St. Patty's Day

Well, Lads and Lassies, you didn't think I'd forget St. Patrick's Day, did you?

Andrew is the one who loved this holiday most of all. The big kids were a little too old, and Joey was too young to understand what was going on. When O'Andrew went outside to the milkbox to get our milk, he saw some footprints... Inside the box, he found that the leprechaun had played a trick on us--Our milk was green! Also, there was a clue to a treasure hunt to find where the leprechaun had hidden his gold...

For breakfast, we had green frosting on our cinnamon rolls, then we made some green play-doh.
We made green cookies, verde enchiladas, and by the end of the day, we were pretty greened out!
They're always after me Lucky Charms...

Who was St. Patrick?

Well, according to Wikipedia, Patrick was born in Wales in 390 A.D. He was captured by the Irish when he was about 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. Six years later, he escaped and went home. Then, later in his life, he returned as a missionary to Ireland. He was not assosciated with any one church--making him ideal for a country where religions divide so much of the population. He was a foreigner and also refused gifts and payment for baptizing, making him pretty un-popular. He was imprisoned at different times, but apparently not martyred like most saints. Tradition says that he banished snakes from Ireland, but this could refer to the pagan "druids" who were often represented with the snake symbol. His death date is believed to be March 17, 460.

So, there you have it. I hope you all found a 4-leaf clover or a pot of gold or kissed a blarney stone or or even kissed someone who is Irish--because their t-shirt told you to do so!