the wearing of the green.

I've always had a thing for St Patrick's Day.

Maybe its because my name means "Ireland" in Gaelic.

Maybe its because I have red hair.

Maybe its because I just like Irish things in my own ever-nerdy way, like my tween obsession with the Kennedys.

I pretty much married Chris just to get an Irish last name . . . and because he's cute.

I just think its a little mischief and a little magic.

And now that I have a kid old enough to play along, its even more fun.

Our St Paddy's week was filled with some festive decor, a "R is for Rainbow" preschool at our house, a few simple crafts (glue on paper . . . stick on Fruit Loop), lots of festive books thanks to Amazon Prime, and the appearance of Lucky Liam. 

Liam showed up in all his glory, promising treasure on St Patrick's Day if the kids were "kind and jolly". I think he is a little bit adorable. I decided to try out the "Elf on the Shelf" concept, since it seemed fun, but Christmas has so much going on I don't want to add something else. And holy smokes, if you do Elf on a Shelf all December long, you are some sort of saint. I did it 4 nights, and on the 5th just decided to skip it. Ha! But the real issue was Carly. She is way too smart and logical for such childish games, apparently. The first morning he was upside down wrapped up in toilet paper. She asked how he got there and I told her he was causing mischief and she replied, "But he can't walk. He is just pretend." The next morning he had built a tower, and she said "But mom, his arms aren't even long enough to reach it." Serenity now, child.

The day for the wearing of the green arrived, and Liam made good on his word. Carly awoke to another scroll, and clues on how to find a series of mini scrolls to lead her to the conveniently baby-gated kitchen to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow. My rhyming skills were extremely impressive, and I made up clues like "Finding treasure is so groovy . . . this is where you watch a movie!" and "You're getting closer, and that's good news . . . this is where you keep your shoes!" It worked for her though, because she raced up and down the stairs excitedly until she finally got "Solve this last clue, and you're a winner . . . this is where you eat your dinner!" And off she ran to the kitchen, where Liam was waiting with a pot of dollar store treasure, and a little stuffed friend for each kid. Carly adores her new purple kitty, brilliantly named "Purple".

The rest of the day was spent enjoying Lucky Charms and avoiding the green milk, looking adorable in our green at church (I got those dresses for $4 a piece at Target's end-of-summer clearance this past fall; I was proud all over again taking the tags off to wash them), playing with green balloons, wearing Irish princess crowns, and, of course, eating corned beef and cabbage. In a shocking turn of events, all three of my little leprechauns enjoyed corn beef. John probably would have eaten the entire brisket himself. 

We had fun, but more than anything, it was just a really nice Sunday with our not-so-little little family.

I grew up listening to this set of kids songs about holidays, and my parents got us all our own copy. The St Paddy's Day song is a personal favorite. Its a little Irish jig sung by an over-the-top Irish leprechaun voice. Some of it goes something like this:

Today is the day for the wearing of the green

Today is St Patrick's Day, so if you're Irish me lads

Come join the celebratin' for the finest time to be had

Saints be praised, I must admit, you all look Irish to me