st. patrick's day fun with the kids

Have you ever totally forgotten that it was St. Patrick's Day and had your kid come home in tears because he got pinched and teased, and he was also just crushed because he felt like he missed out on all the greenish fun?

Oh...you haven't...?
Yeah, me either...
I mean of course I would never let something like THAT happen,
I was just wondering if, um, you ever did, and stuff...
Not that I would judge you if you had or anything...
Moving on.

I've found that making a "big deal" out of St. Patrick's Day helps keep it fresh in my mind, and I am more likely to remember to send my munchkin out for the day in some serious greens.

I am LOVING all of the amazing pinterest ideas out there and I am going to share and rate them for you here!

The first {and probably my favorite} one?
RAINBOW PANCAKES
Oh my.
Inspiration here.
My end result?

Woo-hoo!

*****

{a.k.a. FIVE stars for this pinterest project.} 

If this little lady {ahem, me}who has tried - almost successfully...TWICE - to burn down her kitchen can make these in one attempt...then this project deserved every last star I awarded it. It was really fun to do, and such a delightful departure from the green eggs that made me oh so gaggy last St. Patty's Day.

HINT: For best results, use a non-stick griddle on LOW heat. I usually cook my pancakes at 350 degrees, but that browns the entire sides of the pancakes, and it dims and ickies the colored ones, so I cooked them at 200 degrees and that was perfect. They took about a minute and a half on the first side to get firm enough to flip, but the gorgeous, vibrant colors stayed fully intact. Score!


And for mamas on the go, another really darling way to make your kiddos feel special first thing in the morning is a newly packaged serving of Lucky Charms.

Inspiration for the cereal idea here.


I loved this idea, but didn't want to get quite so crafty with it, and that is where none other than Utah's own "The Crafting Chicks" stepped in and saved the day. {Oh the irony...just when I don't want to be too crafty, some cute lil' crafting chicks help me to...not be so crafty.}

 They shared utterly fantastic St. Patrick's Day printables {they're free, btw} on their blog last year, and thanks to pinterest, I found, and have gotten a ton of use out of them for this year. Blogs are gifts that just keep on a-givin'.

For The Crafting Chicks' AWESOME printables, go here.

*****

{a.k.a. FIVE stars for this pinterest project.}

All in all, it was simple, and my kids will LOVE getting a naughty, sugary cereal on Friday...plus a love note from mom letting them know how much they mean to me.

And for my last trick...

*****

{a.k.a. FIVE stars for this pinterest project.}

Kay, so I am only giving four stars to this pinterest project, because my project turned out reasonably uglier than the one I originally found. This isn't her fault, but the rating is based on how well at basic-level {and even a little spacey...maybe?} mama can execute the project.The idea is WONDERFUL though, and I plan on sending these to all of my son's teachers and the secretaries who run his school's office...mostly as a kiss up bribe in hopes that they'll let him keep coming to their school despite his general spaz-i-ness. {He gets it honestly, folks, my genetics are NUTS... the least I can do is bribe a few teachers on his behalf}.

I also Rolos instead of gold coins, which doesn't look as cute, but tastes OH so much better than those icky chocolate coins!

Inspiration here.

2News This Morning Segment

leprechaun trap.

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, now is the perfect time of year to try and catch a leprechaun!  So we took on the challenge and put together a sophisticated trap...... OK, not really.  We used the oldest trap in the book.  The classic box (bucket, laundry basket or whatever container you have handy) and a stick. 

Of course the most important part of any trap is the bait!  So we used what's been widely known to attract a leprechaun..... Lucky Charms.  We also added fake gold coins and colored and pieced together a paper Leprechaun so it would fool our green guest that it was safe.... all of this made for quite the deadly combination.

Well, we definitely had a leprechaun in the house but he escaped!  He ran wild throughout the house, messed with the furniture (strong little bugger!) leaving behind him a path of destruction.

He got into the fridge and made a green mess.... and yup... he even turned the milk and eggs green.

He left green treats, complete with Irish Ale...or what we call, Cream Soda. 

He may have gotten the better of us this time around, but that little guy better watch out because we've already started scheming for next year!