My girls & I went for a little walk around the neighborhood to see what flowers we could spy.  They really wanted a photo of this tree because it makes “pink snow” – you know, all the little pink petals that fall, and I’m sure have some of you sneezing a LOT these days.  They thought it was so pretty.  Then we talked about if we were a bird, which branch would we want to live on.  It was fun!  I’ll be putting some more springtime shots on my Facebook fan page – with NO LOGO – so you can grab them if you like.  Remember, those are low-res, so if you want high-res ones, just shoot me an e-mail.  I’m happy to share!

It’s so weird not being a teacher anymore because I still get excited when I see the back to school supply ads & the thought of shiny new name tags & new little faces coming in to my classroom still makes me giddy. However, that is not my lot in life at this point and I am satisfied. I now get to be on the parent side of this phenomenon. Emma, my four-year-old (or “four and a HAF” as she says it) had her first “preview” day last Wednesday. She got to attend school for one hour and meet half of her classmates & get reacquainted with her old classroom. She picked out her outfit, chose her headband, put on her socks & shoes all by herself, and even brushed her teeth three times! And as we were leaving she stole a flower from our community for her teacher. And as Brooke does, she copied Emma in every little detail of the day, right down to the flower theft. Here are Emma’s first day snapshots…

Breakfast of champions:  Cinnamon toast in triangles!

Some cartoons to start the morning out right

And now for some awkward posing…silly girl!

Blowing me a kiss goodbye!

Showing off her bag that she designed

A flower for the teacher

And her hook!

Now Brooke (or Brookie as we lovingly call her) went to school the Friday after Emma for her “preview” day.  She has been practicing her teachers’ names before bed and was excited to use them.  For those of you who know Brooke, you probably knew she would have no problem at all in two-year-old class.  We sent Emma at age two because she was deathly shy.  We send Brooke at age two so she can learn to share & follow directions.  They are just different people!  She was very determined to put her shoes on “aw by my felf” so Amaw was so generous and took her fat feet to Stride Rite & got her 2 new pairs of kicks…complete with Velcro!  I’ll let the photos tell you the rest….

Her new size 6′s

She chose a banana for breakfast…the dog got some too

Brooke’s new bag – Tinkerbell & sparkly letters

Here she is being independent again – putting on the bag

The shoes in action!

Dragging her bag into school

Assessing the situation

She spotted some toys

And she’s off!

So that’s it!  My babies are in school and I can’t believe it!  I also get one whole Friday morning to my own self…what ever will I do????

See this poor little tulip?  Covered with snow, trying to break free of winter’s grasp?  That’s how I feel right now…like a little flower yearning for Spring, yet covered with Winter’s ice.  I think I go through this every year.  When the hulabaloo of Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Year’s are over, there’s not much to do, especially for the stay-at-home mom of two young girls.  My days are filled with staying in because it’s too cold to go out, coughs, sniffles, mentoring sisterly arguments, entertaining an almost four-year-old who thinks things are “boring,” and basically just cleaning up the same mess over and over again.  It sounds depressing, I know.  And sometimes it is.  So, I thought to help lift me, and possibly YOU, out of these winter blahs, I’d post some signs of Spring.  Who cares what Punxsutawney Phil says, right?  We can still have a little Spring early.

Here are some photos of flowers I’ve taken over the years.  I don’t always know what to do with them, but nevertheless, I still keep taking them.  They are yours.  Take them.  Drag them and drop them onto your desktop.  Use them to brighten your winter as you wait for spring.  And I will leave you with this quote: “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”  ~Josh Billings