Lucky Charms

 
Last year I had to scare the little green guy out of our house with a slotted spatula before he turned ALL of our food green.  Let's just say that the dramatics less then appealed to the boys, but boy did they remember that little green Leprechaun had visited.  So this year when Tommy's preschool class started having daily visits from "Lucky", TWO WEEKS before St. Patrick's Day mind you ( those ladies are saints, really), we just knew we had to prepare our house for an invasion.

First, we made a trap together as a family.  Charlie did a beautiful job coloring the rainbow while Tommy glued on the clouds and painted the pot black with Dad.  I covered the box with green paper and gathered our "gold".

Lucky did not disappoint this year, that is for sure!  He visited every night the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day and was a clever and mischievous little green man.

The first night he relieved himself in our toilet and didn't flush...how rude!

 and then I think we ticked him off a bit with our trap and so he left his own for us!

He left balloons in the shoe closet,

and footprints in the kitchen 

 and a rainbow in the doorway

and though we didn't catch Lucky, we caught his little top hat in our trap!

Lucky decided to play some tricks on us and made us into Leprechauns on our family photo wall.

 and when the week of Lucky's charms were over he left us some green treats to share with some of our friends.

 We drove to a few friends' houses that are new by and left them some of Lucky's treats in a St. Patrick's Day bag that says "You have been pinched", supposedly if you don't wear green on the day a Leprechaun will pinch you ;)

 

We also made Pots of Gold for Meals on Wheels

and I took in some festive cupcakes for craft day at Charlie's school.

One of my favorite parts was Tommy's parade at school, it was beyond cute!

Penny and her little friend Henry

He was so proud

and happy!

Daily Life

Yesterday, Penny had her first official playdate with some of her girlfriends from church.  She was quite the hostesses serving crackers for snack in the pink tutu that Nie Nie made for her.  Lately she has wanted to wear her tutu all.the.time.  It makes me smile because I know that Nie Nie is smiling too.

The first days of Spring are upon us.  Tom went outside during quiet time to ride his bike in the driveway.  I had the windows open so I could hear him.  All was quiet for about 30 seconds when I started to hear sweeping.  Sweet boy had gone and gotten a broom and was sweeping the topsoil run off off of the driveway.  We have had so much rain this year that half of our yard has washed away, tree roots are exposed and often our drive is covered in a thin, silky layer of dirt leading down to the drain.  He was busy at work and didn't give up until the entire area was clean.

Charlie is doing great.  He is a happy kid and so smart.  Every night we cuddle in his bed and he tells me about his day.  Who did what, what his favorite part was, what he isn't looking forward to etc.  He cuddles so close and is so open with his feelings, he is a sensitive soul.  I love that about him!  We are so proud of how hard he has worked this year, not just in school, but I am seeing him mature and try and handle situations differently.  It is amazing and bittersweet to watch him grow up right in front of our eyes!

Trent has been traveling a lot and I have truly missed him.  Things are just off balance when he is not here.  He is our rock.  We all depend on him so much and he graciously and what seems effortlessly takes care of us.  I know that sometimes things are difficult for him as well, but he is so good about moving onward with a positive and uplifting attitude.  In his spare time he has been busy with home projects, he actually just climbed down off the garage roof.  He has also planned some very fun camping outings for our family in the upcoming months.  I think we are all looking forward to the summer!!