St. Patty's Day

I've never done a ton for St. Patrick's Day. Just the normal wear-something-green-so-you-don't-get-pinched. But this year we got a little more into it.

First, I ran a St. Patrick's Day 10K on Saturday -- my first 10K ever! I've done lots of 5Ks, but a friend named Carol Tuttle encouraged me to register and train for a 10K to give myself a fun outlet for the energy that gets pent up sometimes being a stay-at-home mom. So I did and it was GREAT! Especially because it forced me to load everyone and the jogging stroller down the elevator, into the car, and out to the park where I'd jog on the sidewalk in a circle around the play area so I could keep an eye on the kids while running. Hassle? Yes. Sometimes. But worth it.

Quinn and the kids were waiting at the finish line to cheer me in.

Then, for preschool the kids were supposed to bring leprechaun traps, which I'd never heard of. So I looked online and there were some seriously complicated designs. I decided to opt for something simpler so it would be fun and not a pain to make. Both kids really had a great time making them and I think they turned out pretty cute!

PLUS, I discovered that doing a craft together on Sunday morning was a calm, happy, constructive way to spend time together before church and I've decided from now on I'm going to plan a Sunday morning craft every week!

Here's Teacher Marina at preschool showing all the kids everybody's traps.

We put the traps outside and then at the end of preschool we went back out to see if we'd caught a leprechaun. You can see Nathan there in the green and white striped shirt and Caitlyn next to him in the pink, purple, and green striped shirt crouched down to look inside their traps. Nada. But the leprechaun did leave a big pot full of gold coins that Teacher Marina passed around. 

The kids were kind of disappointed that there wasn't a leprechaun in their traps. So when we got home I helped them set their traps outside again and I snuck out and put a tootsie pop in each trap. When they found the suckers I had them write a thank you note and put it in. I'm pretty sure they ran outside at least 12 more times before the end of the day to check the traps even though I assured them the leprechaun would only come once. :-) 

I'm glad it was fun for them! 

By that time I was kind of in the holiday spirit so I made Irish Soda Bread and Boxty for dinner even though I hadn't been planning to make a holiday themed dinner. While we ate I pulled out the laptop and showed the kids pictures of Ireland and read about why we have St. Patrick's Day, which was news to me, too.

I've decided to try to do something similar for every major holiday.

Happy St. Patty's Day!