March-ing

March is nearly over and I've hardly updated at all. I know you all understand. All my projects are like cooking pots and they're all just simmering and have to be kept that way. My planner is rapidly becoming my mainstay in life. Should I accidentally murder anyone, it will most likely immediately become a hoarcrux. My planner that vital.

We have been keeping (extremely) busy, though. Here are some highlights:

The weekend before St. Patrick's day, we caught the storyteller at the Lyric theater doing a St. Patrick's themed session for free! Blacksburg never fails to provide fun, wholesome stuff for kids.

Psst... don't tell Adele, but this extremely talented young woman is the same one who impersonated Princess Esme for Adele's birthday party this past year...

We continued to attend Wednesday Lenten suppers at church. Major side perk: I get to hang out with babies:

Me and sweet Hazel

Spring has finally asserted dominance over Blacksburg.

Miles' science fair finally came and went. His hardy carpenter ants live on, to chew scraps of meat and honey in their jar in Miles' room, to this day.

I was so proud of the way he articulately and enthusiastically described his project to the circulating judges. He really hardly needed any prodding to describe the whole process and all that he's learned. 

The turnout was excellent! Adele got to meander around and participate where she could.

Meanwhile, Adele has been making enormous strides with potty training. Like, she's pretty much there. We went from utter despair that she would ever use the toilet at all, to near perfect confidence that she will use it every time, in a week. It was just as the friendly woman at church told me one week: she had to make up her own mind. When Adele makes up her mind to a thing, that thing shall be done.

She's been like that since birth. 

The Ariel doll was the long-anticipated prize for making it a week without accidents. This is such an enormous relief to our family! Thank you, Patron Saint of Preschoolers, whoever you are!

Last weekend, Jon was gone for even longer than usual (he works 6 hours a day on weekends, at the library). But it's ok, because he was winning this at a conference:

Obviously, it's on the refrigerator. "Best Paper"!!!

Warmer and warmer, and closer and closer to the main action of the semester.

Actually, it's all felt like main action. This will go down as one of the more intense semesters of our life together.

Fortunately, there is sunshine, flowers, and Eastertide! 

It does help, when you lift your eyes to the hills, wondering where your help will come from this time, that those hills are increasingly green and fragrant.