March here in South Carolina has come in like a lion every year for the last four years. Odds are that it will come in like a lion this year too although if it decided to come in as a lamb I would be really excited.
We have had a mild winter here in the Upstate. We have had no snow. There have been many days that have been in the 60s. JDaniel hasn’t worn his mittens or his woolen hat this year at all. It looks like a lamb year might be in the making.
But…
March has a way of changing the weather here dramatically. JDaniel’s birthday is on March 5th and he had interesting weather each of his almost four years of life.
His Birth Day
The day JDaniel was born there were huge downpours of rain. We could hear the rain pounding against our hospital room windows. I was so grateful to be in a warm and cozy room with my guys. I remember thinking the weather really didn’t match how I was feeling on our first day as a family. It looked so grim and wet outside.
Year One
We had a snowstorm right before JDaniel’s first birthday. I dragged JDaniel outside in a snowsuit that I didn’t think we would ever need to take pictures of.
He was so bundled up that he probably couldn’t have moved his arms or his legs if he tried to. I am not sure what he made of this cold wet snow that I sat him in to take a picture. He didn’t fuss but, I am not sure that he liked it too much.
JDaniel’s playgroup came over for his first birthday party a few days after the storm hit and most of the snow had melted. The weather had warmed up so much that I had bottles of sunblock for the children to put on when we went out to play on the deck. There was still snow in a few places in the yard but, I don’t think any of the children had coats on and many had sun hats or baseball caps.
Year Two
After having mild weather the year before, I decided to have JDaniel’s birthday at the zoo. The weather was cold and a little windy. It was fine we were running through the zoo. It was cold when we stopped moving to have monkey cupcakes under one of the pavilions.
That year all the children had on woolen hats or hoods and most wore mittens until it was time to have cupcakes. I think I decided to bring his presents home instead of opening them there. It was just too cold.
Year Three
JDaniel wanted a construction site party. I thought our yard would be the perfect place to dig in and play with JDaniel construction equipment. The weather was cold and windy once again after being pretty the week before.
The children crowded into our kitchen to have lunch and eat cake. They played in our two upstairs bedrooms with the construction equipment while the moms chatted in the living room.
Our Cape Cod-style house was okay for eight children and their moms when JDaniel was one but, it felt really crowded with eight three or close to three and their moms.
I decided that the party needed to somewhere else the next year and it would probably need to be inside.
Year Four
I don’t know what kind of weather we will have next week for JDaniel’s birthday. I do know that I have been stuck by the decision to have inside somewhere outside of our house.
We will be at Chuck E. Cheese next week where there is plenty of room to play and where they will do the clean-up even if we have to dig out our driveway to get there.
