Spring!

 I am a much better parent when the weather is warm.  There. I said it.  I just am.  Being trapped inside our house or other buildings feels too much like prison - especially for the kids.  They get grumpy, impatient, bored, and start looking longingly through windows at the promise of freedom and escape.  Plus, sunshine and warmth trump everything.  I would much rather sweat than shiver.  And I think my kids inherited my genes when it comes to that.  So even though we enjoy Christmas and snow and Lucy's birthday (all the fun things that happen during winter), we are always anxiously awaiting that glorious moment when the grass turns green, the frost leaves town, and we can finally go OUTSIDE.

 This past few weekends, we got that chance.  It has been a little touch and go with the warmth but i think (fingers crossed) that the last frost has passed us.  On Saturday, I think we spent 75% of the day outside.  And everyone had a better day in my opinion :)  And I stretched it as much as possible.  At one point I even dragged out their squishy sand and let them play with it for a solid 45 minutes on the deck (yes I know that there is a real sandbox just 30 ft away from our deck but this gets that box out of my house and puts a christmas present to good use.

 Plus they even volunteered to sweep the deck off afterwards which turned into chasing each other around the yard with brooms for 15 mins.  Not sure what you can call this game but I like to think they are figuring out how to play Quidditch.

Andy mowed the grass for the first time of the season and immediately put Jack to work on laying down some grass seed.  It's about time this kid started earning his keep.

Being pregnant, I miss alcohol.  I do.  I miss having a cold beer in my hand when the weather turns warm.  So, to satisfy this strange tactile desire, Andy bought me some O'Doul's to drink during these warm-ish weekends.  Its...not very good.  At all.  But hey it will do.  It has a nice placebo effect in terms of bringing on the air of relaxation.  Please note I have a tray of seedlings growing on the table.  I'm hoping to get some nice peppers and tomatoes from this tray in a few months.  Fingers crossed.

 Speaking of plants, I informed Andy a couple weeks ago that I'd like a new flower bed in the backyard.  Because he is awesome he said yes and didn't ask for any further justification for this new project.  So I went out and dug a trench where I wanted the border to be, he bought the stones, weed-whacked the entire area to nothing, dug out an ugly bush that I hated, and bought 30 bags of dirt to fill this bed.

 On Good Friday Jack, Lucy, and I laid down the stone and the next day Jack helped Andy put the dirt in the bed.

 Jack was given an additional mission to find some worms in the backyard to add to the new bed.  I love how Lucy is just observing in this picture-as if this is totally natural and makes sense.

 Lucy also made a nice contribution to the new bed by planting her own flowers (dandelions) in the bed for me.  Sorry Goose, these flowers just won't do.

 the finished product! I'm so excited for this and have already planted some phlox and false indigo in the bed.  Next weekend, if the rains hold off, I'm going to go crazy.  I can't wait :)  Thank you Spring for finally showing up - we all needed you!