SPRING!!!

First bike ride of the season! Wahoo!!

Don't let the snow in these pictures fool you, spring is on it's way! We can feel it!! Over the past week, we've had a few days that felt more spring-ish, then dead of winter-ish. This gives us hope! Hope that soon we'll be once again playing in the driveway for hours on end. Hope that our days will once again be filled with bike rides and walks and exploring the outdoors. My boys (and this Mom) don't do well being cooped up in doors for too long. They need to explore and they need the outdoors! 

Other signs of spring:

A lowly caterpillar:

By the way, mismatched gloves are the new trend. Did you know that?

Maple syrup!!!

Every year since we've moved out of the city, Chris has tapped the trees in our yard and made syrup that lasts most of the year. Chris loves the outdoors and doing stuff like this..... it's such a part of who he is and we love this about him! As you might imagine, the boys love to help with the process! Every day, we check the taps to see how much sap there is and then carry the sap over to the always simmering, enormous pot. Seriously, this pot is simmering for most of March!

The ability to play outside without getting stuck in waist high snow.

Flowery necklaces.

So, I wore this necklace for the first time today, because it felt like spring, it was sunny out and well, because, why not? I thought it was a good choice. But when I came downstairs, the boys all stopped cold in their tracks and  looked at me STARED at me. Carter seemed to speak for everyone when he asked, "What the heck is that on your neck?!"

MEN. 

They don't always get it.

Given that we live in Michigan, we are well aware that we could easily get another snowstorm..... (Please NO!) but not today. Today we are just enjoying the sun and the "warmth" and the outdoors!!

 

Maybe this winter won't last forever after all

This morning started out a bit chaotic. I felt "behind" from the get go which is really silly because the only "race" to be "behind" at was the one I'd created in my head. You see, I had a mental to-do list of things I wanted to get done this morning, including write a grocery list, start laundry, do a little tidying up and return a few e-mails. But one or more of the boys needed my attention constantly through the morning and Owen didn't nap more than a few minutes before a sibling shrieking with excitement over play-doh woke him up (or maybe he would have awakened anyway... hard to tell these days). But before I knew it I was being impatient and rushing the boys out the door to pick up Colin at preschool. Then I brought an apple for an after school snack in the car and that was apparently wrong. He had hoped for a granola bar.

This morning was a fail. It always is when I loose sight of what my focus should be.

But then the sun came out, shining brighter than I'd seen it in weeks. The snow started melting, almost right before our eyes and I looked at my phone to see that it was 45 degrees out. FORTY FIVE, people! That is insane! That's about 40 degrees above our usual temperature. So after nap, Jordyn watched Owen and I took the older four boys outside. It was so good to be out breathing fresh air and feeling the sunshine! I mean seriously, I can count on probably one hand, the number of times we've been able to actually play outside this winter. Between the freezing temperatures and the amount of snow, it has been a very discouraging winter.

But today I felt hope that spring may be ever so slowly arriving. We took our first walk of the season and we played for almost two hours in the driveway. It felt so exciting and energizing! It felt hopeful. We even saw a neighborhood kid in shorts. I can't say it was shorts weather but I can certainly understand his excitement.

Ignore the fact that there are still mountains of snow and trust me when I say that today felt like a taste of a spring! We needed this!