I’m in the Christmas Spirit today. (Welcome Spring ’11!)

The flowering pear trees are our favorite marker of Spring's arrival. The first little flower on our small tree opened up on March 10th. But the older trees around town had already been blooming for weeks, looking like big white snowballs on sticks.

March 20, 2011. Welcome Spring '11!

This is the first year I've had hyacinths in our yard. These were a gift in a pot last winter that lit up my kitchen. When they died I didn't have the heart to throw them away so I stuck them in the ground. Look what I got -- flowers in my yard!

This is a Camellia bush. I had never heard of seen one of these before moving South. Who would have thought you could have rose-like flowers blooming in the winter? What a great idea! What a great plant.

I had never seen these purple perennials before either. WHY NOT!!? They are hearty to -30 degrees so it seems they should be sold in the Midwest's Zone 5. I found them at Wal-Mart in early March and planted them in this flower bed that Tim made for me as one of my many 40th birthday presents last fall. (The pile of 10 cubic yards of compost that he hauled, dug, and moved for me, was my favorite gift!)

Finches eating off of Tim's Valentine's present.

Narcissus...Tete a Tete variety (or something like that.)

Daylilies...

Rye grass...

Purple Pansies in a pot with Boxwood.

Another Camlelia bush in bloom.

I planted this Hyacinth bulb in the beginning of December. I can't wait to see it grow!

My pansies are finally starting to fill in. The yellow ones are my favorite because you can see them the best from inside the house. They helped brighten up our winter, and should last until May when they are finally baked to a crisp from the sun. They are totally worth the work!

I began this post thinking I would write about the one reason I actually DON’T like Christmas. It’s just too much work!

But then when I started looking at all these photos of what’s blooming in my yard…and the WORK it took to have all the flowers blooming this spring…

Well, I guess that was kind-of-a-lot-of-work too. But nobody “made” me do it. I guess that’s the difference in my mind. And then once the bulbs or bushes are planted, I get to sit back and simply enjoy seeing new life coming up in my yard every spring.

I look forward to spring like some people anticipate Christmas. It is one of my all-time favorite times of year. My heart sings when I see trees start to bud and flowers peek out of the ground.

And since I’m not irritated or tired from having to work so hard to do the things that help to make the “feeling of Christmas” happen, the first day of SPRING makes me think of God more than I ever do at Christmas time.

How nice of Him to make our world so beautiful. He didn’t have to create a gazillion different flowers and trees for us to enjoy. But He did. And he certainly didn’t have to leave heaven to become a baby here on earth either, but He did! We don’t deserve either of these two things. But he loved us enough to do both.

So today, on the First day of Spring, I’ll be in the Christmas Spirit. Thankful that Jesus came. And thankful that God is the master artist who created this beautiful world.