Last Saturday we worked in the backyard: gardening, weed terminating, and preforming general maintenance. As the morning wore on we stopped for a late breakfast and took time to plan for the rest of the day. The kids were all hyper from the fresh air and Mary and Will were smiling at the spring like weather. 
Out of the blue Lillian grabbed Mary's hand and dragged her to the back door. "Look at the pretty tree 'mudder'," she said with a big grin. "That's our apricot tree." Mary responded and started to head back to the kitchen. Lillian's eyes got big and she pulled in Mary's hand again.
"Close the door mom we have to look out the window." She said and then with a very serious expression made her hands into pretend binoculars. "Come on mom we have to sing."
The two of them sang:
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise.
Blossoms popping right before my eyes.
I can take an armful and make a treat,
a popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.
It [isn't] really so
But it seems to me
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree."
After the song was over Lillian ran outside climbed up into the tree planter grabbed some blossoms and wrinkled her nose. "Mom they're flowers not Popcorn!" She yelled.
Anyway so our backyard is definitely coming together. The grass is coming up, albeit a bit patchy but it still has time to fill in before the heat comes. The tree circle is underway and the garden has begun to take shape. 
The peach tree we planted last Autumn is already in leaf and the Fantex ash is budding like the Apricot.
The first sproutlings of the year are up and put a smile on Mary's face every time she goes out to work on the yard.
Yahoo, it's official Spring has Sprung in the desert.
