St. Patrick's Day

We started out the day with green cream cheese on bagels, green banana & pineapple fruit smoothies and green milk. Yes I'm one of 'those people' that enjoys little traditions with our kids for just about any holiday. The really funny St. Patrick's Day tradition in our household is the idea that a tricky leprechaun comes around the night before and leaves gold coins/chocolate in the house. Yes, the kids were quite excited to find gold coins of chocolate on our counter which lead to a 20 minute search to find more evidence of the tricky leprechaun activity in our house. It doesn't help that at preschool the kids use flashlights to find the gold the leprechaun leaves behind and in 1st grade Matteo's class set-out traps and luck charms cereal in an attempt to see that tricky leprechaun in action. So, I guess I can blame the school system for the simple fact we get a little crazy with our green St. Patrick's Day fun. The kids even 'practiced' being leprechaun's a couple of weeks ago and hid gold around the house for Don and I to find. There was lots of conversation while they were hiding the gold that God would be able to see it and they wondered if God would tell us where to look for it. Here's a picture from that night - we thought they looked cute in their hats.



I have to admit, for me, today is about the fun with the kids and making reuben sandwiches and rosemary red potatoes. Yes, I cook the corned beef for hours and hours, let it simmer and do it's thing and then I'm all about the reuben - rye bread, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut and swiss cheese. I am already thinking about having leftovers and making one for lunch tomorrow. The kids won't go near all that - so they had grilled cheese, green milk, and shamrock shaped cookies we baked yesterday afternoon. All fun stuff, love the bright spots in a cloudy day.

Yes, I'm referring to the weather. It has been wet, cold, icky lately. There was actually snow on the ground this morning. In an attempt to embrace a better weather place and mental state of mind, I had my palm tree lights on yesterday. I have a strand of palm tree lights in my laundry room - Don gave them to me for Christmas. Love that man because he gets that those little trees make me smile, despite cold, damp weather in March.

One last St. Patrick's Day story. After school today, Matteo had his snack and we did a couple of sheets of homework. While I was putting his homework away, he wrote the following note:

To: Leprecaun
From: Matteo

Leprecaun I would really like to meet and greet you.

Thank you lepercaun.

Matteo then went to the bench by our front door and placed the note there with a handful of Lucky Charms cereal with the hopes that he could find the leprechaun in action. I actually saw him check on it a few times before dinner. I bet that leprechaun just might show up before midnight tonight to take a bite.

This little story is one of the many reasons why I love what I call pajama land/little kid stuff in my world. The innocence of a child to believe in all things magical, that God sees everything and to know that if you believe in it, it might just happen.