Signs of Spring

The snow is all melted and the green grass is poking up through the ground. I love seeing the big fat buds on the trees and flowers poking up. Signs of spring are everywhere.

The minions are turning into the little predators they become in the spring and have brought me their first kill of the season. A poor Garter snake. I sure wish they would just stop killing everything in sight.

Another sign of spring? The kids are outside all the time. It's lovely. We are on the trampoline at least once a day. I think it's one of the best workouts ever. I thought buying the trampoline would be for the kids but I get just as much out of it as they do. They also have a newfound love of the swing set (it's getting re-stained this spring). They've become brazen enough to jump off the swing while swinging and have contests to see who flies the farthest. They come in with all sorts of scratches and bruises. Fun times!

I wanted to do something with my hair this spring, something different. I didn't want to chop it all off as I've been growing it out for a couple of years now. So I thought highlights would be fun. I haven't had highlights in over a decade. My hair dresser specializes in balayage, which is like traditional highlights but it's painted on with a brush instead of wrapped up in foil. He painted particular strands and then put plastic wrap to keep layers apart. When he was finished painting my hair and plastic wrapping me, I looked like some psychotic Saran Wrap monster.

It lightened up the hair nicely and it looks natural....like I've been out in the sun all summer. He did a great job.  I took a before and after just to see if I could tell a difference.

With spring here I knew it was time for the Cub Scouts to start having their outings. On Friday they went to the local nature center to learn about wildlife we have in our neck of the woods. Then the weekend after next they have their first camping trip. I'm kind of nervous about that one. But like the scout leader said, it's a nice way to "cut the cord". He's sure having fun in Cub Scouts.

Happy Easter!

 We woke up to an Easter surprise! Snow! They were forecasting an inch for the area and we got a couple of inches. This is the most snow we've gotten all winter and the kids had way too much fun in it. Too bad it will be melted by lunch. We sure needed the moisture though.

Friday the kids were out of school so we dyed eggs.

Yesterday was the annual Easter Egg Dash that we attend every year. It only goes up to 9 years old, so Wesley only has one more year. :( Crazy how time flies!

Eating chocolate bunny and other goodies this morning after Dad made waffles and berry sauce for breakfast. What a treat! I hope you have a lovely Easter! 

Zoo!

First day of Spring break my friend Jessica and I decided to take the kids to the zoo. You know, since it was 80 degrees out and the most beautiful day of the year. Unfortunately everyone in town thought the same thing. The parking lot was packed and the front entrance had a line of people extending out to the parking lot. It was crazy! If we hadn't just driven an hour to get there we probably would have turned around and gone home. Note to self: no zoo during spring break.

Half an hour later we finally made it into the zoo and the crowds dispersed. It was a lovely trip and the kids were happy we went.

A Green March

I do believe Punxsutawne Phil was correct this year, we are having one early Spring. It's greening up, trees are blooming and bullfrogs are croaking out at the pond (in early March!). It's like winter was just a tiny blimp on the radar. We didn't even get any snow, just a light dusting on the deck that was gone in two hours. I'm ok with this! I'm ready to get outside and get some projects done. Usually by now I've got several trays of seeds going for the garden. But this year I'm not starting any seeds, I'm just going to buy my plants and keep the garden small.....actually tiny. Just a few tomato plants and some zinnias. Really the only two things I love in the garden. I put so much effort into growing five types of squash, peppers, onions, carrots, watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, corn and anything else I could find and I hardly have anything to show at the end of the season. I'm giving up this year. I want that hour a day spent on weeding and watering to go into something worth while.

The kids are outside constantly now that the weather is sitting at 70 degrees on a regular basis. Wesley has gotten to ride his bike several times and I got to go for a nice ride with him last weekend. I received a lovely new Schwinn a couple of weeks ago and really love it. I haven't had a new bike in over 15 years and this one is super nice.

Sean, aka my personal mechanic, has been hard at work fixing the "clunk" that developed in my car whenever I turned the wheel. It ended up being the strut mounts going bad and he ordered the new parts and installed them in an afternoon. My car is so quiet now! Yay, thanks honey!

Speaking of my husband, I really enjoy our lunch dates. We've gotten comfortable in our regular lunch choices so I did a search on Google for the best vegetarian restaurants in town and although most of them were downtown (quite a drive from his workplace) there was one lone restaurant up north of town where he works. It ended up being a Chinese restaurant and I was feeling adventurous so we went last week. Now, had you told me when I was a child that I'd love Chinese food as an adult I would have laughed in your face. Actually, my ten year old self would have laughed hysterically. I must admit, I love Chinese food! Being a vegetarian, sometimes it's difficult to find good food while eating out. I research a lot online before even going out. I hardly eat any dairy or eggs either so to find this gem (right near his work) was awesome. The lunches are served in a bento box and I walked out of the place stuffed. My lunch was Panang Curry with tofu and was $7. Sean got the honey chicken and said it was better than P.F. Changs (our usual go to Chinese place). Looks like we've found a new winner in the lunch rotation.

Yes, I took a picture of my lunch...I'm one of those people.

My cute date.

Pinewood Derby Race

Yesterday evening was the Pinewood Derby race for Cub Scouts and Wesley was super excited (and a little nervous). He'd been building and sanding and painting his little car for a few weeks now and last night was the big night where the boys gather and race their cars to see who is the fastest.

A few posts ago I talked about his using the band saw for the first time while cutting out his design. Then after the painting he got to hammer in the axles and wheels.  Sean was really good about letting him do the whole thing himself.

The finished Minecraft Zombie car. We used pennies as the weights. You have to get the car as close to 5 ounces as possible, pennies made this pretty easy.

The car lineup. He got second in Best of Show (based on the cars appearance). Lost out to the orange car next to his.

He came in second overall, first in his pack. He was a pretty excited kid! 

Downtown Riding

I can't get enough of this beautiful weather! This weekend was in the high 70's so my parents asked if we wanted to go bike riding downtown. Of course we said yes so Wesley and I loaded up bikes and met them there. Greta is still using training wheels and there was no way she'd be able to keep up (she also has no interest in bike riding) so she remained at home with Sean.

We had a lovely day of riding. Wesley got to try out his new bike he got for Christmas which he really likes. It has gears so he's able to adjust them when riding up and down hills. He figured that out and was riding like a pro.

My father did some research and discovered the art museum (which is along the bike trail) offered a brunch on Saturday so we went there for a lovely lunch. It was a great day!

My third grader. When did he get to be such a big kid?!

My Stinky New Friend

It seems like this happens each year around this time. I start feeling like a giant, lazy slug that's stuck in my house because of winter and the frigid temperatures outside. The frigid temperatures are slowly becoming bearable temperatures which make me want to become more active. So I dug out my fitbit and my athletic pants from the bottom of my drawer, strapped on my Nikes and outside I went.

I've been trying to log the recommended 10,000 steps daily and that requires either a brisk walk outside or a ride on the treadmill. I nearly always prefer outside. I've been changing things up and going the opposite way I normally do for my walks. This makes me walk past one of the neighbors houses that adopts all the drop off dogs. We get quite a few stray dogs each year and those sweet people take them in, neuter them and get their skinny little bodies back up to weight. Right now they have five dogs that run out to greet me as I walk by. Most are sweet, one is standoffish and there is one that barks aggressively but doesn't harm me. I've decided the best way to deal with the swarm of dogs is to become their friend.

This worked pretty good, although now instead of barking at me and then going back home, one of the five dogs follows me on my 3 mile walk. He's a sweet dog.

He walks with me and keeps me company, occasionally finding a stream to bathe in. He climbs up the bank and makes sure to stand right next to me before shaking the creek water off. He's my stinky new friend.

Each time I go for my walk now he runs from his house and joins me. It's nice to be outside and active again getting fresh air and sunlight. I feel less like a slug each day.

February Happenings

We've been having some lovely mild temperatures this winter and decided to have a picnic on the trampoline.  The wind was a bit chilly but not horrible especially if you dress appropriately (unlike Wesley in shorts). Doesn't he look thrilled? Fun times.

Wesley is enjoying Cub Scouts this year and it's nearly time for the Pinewood Derby race. This is a Cub Scout tradition each year where each kid makes a little car to race against the other boys in the den. Then if his car wins he goes to race against the winners of the other dens. Wesley got to work this weekend on creating his car. He got to use a band saw for the first time. He thought this was pretty cool. I stayed inside and left this task up to his father because it worried me a bit. What can I say? I'm a mom, I worry. But there was nothing to worry about, he did great. Still has all his fingers intact. Next weekend is sanding and painting.

Wesley has always had a fascination with space and space travel. Always asking all sorts of questions. So when we rented the movie The Martian this weekend we decided he might be old enough to watch it (after we watched it first of course). Greta has a pretty short attention span for movies (unless they have carton princesses in them) so we knew she wouldn't watch it. He really enjoyed it, watched the entire 2 hour movie! Greta would wander in for 5 minutes at a time and curl up on the couch like this....because of the suspense. It makes me laugh.

Since this past Sunday was Valentine's Day I thought I'd share the beautiful roses my sweet hubby got me. He's such a good husband.