Irish Drinking Songs and Going Out In {green} Style

I am ridiculously excited about St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Saturday this year because there’s no work or after school activities to get in the way of our Irish beer consumption.  Although my girls and I do have a 5K race in the morning, it won’t be long before I’m finishing off a green beer after crossing the finish line.

Before we head out that evening, Allan and I will line our bellies with some Guinness corned beef and potatoes and then get onto to the drinking.  It won’t be too long before we look like this.

 

I’ll probably wear the same green top I always wear, but I love this shirt from Urban Outfitters.

I’m thinking about buying a green hair wig too just to change it up this year and go out full on green style.

 

 What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day?  Will you be going out in style?

Cheers! I’ll Drink to That!

Our good friends Julie and Jason decided to move back to Tennessee and we all went to the World of Beer to say our farewells over a few pints.   

 

You would expect a farewell fanfare to bring on many tears, but quite the opposite was true.  We laughed more than ever.   Our faces hurt from all the laughing and smiling and it was a great way to say goodbye to some fabulous friends.  The five years in Florida definitely ended on a high note.

 

 

 

 

 

But the celebrating and the beer flowing doesn’t end just yet, thanks to St. Patrick’s Day.  I am looking forward to another fun night with my friends this week.  And if my liver allows me, I’ll drink a whiskey drink. I’ll drink a vodka drink. I’ll drink a lager drink. I’ll drink a cider drink.

 

And then, I’ll erin go barf.

 

 

So, here’s to great friends, getting into the St. Patrick’s spirit and preparing our livers for all the festivities!

 

Cheers to being Irish for a day!

 

 

Who’s ready to get your drink on for St. Patrick’s Day?

 

 

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

 

 

Still No Luck with Leprechauns

Tuesday night, the girls built three traps in a desperate attempt to catch a leprechaun again this year.  Allana decided to create two completely different traps than she had built in previous years since those traps were so unsuccessful.  Using some of the ideas presented in the children’s book, The Night Before St. Patricks Day, Allana began devising a new plan.

 

With a hole cut into a shoebox, Emmalynn kept her design simple.  She used a Lincoln Log train track as a ladder to lure the leprechaun into the hole and placed a chocolate gold coin on top of the box.  Inside the box, she added yellow Legos as more bait.  Hopefully, the leprechaun would mistake the Legos as gold bricks and greedily fall into her trap.

 

 

 

Allana built a tower of Legos with a Lincoln train track for a ladder and taped a toilet paper roll covered in green paper at the top.  She carefully placed a Chuck E. Cheese token at the end of the tube and strategically placed a tin can wrapped in green paper below the tube.  This contraption would entice the leprechaun up the Lego tower where he would find a gold coin and climb through the tube to steal it.  He would then plummet into the tin can and be trapped.

 

 

 

For the third trap, she covered a shoebox in white paper and decorated with shamrock stickers.  She laid a sheet of green paper across the top and carefully placed a gold rock (her own version of fool’s gold) in the center.  Once the leprechaun grabbed the gold rock, he would fall into the shoebox and be trapped by the green paper.

 

 

The girls set their traps around the family room before they went to bed.  The next morning, the girls sprang out of bed and ran into the room to see which trap caught a leprechaun.  They hoped all three would catch a different leprechaun.

 

Much to their disappointment, they found no leprechauns.  Instead, they did discover a pile of green and gold goodies and treats in each trap.

 

 

 

 

Not only did not catch a leprechaun again this year, some tricky leprechaun stole all their gold coins but left the fool’s gold behind.

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

These are some of my favorite photos from St Patty’s Days past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Old Irish Blessing
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

 

And if that doesn’t happen…

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

No Luck with Leprechauns

Allana’s teacher sent home a note encouraging the children to build leprechaun traps and bring them to school to try a catch a leprechaun.  The trap could be a design as simple as a pencil propping up a shoebox.

 

With my sister’s wedding the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day, there wasn’t enough time to get too creative.  Sunday evening, we used an empty strawberry container to create this masterpiece. 

 

 

The bait (pasted chocolate gold coins) would lure the leprechaun to the top of the carton where the leprechaun would fall through the invisible trap door.  The Easter grass would soften his fall and of course, camouflage this ingenious, inexpensive, truly “green” trap.

 

Allana also wanted to build another trap for the house.  In the previous years, we’ve built traps out of old shoeboxes, but this year, Allana wanted to build something different since the others never seemed to catch a leprechaun.

 

Family Fun magazine featured some very creative leprechaun traps this month, which got Allana’s wheels spinning and she decided to build the rainbow model, of course.  We found some time after homework on Monday evening.  Even Dad got into the act because this high-tech triggered trap would require his assistance to construct it properly.  

 

 

Once the leprechaun snatched the pot of gold (one egg cup from an egg carton painted black and filled with chocolate gold coins), the cloud (an applesauce pot covered in cotton balls) would drop and trap him underneath.

 

 

Alas, neither trap caught a leprechaun this year.  Her trap at school snatched the leprechaun’s pants (a small piece of green felt cut in the shape of pants) and one gold coin, which she thinks fell out of leprechaun’s pocket when the trap snagged his pants.

 

The rainbow trap at home failed to catch the leprechaun as well, however, this leprechaun decided to leave gold and green trinkets and goodies.  A can of green beans, emerald green jeweled Jibbitz, a sparkly green jump rope and two books are some of the items the leprechaun left.

 

 

The leprechaun also left a note tucked in the Easter grass of the trap.

 

Thought you could catch me!

Ha!  Ha!  Nice try!

But I was too clever and swift

For a trap from the sky! 

 

Allana is already designing and planning next year’s trap with the help of the book The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day.  Actually, she isplanning to build several traps next year!

 

 

Should I feed her obsession and buy the book  The Leprechaun Trap?