Wow. I can’t believe it’s been a week since we last talked. I find the last six weeks of the school year take me by surprise. There’s so much going on …

At our home, we celebrated Sophie’s 7^th birthday last Friday night and are now immersed in my older daughter, Liv’s, busy soccer schedule (her school team made it into the city finals – yeah!).

I’m trying to keep on top of weeding the garden (why do the weeds grow so, so much faster than anything else?) and get all of my annuals into the ground. I usually go for white flowers but after such a long winter I want my outdoor world awash in colour, so this spring and summer purple impatiens reign.

We’re also building a deck in our backyard. (Ok, my husband is actually building the deck while I play general contractor and monitor the progress).

With all this activity, I admit homework takes a backseat in our house. I was delighted when Sophie came home from school and announced her grade 1 teacher’s rule: No homework on lovely spring evenings. How very civilized.

I felt quite smug about my slacker attitude toward homework this morning when I read a report from Active Healthy Kids Canada. One of the key findings says: Parents should think about trading time spent doing school work for time spent being physically active with their children because research shows that kids who are active do better in the classroom.

Hello again.

First off, the winners of the fab Oster blender are: Stefanie, Angela and Garnet Girl. Congrats! (I wish I had a blender for everyone.)

Marta told me she would make brownies if she had won. Sorry you didn't win, but please do share your blender-brownies recipe with us Marta.

Now that's taken care of, let's get back to chatting ...

It's a gorgeous spring evening here in the West end of Toronto. My husband, kids and I have spent lots of time in High Park this week. The white blossom trees are breathtaking in full bloom. In the twilight they look like a blanket of soft fog hovering in the air.

May is my favourite season. Never fail, each year I am in awe of how nature renews herself.

My youngest daughter, Sophie (soon-to-be 7), was due on June 6th but I always said she would be my 'May baby' - and she was. Her middle name is 'May' because of my fondness for the month. May was also my perenially-sunny grandmother's name.

We have a special spring treat in our yard: a robin's nest. Liv, 10, is a champion tree climber. She spotted a nest in the 20-foot-tall evergreen tree in our front lawn and was half way up in no time. She soon discovered just how fiercely protective us mums can be when mama robin came flying at her in a fit of anger. Boy did Liv ever scoot down that tree in a hurry.

There's also a robin's nest on our neighbour's eavestrough and we have a bird's-eye view of it from the back window of our house. Each night after school and work, we peek at mama bird with our binoculars, looking for signs that her babies have hatched.

I think it's really these simple delights - these gifts of nature - that make May such a special month. Of course, there's Mother's Day, too!

My girls came home from school today (Friday) and excitedly hid their school-made creations wrapped in crinkly tissue paper. Hmm, I wonder if there's a macaroni necklace among them?

We don't usually make plans for Mother's Day but, instead, see what the day brings. Write to tell me how you spend Mother's Day 

P.S. Next time I write, I'll tell you how I spent Mother's Day and about my recent interview with a former CIA spy!