I love my yard in the springtime

I love the week of spring where everything just seems to explode with color. It almost seems to happen overnight. Trees that looked lifeless a few days before are turning green and some are bursting with color. Two years ago, I received a weeping cherry tree as a birthday present. I simply can't get enough of these trees when they are in bloom. We planted the tree after blooming season so I didn't get the full effect of how pretty my present really was. So I imagined that the following spring I'd be able to take a picture with my new baby in front of my pretty tree. Then just as the blossoms were about to open, a very untimely freeze struck the area and I was denied such a simple pleasure as all the buds fell off. Finally, two years later, I got to enjoy the beauty of those cherry blossoms.

In an effort to fill our yard with trees that the previous owners cut down, we planted a few other flowering trees last fall. This week we were rewarded greatly by lovely and profuse blooms. The Boss is obsessed with being outside so I have a lot of time to observe the beauty of the work we've done.

I also have a lot of time to realize how much more work we have to do...a lot!

Excuse me while I go bury my head in this tree.
I also wanted to introduce you to some new inhabitants of our household. I'm thinking of charging rent because this is less of a nest and more of a bird apartment building.
Our small back porch is covered with an awning and the birds decided this is a perfect place to set up shop. Now I understand why we found a tube of bird repellent left by the previous owners. I'm not sure what it was but we laughed about it and threw it away. We actually kind of like having our new friends, but sometimes they don't appreciate it when we want to barbecue on their porch. They get very vocal about it and sometimes have a standoff with my husband as he flips the meat and veggies in great haste.

The nest is apparently pretty hot property, the Park Avenue of nests if you will, as we have witnessed hostile attempts by other birds to take it over as we eat our breakfast.

The trees, the flowers, the birds, they're all just a diversion from what waits for me inside which is this:
The Boss made this mess in about 2.3 seconds after she woke up. Nevermind it took me just a wee bit longer than that to put it all back neatly last night. See that path that is cleared in the midst of every book and toy she pulled from the shelves? I had to make that to get her out as she was trapped. And this is just a portion of the daily tornado that is our family room. Is it too early to play outside?