St. Paddy's Day

So we were down at Gary's parents' house last weekend and they were saying that they wished they could remember how they celebrated the holidays with their kids when they were young. To avoid that fate, and to remind my dear offspring of the good times we have together, and to prove to myself that sometimes I DO get it right, here's how we celebrated St. Patrick's Day 2010:

1. The night before I stayed up late making crepes with green food coloring for a nice, easy, verdant breakfast the next day. Then I decked the house with large, sparkly dollar store paper shamrocks to surprise them when they woke up.

2. Maggie's lunch box contained green gatorade, green M&Ms and a note on a green shamrock telling her how much I love her and wish her the top o' the morning. If I was a really cool mom I would have cut her peanut butter sandwich into the shape of a shamrock, but, I just didn't get there. And that's okay!

3. Soph and Spence played with green play dough while having a green smoothie as a mid-morning snack.

4. We invited friends over for a green taffy pull... only I accidently undercooked the taffy and it turned into a green goo fest instead! The good-natured guests didn't seem to mind though, as everyone just grabbed fists of the thick sugary syrup and shoved it into their mouths. I'm still finding traces of it on my tablecloth and on the floor... and behind Spencer's ears...

5. At dinner we went around the table and talked about the things we are lucky to have in our lives. We did drink green gatorade for the bevy but we did not have corned beef and cabbage for dinner, although my family always did growing up and I like the dish myself. I just didn't think I could push the non-adventurous natives' appetites that far, so we had spinach couscous and parmsan chicken instead. Someday...