May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
~Irish Blessing
Occasions- We celebrate them all around our house! There’s nothing I love better than an excuse to decorate and go all out, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception!
I must admit, though, before I decided to write this week about how we celebrate it around here – I really had no idea why St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday or why we celebrate it. All I know is that each year there seems to be cuter and cuter decorations out for it!
So I decided to do little research. I was excited to find out that not only was St. Patrick the patron saint of Ireland, he is credited with bringing Christianity to them. I went on to read that the reason the shamrock is the national flower of Ireland is because St. Patrick used it to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans. How cool! Now it really makes me wanna go crazy with the shamrocks! If you’d like to find out a little more about the day, check out the web site www.st-patricks-day.com. It has everything you need to know about the day and then some!
So what all do we do around here? Well, since my girls were small, some very mischievious leprechauns have been visiting our house the night before St. Patty’s Day. They color the water in our potties green. They color our milk green. And they just generally leave a mess everywhere they have been. They leave a trail of shamrocks all over as well—but what my kiddos love the best is that they leave chocolate coins from their “pot at the end of the rainbow” everywhere! Last year, they left green trinkets all over the front porch, Irish Spring in the bathrooms, and threw Lucky Charms all over the kitchen……what a mess!!
To get ready for them last year- the girls and I decided to set a trap for our leprechaun. Max wasn’t really sure what we were up to, but he knew something was amuck, so he was all for it! We have a really large basket with a lid that we turned upside down and balanced on the lid. Underneath, we put all kinds of sparkly things, because we all know that leprechauns love sparkly things. We made it so when he grabbed one of them, the basket would fall and the lid would shut! The kiddos were overjoyed with their trap, and just knew we were going to have a new pet leprechaun. Well- we didn’t catch him, but we DID catch his shoe!
We know he will be back for it this year, so we now have the perfect bait for our trap! Mia and Macy just KNOW we are going to have our new pet this year. Watch out Mrs. Whited, they want to bring him for show and tell!
So that’s how we celebrate around here- what are your plans? Do you have a special meal you prepare? Do you wear green? I’d love to hear how you and your family celebrate! These are the things that make memories…..family, traditions, celebrations — the reason we all love- coming home.
Tip: Houseplants can remove up to 90% of certain pollutants in your home- so go to your local garden center or supermarket and pick up a shamrock plant! They all carry them this time of year. Not only will you be helping your environment, you will be festive too!
