i think it's spring . . .

and I'm sure as I say that the snow clouds are gathering somewhere, but not here today. Today it's going to be 74. Seriously. We've had a slew of beautiful days, then some crazy, flooding rain, and more beautiful days.

Finally we can go out in the yard and not be bundled!

Finally I can let Gus shed her shoes and she can feel mud in her toes!

And finally our whole house is covered in mud instead of salt and slush and I don't even mind.

The weekend before last we spent time cleaning the yard and then had the first bonfire that didn't end in goosebumps. This past weekend we had some friends over -- our first in town friends!! we're trying not to stalk them. -- and we all walked down to the park to visit the ducks and play and then grilled burgers and hot dogs. It was awesome.

So, I tentatively say Happy Spring!!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day! I talked with Guthrie about St. Patrick's day and how she's a little Irish, but that we claim we're substantially more Irish when there's green beer and corned beef involved. It's just what you do. She seemed to appreciate our somewhat fluid ancestries. And then it came time for picking out green clothes for today. That didn't go so well. Guthrie's been choosing her own outfits lately and she's come up with some dooseys. Like all of her tiedyed items. Together. Or flowers. Girl likes a theme. So, after holding up several options for St. Patrick's Day I gave up and moved on. Twenty minutes later I see her venture into her closet and talk to herself about green. No, no, no orange, no red, no blue. Ahh dreen. And then she can't get it off the hanger, which was apparently devestating. I stepped in and rescued the shirt before it ended up torn in half. And indeed it's the shirt I'd suggested half an hour ago.

I'm continually reminded that the world no longer moves on my schedule. That allowing Gus a few, or several, extra minutes to process makes our lives so much easier. My patience gets tested with this so often. I feel like it's my job right now to help Guthrie get into a space where she can make decisions. Don't roll your eyes at me! I don't want a kid who can't make choices for herself. Even if her only choice right now is the vegetable at dinner or which green shirt. Eventually those will be life skills and I want her to have the confidence that her choice is a good one. That she picked the corn and we all ate it and it was good. Go, Gus! I'm also reminded that she processes at such a different speed than I do. That sometimes I need to introduce and idea and let it be. For like 3 hours and then bring it back up and hope to have some success. But man oh man remembering to build in the extra time it takes to get to that point. That's rough. Rough, but so worth it.

So, here's to picking out your own green, or not, outfit today!