3 Fun Things For St. Patrick's Day

Leprechaun Hunting:
I walked in last night to see R. setting up an elaborate leprechaun trap last night.  It was amazing how much thought and time went into it:

R.'s Leprechaun Trap

As I noted in a past post, my kids still believe in leprechauns.  Apparently.  If leprechauns really exist, I hope they're the nice cartoonish kind.  Not the kind in some of those horror movies.

We woke up this morning to find out that R.'s trap didn't work.  Those mischievous, impish leprechauns had instead decided to wreak their own peculiar brand of havoc on our family room.

Cushions were overturned, green yarn was strung haphazardly about, milk had been mystically turned green, and a trail of gold foil wrapped chocolate coins led down the stairs to the scene of the crime.

My kids were thrilled!  Special thanks to a sweet sister who donated most of the materials used by those "leprechauns."  J.D., you are so thoughtful!

St. Patrick's Day on a Sunday:
Did you notice how many people at church today were wearing green?  I did and I was not one of them.  I literally have basically nothing in my wardrobe that is green.  Last month, I actually bought a green running shirt so that I would have something to wear on St. Patrick's Day.  Apparently, I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to wear it for church!  #Fail!  (Never fear, though, I'm wearing it now!)

E. relaxing in my chair.

M. has been super cute today.  Just now he was crawling back and forth through my legs.  I wonder if he knows that that type of behavior only makes him more adorable.  Earlier at church, I got him to fall asleep in my arms during third hour.  He never does that.  I love that I feel like we are developing a bond even though he's not even a year.

On the other hand, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever truly bond with E.  I was watching a show by myself after church and she came in and managed to persuade me to turn off my show, turn on some Barbie DVD, and then sit all by herself in my chair.  Maybe I was just charmed by her cute green shirt (which matches my new one) and green ribbons in her hair.

Actually, I call them "green" but there's actually probably  a much fancier term for it (lime green?)  When it comes to colors, I feel like I'm doing well to know the basic ones--you know, ROY G. BIV plus some more "exotic" varieties like black, brown, pink, navy.  :-)  I've always freely proclaimed my fashion limitations--even in my blog posts on the topic.

3 Fun Facts About St. Patrick:

St. Patrick

• St. Patrick initially went to Ireland as a slave.  He was captured from his home in Britain at age 16 and taken to Ireland where he was enslaved for 6 years before he escaped and returned home to his family.  He later returned as a missionary and remained in Ireland for the rest of his life.  He is thought to have died around 460 A.D.  He died on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day).

• The shamrock is an important symbol of St. Patrick because he used it to teach the people the doctrine of the Trinity (three in one and one in three).

• According to legend, St. Patrick banished all snakes from Ireland.  What is more likely, however, is that there never were any snakes to banish in the first place.  No snakes are known to have ever migrated on their own across an ocean to live on an island.  New Zealand, Iceland, Antarctica, and Greenland are also islands without any native snake populations.

In Chicago, they turn the river green for St. Patrick's Day

But maybe one of the most fun things about St. Patrick's Day is how we, as Americans, have taken it and turned it into our very own holiday with our own fun traditions and celebrations.  What are you and your family doing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day today?