Signs of Spring

Spring is almost here!  Hooray!  What a beautiful springish day we had today.  Even the strep throat couldn't keep us completely down.  We ventured outside for a little while during the afternoon to soak up some sun, breathe fresh air and to look for signs of spring. 

 The first sign of spring is Ainsley "painting" the pole to the basketball hoop.  Painting this pole with muddy water has long been a favorite hobby of hers, and she has wasted no time getting right back at it this season.  I did make her use clean water today, and only a little.  I'm just not ready for the mess yet.  She's looking pretty good in this picture.  I think the meds have finally kicked in and she'll be back to school tomorrow.  Hooray!

And the second sign of spring is our frienemy, the wasp.  No sooner had Bennett opened the door to step outside and we saw a wasp fly by.  Delightful.  Bennett is terrified of stinging insects and she decided she would not be coming outside today.  I managed to get her to at least stand in the driveway and she ended up playing outside for about 10 minutes but the "what if the wasp stings me" talks began and my attempts to reassure her of safety were ineffective.  My argument was this: "Bennett!  I am pretty old!  Do you know how many times I've been stung in all my years!?!   Only three!"  Her response to me was, "Hey, I've already been stung three times!"  She is clearly much younger than I, and so her sting frequency does appear to be higher than mine, to date.   Needless to say, the girl went indoors, which is fine since she still doesn't seem to be feeling too hot.  And in other news, Dad has officially fallen completely ill with his touch of the strep.  Poor, poor boy.   Now that I think of it, the third sign of spring in our family always seems to be illness in Feb/March.  We're right on track!