Spring. . .

Spring is in the air, it's in the trees and in our hair!

The rain isn't gone, but we are finally getting stretches of no rain and some blue skies between the clouds.  But the blossoms popping out everywhere are certainly making it feel more like spring.  Around here, the world is purple and pink from the flowering plum trees that dot the landscape and line the roads.  The sight of them makes me slightly giddy.

Other things are blooming, but the mass of pink makes the biggest impact for now.

Last week I devoted a post on House of White to frogs.  Frogs are a sure sign of spring and we have been hearing them sing their chorus, and spotting them in the yard for some time now.  This guy has taken up residence on our back patio. . . much to Chuck's chagrin! He doesn't, however, seem to have much spring in his hop.

Next week is spring break and we are headed to Idaho to see family and have some fun.  So in preparation, Hannah and Signe and I took a trip to the salon for new spring dos.

My hair was getting unmanageably long. . .

So I had it whacked:

Hannah has been begging for highlight. . . so I let her get a few, along with some sassy layers.  I think it turned out super cute! (The girls' picture were taken on my cellphone, so they are a smidge grainy.)

Signe didn't have an appointment--because I didn't want to get her hair cut off--but she came and looked through a hair magazine and politely asked my hairdresser if she would give her the haircut she found in the magazine.  Soooo, I let her do it.

She couldn't have been more thrilled.  The smile didn't leave her face for hours and she kept touching her hair.  So I guess it's okay after all.  Short hair, long hair, that girl is always adorable!

Now that we are ready for spring, the warm weather can go ahead and join us. . .now.

Happy Spring!

Happy Valentine's Day

When we were dating and during the first year of our marriage, Rob used to buy me the most beautiful flowers. What I loved most about the bouquets he sent me was their uniqueness.  He never sent me roses.  I have only ever received roses from him once (on my 19th birthday he sent me 18 long stem roses because he knew my ex-boyfriend was stopping by and would see them).  Instead he sent me orchids and birds of paradise and lilies.  Then the honeymoon period wore off and the flowers stopped coming, until a few years ago when I told Rob I was going to buy my own Valentine flowers--because I love any excuse to have fresh flowers in the house.  So he took me and we picked out a bouquet for me and one each for the girls.

Tradition was born.  We got flowers and Rob didn't have to pick them out.  Over the weekend while running errands Rob pulled into Costco.

"What are you getting at Costco?" I asked.

"I have one thing on my list here." He stated, and then handed me his blackberry to look at his list: buy the girls flowers.  "I was going to buy them and bring them home as a surprise, but I thought you might not like what I picked out."  He explained.

Of course I would have loved anything he picked--because he picked something on his own!  But none-the-less, the girls were thrilled to pick out their own flowers.

Hannah decided right away on a bunch of lilies.

Signe took longer, but settled on a bouquet of red, white and pink carnations--she liked the pink the best.

The woman working there then asked what I wanted and directed me to the $15 bouquets of roses.  She seemed rather surprised when I picked out two dozen pink tulips (even muttering something along the lines of "Everyone has their own taste in flowers").  Nothing says spring like a shock of pink tulips!

Of course, now that I think about it,  Rob is the only one without a Valentine's Day gift.  I guess I better go make him some cookies--they are his weakness.

Happy Valentine's Day!