Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Spring, or something like it

I've had a post about spring on my "to blog" list for quite a while now.  Just waiting for the right moment.  You know, when the sun shines and the weather is above 50 for more than a single afternoon.  Instead we woke up to this yesterday.



Literally woke up to it.  Because Jon came into the room while I was still sleeping and said "It's snowing, there's like 3 inches out there and it's still coming down!" And I responded all groggily "What? No way." And that's how our morning started. No "Happy Anniversary Honey!" or "Gosh these 7 years have been like heaven on earth!" Not even a "Can you imagine if we had woke up to this on our wedding day 7 years ago?"  Because, well we both kinda forgot.  Until my mother-in-law texted me later in the morning with well wishes.  I quickly glanced at my phone and slapped my forehead.  Doh!  Later I called Jon at work and yelled "Happy Anniversary!" There was a long pause, I could hear him moving papers and then a "Ohhh yeah..." He totally looked at his calendar too.

So yeah, happy 7 years to us!!  Haha, lest you think we are totally daft and out of love, we do have a super-special-sumptin'-sumptin' planned for later this week.  And neither of us COMPLETELY forgot the big day, we just didn't realize it was Monday, or something like that. We'll more than make up for it this coming week, I promise!


It took 20 minutes to get him dressed. He stayed outside for a whopping 10.

Jack immediately requested hot cocoa when he came back in the house.

Can you tell he added the whipped cream unsupervised?
Anyway, I love winter, I really do.  I love those long, dark nights at home.  I love taking it easy for a few months and catching up on little projects. Winter is great. But it has a time and place.  And that was so last month.  It's the end of March now and the kiddos and I are more than ready to pack up the sweaters and gloves and spend more hours outdoors. Spring has been such a tease lately.  But we'll chase down any semi-warm day we can get.  We're anxious to get out of the house and I'd much prefer our "getting out" to take place in the backyard rather than in the form of trips to Target, the library, consignment store or any other place in which it's difficult to maneuver 3 small children.  They really know how to take all the fun out of "getting out of the house."

These two really love to be outside! 
It was a little too cold for me this day, so apparently Jude decided to move the sandbox closer to mom in the house...

Don't let the spring jacket fool you, it's the only coat we can get him to wear. He calls it his "princess coat" and I have no idea why!
The backyard is our true domain and I can't wait to get out there and get dirty.  Okay, who am I kidding? The kids are way ahead of me in that area.  See, the problem with these occasional sunny days laced with rain/snow is the mud.  The kids don't think it's a problem. But I'm not a huge fan myself.  Today I determined that rubber boots will forever and always be a part of our family wardrobe.  We already have about 20 pair in every size 3 children can come in.  I'm sure the collection will only grow.

You can always tell what letter Jack is learning that week by just looking around the house. Last week there were R's drawn in mud, an R carved with a fork in our dining room table, and one written on the bathroom window with a toothpaste encrusted finger.

It kills me that she knows how to handle a lawn mower.

It wasn't warm this day either, but our anti-coat boy didn't seem to notice.

The hair helps keep the sun out of her eyes.
Another item to add to our spring collection will be a lock, for the rain barrel.  I always forget about that thing until it's too late. Like on Sunday. I was inside making dinner and congratulating myself on a scoring a quiet moment in the kitchen, alone, while all three kids played nicely together outside. It was right about that moment that all moms reach, when you smile a little because the kids are playing so nicely and quietly together. And then it suddenly dawns on you that the kids are playing so nicely and quietly together.  Surely something must be wrong. Well that something was the rain barrel.  Ugh.



Mud up to his eyebrows.
Situations like this are always difficult for me.  I didn't want them to play with the rain barrel, and had I thought of it I would have asked them not to. But I didn't.  And at the end of the day, well mud is fun. It's not like they were doing anything bad. I just wish I had planned ahead and stripped them naked first.  But actually I've finally learned the secret to muddy kids clothes.  We have a system down pat!  They take everything off outside, I immediately throw it in the washer on a cold rinse cycle.  And then do a wash.  Not a single stain yet.  So other than the fact that I had extra laundry to do that day.  Plus baths that I wasn't counting on.  The whole make-your-own-mud-puddle incident was that bad.

I was totally prepared today though and warned them very sternly to stay away from the rain barrel.  Being the obedient children they are, they simply rounded the corner and found a rain gutter overflowing with melting snow.  Kids, they're so resourceful.



But you know what? I don't even care anymore.  All the water that the boys pretended was a stream for their stick boats, a waterfall for their army men or a giant chocolate fountain ... meant that the snow was disappearing.  It melted so fast this afternoon it almost sounded like we lived next to a gurgling brook.  And the sun shone for a few good hours.  And the weatherman promises more sunny days ahead.  Not that I put much stock in the weatherman these days.  But I hold on to hope. And that's pretty much what spring is all about!

1 comment:

Mauby said...

Mine came running in at 6:30 AM yelling, "There is snow outside! Tons of it! Let's go play!" Ahh to be back in MD - This spring is taking FOREVER! Missing Florida more and more. ;)

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