celebrate spring

Celebrate the Beginning of Spring

It’s finally time to celebrate the arrival of Spring in Kentucky. Now that the daffodils are blooming, the grass is starting to show the green of new growth and the trees are budding, we can start to unbundle from a cold snowy winter and enjoy the beginning of my favorite time of the year.

celebrate spring

Celebrate the Beginning of Spring

Spring is a great time to evaluate where we are and where we want to go in 2016. Just a few months ago, we were making new years resolutions and choosing a word for the year. My word for 2016 was Possibilities. Spring is the best time of year to think about all the things that are possible to discover, learn and experience. Here are a few ideas to help you celebrate the beginning of Spring!

POSSIBILITIES

Get crafty:

You don’t have to have a degree in craftiness to enjoy crafting something special for spring. You can create a simple thumbprint designed flower pot with finger paint and little terra cotta pots. Spread out some newspaper and spend a few minutes making a custom flower pot for Mother’s Day or just to cheer up your porch. After the paint dries, plant a few seeds and watch the flowers grow.

pot luke hand 4

Find a small animal coffee cup or container and plant some grass seeds to create your own grow animal. We have a little monkey with green grass hair growing in our kitchen window. It’s a fun project for the kids and makes me smile each time I pass the window.

This past weekend I went to the store and bought a can of spray paint. Guess what I’m planning to do? I want to repaint the plastic chairs that have turned a horrible ugly shade of old dirty white. I also have some garden accent pieces in the backyard that have survived the winter but need some attention. It’s amazing how fresh things will look with a new coat of paint.

Get creative:

Take your lunch outside and plan a special teddy bear picnic with the kids. Pull out the teddy bear from your hope chest or storage and let a simple peanut butter jelly picnic turn into a trip down memory lane while you introduce each of the teddy bears to your kids. Do you remember where you got your first Winnie the Pooh? Where did blue jean bear come from? Make it even more fun by pulling out the fancy tea set from the storage box.

teddy bear picnic 1

Get clutter free:

Embrace the warmer weather with a garage clean out day. It’s amazing how one winter season can turn an organized garage into a collection spot for junk. Go through your closets and discard all the old sweaters that you didn’t want to wear this past winter because they didn’t fit right or have holes.

Decide whether the things are good enough to donate or if they just need to be dumped. Don’t make the mistake of keeping them for ‘a rainy day’ or a future garage sale unless you have already put a yard sale date on the calendar. There’s nothing worse than cleaning out the closets and then still having as much junk as when you started.

Eat Lighter:

With the warmer weather, many people start thinking about ways to lighten their diet. The hot comfort food from winter is now too heavy for the warmer days of spring. Start adding in more fruits, vegetables and salads. Mix it up with some new wraps or taco dishes. Not only will the lighter dishes taste good after a long winter of soups and heavy dishes, but your clothes will fit better by summer.

Get moving:

My grandmother loves her flowers. Each time we talk, we ask about what is blooming in our yards. Taking a daily walk around the yard is a great way to get a little bonus exercise, and also gives you the opportunity to appreciate the growth and changes in your flower beds.

One of the things I have loved to do for several years is take pictures of my flowers in the backyard. I have been keeping a simple online flower journal. I love looking back at the different years to see what has been growing!

How do you get ready for Spring? Got any tricks to help celebrate the best season of the year? I’d love to hear!

Excerpts of this article first appeared in the print edition of the Advocate Messenger, Danville, Kentucky 3/20/16.

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One Comment

  1. I am so hopeful that Spring is here to stay… tough to know here in MN. Last week we had a surprise 10 inches of snow in one day. Luckily it melted within a couple of days.

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