Cold Weather Clothes Blues

I've got the blues... I've got the cold weather clothes blues... Winter makes me crazy on so many levels. I'm not a huge fan of cold weather to begin with. I grew up in the midwest and feel I've already lived through my share of blizzards. The place I live now doesn't have the same snow storms that I grew up with, but we have at least two doozies a season. If it were up to me I would live somewhere tropical... but then I would probably complain about hurricanes, so I guess I can't win.
My biggest challenge as a parent during the winter is clothing. It's cold in the morning, mild in the afternoon... how the heck should I know how to dress my kids? Layers just aren't always practical. I do enough laundry as it is. Do we wear our light jackets or our heavy duty snow coats? Yes, I check the weather forecast each night, but sometimes the weather changes on a dime here.
But my biggest issue comes with all the stuff we need just to get out the door in the cold weather. I learned the hard way last winter that toddlers are not capable of keeping track of their gloves. After a few days of school, we were missing at least three gloves.... not three pairs, mind you, just three gloves. So, genius that I am, I trekked to Target to buy mitten clips. You would have thought I was speaking French when I asked the employee there to help me find them (because putting them with the kids' gloves would have been too easy). After about 15 minutes we found them... near the hair accessories.
I still haven't figured out how to keep track of our hats. Fortunately, we haven't lost them... yet. Still, many times when I pick my girls up from school I'll find their hats shoved into their backpack or a coat pocket. I'm pretty sure one day soon their cute little purple striped hats will be missing. It comes with the territory of having children, but it's still frustrating.
As for boots... forget it. Quite frankly, I can't afford boots that they're going to wear just a few times. So far we've managed to get by with tennis shoes. I'm looking at the possibility of buying child sized hiking boots for the girls.. and if Kohl's ever sends me another 30% off coupon then I'll buy them.
So, to make a long story short, spring and summer can arrive as soon as they would like. I'm all for seasons that require as little clothing as possible!