Welcome Spring!

I have decided that as a family we need to be celebrating the first day of Spring.

This is a purely selfish move. Spring is my favorite season.

I got married in the Spring. I became a mother in the Spring.

Spring is the prelude to Summer... the FUN season.

Spring is crisp. Spring is perfect temperatures. Spring is the light at the end of that dark tunnel: winter.

Spring is rebirth and tulips.

What's not to love about it?

Seeing as how Jack's birthday party was yesterday we didn't plan anything major. We mostly just wanted to be together as a family and be outside partaking of the 72 degree weather. So that's what we did. I was going to make THIS cute cake, but we ate SpongeBob cake yesterday so instead I went with this:

We have veggies with lunch pretty much daily anyway so taking the time to cut a few of them differently and arrange them on a platter was easy enough I thought. It made my heart happy to look at them like that. I wish we ate veggies shaped like flowers every day.

Also easy: Take a blanket outside and eat on the grass. We had a picnic of PB&J's (what else?) and veggie flowers. Yummm!

We brought some bubbles, balls and a frisbie too. Jack was interested in them. Aly not so much. He would rather throw things like his sippy cup in the tree or climb the cement stairs. Whatever. Just so long as they are outside and enjoying themselves. That was the point.

I love the picture of Corey holding Jack. They have had such a good time together this week. Yay for Spring Break from the U! It fell on the perfect week. It's been so nice having him home. Jack has just eaten up all the time with his Daddy.

We also live by a Junior High and their field is just a hop skip and a jump away. Corey took Jack to play some Frisbee and Aly and I followed shortly thereafter.

I took Jack inside for a bathroom break and he decided we needed to read books outside. See how happy he is running his book back to the field? Good idea Jack!

In the top lefthand picture you can see Jack holding our craft we made when we came inside. It's a flower pot wind chime. There are 5 mini terracotta pots. We painted flowers on them with our fingerprints. Aly is blue, Jack is green and red, Ashlee is white, and Corey is orange. We stole the idea from HERE. We love the family fun website as you can see. TONS of good ideas. We couldn't find a plastic terracotta tray anywhere so we had to settle for an actual pot. I think it still turned out pretty cute. Now we just need to get something to hang it on. Darn. Forgot that step in the planning. We finished it just minutes before Corey went to work. It was a lovely, laid back morning and we were all sad to see him go.

For dinner we had a special guest over. No picture of her because at the point I thought to take a picture of us together we had become un-photogenic due to the late hour and other factors. But I took a picture that was evidence she was here. Do you see the adorable big purse that was sitting on my couch? Now do you know who it was?

WHITNEY of course! Cal had a night away from home and she so graciously agreed to spend it with me and the boys. She made me that lovely green magnet board (that I am SO excited about!) for my birthday and brought it up to me tonight. We talked about the graduation party we are throwing our hubbies, marriage, children, food, blogs... all the usuals.

I love my Whitney. Okay she's Cal's Whitney, but I feel so blessed that I can claim her as my very own sister. I always wanted one growing up and I hoped that Cal would provide me with a good one. Let's just say: he NAILED it. Whitney and I are freakily alike and get along like peas and carrots. Pretty much everytime we talk one of us starts a phrase like "I have been thinking a lot about..." (subjects ranging from food to religion to you name it basically) only to discover that the other person had been mulling the same subject over in her head too.

We really are alike but I must admit she is my superior and has talents and characteristics which I have not yet cultivated. I am a better person for each time that we sit down and have a chat. A real sister of my very own. I'm so lucky. A conversation with her was a perfect way to send out the first day of spring.