The Leprechaun Capers

Dear Megan,

In the last email you wrote me, you asked if we had any fun St. Patrick's activities planned. With a first grader in Mrs. Richardson's class, it was impossible not to. Jason had done so many St. Patrick's day activities at school that he was bursting with ideas, excitement, and expectations. Therefore, Kyle and I feel wrangled into putting on a bigger St. Patrick's day celebration than what we grew up with. Still, I did try to tone down Jason's ideas.

First off, he was making Leprechaun traps all the time. At first he was interested in giving them away to people who might not have their own, such as his grandparents and other friends. Then, as St. Patrick's day grew closer, he wanted to make multiple traps to keep for himself to increase the odds of catching a Leprechaun at our house. I limited him to just one at our house. 

St. Patrick's Day eve was filled with the wonder of "will the Leprechaun come in the middle of the night?!" Kyle and I were afraid we'd have an early-morning waker, just like for Christmas, only this time anticipating a Leprechaun. So, we assured him that Leprechauns like to be tricky, and therefore come at unpredictable times. Our visiting Leprechaun did not come until Jason was at school, Kyle was at work, and the rest of us were at Costco. Under strict instructions from Jason, we did not check the trap until Jason was home from school. When I picked Jason up from school, I told him that the trap looked different... Jason was bursting with anticipation!!! The drive home was filled with musings over what the Leprechaun might have done. Did he turn the milk green? Did he turn the toilet water green? (Gulp! No, he didn't!) 

Immediately upon entering the house, both Noah and Jason checked out the trap--together. They both insisted the other not forge ahead to be the first to look. While they looked at the trap at the front door, I worked a little magic with the milk. Ta da! It had been turned green. 

Unluckily for us, the Leprechaun was too smart to get caught in our trap. In order to get into the box (trap), he had to climb a rope, then go down a slide. This tricky Leprechaun smartly held onto the rope while he went down the slide, which enabled him to climb back out. He took the pennies, but he was nice enough to leave chocolate coins in their place. He also put chocolate coins in Jason's pot of gold decoration that was hanging on the window.

After finding the coins and the green milk, Jason ran around the house to see what else the Leprechaun had done. Jason happily reported that the tricky Leprechaun had moved our downstairs couch a few inches. Sure! Whatever you say.

St. Patrick's Day dinner was declared the "best dinner ever" by Jason. It consisted of green scrambled eggs, regular toast, regular hash browns, and St. Patrick's Day juice (green smoothie topped with whipping cream and sprinkles). Jason had been begging me to make this St. Patrick's Day juice after having it in his class at school.

Now, on to the next holiday. We finished making confetti eggs that we can smash on each other's heads during our Easter egg hunt. We've also dyed hard-boiled eggs (not for smashing on heads). We're doing a moonlight egg hunt with flashlights on Saturday night in our backyard. Kelli and Thomas are coming. I still need to go out and buy stuff for the hunt this week.

How is Tyson? I hope he wasn't down with that fever for too long?

love,

Louie