Fancy Nancy and March's Lion.

There was some extra "gussying up" this morning in our household, as you can see from the photo. Today at my daughter's school was "Dress as your favorite character from a book" day, so with only a day's notice to make a costume, we went with this look. One of my daughter's favorite books is entitled "Fancy Nancy", whose main character is a little girl who likes all things fancy, like feather plumes and pink and sparkly crowns and jewels. This little girl encourages her family to see the "fancy" side of life....just a really fun book about letting the joy of fun, and dress-up, and fancy into your life. Kennedy loves this book, and we read it at bedtime several nights per week...she can pretty much read it all by herself now. So, today, Kennedy donned her pink dress-up skirt, pink feather boa, sparkly dress-up jewels, and her princess crown and went to kindergarten as Fancy Nancy. It always amazes me that while Kennedy is all about things like digging for worms in the dirt and diving for frogs into ponds, she also loves dress-up and princesses and tiaras and all things sparkly and flowery. This morning, as Fancy Nancy, she looked so precious and was so excited to share her look and her favorite book with her friends and teacher. I am so touched by her love of books and reading and imagination. Hopefully, we can all learn a lesson from Fancy Nancy and let a "little bit of fancy" into our lives.

Today in Michigan is right down nasty....in my 30-minute drive from home to the university, I encountered very icy roads, rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain and, to top it all off, thunder and lightening. It was very bizarre and made for a very wet and sloppy mess around here. After trekking between meetings and classes and getting my feet soaked numerous times, I was just ready to get home, get back into my cozy PJ pants and sweatshirt, and call it a day. March in Michigan has certainly bared its lions' teeth, so hopefully that means nicer weather in the coming weeks, or so the saying goes. As of today, I am officially on spring break, so I am definitely ready for a break and thinking toward warmer, sunnier days and the flowers, outdoor fun, and other joys that come along with spring.