Saturday, March 17, 2012

Going Green

As I mentioned earlier this week, I attempted to reclaim my "fun mom" title by putting together a week's worth of activities leading up to St. Patrick's Day.  Why?  My kids really know nothing of St. Patty's Day - green, leprechauns, rainbows, etc etc etc.  It's never been a big deal to me (except it's my father-in-law's birthday..."Happy Birthday!!") and aside from wearing green, I remember nothing significant about it really.  But with all the inspiration overload out there in the blogosphere, I figured why not introduce this green holiday to my kids with my two favorite things - crafts and food!

My goal was to have a new craft and fun snack everyday... "fun mom"- yes ... "Supermom" - no.  We worked in quite a few different activities, but didn't quite tackle everything I had in mind.  That's kinda my M.O. though, ya know?  Shoot for impossible and see what you can do!  I figure someday I just might surprise myself. :)

So here's a little rundown of all that we did this week that was green and rainbow-y.

I needed a way to introduce the holiday to the boys in an easy to understand way (I don't care so much that they believe in leprechauns and legends but more about the actual St. Patrick), so I went to the library in search of a few books that would do it for me.  Unfortunately, the St. Patty's books were pretty picked over, so I came home with only two, and the boys only wanted to read one of them. 

This book told nothing of St. Patrick but rather a fictional lad named Finn O'Finnegan, but at least for now the boys are well versed in little men who make shoes for fairies in exchange for gold. :)

Craft #1: Froot Loop Necklaces


 We made a rainbow pattern with the loops (minus the red as they were the 8-shape Sooper Loopers like the box exclaims) - Drew followed it precisely; Reed not so much.

His favorite part was making it
Snack #1: Froot Loop Necklaces

 One certainly cannot complete such a craft and not immediately eat it. :)

Craft #2: Tissue Paper Shamrocks

 We attempted to do these outside (being as it's been in the 70s all week long) but the wind got to us and made it a bit difficult.  And because Drew wanted to cover his entirely, it was a 2-3 day project for him. :)

Snack #2: Green Pudding and Mint Creme Oreos

 A little green food coloring goes a long way.

 A long, long way. :)


 Reed didn't participate in this craft as he was napping when Drew was chomping at the bit for something to do.


 This one was a flop (it was bound to happen).  It doesn't look anything like the picture, my popcorn was old, and the boys barely touched it.  Ah well.  Live and learn.


 Drew is a very tedious rainbow maker.

 Reed is a little more free-form.

Snack #4: Green Chocolate Chip Cookies


 These totally made up for the popcorn snafu.

And don't forget about our outdoor rainbow hunt!

And our holiday grand finale was this afternoon when we headed to St. Peter to see their annual St. Patrick's Day parade.

 You know we had to sport the green boots.

It wasn't the best parade we've ever been to - LOTS of kids - older kids - so not much chance for the boys to grab any candy.  And it was a very short parade with only a few participants.

Seeing Uncle Justin, Mindy and Perry march with the Govenaires was the highlight, though!


So that's how we went ga ga for green this week.

Next up...Easter and bunnies and Jesus, oh my!


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