March-ish

That about sums up life these days.  It's been rather, well, March around here. Nothing bad, mind you.  Just not so remarkable.  The weather is cold, the days are longer but just barely; there are no real holidays to look forward to for more than a month yet. We're all a little stir crazy, casting about for something to do in the midst of the ordinary busyness of our lives.  The days are racing by and I am happy to see them go because each day is one day closer to spring-- yet I hate the feeling of unmarked time that hangs over weeks like this, time slipping away and I am not treasuring it enough.

Sigh. 

It will be April soon enough.

In the meantime, we are doing our best to enjoy the March we are in.

Last weekend the kids and I took a mini-road trip to North Canton to spend the day with family.  We've been meaning to visit my cousin Diana in her new home there for a long time, and finally found ourselves the perfect excuse for the drive:

This little guy, our newest second-cousin, Alexander.  Six days old!  A perfect little squishy!   Ivy adored him and Jack adored time with his big cousin Johnny. (He told Nat later, "I didn't really look at the baby... I just went and played...").  I got the added bonus of seeing my Aunt too.  We stayed for dinner and had a really lovely day all told.  

Also last weekend: skiing!  When winter never ends, what to do but teach your son to ski at the local park? Jack discovered our set of tiny skis and found that the boots fit him pretty well.  He started on the little bump of a hill in our front yard and by Sunday he was ready to face the big mountain:

Other little moments this week:

Jack made these pancakes all by himself.  And ate the lot.

Picnics in the sunny bedroom.

 Library time....

a little fuzzy, but jack curled himself up and read the first 2 pages of this book from his new favorite series, Encyclopedia Brown.....

 Birthday celebrations with Gram..

A lovely evening visit to the Botanical Garden to enjoy Orchid Mania before it goes...

Ivy calls this the "butterfly map"

Finally, some video cuteness for you.