This week's topic: Favorite things to do in the spring
I always, always look forward to spring. Don't get me wrong, I love winter, too. Well, I love snow. But that only lasts for so long. Basically, once Christmas and New Year's is over, then I'm counting the days until spring!
The first thing I do on the first warm day is open all of the windows in my house. It's a simple thing. But, I love the smell of fresh air and the warm breeze blowing away the stale air of the winter months.
After that, I look forward to spring cleaning. I know. Crazy, right? Who loves cleaning? Well, with four kids stuck in the house for so many winter months, my home often looks like a tornado has blown through it. Toys are scattered everywhere, the house is in disarray, and I'll admit, I contribute to the mess with my papers, notebooks, and piles of books. There's often a pile of boxes or bags of out-grown clothes at the bottom of my attic steps that I set there thinking, "I'll get to that later."
Well, later typically translates to spring. I do a massive attic to basement cleaning and organizing that often takes weeks and weeks, but when it's done, I feel so much better. I've discovered that clutter and mess in the house only aggravates my anxiety. The energy in the house flows much better when everything is in its proper place.
Also, some fun spring activities involve Easter, baseball, school concerts and art shows. For the last ten years, I've been involved in fun community activities for my kids. Since we're involved with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, sports, school chorus and band, as well as churches and other local community groups, we usually have a full calendar of activities to keep us busy.
This year our calendar is disturbingly empty. Baseball and the spring concerts at school have all been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. This is the first year that my kids will not have an Easter egg hunt at the church. Of course, that won't stop us! I've already decided that we'll have an egg hunt in our own backyard. I'm lucky enough to have a huge backyard with plenty of places to search for eggs! Plus, I'm getting the kids to draw and paint pictures so we can have our own art show! I have a large fence surrounding most of my yard, so I think it'll be easy enough to hang the artwork there on a nice, warm spring day.
Getting ready for spring also involves plants! Now... I try this every year. I refuse to give up. But, I'm sad to tell you that I have no green thumb. My houseplants hate me. Nothing lives long. Whether its because the plant has too much sun, not enough sun or because my cat, Harley, has gotten a hold of it and chewed it to bits, for whatever reason, plants don't have a long shelf life in my home. Not only inside! The flowers that I plant outside are usually eaten by the large family of rabbits that use my yard as a kitchen. I also have a groundhog and a skunk who like to call my yard home on occasion.
This year, I'm calling on the assistance of my family. My 14 year-old son and I were walking through the yard one sunny day last week, planning our attack on our yard. He loves flowers. Especially, sunflowers. So, I've put him in charge of the planting season this year. We've got sunflowers, morning glories, daisies and an herb garden on our wish list. My 12 year-old wants a vegetable garden, so he's in charge of that. I did plant two blueberry bushes last year. I'm not sure if they survived the winter, yet.
Hopefully, between the three of us, we might be able to keep these plants alive long enough to make it through the summer. We'll see. I'll report back and let you know how it all goes.
One other thing that I love to start in the spring is graveyard photography. I'm an amateur genealogist and a volunteer graveyard photographer for Findagrave.com and Ancestry.com. For the last few years, I've been periodically working through the cemeteries and graveyards in my local area, photographing and transcribing the gravestones. This helps people who are researching their family tree and searching for deceased family members or ancestors who are not nearby. This is also a great way to involve my kids in learning about their family history. We've made it a game as they help me hunt for gravestones. Taking pictures in the spring and summer is obviously easier than the winter months. And we get lots of exercise, fresh air and sunshine!
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The first thing I do on the first warm day is open all of the windows in my house. It's a simple thing. But, I love the smell of fresh air and the warm breeze blowing away the stale air of the winter months.
After that, I look forward to spring cleaning. I know. Crazy, right? Who loves cleaning? Well, with four kids stuck in the house for so many winter months, my home often looks like a tornado has blown through it. Toys are scattered everywhere, the house is in disarray, and I'll admit, I contribute to the mess with my papers, notebooks, and piles of books. There's often a pile of boxes or bags of out-grown clothes at the bottom of my attic steps that I set there thinking, "I'll get to that later."
Well, later typically translates to spring. I do a massive attic to basement cleaning and organizing that often takes weeks and weeks, but when it's done, I feel so much better. I've discovered that clutter and mess in the house only aggravates my anxiety. The energy in the house flows much better when everything is in its proper place.
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| My son at last year's school art show with his Minecraft drawing. |
This year our calendar is disturbingly empty. Baseball and the spring concerts at school have all been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. This is the first year that my kids will not have an Easter egg hunt at the church. Of course, that won't stop us! I've already decided that we'll have an egg hunt in our own backyard. I'm lucky enough to have a huge backyard with plenty of places to search for eggs! Plus, I'm getting the kids to draw and paint pictures so we can have our own art show! I have a large fence surrounding most of my yard, so I think it'll be easy enough to hang the artwork there on a nice, warm spring day.
 |
| My daughter and son getting ready for spring planting last year. |
This year, I'm calling on the assistance of my family. My 14 year-old son and I were walking through the yard one sunny day last week, planning our attack on our yard. He loves flowers. Especially, sunflowers. So, I've put him in charge of the planting season this year. We've got sunflowers, morning glories, daisies and an herb garden on our wish list. My 12 year-old wants a vegetable garden, so he's in charge of that. I did plant two blueberry bushes last year. I'm not sure if they survived the winter, yet.
Hopefully, between the three of us, we might be able to keep these plants alive long enough to make it through the summer. We'll see. I'll report back and let you know how it all goes.
 |
| My daughter and son standing beside the graves of their great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, Abraham and Elisabeth Bartolet |
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Wow, spring is a busy season for you and your family!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that your gardening isn't being too affected by this pandemic. Spending time out in the fresh air looking after plants sounds lovely.
And I enjoy graveyard photography, too. I generally only take pictures of the headstones of my ancestors, but sometimes I include really pretty headstones from strangers, too. There are a lot of beautiful gravestones out there.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge-favourite-things-to-do-in-the-spring/
There are some beautiful gravestones out there! It's really amazing! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteOh, your kids are sooooo cute. I've blogged with others who like taking pictures of tombstones, not my thing. This virus has put such a damper on the best time of year.https://pmprescott.blogspot.com/2020/03/favorite-things-to-do-in-spring.html
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yeah, this will be a year to remember, for sure! And not in a good way.
DeleteI totally agree with this statement, "The energy in the house flows much better when everything is in its proper place." Yes, Tricia! Me, too. :) And my husband and I love to tour graveyards. We've been doing this for years. With every trip, we try to take in an "old" graveyard. My husband takes the photos (Nikon digital and film cameras) and I jot down the notes.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping this virus lessens and you can get out and enjoy springtime. So enjoyed your post and pictures. And don't give up on gardening.
I wish my kids could appreciate that statement as much as you, Mary! LOL That's so awesome you tour graveyards, too! My favorite so far was one of the cemeteries in New Orleans. I think that's what started my hobby! :) I refuse to give up gardening. One year, I'll get it right! Thanks for the comments!
DeleteNah, I hate housecleaning, no matter what season it is! I do as little as possible, so husband has had to learn to take up the slack. I blame my late mother, who used to make me do all of it, because she hated it so much. Now I do too.
ReplyDeleteI loved the pictures and descriptions of your kids. We had 4 kids in 5 years, so our life seemed like pandemonium for such a long time. Now they're all adults and we're empty nesters. It seems so quiet around here. But they do come to visit, and we go see them when we can, even though 2 of them live out of state. They live in the same area, so one trip lets me hug 2 that I don't see very often. Enjoy them being home! I know I did!
I had my first 3 kids within 4 years, so you know pretty well what my life is like! lol My youngest came along 4 years later, so there's a bit of a gap. Chaos is a daily thing here! :)
DeleteMy friend who was in my playgroup, did us both one better! She had a 3-year old, a 2-year old, and a 1-year old, then went into the hospital and delivered twins! Yes, that's 5 kids under the age of 4!! She said we'd be forever friends, because I was the only one who let her drop them here, so she could go have lunch with her dad for an hour--that kind of thing. I'd sit in the rocker near the front door, with a twin in each arm, listening to my 4 and her 3, and sometimes an extra or two that I was doing daycare for, and I'd think "She can't be out much longer. She can't be out much longer." until she finally returned, feeling refreshed and oh, so grateful!
ReplyDeleteBTW, the rule in our house was "If there's no blood actively spurting out and hitting the wall, and no bone visibly poking through the skin, you're not that hurt. Suck it up and put a band-aid on it." They all survived to adulthood, and that's one of the "Mom-isms" they tease me about!
Oh, my! Yep, she wins!! Having babies close together is one thing, but also twins? I can't even imagine. Talk about chaos! LOL
DeleteI agree, that's also a rule in my house, too. I say it often enough that recently I overheard my oldest son talking to my youngest son. "Are you bleeding? No? Then you're okay." I guess they do listen. lol
Just wait until yours are all adults! Mine make fun of me all the time for what they call "Mom-isms." Like that one about being injured. I LOVE going out to breakfast the most out of any dining experience. They tease me, prodding me to ask the waitress for an IV for the coffee, so I don't have to keep bothering her to refill my cup. Or they poke each other, point at me, and announce that the management needs to "kill another pig" because their mom likes bacon so much. I tell them I don't have to take that from them--I can go anywhere to be made fun of. They reply that no one else would do it with so much love. Grr! Smart-ass kids!
DeleteCleaning?????? Nooooooo! LOL.
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of graveyard photography, especially in an old graveyard where there are lots of interesting headstones and statues.
It really is art. Some of them are so beautiful!
DeleteI like the idea of graveyard photography. My husband loves to photograph, but mostly nature.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting. My 14 y/o son is getting interested in nature photography. My 12 y/o son takes photos of his siblings with the funny lenses that make their heads look like bobble-heads. I guess, we all have our hobbies! lol
Delete