Spring Has Sprung

Yes, another throwback picture of Caroline circa 2004. I normally wouldn't pull photos from the archives (so to speak), but she is Important Person in her class this week and had to bring in a few pictures of herself as a wee one to share. As we went through our albums, this one just made me smile. It's quite spring-like, right? She looks so sweet there, doesn't she? Looks can be deceiving, though. This picture was taken during the time in which Caroline had meltdowns of epic proportions anytime we tried to leave the mall or anywhere else, for that matter. Thankfully the reminder of her cute little smile calmed me down during the times in which I would have preferred to auction her off on ebay, rather than dealing with her kicking, screaming, snot filled tantrums because she couldn't have the balloon inside the locked store.

Anyway, moving right along...spring has sprung (or is in the processes of springing), indeed.

Isn't that the most cliche title?

Similarly, on Sunday, after the torture that is referred to as daylight savings time, three blogs I read all had posts entitled "Spring Forward."

Trite or not, it's hard to deny that spring is in the air.

I think I might even pull out the flip flops today, which, in my piddly existence, is a major cause for celebration.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about spring and for some reason I felt an overwhelming sensation of doom. It was a subconscious kind of doom and quite puzzling all the same. Who dreads spring? Spring is great. Warm, but not too warm. Blooming trees, breezy sunny afternoons, daffodils and fluffy little bunnies. It's all sunshine and rainbows. What kind of person wouldn't look forward to that?

Honestly, I have no idea why I wasn't looking forward to spring. Now that the warmer weather is here, I can't say that I'm dreading it anymore. It would actually be kind of nice if the weather was always spring-like. Maybe I dread spring because that means summer is nearby. I don't like summer so much. With all that sweating and such. Sweat at the gym is good. Sweat when you're walking from your car to the grocery store and vice versa is not good.

I don't know. I'm a mystery like that.

Soccer practice started back up last night. Thankfully Caroline is on a team with five other girls from their fall season; they were a great team, so long as you don't count how many games they actually won! In the fall the girls wore red and called themselves the Lava Girls. This season they're wearing orange with black stripes and they're calling themselves the Bengal Tigers. Some girls wanted the Bengals; others wanted the Tigers; and one lone girl wanted the Tiny Tigers. Somehow they came to the conclusion that the Bengal Tigers would be a good choice. It's sort of a mouthful, don't you think? Go Bengal Tigers! Run Bengal Tigers! Kick the ball the other way, Bengal Tigers!

Caroline has so much fun at soccer practice, but that's because it's like social hour for the kids. And for the moms, too! You know how 2nd grade girls (and their moms) like to chat.

Oh, just in case you wanted to know, I survived picture day. It wasn't bad at all. We had the big kids and they didn't need any help with schmutz removal from their faces. And they can comb their own hair. Although, I did have to help one kid remove green frosting from his forehead. I asked him if he had a cupcake at lunch and he confirmed my suspicions. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a good lunch unless you leave the cafeteria with frosting on your forehead.

My two and half hours spent at the school was well worth the free picture voucher I received. One other mom swept in just as her daughter's class was having their pictures taken. She came in all sing-songy and said "I'm here to pass out combs!" It was bizarre. I don't know anyone who is that eager to pass out plastic combs. Evidently, she thought if she came just for her kid's class, she'd get a free picture voucher, too. From what I hear, she's famous for this ploy. But, it didn't work this time. She left, sans voucher.

And all is right with the world.