March came in like a lion...

He's so dapper.

Not really! I just thought "March update" sounded boring! Haha.

I'm not sure it came in like a lamb, either, but looking back at these photos we were obviously outside a bit more this month than had

Love these tulips 

from my favorite flower shop. 

become usual. The month was still overwhelmingly cool and cloudy, but at least we did not have the freezing cold temperatures of January and February. And there were a few nicer days sprinkled in.

Tulips were out in all the stores and flower shops, pansies began appearing at garden centers, it's beginning to feel like Spring finally! Snowdrops appeared in our yard, as did crocuses. The crocus festival took place in the Jasne Błonia the third weekend in March, though we did not attend (Emmy was sick on Saturday and then it rained on Sunday so we stayed home). Anyways, by the time we returned from our Easter break travels (more about that to come in future posts), it felt like Spring had actually arrived!

Saturday morning fun. Giddy-up! 

Charles was out of town again for the middle two weeks of the month.  We plugged along here at home. Tuesday the 8th was International Women's Day.  Here in Poland, women receive flowers from, well, lots of people! Emmy's classmates brought flowers for the girls, and for the children to bring home to their mothers. I saw people

Daddy makes a fun horse.

handing them out to ladies at the mall. My landlords brought a bouquet of tulips to me. What a lovely tradition! Some of my friends and I were discussing how this is something we should get behind in the U.S. and really play up this day, celebrating all women, rather than Mother's Day. Not that you shouldn't celebrate Mother's Day with your mom, but it seems to have become such hugely commercialized day with so much attention given to it, and yet it is a day that can be hard for a lot of people  who have lost their moms or children or who long to be a mother but cannot. (Speaking from experience).

 On Wednesday the 9th, I was able to attend a cooking class at culinary school. One of our friends set it up, and it was a lot of fun! The chef appeared on the Polish version of Top Chef or Master Chef, I'm not sure which, but after that he said there was a lot of interest so he opened this school. The cusine for the evening was "modern Polish fusion" and the food was delicious! I'm pretty sure we each ate 200 grams of butter a piece though, there was so much that went into the dishes!  The first course was a beet salad with goat cheese, the second course was a Jerusalem artichoke soup with  parsley pesto and bacon, the main course was cod with a pea puree, and the final course was a flour-less chocolate cake. Wow. I'm hungry thinking about it again! 

Walking to dinner in Old Town on the weekend when Daddy was home in between his trips. Such handsome dudes.

Look, Mama!

Strolling through the garden.

The next week the weather was a bit warmer a few days so Matthew and I enjoyed more time in the garden. He loves to pick up these tiny pine cones in the yard, and he found he has pockets. Time to check pockets when I wash clothes now!  

Snowdrops and Rags

St. Patrick's Day was a BEAUTIFUL day, and the kids enjoyed playing on the playground after school with some of their friends. 

Emmy, Freja, and Claire

Mark, Freja and Emmy

Sweet friends

Some days just call for fancy.

Trying on his new hat, again in the garden...

...picking up pine cones. This was over the weekend, you can see Daddy's hand so he was back home! 

Sunday morning breakfast. Eating European style, breads, cheese, meats, fruit, some pastry, yum! 

We missed the crocus festival since Emmy was sick, but I drove by one afternoon the following week to take a peak and snapped a couple of photos. Beautiful!

Crocuses in the Jasne Błonia. 

The end of March involves our Easter Break travels, so that's up next! 

How we take a photo

These days trying to get one good photo is a challenge. I thought I would share with you a couple of series of photos, which make me laugh as I'm editing them. For many of the photos you see here, I've gone through quite a few to get the money shot. Emmy is in this phase of making silly or strange faces. Or she's trying to help get Matthew to smile, which means she's not looking at the camera when he finally is. Maddening, I tell you.

Here is a good example from New Year's Day. I wanted a nice photo of them since it was a holiday. Emmy was grumpy, at first, about having her picture made.

Both of them started off looking pretty cranky.

She quickly got the giggles. 

Now he's grinning.

But she cannot stop laughing. 

This is as good as it got. The silly went downhill from there. 

She started sticking out her tongue so I threw in the towel. 

In this fun series from a couple of days ago, I wanted a quick photo of them in some new shirts my mom had sent. She had ordered both shirts a little big, and Emmy's was quite big. Though she likes the shirt, it was too uncomfortable to wear (she has major issues these days about clothes and their fit/feel), and I told her she did not have to wear it yet, we could save it for next winter. But, I did want to take one quick photo of them in the shirts to send to SuSu to thank her. Somehow she missed this information, so when I forced them to sit down for photos, well you can see for yourself:

Grumpy.

Daddy is trying hard to get them to smile. 

Suddenly, she will "help" make Matthew smile by making a silly face.

Meanwhile he's about done. 

Now she's "smiling" and he's grumpy. 

Daddy tries to readjust and get him smiling again. 

He wasn't having it. 

Really not having it. 

And he's done. 

Don't worry, he was smiling just a moment later. 

And in neither case did I get a really good photo of the two of them at the same time. There's always next time!