March Madness

Madness!  Last month was pure madness, as least as far as the weather was concerned.  March blew in like a snow-covered lion...and out like a snow-covered lion, too.

Nonetheless, we managed to have a whole slew of photo-worthy memory makers this month.  A roundup, mostly in photos:

Snowquestration, March 2013:  (following the March 1 sequestration in congress):

I love the "action" of this photo!  So busy!

A fearless, determined sledder is he

Catching snowflakes

About to "deliver" a snowball...

Nothing beats a picnic lunch, fireside, in your skivvies... and hat.

In between snow storms, we had a short burst of not-freezing weather in which I ran the Charlottesville 10 Miler.  It was a bit of a damp, drizzly run at first, but it cleared up nicely.  I ran my best-yet time of 1:25:09, which is ~8:30min/mile.  It was a good run.

Post-race

In March, we celebrate so many birthdays of so many good folks, especially my brother, dad, and Jeff.  We enjoyed a family outing to an awesome new-ish vineyard and pretended that the weather outside was as gorgeous as it was inside the unique greenhouse/seating area:

Love these happy faces! 

XOXOXO - outside the vineyard

Christmas came again in March in the form of "Kid's Choice Adventure Day."  The kids got to choose between many options - bowling, ice skating, a movie, swimming, or something new - like roller skating.  They chose roller skating.  It was such a blast!  Regrettably, I have no photos of this adventure.  But it was wonderful.  We drove to a rink about an hour and a half away, paid a mere $3 entry fee, and skated to 90's music for two solid hours.  It brought back so many fun memories from high school for me, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit of badass in me as I swizzled around the rink.  Aidan loved skating so much that he spent a whopping $40 of his own money to buy his very own set of skates (from Amazon) which he's used pretty much every day since they've arrived.  

A few random shots -
One snowy afternoon, Leo spent literally HOURS making one paper airplane after another.  He tested each one, then carefully laid it on the ground in a neat row.  His focus and determination was remarkable, especially given how much he struggles at times to stay focused on a task at hand.  I mostly took this photo as a reminder to myself that when the desire is strong enough, Leo has the single-minded determination to make anything happen.  Kind of like someone else I know.

So proud of his planes.

 This boy makes me laugh every time I turn around.  In this shot, he'd just disappeared to the basement for something.  I figured he was getting drawing paper.  I turned around and saw THIS - as he asked, "You want to play dodgeball with me?"

This is a look of glee mixed with giggles.

 Aidan started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the school year, and it has been amazing to see his progress!  He loves to diddle around on the keyboard in his room, but he also has made some seriously good progress in learning how to read music and play simple tunes.  I am so, so pleased that Aidan is an eager and willing piano student - our home had been missing something, and it wasn't until I heard Aidan first start practicing his music, over and over, that I realized how much our home needed the sound of young musicians.  I adore his music teacher, who is gifted in her musicality and also in her teaching ability.  She is such a good fit for Aidan in terms of her teaching style, her expectations, and her kind and loving nature, and he looks forward to the lessons almost as much as I do - they have afforded him such independence! It's one of my favorite moments of our weekly routine:  watching him hop on his bike and ride up the street to his lesson; peering out the window, 35 minutes later, waiting for his return.

He completed the Primer book of the series, and his teacher arranged a private recital, just for Aidan.  Here he is, playing one of his pieces: 

As my own piano teacher would say, "Aidan, that was almost perfect." 

Aidan with Ms. Christina, presenting his completion certificate

And finally, there was Easter. This year, it fell on the last day in March:  a cold, wet, chilly, cloudy day.  It didn't feel much like Easter to me, and I was endlessly grateful I'd chosen long-sleeved ensembles for the boys, and a cardigan that worked well with my dress.  I hosted Easter this year for the first time, and after the chaotic brunch and egg hunt before church followed by a beautiful worship service, I finally relaxed.  We had a lovely afternoon:

The menu:  maple glazed salmon; grilled pineapple salsa; Moroccan rice salad; 3-way deviled eggs; roasted asparagus and broccoli; small braided rolls; Toasted Head Chardonnay and a fruit tart for dessert.

"Peep-tinis"

I absolutely love the blazer that Leo is wearing... very retro. He pulls it off so well... when he agrees to wear it.

There are a lot of smiling faces here, a lot of happy memories.  They paint a very rosy picture of our life as a family.  Is our life rosy?  Eh.  Not so much.  It's messy.  It's loud.  It's hard.  It's frustrating and at times, it's lonely and sad.  But in these moments that are captured in photos - these real, true, happy, important moments - I am reminded of how much in our life is so good, so funny, so celebratory and so beautiful.  One of my favorite writers talks about how life is both "brutiful" and "beautiful."  The brutiful parts are hard, full of pain and struggle: brutal.  And yet there is so much that is beautiful in this life, too.

March was kind of brutiful.  March was very beautiful.