howdy spring time!

I am mucho excited that spring time has finally deigned to make an appearance in the Chicagoland area. It was like 75 degrees out yesterday! I wasn't just being delusional, like I get when the temp climbs to 35--it was for serious warm! Beautiful. And the several days beforehand were likewise gorgeous. I went bike riding for the first time this year, for about an hour or so which was wholly as satisfying as I thought it would be. Then all the cool kids went rollerblading after meeting for a good hour, hour and a half.

I declare, spring time is my absolute favourite. You can smell things growing--not in a gross way or anything of course. But that sort of rainy, but sunny smell...if they could bottle that... I just love so much about March, April, May. I love that sort of chilliness in the morning that's more refreshing than cold, and that wet smell in the air, and the little pokey plants coming up. And how could I forget the wittle baby animals running around everywhere? I promise you, I still get as excited to see a baby bunny in the yard as I did when I was five years old. My nannied kids are like, okay, we get it, there's a squirrel on the back porch. Grow up. I point out every single critter that comes near the house with a ridiculous amount of awe. I made a three year old watch a hawk on the swing set for like 15 minutes. And are my kiddies in for a treat now that it's spring and animals are coming back! : )

I'm really excited too, because I'm planning on working on a garden in our yard! Wow. We usually get plots across town, but it costs money, they're kind of far, and people can steal your veggies. So I thought with a bit of trepidation about getting a garden started in the backyard with all my favorites--zucchini, squash, tomatoes, beans, peas, leeks(!)--and was like, oh no, how am I going to figure all this out? And then our Better Homes and (wait for it) Gardens (!) came in the mail with a big ol' article on how to do little box gardens in the backyard. So exciting. So I have a bunch of seed packets, and some little planters for an herb garden, so I can finally use the fresh seasoning my recipes call for. God is amazing, that we can just stick some seeds into the ground, and proceed to watch them grow into plants that produce fruit to nourish us. And fruit that's tasty, notwithstanding!

The only wrench in my spring loving this week was that two of the kiddies had the flu. : ( Us poor lot, we were stuck inside mostly. It was just the respiratory type of flu, so no vomit, praise the Lord. I had my first experience being vomited on a few weeks ago, when my neighbour's whole family got the stomach flu, and I babysat while parent and child alike puked everywhere. Not so fun. So yesterday, I worked all day, because my two (T-10 and E-7) school-bound kiddies were instead home-bound with fevers and coughs and runny noses and the like. The poor dears had no energy to argue all day long, and were so good all day, it was pitiful. I mean, they're never bad per se, but they can get touchy with each other, and do little things like sneaking extra candy at snack time, that kind of thing. But all their energy was spent using the clicker to pick the next recorded episode of Full House (everywhere you look, everywhere is a heart, is a heart...). It was cute, but I was sad for them and for me that they felt so bad and that we couldn't enjoy the bee-yoo-tiful weather. Normally on such a nice day we'd spend the whole afternoon at a playground, or getting ice cream or some such fun, but not so that day. So we left only to go pick H up from preschool, and she and I played outside for a little bit in the afternoon. E was still home from school today with her dad, so I had the day off, but hopefully she's feeling better, and everyone's on the upswing. Thankfully my mom gave me my flu shot (at the dinner table no less, haha) so I don't feel susceptible, but it's miserable to see little kids sick, even if they're slightly easier to manage in such a state. : )

Anyhow, it's off to bed I go, in case I get a call in the morning saying E is still too sick for school, and that I need to go stay with her. Otherwise, it's off to bed I go, so I can force myself into getting some bodily work done in the morning. Yoga? Running? Weights? I'm so ambitious, and yet so seldom do I follow through. Ugh. Good night to all anyway!