Now, it wasn't so very cruel of me to post all those belated snowy pictures last time since I'm making up for it by not posting a single picture of the real March snow that we got in the last several weeks. Instead, look! My kids outside riding bikes! (Ignore the snow piles in the pictures, I promise they were melting.)

Everyone's complaining about the weather, but to be honest I don't mind March's seasonal forgetfulness all that much; sure she's somehow got me shivering in the 50 degrees that saw me wearing flip flops only the week before (thanks to the 70 degree day in between), but I like to see it as little gifts of the spring I've been pining for intermixed with enough cold days to allow me to wrap up the last bit of wintry things I wasn't quite ready to let go. We played outside and went to the park and even ate on the back porch, but we still had days for maple steamers and savory popcorn snacks (with parmesan and dill) and chicken soup and stuck-inside crafts. Maybe March knows me better than I know myself.

I figured the last day of Christmastide was a good day to give a summary of the activities of the season. 

We all started to come down with some kind of cold on Christmas Eve, and it still just refuses to die (hence the sleeping Tenny up there). Alan is still coughing at night and Indy and Tenny have runny noses that won't quit. I'd certainly say it's the longest lasting virus we've ever been so unfortunate to cross paths with. It's been our constant companion this whole season, but we still mustered the strength to find wonder where we could and enjoy Christmas as a family and with our families. 

We decorated the tree on Christmas Eve as we had a planned, and it so special doing it that way. A new tradition, for sure. We started with a pretty equal mix of ornaments, with mostly wood and felt on the bottom, but those were being stolen from the tree so often that they, too, slowly migrated to the top until the bottom found itself completely bare! Whoops!

On Christmas morning Alan and I had just one gift for each child wrapped under the tree. In future years I think we might start the "want, need, wear, read" theme, but we were able to squeak by one more year with kids totally thrilled with only one present from us. For Tenny we got the woodland bunny by Jellycat, and Indy received two Elsa Beskow books: Woody, Hazel and Little Pip and Children of the Forest.

We asked our families to be so kind as to consolidate or limit gifts this year and they got us some wonderful basic imaginative toys: a wooden table and chairs for Indy and Tenny to share, a nice big set of blocks, this adorable wooden mini baby play set for Indy, and a wooden fishing set for Tenny, among other things (wool socks and books and organic cotton clothing). I'm so grateful for our families and how thoughtful they are with gifts.