family: Spring has finally sprung

So as the title of this post tells you, Spring has indeed finally sprung around here and subsequently we've been very busy at the homestead. This means the work starts in earnest and doesn't stop until falls 1st freeze. We've had the added benefit of 1 little helper over the past couple of weekends, with a couple more weekends to come. Elizabeth's mom is traveling on business and we are helping out by taking granddaughter #3 into our home for the next few weekends. We are thrilled by this for many reasons: 1-an extra pair of hands (even 7 year old ones) are welcome at this time of year and 2-when her mom returns they will be moving to Chicago:( Now I'm aware that many, many grandparents have many, many more miles between themselves and their grand-kids, and this is an absolutely wonderful opportunity for her mom, but dang it, that doesn't make it any easier to take. So we are happy to have her while we can.
On to more pleasant topics, the spring planting season is in full swing around here. We are now adding a series of raised beds instead of large planting areas and I'm really liking the look of this new garden. We don't anticipate completing this task until spring of next year but so far, it's coming together nicely. I hope spring has sprung in your area and that all of your winter cobwebs are blown away by the 1st nice spring breeze!