March was cold. Colder than the rest of the winter, really. Though we made it through February without a single snow day, March saw several of them. A few extra days off of school were hardly unwelcome for the kids, who pulled out the sleds and had a wonderful time on the hill near our house, not to mention building snow forts and snow men. I, on the other hand, was ready to see some flowers popping out.
To keep warm and connected with my four kids who now spend much of their days away from me, I've continued our tradition of planning monthly lunch dates with each of them. Much of the time, the dates are subsidized by the schools' "Book It" reading program that rewards kids for reading with free pizza. Though Asher has graduated out of the program (his current favorite lunch date is Firehouse Subs), I love taking the younger three in for Pizza Hut's lunch buffet, which has changed very little since I was earing my own "Book It" awards in elementary school. It cracks me up when the kids get "salad" from the salad bar that consists mainly of jello and cottage cheese. Still, it's a cozy place to get away to in the middle of a cold day, and I'm glad to have such cuties to share it with.
In the cold evenings, Aaron and I are letting our minds wander across the possibilities of the future. We're beginning to think about where we'd like our family to be in five years and in ten, and how to make some of our ideas come to life. My current favorite idea is for him to audition for the television program
The Voice (how can he blame me? He makes us watch it obsessively) as an avenue to meeting people in the popular music world for whom he could write songs--he writes fantastic songs. He laughs at my plan, but I don't think he's written it completely off yet, so we'll see (notice how I'm much better at making plans for him than for myself? Sadly, the ones I make for him tend to be much more successful than the ones I make for me, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd have some books in bookstores by now). My favorite song he's written recently was born after he decided to take on a few of the lunch-dates with the kids. On the day he was going to pick up Sera, he was running a few minutes behind, and when he got to the school she had already gotten her lunch tray. She was crying as she had to dump it to go with him, and as he was cheering her up, the sweetest song came into his head. It's called "Butterfly," and is about a little girl whose dad calls her "butterfly." Through the verses, she's waiting for him at various stages of life, and he promises he'll always be there for her--the chorus ends with "I love you, my butterfly." Obviously it's much better if you actually get to hear him sing it, but I'd sure love to see him go somewhere with it.
Even though it finally started warming up as April approached, I was very ready for
real springtime. When spring break hit and Aaron announced that he would be working straight through it (he always does, really, because his spring break never matches up with the kids' spring break), I conspired with a friend down in Louisville, Kentucky to come down for a visit and a trip down to Mammoth Cave. I packed the kids into the van, let them turn on some movies (it is fun to have a DVD player in the car now--we feel so spoiled), and we headed down. Bethany Griffin, a writing friend with whom I've corresponded frequently over the last five years, but whom I'd never met in real life, has two kids, Asher's and Addy's ages, and they opened their house to us and let us stay for a couple of nights. In between, we visited Mammoth Cave and chatted about anything and everything. Our kids hit it right off, and had fun playing music and watching movies together. Most importantly, we all warmed up a little while we waited for the sunshine to unthaw us up north.
Easter holiday was lovely, if not elaborate. We had one family of friends over for our annual Easter egg hunt, and the kids braved the bitter breezes as they filled their baskets. In preparing Easter dinner, I inadvertently added a new tradition for our family--"challah." Challah, of course, is the manna-like bread that Jewish families share to remember Passover, but my family enjoyed the sweet, braided bread so much that we've continued to have it every Sunday since. It's a nice way to celebrate the Sabbath day. At this time of renewal, we hope we will look inward for ways to renew ourselves; to become better, kinder, and more peaceful. We wish the same for you!
