Themes & Plans for March (updated!)

{Happy Monday, my friends - and Happy Leap Year, too! I have started the process of updating my old Themes & Plans series (eight years old and in need of some pruning!) and I thought I would start with March since that month begins TOMORROW! So I'm fixing broken links, adding new ones, and correcting dates to correspond to 2016 ... I hope you find these posts useful or at the very least provide something happy to read. 😊} 

March brings breezes loud and shrill, stirs the dancing daffodil ...

So tell me friends, how will March greet you this year? As a LION or a LAMB? Or perhaps somewhere in between? 

Here in New England we've enjoyed a relatively mild Winter and this week looks to follow a similar pattern. Tomorrow (March 1st) is forecast to be sunny and 50° - not too lion-ish I'd say!

Though Old March can be fickle - chilly and gray one day, mild and bright the next - he brings with him Spring's first tender tidings - a soft breeze, a few bits of green, and the stirring of hope in our hearts. And so, with faith in Spring's return, I offer you some ...

~ Themes and Plans for March (PDF) ~ 

Nature

• a quiet gray landscape, awaiting its green garb
• the old March wind arrives to blow winter away
• blackbirds returning (that squeaky gate sound)
• drip, drip, drip - melting underway
• pussywillows along the riverbank
• mud, mud and more mud!
• potholes that will eat your car in one gulp
• forsythia blushing yellow
• little pots of shamrocks at the grocer's
• The Full Sap (or Worm) Moon (23)
• migrating salamanders on mild, wet nights
• robins hopping in the yard
• maple sugaring in the woods
• the first colorful crocus, tiny jonquils, too ...
• the sun gains warmth; the days lengthen
• skunk cabbage in wetland areas
• fox sparrows passing through
• lambing time at the farm
• a surprise snowstorm is not out of the question ... ?

Folklore

• March gem: aquamarine
• March flower: jonquil
• March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb.

Food

• potatoes
• carrots
• turnip
• radishes
• spring onions
• early rhubarb
• leeks
• meatless Lenten Fridays
• egg custards
• maple syrup
• shamrock shakes
• Girl Scout cookies
• corned beef and cabbage
• Irish soda bread
• Irish coffee
• oatmeal scones
• sloppy joes
• donuts for St. Joseph
• fig tarts on Palm Sunday
• Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday
• cheesecake
• ricotta pie
• lamb cake
• baked ham

Faith

• Month of St. Joseph
• Liturgical seasons:
  • Lent
  • Eastertide
• St. David (1)
• Laetare Sunday (6)
• St. Patrick (17)
• St. Joseph (19) 
• Holy Week:
  • Palm Sunday (20)
  • Holy Monday (21)
  • Holy Tuesday (22)
  • Spy Wednesday (23)
  • Holy Thursday (24)
  • Good Friday (25)
  • Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil (26)
  • Easter Sunday (27)

Household

• Rake winter debris from yard.
• Sweep porches, doorsteps, decks and driveways.
• Inspect yard and home exterior for winter damage.
• Clean birdfeeders thoroughly.
• Plan garden plots.
• Start seeds indoors.
• Arrange for mulch delivery.
• Purchase fresh sandbox sand.
• Put windowboxes up; fill with hardy pansies!
• Launder spring bedding.
• Plan Easter dinner.
• Order ham.
• Order basket goodies.
• Buy Easter lilies at the nursery.
• Organize Easter clothes.
• Shampoo rugs.
• Take down storms; hang screens.
• Wash windows
• Polish woodwork with beeswax.
• Re-stock craft supplies for the spring.
• Organize rainy day play gear.
• Start planning summer vacation time.

Life

• National Craft Month
• National Hobby Month
• American Red Cross Month
• National Nutrition Month
• Irish-American Heritage Month
• National Umbrella Month
• March Madness
• Peanut Butter Lovers Day (1)
• Dr. Seuss's birthday (2)
• Alexander Graham Bell's birthday (3)
• Antonio Vivaldi's birthday (4)
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning's birthday (6)
• National Mario Day (10)
• Daylight Savings Time begins (13)
• Uranus discovered (13)
• National Pi Day (14)
• Albert Einstein's birthday (14)
• The Ides of March (15)
• Return of the Swallows to San Juan Capistrano (19)
• National Agriculture Day (20)
• First Day of Spring (20)
• National Waffle Day (25)
• Make up Your Own Holiday Day (26)

Book Basket

• The Story of the Wind Children
• Feel the Wind
• Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka
• Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato
• Song of the Swallows
• The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh
• Small Beauties: The Journey of Darcy Heart O'Hara
• Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland
• Jack and the Leprechaun
• Clever Tom and the Leprechaun
• A Child's Book of Celtic Prayers
• St. Patrick's Day
• St. Patrick's Day in the Morning
• St. Patrick's Day Alphabet
• M is for Maple Syrup: a Vermont Alphabet
• Sugaring
• Sugarbush Spring
• The Sugaring-Off Party
• The Maple Syrup Book
• My Spring Robin
• Spring is Here
• Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic
• That's What Happens When it's Spring
• Pelle's New Suit
• Charlie Needs a Cloak
• Weaving the Rainbow
• The Year at Maple Hill Farm
• Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm
• The Little Lamb
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Red Berry Wool
• The Very First Easter
• The Easter Story
• Petook: An Easter Story
• The Jesus Garden
• The Easter Swallows
• The Story of the Cross
• The Story of Easter
• A Tale for Easter
• Celebrate Easter with Colored Eggs, Flowers and Prayer

Field Trips & Outings

• Maple sugaring demonstration
• Visit new lambs & fresh eggs at farm
• Children's Passion Play at church
• Museum of Science: Planetarium

Crafts & Activities

• Fly kites at the park.
• Make a toad home.
• Make pinwheels.
• Hang a windsock.
• Make a palm weaving.
• Watch Darby O'Gill and the Little People.
• Listen to Irish music.
• Listen to Irish legends.
• Make shamrock prayer bouquets.
• Work with sheep's wool; make felt crafts.
• Make beeswax egg candles.
• Paint an umbrella.
• Blow bubbles on a windy day.
• Make a wind guage or a rain gauge.
• Learn weather folkore.
• Organize a Palm Sunday procession for the kids.
• Make homemade chocolates for Easter treats.
• Make Easter cards for family and friends.
• Dye and/or decorate eggs.
• Put out nesting materials for birds.
• Go on an early spring nature walk:
  • Search for signs of spring.
  • How many shades of green can you find?
  • Bring home spring branches to force.
• Make lion and lamb cupcakes.

Now, I'd like to clarify that my family will not be observing each and every one of these March ideas! (Who ever could?!) But having them in mind - and even better, on paper - is a big help when I'm trying to weave a little seasonal awareness, organization and fun into our family life! I like to sit down once a month (usually the second to last weekend) to do a little planning ahead on the seasonal front. I make it part of my weekend "office hours." :) It might seem silly to work "seasonal planning" into an already busy family schedule, but honestly - if I didn't, it's unlikely I'd remember or even try to fit it in!

Well my friends, I've rambled long enough ... thanks so much for stopping by and I hope your March is just lovely, whether wild or mild!

P.S. I wasn't on Pinterest back when I first wrote this post in 2008 - maybe it didn't even exist yet? - but I now have boards for "storing" seasonal ideas such as the ones linked above. I will go through these links to be sure the are still valid and then add them to my March & April board.)