Leprechaun Day 2012

 We ate a green breakfast

and checked our leprechaun traps.  Darn!  No luck this year either!  But we got some chocolate and gold!

 This leprechaun even left a note this year!  And lost his hat.

 We found some messages...

 Mischief...

 He even tried to make a phone call...

 ...or two.  Wonder if he called Tinkerbelle?

 We even found some green leprechaun pee.  Ew!  His leprechaun mama needs to teach him to flush!

 That night we had our silly green Irish dinner.

 Broccoli, green apple lime jello salad, green salad with green peppers, guacamole chips, and green cilantro Thai chicken noodles.

This was the wreath I copied from Pinterest this year. 

Leprechaun traps 2012

 We're behind on posts lately.  I have a good reason.  More on that later.  We made traps again this year.  Above is Savannah's.  The plan was for the leprechaun to climb the rainbow ladder and fall in the trap door, getting trapped in the "rainbow".  She used approximately 15 glue sticks ensuring the trap was sound.  Good thing this tricky leprechaun carried a knife with him this year!  It's getting harder for these poor leprechauns to escape capture!

 Brighton really got into the whole trap-building thing this year, probably because it involved building.  He started with a blueprint drawing (above).  The plan was for the leprechaun to enter the box, follow the path, and fall into the magic quicksand in the corner of the box.  Can you see it above?  (Hint: the quicksand is in the top right corner).  This was all his own design.  This boy's going to be a pro one day!

 Irelynd was the first to sit down and try to help Brighton get the design right.  Scott helped him build it.  He added a door on the outside and some words of warning.

 This is the inside view, the morning after the leprechauns came.  Scott and Brighton covered the quicksand with a box to hide it from view.  They glued sand to the bottom of the box, and when the green button is pushed, it activated the magic quicksand.  

This was Irelynd's.  She didn't get her plan done in time, so we threw this one together really quickly the night before.  Her trap would have been really cool, though.  It involved a rock climbing wall with moss growing on it.  Next year!

Beauty and the Beast

 Savannah was in Beauty and the Beast at her school this past week.  She was a villager/enchanted spoon.  She had a lot of fun being involved in this with her cousin Chloe.  They did a remarkable job with this play!  We were very proud of her!  These are terrible pictures, but all we could get.

 That's Chloe in the middle as a plate.

I wanted to get her in her villager costume, since I had to make it for her, but didn't get the chance.  She's looking forward to next year's play!

Fun Lunches

 Cat in the Hat for Dr Seuss Day March 2nd.

This is the Wee Folk go to Florida

Leap Day!

 Ok, I know that Leap Day isn't technically a holiday, but it only rolls around once every 4 years, and, nerd that I am, I couldn't let it pass without some fanfare.  My intention was to "leap over" chores that day and just spend the day playing with my kids, but I spent so much time in the kitchen making cupcakes, that that didn't happen.  I hope my kids don't reminisce about their childhood one day saying, "mom never played with us, but she liked to make cupcakes".  Kind of defeated my purpose with today.  I'm wondering if I'm capable of leaving work undone and just playing.  I think I've lost my sense of fun.    Anyway, I decided to have a frog-themed dinner.  We ate in a "pond" on lily pads, and used flower straws, and ate frog fare.

 Frog cupcakes.  Irelynd folded our napkins into frogs for us.  They even jumped!  Aren't they cute?  Impressive!  The printables were from here.

 Pulled Frog Sandwiches

 Frog eye salad...

 Frog Juice...

 and fried Frog legs (the sign got wet and wilted)

 See that gash on Waverly's eyebrow?  We spent an hour at the after-hours emergency clinic earlier in the week to have it glued shut.  Brighton pushed her against our bedframe and split it open.  Why is it always the face???  Heaven help my kids bash their heads open where a scar won't show, like their scalp.  Nope, now I have 3 kids with scars on their faces. 

 The best part is to see how excited the kids get over dinner.  I really enjoy mixing things up and doing the unexpected sometimes.  Though maybe that would be to do nothing?