggled with Charlie, who loves Maya's green froggy blanket.

Shortly before 11, Maya took a little nap while snuggled up in my lap. She woke up, determined to see midnight. I took the kids out to the back deck to launch off some party poppers (they were spring-loaded-- the "safe" kind). They had the hardest time getting them to go, and I had to help. And it was really super dark (we need a new light for out there). So it was kind of anti-climactic, but it did serve its purpose of waking the kiddos up!

We went back inside, brushed teeth, and stood by the fire for a bit. Before we knew it, it was almost time! We watched the last 15 minutes or so of the show in Times Square. Both kids were very excited to recognize it, having been there only a few weeks ago. Niko zeroed in on the giant Skylanders sign outside of Toys R Us. Of course! But we counted down, shouted "Happy New Year!" blew our party blowers, and went to bed. They were out cold within minutes!

This morning, both kids slept in until around 8:30. That is AMAZING, and never, ever happens! It was fantastic! Once we were up and moving, it was time to go outside for the first time in 2014, and smash a pomegranate on the front door (Greek tradition for good luck). We were going to do it at midnight, but the kids just didn't have it in them. So we did it this morning. They had trouble, and I ended up doing the actual smashing. We gave the seeds to the chickens as a very special treat, and they LOVED them! Anyway, once we smashed the pomegranate, we made sure to step inside the house with our right feet first-- to "start the year off on the right foot," so to speak!

And then it was time for the vasilopita, another Greek tradition! I put candles on it this year, just for fun!

Then Gus went through the very specific cutting routine, marking off slices and indicating who each slice is for... The first one is always for Christ, then the Virgin Mother... then there was a slide for Gus, me, Niko, Maya, all our pets, our extended family, the house, Gus' job, and the kids' schooling. There was a gold coin hidden inside the cake. Whoever "owned" the slice with the coin inside would have extra good luck in the new year. For example, if if the coin was in the "Job" slice, it might mean a promotion or a raise or something. It's all in good fun. Anyway, the very first slice I pulled out was Maya's. And as I set it on her plate, the coin literally fell out of it. The End. haha! Niko was upset:

Maya, however, was thrilled!

She is the sweetest kid, though. She saw how bummed Niko was, and let him keep the coin in his piggy bank. We all know who really got it, but she wanted him to be happy. Repeat after me: awwwww!!!

Anyway... HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope 2014 is a fabulous year for everyone! Maya will start kindergarten this year-- commence freak out!!