March is one of my favorite months of the year. Why? Well, Ides of March is up there.
Beware the ides of March.
William Shakespeare Julius Caesar Act I Scene II
Look, I may not be teaching English full time anymore, but I’ll never drop the Willie references.
Second reason- St. Patrick’s Day. It’s probably my most favorite holiday and I regret nothing.
It IS a Christian holiday. Contrary to the green-beer drinking ridiculous Americans popular beliefs.
I AM ethnically very Irish. I’m fortunate to have a family that loves history, and our family lineage.
I WENT to Ireland, Northern Ireland more specifically, which makes my adoration and appreciation even deeper.
Of course that now means passing on all of the love and fun of St. Patrick’s Day to my children. So, here are a bajillion pictures documenting our month of all things green, and St. Patrick.
We kicked off with some Leprechaun Lookers. After reading/watching some Leprechaun stories!
https://youtu.be/LdKTCtypLlw
https://youtu.be/BSJsP_EBhR4
Hot glue and various decorations finished off our Leprechaun Lookers before our outdoor adventure. We took advantage of a 54° day to explore.
We made a pit-stop at the melt river. When wearing rainboots, walking through the river is a requirement.
Next, we did some four leaf clover painting with marshmllows! The bigger ones definitely work better, but mini marshmallows are so cute!
I’m thankful for natural green food coloring as we have been eating a lot of green-dyed food! Pancakes included. Peep that fancy new step stool made by none other than Pop, of Pops Woodworking!
Next we made orange donuts with green frosting. I mean, why not?
Hands down, one of the absolute best, and my favorite activities this month, was the Irish Moss Garden. I already had doing a moss terrarium on the list. But then, my sweet friends Brooke and Tom posted a video that just took it to a whole different level. We love their channel Party Create! and have done many of their projects over the last year!
We got the girls a little water table for extra outside play this year. As the we had a week of nicer weather, I took advantage. I picked up a bag of frozen peas and made it a sensory activity! Athena had a blast playing with her new water table, the peas are obviously green, and the frozen added an additionally fun element! When we were done, we dumped the peas at the back of the property for the birds.
Everyone likes to make fun of me for being “crunchy.” We typically don’t get sugary cereal, or at least cereal that’s not organic/non-GMO. But, I am not a monster. Is it even St. Patrick’s Day if we DON’T play with Lucky Charms? It’s all about balance. The week of St. Patrick’s Day, I would pour Athena a bowl of cereal. She sorted and counted the different marshmallows to “earn” eating her bowl. And before someone calls foul, she gets a bowl of oat meal or pancakes or “real breakfast” well before this activity. By the time we do the cereal sorting, she is on second or third breakfast. #hobbitlife
We are still on a mad baking kick around this place. We are also hard-core poop potty training. We made green sugar cookies with green and orange sprinkles as poop-rewards. We have a set of great cookie cutters that are about 2 bites worth. The perfect size.
Ethan has been working from home and I’ve been going crazy coming up with ways to keep Athena busy and semi-quiet ish. I drew some shamrocks on her giant paper, gave her some paint, and let her go to town.
The most important part of our St. Patrick’s celebrations, I didn’t even get pictures of. Every year we do a big fish n chips dinner with Ethan’s family. I also make colcannon. I do have a post from 2018, Athena’s first St. Patrick’s Day though!
The Nurtured Bee 