Superheroes having a ball.

rEcess is the best night of the month.  Parents of kids with special needs leave those precious children with us, so they can have a much needed respite.

It was superhero night!

Some of the kids made superhero capes.  Cut a t-shirt, leaving the neck on or using elastic to hold it on, and decorate it, and you are your own superhero.

One style of cape, with elastic holding it on.

The other style, with the neck of the shirt intact.

Petey didn't decorate one, he came as Captain America!  He had fun, and his superpower was eating his whole dinner.

Petey has Down's Syndrome, and makes a great Captain America!

Gracie was in her school uniform (yes, Gracie is in preschool for delayed kids and loving it!), and didn't make a cape.  She preferred dropping balls in the pockets of the pool table in the playroom and watching them roll out at the bottom.  One of the other girls taught her how to use the cue to knock the ball straight into the hole, and they spend a good half hour shrieking with delight as they took turns doing that.

C'mon, billiard ball!  Roll down here!

We had 8 special kids and 14 siblings, and a very good time.

Today is:

Bird Day and Arbor Day -- California, US (on Luther Burbank's birth anniversary)

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Saturday:  Geneology Day, begin or continue the journey to learn about your family

Chinese New Year Parade -- San Francisco, CA, US (North America's largest Chinese community celebrates the Lunar New Year in style)

Daylight Saving Time begins -- Bermuda; Canada (most regions); Cuba; Haiti; Mexico (some areas); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; The Bahamas; Turks and Caicos Islands; US (most areas)(begins 2am tomorrow morning, so "spring forward" one hour before you go to bed tonight)

Finnmarkslopet -- Alta, Finland (the world's northernmost dog sled races, since 1981)

Get Grandma to Write Down Her Meatloaf Recipe -- or spaghetti, or pound cake, or whatever she specialized in, because if you don't, you will someday regret it

Hola Mohalla -- Sikh (3 day grand festival)

Iditarod Sled Dog Race - Last Great Race on Earth® begins -- Anchorage to Nome, AK, US (1,000 miles along the historic Iditarod Trail)

Impeachment of March Goblins -- Fairy Calendar

Klondike Days -- Eagle River, WI, US (recreation of primitive camps used by early pioneers, a Native American cultural presentation, and more; through tomorrow)

Masaryk Day -- Czech Republic; Slovakia (birth anniversary of Tomas Masaryk, politician, sociologist, philosopher, and advocate of Czechoslovakian independence)

Natchez Spring Pilgrimage -- Natchez, MS, US (tour of 25 antebellum mansions, some of which are private homes; through Apr. 7)

National Be Heard Day -- originally a day for small businesses to speak up, but the website promoting the materials is no longer working

National Cereal Day

National Crown Roast of Pork Day

Natural Bridge Battle Reenactment -- Tallahassee, FL, US (Civil War reenactment; through tomorrow)

Nones of March -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances
     Festival of Junonalia -- for Juno
     Festival for Vedovus -- god of the dead, swamps, and volcanic movements

Say Hello Day -- Bell recieved a patent for the telephone this day in 1876 (although he always believed it should be answered by saying, "Ahoy!"  Yes, really.)

St. Felicity's and St. Perpetua's Day (Patrons of cattle, martyrs; Santa Perpetua de Mogoda, Spain)

Teacher's Day -- Albania



Birthdays Today:

Jenna Fischer, 1974
Denyce Graves, 1974
Rachel Weisz, 1971
Taylor Dayne, 1962
Ivan Lendl, 1960
Rik Mayall, 1958
Bryan Cranston, 1956
Franco Harris, 1950
John Heard, 1946
Peter Wolf, 1946
Michael Eisner, 1942
Tammy Faye Bakker, 1942
Daniel J. Travanti, 1940
Janet Guthrie, 1938
Willard Herman Scott, 1934
Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon, 1930
Maurice Ravel, 1875
Piet Mondriaan, 1875
Luther Burbank, 1849
John Herschel, 1792
Stephen Hopkins, 1707
Rob Roy MacGregor, 1671
Henry Purcell, 1659
Kano Tanju, 1602


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Nashville Network(TV network), 1983
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"(Musical), 1967
"The Autumn Garden"(Play), 1951
"The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel"(Operetta), 1896


Today in History:

Roman Emperor Constantine I decrees that the dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire, 321
King Henry VIII's divorce request is denied by the Pope; Henry then declares that he, not the Pope, is supreme head of England's church, 1530
Massachusetts enacts the first bicameral legislature in the colonies, 1664
The French army enters Rome: the birth of the Roman Republic, 1798
Shrigley Abduction: Ellen Turner is abducted by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a future politician in colonial New Zealand, 1827
Charles Miller patents the first US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes, 1854
The City of Lábrea in Amazonas, Brazil was founded, 1886
Roald Amundsen announces that, on Dec. 14, 1911, his expedition had reached the South Pole, 1912
An 8.0 earthquake strikes Tango, Japan, 1927
Bloody Sunday:  Alabama state troopers and 600 black protestors clash in Selma, 1965
Divers from the USS Preserver locate the crew cabin of Challenger on the ocean floor, 1986
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that parodies of an original work are generally covered by the doctrine of fair use, 1994
British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of Lords, 100% elected, 2007
The largest solar flare in five years, occurring March 6, 2012, nears the Earth, threatening to disrupt airline flights, GPS systems and power grids, 2012