march madness.

I have to say, I'm fading fast. I have been so chipper and on top of things this winter, but no longer. I grew up in Idaho, and have lived in Michigan for 4 years, so I know spring doesn't show up in March and stay. No, there are warm sunny days, and then a surprise snowfall and a chill, and then warm sunny days. But you see, that is not happening. It is just freezing cold. All the time. The snow actually finally melted. We can see our grass! But daily highs are still below freezing and it has been so windy. So miserable. So while I know spring comes with it's glitches, I would just like to actually see a single day where the sun is warm. And then several more after that. Until then, I'll continue to self-medicate with high doses of sugar.

But we hold on. We had a fun simple St Patrick's Day. If you want to confuse and aggravate a couple of 2-year-olds, just start their day with a leprechaun treasure hunt. They were so not thrilled with it. We ate green food and corned beef and cabbage. It was a really cold day (surprise!) so we just played inside all day. Simple but good. Our current life theme.

My kids are cute. John's new thing is screaming "I did it!" whenever he does something. Its ridiculous in the best way. He really likes to do things himself: buckle his carseat, wash himself in the bath, put on his boots. Its really great when you like things to take 4 times as long as they should. He screams and runs to me whenever he gets red marker on his hands (which is a lot, he's not the most skilled artist). I couldn't figure it out until tonight I realized . . . I'm pretty sure he thinks it is blood. The kid really is just all over the place. The speech therapist came and called him "animated." They must get training to use polite diction because that is the most perfect word for him. Chris cut his hair and now his ears stick out all the more and I just want to eat him up.

Quinn says "no" with a French accent. She wears sunglasses 80% of the time and glass slippers 70% of the time (I often put her down wearing both). She has this little toy Minnie she loves and is constantly obsessing over which bow the Minnie should wear and which dress. She loves the concept of mama and baby, so she will pick out a large and small object (like a large rock and a small rock) and that will be the mama and baby. She also cares for her baby and is the most stressed out little mother I've ever seen. So that should bode well in the long run. She calls rocks "woah" because every time John or Carly throws a rock I say "woah!"  I've been teaching them both shapes and colors with mixed results (aka, Quinn is all over it, while John drives his trucks around). They are so fun.

Carly currently loves holding tea parties (where we drink "chocolate milk"). Today at the library she picked out a book about space and one about tornadoes. I told her all about tornadoes and tornado chasers and I think she is 70% fascinated 30% terrified. She has really been excelling at school. Every day I pick her up every kid in the line gives her a hug. We had parent teacher conference and her teacher said she has totally blossomed and is doing so great.  She is so smart. She and Chris read the picture scriptures every day and the other day she walked in and heard me listening to the New Testament. She heard the word "kill" and I ended up explaining to her that not everyone it the scriptures is nice. "Yeah," she said, "like Nehor."  I can't decide if she is tiny or huge. I suppose she is somewhere in between.

On Saturday we had a "favorite things" day. We went to a local place that sells big machinery (so appropriately called "the digger store" by me) so we could get a good look at some excavators and backhoe loaders. You'd think John had set foot in Disneyland. Then we headed to the Human Society so Quinn could pet some kitties and bark with the dogs. The cat room was totally terrifying, I will say. Nothing like being surrounded by perched cats. Carly took the opportunity to fall in love with a little white pit mix named Miss Piggie and left in tears over her. Because a dog is exactly what we need right now (or ever). We watched Carly's favorite movie (can you guess) and I ended the night with my all-time favorite guy watching my all time favorite show (The West Wing). All Saturdays should be so good (if they have to be so cold).

This March is leading to near madness. The sun will come. I know it will. And it will be so bright and warm and wonderful. It will come. It will come. It will come. Until then, we'll embrace the madness, embrace each other, and keep partying on.

xoxo.