Hooray It's May!

We made it through the April showers, the snow is only a memory, and now we are ready for the May flowers!  Here is what the Spring looks like at our house right now.

 

Buds are starting to pop out of the ground.  I guess that I should get weeding!

 

A new BBQ!  After 9 years and some serious dancing in the wind last year (the BBQ, not me!), our old BBQ had to be retired.  The new one is so shiny, I almost hate to use it -- it might get dirty!

 Blossoms on the trees ...

 ... and flowers in my neighbours' yards.

 The garden is almost ready to be planted,

and spring bike tune-ups.

First BBQ of the season  -- the new BBQ is officially broken in ... mmmmmm!

There are great signs of Spring around our house, I hope that you can say the same.  Happy May!

A Wet Walk

We went for a walk through the woods today.  It was drizzly rain, but we are hearty and adventurous, so were undeterred by the weather.

 

Along with our friends, we found flowers, rocks, bridges and water ...

... and ended up at the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens.  We explored the inside a little bit where we found more water and the promise of butterflies in May (we'll be back to check that out!).

On our way out of the gardens we found a waterfall and just had to stop and check it out.  Then back through the woods and over the bridge ... or ... well ... by the bridge ...

Yes, he is wearing his boots, it's just that they are UNDER the water!  Honestly, through, you all saw this coming right?  Boys!  So, after a short delay ... 

... we were on the path home again.  Good thing I always keep a change of clothes for everybody in the van!  Now I have three pairs of boots drying by the fire so they will be all ready for whatever adventure tomorrow brings.

Soup's On!

The weather has been appropriately Spring-like lately --warm and dry with very little wind -- perfect for playing outside.  There is a rush to get outside in the morning -- sometimes they have to be reminded to get dressed! -- and even Laurel heads for the door when she sees the boys going.  The squeals of delight as she chases the boys around the yard are enough to chase any clouds away.

Yesterday they boys put some snow in a bucket -- because they couldn't find any water -- and waited for it to boil.  "If we leave it in the sun long enough, it will boil Mama!" I was told ... still waiting.  When slush became "good enough", they added some chestnuts, grass, mud and whatever else they could find -- voila ... soup!  Today it was Laurel's turn to tend to the soup (which still hasn't boiled) and she seemed to take the job very seriously.   Here is what I learned:

Stirring is very important ...

... but sometimes, you just have to get your hands in there in order to get everything mixed up properly -- you know how it is.

 Then you need to taste it to make sure that the flavours are blending nicely.  Sometimes you need to taste it more than once ... if you want to make sure that it is perfect.

 

Add more of some things and remove the ones that aren't working for you.

 Get a second opinion when you are unsure if you've gotten it exactly right.

Perfect! Soup anyone?

Spring Has Sprung

The outside world is starting to bloom and things here at "6 Winters in Wonderland" are getting spruced up too!  I haven't done much posting this week, but I am hoping to dedicate more time to that in the coming weeks as we try to establish a more manageable routine. Also, now you can make sure that you never miss a post by having them emailed directly to you!  Or you can subscribe to have the posts added to your Google or Yahoo homepage.  Just look for the boxes on the right!

I know that in many parts of the country, there is still snow to be found, but in our little corner of Canada, there is very little remaining (except for the dusting covering the ground right now from this afternoon's weather).  The boys are playing in the dirt, -- or mud when they find it -- I'm hanging laundry on the line again and I actually saw a robin in the yard this week.  Spring is certainly well under way here!  So, in celebration of this, we finally took down the paper snow flakes on our dining room window and replaced it with this more springlike scene.

I know that it is difficult to see with the yard in the background -- anybody have any tips about taking pictures against a window?

The boys were keen to *cover* the window with flowers, birds, trees, butterflies, ponds, bugs, worms, bushes and other Spring items, but I managed to convince them that it might be a good idea to leave some open space so that we could still see out the window -- it was a close vote!

  

Here is the tree with it's many leaves all hanging, for some reason, on the bottom of the branch (the few on the top were my addition).

The tree also houses a bird's nest, complete with bird who is sitting on some pretty nice eggs.  Looks like we are going to have some more birds soon!

Here are some other little birds who are busy building their nests.  My, what strong little birds to be able to carry such large sticks!

And the flowers are in full bloom already -- my kind of garden!

The boys (except Owen who sat at the table and happily cut paper into little tiny pieces) worked all afternoon one day on this project and additions have been made throughout the week as well.  They already planning to add more birds when the eggs hatch, more flowers as the season progresses and have great plans for additions and subtractions for the fall and winter too -- they have it all thought out!

It is definitely looking more like Spring both inside and outside of our house.  I hope that the same can be said for your house!

Things That Make Me Happy # 10

Strolling around the Internet one day, I came across a blog post entitled "100 Things That Make Me Happy".  What a great idea, I thought as I scanned the list, so Fridays (or Saturdays, as the case may be) are now dedicated to things that make me happy!

Things That Make Me Happy!
# 10 Muddy Boots

Okay, it's not really the muddy boots that make me happy -- especially when they go walking through the house! But the fact that there is mud to be found (and if anybody can find it, they can!) must mean that Spring is right around the corner, right? In fact, the boys have spent many afternoons this week happily playing outside with their trucks in the dirt / mud. Not once did I hear the question "can we come in now?" that was so often uttered this winter. Instead, I heard: "just a couple more minutes, I'm not finished yet", when called for supper. Ahhh ... happy children playing outside!
Happy Spring!