You Know It Might Be Spring When...

The Midwest is notorious for long winters. Winters that keep coming back long after they should be dead. But this week we have a few signs that Spring might actually be around the corner. So. you know it might be Spring when......

1. Garage Doors are open
We laugh that in the winter we never see our neighbors. They pull in their garages, close the door before they get out of their car, and are not seen for months. It's too cold to stand around in the driveway and talk. This weekend, we saw a lot of our neighbors with open garage doors. Cleaning out the sand and gunk from the floor of the garage, washing cars, and moving bikes. Hello Neighbors, glad we all survived another winter!

2. Coats are taking over my laundry room
You never actually know what the weather is going to be like around here on any given day. We have winter coats, dressy winter coats, fleece coats, and jean jacket/spring coats for every child in my house filling every peg and crevices of the room. I've been foolish in the past and put snow pants and coats away before April and had to dig them out again for that last 12 inches of snow.

3. The Door Bell Rings A Lot
Kids are outside playing basketball, riding bikes, running around in all types of clothing. They are constantly coming over to see if C, M, A can come out. The dinner hour is the most frequent time the door bell rings. I wish everyone had the same dinnertime. My favorite ring, however, is when A is in the backyard and she rings the bell over and over again. That doorbell already rings double so you can identify it, so the over ringing can be a little much.

4. We wear a lot of different clothes
Because it can be 30 in the morning and 70 after school, there is a lot of changing of clothes to play outside, lots of baths and showers to rinse of the allergens, and lots of laundry for the mom. With baseball/softball practices starting up soon, even more is on the way.

5. Our backyard has toys and sports equipment all over it.
Between the swing set and the pickup game of baseball with Frisbee bases, soccer balls are now finding their way outside again. I'm hoping that child #3 will be my soccer player. The first two thought there was too much running. I think tomorrow, we'll cancel PJ Day and call it soccer practice day. In addition to the kid stuff, tonight, we used our grill for the first time this season and we'll be putting out patio furniture out soon.

6. Birthday Season has hit our house.
I'll have more on this later this week as the two males in our house are celebrating their new numbers days apart from each other. Lots of celebrations to come. No wonder both boys love spring so much. It's the presents!!

I love Spring! It is the promise of new growth, fresh cut grass, and flowers blooming. I'm willing to put up with a little more laundry, more shoes, and more coats everywhere I look. Goodbye Old Man Winter, I'm excited to see you go.

Who knows maybe PJ Days will be go out the window. Instead, we'll be ready a little earlier to walk the big kids to school and stop at the park on the way home. However, we might have to wait a week or two though as the 30 degree temp at 8:30 is not what I would call Spring.