Captain’s Log, May 2, 2013—Mother Nature, we are willing to meet your demands. Please just stop with all the snow.

I admit that sometimes I wish Tim were more of an all-singing, all-dancing kind of Dad. “Okay, gang! Let’s train for a 5K !” or “Let’s form a family band—get out your instruments!” or “It’s Game Night!”

But the truth is that such enthusiastic planning from him would probably wear me out. And, anyway, his strengths come from a quieter place, which I’m often reminded of in unexpected ways.

Like last week. After the horrible events in Boston, I did my best to answer the kids’ questions. I wanted to be honest, but mostly I didn’t want them to know that the world can be like that.

Later in the week, I picked Lily up from school and saw her bouncing out of last year’s classroom followed by her old teacher. Mrs. J told me that Lily was explaining how we all have a good wolf and a bad wolf inside us, and the one that wins is the one we feed. Lily looked quite pleased, although I’m not sure if that was because it felt good to share wisdom or because she got some Skittles out of the deal. Probably both.

I realized that Tim must have shared the wolf story, hoping to help the kids make sense of why some people behave the way they do. He might not be flashy, but he’s awfully wise.

Here’s the full story, in case you haven’t heard it.

One day a Cherokee chief was talking to his grandson. “We all have a great battle going on inside us,” he told the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

One wolf is evil. Inside him lives anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. The other wolf is good. Inside him lives joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The elder went on and told the boy that this fight was going on inside him right now. And it would continue all his life. The little boy sat thoughtfully for a moment then turned to ask his grandfather a question.

“Which wolf will win?” he said.

The Cherokee chief smiled at him and said simply, “The one you feed.”

After what happened at Toy Story 3, I wasn’t about to watch Les Miserables in a theater with people. I kept putting off renting the movie because who goes around looking for reasons to cry? But Lexie finally said enough and tossed the DVD into our cart at the grocery store. Fine, I said, but I’m going to ease into it.

So I watched just the end with Lexie, noting that she was a sobbing mess, but I was fine. And then I watched some bits in the middle—again, fine, no big deal. And then I watched the entire thing and was a sobbing mess. Oh, that Hugh Jackman. I read somewhere that he could play Jean Valjean with his eyes alone, and it’s so true. He breaks your heart.

So then we had to get the soundtrack so we could sing along. And I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but after you’ve been singing in musical theater mode, it’s hard to stop singing like that. So you go around belting out, “You must do your math now. Yes, you must do your math now.” Even Will, who didn’t watch the movie but likes the CD, sang back, “But I don’t want to do my math. I’d rather go outside.” Which made my day.

I’m always interested in what’s going on behind the scenes, so I thought these were some fun facts:

• Lyricist Alain Boublil was inspired to adapt Les Miserables after watching a performance of Oliver! So the entire thing was created around the scrappy character Gavroche, which made Lexie very happy because she thinks he’s adorable.
• Colm Wilkinson, who was the original Jean Valjean onstage, plays the Bishop of Digne, that lovely priest who takes pity on Valjean and starts him on a new path. And actress Frances Ruffelle, who won a Tony Award for playing the role of Eponine in the Broadway run of the musical, plays a bit part as a bawdy prostitute. Doesn’t it make you happy when the people who helped make something great are remembered and honored?
• When Anne Hathaway was seven, she got to see her mother, Kathleen Ann McCauley, perform the part of Fantine onstage. I can imagine it made quite an impact on someone so young! So cool how it came full circle for them.

Do you think I’m ridiculous, or can books and movies and musicals turn you into a sobbing mess, too? ‘Fess up, please.

My friend Mary shared this video the other day, and it still has me thinking. Have you seen it?

Thank you to my friend Ruth for sharing this.

They’ve been popping up everywhere, these small masterpieces by my smallest child. Lily found Lexie’s old loom one day, and she’s been cranking out potholders ever since. My little organizer even made a checklist to be sure everyone she loves gets one.

Lily took such care in choosing the colors for mine. She told me she wanted it to be cheerful. I told her it’s the most cheerful thing I’ve ever seen. It even fits perfectly under my favorite coffee mug.

I know these potholder days won’t last forever. So I ignore the to-do list and curl up on the sofa with Lily. I read while she weaves, her head bent solemnly over her work. When she finishes a potholder, she crosses the recipient’s name off the list, and starts another one. Or flounces off to the next thing.

I go back to my to-do list and that’s just fine because I’m pretty sure that some of her eight-year-old enthusiastic/can-do/of-course-everyone-loves-a-potholder spirit has rubbed off on me.

Easter to me has always meant trumpets and a congregation of joyful souls singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” at the top of their lungs. And now it also means a boy and a duckling singing “Here Comes Peter Cottontail.” Best duet ever.

I hope you and yours have a day filled with all the joy, renewal, and hope that Easter brings.

Yesterday, those of us who weren’t working or at baseball practice went for a walk in the woods to find signs of spring.

At the bottom of the hill, we found our first sign: the temporary creek that always appears as the snow begins to melt. It’s trickling along ever-so-slowly now, but we predict that it will be much higher and gushing as the weather warms. (Note to weather: please feel free to warm up any time now.)

Lily discovered that you can pull delicate, magical-looking pieces of ice from the creek. Will explained that these sheets of ice form because the water on top of the creek freezes at night. And when the weather warms up again during the day, the ice on top starts to melt a little so these bits are easy to pick off. Makes sense to me.

We followed the creek for a while, then took a break to enjoy the quiet and stillness of the woods.

(I’m so fascinated by Layla and her love of ice and snow. I googled Labrador retriever once and learned that Layla’s ancestors were bred to help fishermen pull nets out of the icy waters of Labrador and Newfoundland. Which explains Layla’s huge shoulders and her obsession with our little ice rink. She loves nothing more than to lay in the middle of the ice while we skate around her.)

Lily noticed leaf prints in the snow. Can you see the shape of the leaf?

On the way home, Will pointed out a flock of Canada geese flying north in a V-formation above us. Another sign of spring! And just now as I was typing, I heard someone chirping outside. Which is one of my favorite signs.

Has spring arrived where you live? Do you have a favorite sign that marks its arrival?

The kids have a few days off for Easter Break, so this morning Lily and I got busy with bunnies. To get started, we used the Bunny Template to trace and cut out a bunch of bunnies from the most spring-ish card stock we had around.

The first project was Bunny Cards. They were super easy to make, and I love how Lily added a pom-pom tail to her bunny to add some dimension.

We used nine more bunnies to make a pretty garland. The garland worked well, except I had to put tiny pieces of double-sided tape behind the bunny ears to attach them to the ribbons so they wouldn’t flop around. The garland looks very festive hanging on the fireplace.

Next up were these adorable “Happy Spring” cards from Little Monster Baby. Lily created a cool background while I printed and cut out the card templates. The cards are so cute and so easy to make, and will be something special to give grandparents, aunts, and uncles on Easter.

And as I looked at the photo just now, it occurred to me that these bunnies would be great in a garland, too.

Thank you, Lisa, for the inspiration!