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This is the first official week of spring - and it couldn't come fast enough for me.  It has been a long winter.

Winters feel longer with kids.  After the newness of snow has worn off, you tire of answering questions about when spring will come, about when it will be warm enough to spend time outdoors.  Gray days lend themselves to inside activities.  Fortunately, one of the nice things about living in a metropolitan area is that you have a lot of choices for those inside activities.  Last weekend, in the midst of yet another gray and chilly day, we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Katie is quite the artist and was inspired by the paintings.  She then meticulously created work of art after work of art (32 in all, some quite detailed) for her own "museum" - a series of crayon drawings hung in (more or less) a straight line all around the family room.  It is quite charming.

Something even more exciting happened this weekend.  The daffodils peeked out.  And then the crocuses.  The neighborhood began waking up.

On yesterday, we started planting our annuals.  Katie chose pink pansies for her garden, Amy chose yellow pansies for her garden.  A mix of pansies and English ivy planted in pots on the front steps offered a much needed punch of color.

So this morning, it was quite a treat to wake up to see pansies, daffodils and crocuses in the yard.  It was even more of a treat to see blue skies and sunshine as the temperatures crept upwards to the high 50s.  Spring had arrived.

No matter how old I get, I still feel the excitement of knowing that spring is coming.  I love looking forward to seeing what each day will bring in my garden, which flowers will blossom, which plants will take hold this year.  Every year is different.

This year is even more different than usual.  Chris and I have decided to bite the bullet and hire a landscaper to help us sort out some of the garden design problems in our yard.  I love our yard, but we live in a rocky section of Philadelphia (I'm learning that most of Pennsylvania is set in rock, it seems!).  The hills and rocks in my backyard make gardening or setting a patio practically impossible in any meaningful way.  We've played around with a couple of schemes for years but have finally realized that in order to make the most of our space, we need help, as in professional help.

I'm excited.  It adds a whole other element to discovering the outdoors this spring.  I'll let you know how it goes.