Spring has Sprung - and a Junior Master Chef Challenge

Well Spring has finally arrived. It's like Mother Nature was watching the calendar, just waiting for the right date to bring warmer weather, sun and flowers in the garden. Apart from a couple of days, the weather has just completely switched, which I'm thankful for. I need some sun! Anyway, I've had a couple of azaleas in a pot on my balcony for probably close to 2 years, they have looked healthy for the whole time, but just never flowered.  Just the other day I noticed quite a few buds forming, and now one is in full bloom, the other not far behind. Here they are:

We had another crazy busy weekend, filled with karate stuff amongst other things. Saturday DS #2 started his first XMA class (eXtreme Martial Arts) which combines karate with gymnastic type moves. He did really well. Then in the afternoon he went to pre-season kumite training for the state team. Then we went to the drive-in to see "Despicable Me". Sunday I had to head out early for calisthenics group photos, and once I got home DS #2 required my supervision to make deluxe choc chip cookies and cupcakes for the master chef challenge at school today. He did it all himself, all I did was get the ingredients down from the high shelf, and put things in the oven. I did offer some suggestions, and made sure he kept checking the recipe, but the end results were all his own efforts. He was justifiably proud of them too, and so excited about the thought of maybe making it through to the cook-off at school on Friday. x Fingers crossed x.  Here's what he created: