Remember how I said I liked my bangs? Well, I have changed my mind.

The hassle now outweighs the benefits and I think I am going to grow the shaggy strands out, starting now. I knew it was inevitable, and while it was a welcome change in the dead of winter when I needed some variety and spice, I am basically over it now and am bracing myself for the awkward growing-out experience that lies ahead. Owell. Live and learn.

Yesterday we drove my mom to the airport after week-long stay at our place. Cue the sad trombone. It’s always so amazing and wonderful when she comes to visit. She cooks and cleans and speaks encouraging words to my stressed-out heart. She follows behind us with a vacuum, keeping the house looking less like a pigsty than its usual state; she makes me laugh, she loves the girls and cherishes her time with them. She is the best mom I have ever had. :)

Coffee breaks and pancake breakfasts. Score!

The signs of spring make my heart happy: the little tips of green grass poking through the earth, the daylight stretching into early evening again, the sound of birds chirping in the morning. This winter probably passed the fastest in my life (and I mean that in a good way; typically I feel winter drags on for years and is something to be endured rather than enjoyed) and I think it’s because we are getting to that stage with the kids where it’s actually possible to enjoy being outside with them. They can put on their own snow pants and boots and not have to go pee as soon as all the buttons and zippers are done up; they can play in the snow by themselves and not have a tantrum if they get snow down their mittens. And the big girls can now ski! Getting outside made all the difference and helped the winter season feel less like the agonizing purgatory than it had in years past. That being said, I prefer spring and summer and fall to winter and am so heartened by the change in season that’s all around us.

Other than that, life is just rolling along at its usual, wild pace. It is good and exhausting and beautiful and stressful.

Happy Spring to you!