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.

A T-Shirt & A Toast

I have a security blanket. Except it's not a blanket, it's a green Buddha t-shirt from Old Navy (the official Buddha headquarters, of course) that I've had for 6 years. If you know me, then you definitely know this t-shirt- I've worn it just about a million times. My husband was the original rightful owner but he came to me one day and said, "Do you want this shirt? It shrunk and now it's too small for me". That's when I decided to make it official and adopt it, and we've been very close friends ever since. And honestly, ever since this shirt came into my life, I have a deeper understanding of why children bond and cling to comfort items such as blankets or pacifiers, because my Buddha shirt sure makes me feel safe and secure and loved and wonderful. And because it's green, it also reminds me of Christmas. Need I say more?

It's not that there's anything special about it at first (or second or third) glance- it's an unusually soft green cotton shirt. The unusually soft part is what drew me to it in the first place. It has an outline picture of a Buddha-like figure with the words "Happy Buddha" at the top, which- for this Catholic girl, doesn't have much significance for me other then the fact that it's kind of a cute little Buddha. And I have a difficult time saying no to anything that's green. Over the years it has faded and gotten thinner and thinner as I've washed it thousands of times and also insisted upon squeezing my bulging pregnant belly into it with BOTH pregnancies. Because when you're pregnant and miserable, you JUST NEED YOUR SECURITY BLANKET (shirt). I even owe staying somewhat caught up on my laundry to this shirt because heaven forbid I go two or three nights without it. There are a couple of unidentified stains. There is one very odd-shaped blood stain from the time I tried to squirt saline water up my stuffy nose but something went terribly wrong in the process and the next thing I knew blood was squirting out of my nose all over the place --and DANG IT! Blood on my Buddha shirt. For some, this would be reason enough to get rid of the tattered shirt altogether, but I'd like to think the imperfections give it character, so I keep hanging on.

A few weeks ago, we were celebrating my birthday with family and I was the lucky recipient of some very heartfelt toasts and kind words being tossed around. Although I loved every word that was said, I was holding my breath waiting for my husband's toast. (Side note: I don't think we toast our loved ones as often as we should. There should be a national Toast Those You Love Day). He waited for the right moment, raised his wine glass and said:

You know when you impulse buy something because it's the prettiest or the flashiest or has the most bells and whistles? Ever notice how it can quickly become a one-time thing and even more quickly lose its luster? If it's an item of clothing, you only wear it once maybe twice every couple of years for certain occasions.
That's not you.
You are comfortable, Nicole. You are always there for me, ready. Waiting. And at the end of day, when I am tired and looking forward to coming home, I am always excited and ready to put you on to get cozy and be comforted and loved by you. You are my Buddha t-shirt.

Apparently he thinks my imperfections give me character. And he keeps hanging on.