Spring Has Sprung

One of the best things about living where we do are the consistently mild seasons. Winter throws some chilly morning curve balls and lots of rain our way, and the sky will inevitably lose its crisp blue and make way for some boring gray days, but other than that, the major difference between all four seasons is all of about 20 degrees. I mean, my kids don't even own heavy winter jackets. Here, we believe in the power of LAYERS, and for the majority of winter, a hooded sweatshirt does the job quite nicely. And socks. We are eventually forced to leave the flip-flops at home and start wearing those bizarre sock-things (my low-point of the year). Even our weekly Farmer's Market keeps going strong throughout the entire year, "braving" our mild winter. Sure, the tomatoes will eventually disappear altogether for a period of time, but my favorite lettuce farmer is faithfully there every single week. I never has a reason NOT to have a gorgeous green salad on the dinner table.

So, sometimes it can be difficult to feel like you're really experiencing 4 whole seasons when you live in these parts. But what I somehow forgot was that Spring also has a SMELL that accompanies it, and over the last few days, that smell has made a comeback and permeated the noses of every member of my family. It's that sweet, clean-air smell, mixed in with the scent of freshly cut grass. It's beyond delicious, and we've spent more time outside in the last few days soaking it in than we have in the last few months. (Side note: I also now know we've hit Spring because my allergies are going bananas, and I've got a kleenex permanently attached to my nose and my allergy eye drops bottle is close to empty.) Why, HELLO SPRING!

But for this housewife, perhaps the most exciting event Spring has brought with it thus far is the return of the clothesline!  I am back to drying our clothes outside in the warm sun with that aforementioned sweet Spring smell permeating every fiber of every clothing item we own. It is heavenly, and my inner Hippie is thrilled. Sometimes I even kick off my flip-flops and hang up the clothes barefoot. Oh yeah, Spring makes us do CRAZY things!

When I was last utilizing our clothesline, all the way back in 2009, I always hung our laundry during Ella's morning nap time because she was way too little to set loose in our yard with most of my attention focused on hanging clothes instead of her well-being. Plus, a crawling baby in a big open yard space who puts EVERY THING SHE SEES in her mouth is a recipe for teary disaster.

But now! Look at my big 16.5 month old girl, loving every second of being outside, digging in the mud with her bare hands, enjoying the breeze and the shade of the hanging damp clothing!

It's very difficult to take a photo of a child who doesn't sit still for more than a second, but here she is in action, probably figuring out a way to take a mud bath without my knowledge, because apparently this is her new favorite past-time. Please take note of the incredibly delicious inner thigh rolls which I insist on pinching every 5 minutes. And the pig tails! We'll show that mullet who's boss!

See? In this next one, she's trying to sit down in the mud in secret. This is how she repays me for dressing her in darling, clean clothes. Or maybe she just really likes to see me doing copious amounts of laundry on a daily basis. Either way, we now have an entire sub-category in Ella's wardrobe, entitled: "Play-clothes That Mom Won't Won't Freak Out About If They Should Happen To Become Drenched In Mud".

Another advantage of using our clothesline is that Ben gets to brush up on his clothespin-finger game. Who knew that hours of entertainment would only cost $1? Ben could probably spend hours placing the clothespins on his fingers, while running around trying to scare us with his new awesomely long, creepy fingers. I'm not sure how this game might affect his finger blood circulation, but we figure the advantages far outweigh this one teensy disadvantage, so we're going with it.

Also, when the sun is shining so cheerfully and the air is smelling so sweet, how can you NOT take a picture near the backyard blossoming peach tree? Plus, these two are so in love these days, I have to make sure and document it as much as possible. That way, when Ella is 16 and livid with her father for not letting her date gross boys and in sheer frustration they both might utter words they don't mean, I can whip out this picture and remind them, "See? You love each other! Now hug it out!"

So I guess what this self-proclaimed "Fall/Winter Girl" is saying is that though I do love some cozy rainy days with a pot of soup simmering on the stove and a warm fire crackling in the fireplace, and orange is totally my new favorite color, I am thoroughly enjoying what Spring has brought us so far. Like....I LOVE IT. It feels wonderful to have fresh air in our lungs, in our home, and to drive with the with the car windows down. I'm even slightly excited about a major Spring Cleaning project we have coming up. And the thrill I get from buying a new pair of flip-flops never gets old. So maybe what I'll say from now on is that I'm a "Fall/Winter/Spring Girl". Or, "I'm Not Into Summer/Heat" for short.