St. Patrick. And Mindy!

I blame Claire's preschool class for the deep, deep interest that my kids have in St. Patrick's Day. I don't have a problem with this; I just really need to be more on my game and prepared for when they want to raid the recyclables and make a "leprechaun trap." This is the part that always catches me off-guard. Thankfully, we are rarely at a loss for recyclables, tape, stickers, and construction paper. (and yes...maybe I should just make a note in my calendar so I'm not surprised every year)

They left out their trap, and the "leprechaun" (me) left them a note to tell them their loot was on the dining room table. Nana (and Mrs. Romine!) never forgets to send fun St. Patrick's treats, so we had stickers, hair things, socks, necklaces, etc.

I should also mention that their trapping skills evolved this year: they set up a "fake restaurant" to lure the leprechauns in for the trapping. Very devious, if you ask me.

They weren't quite sure what leprechauns eat, so they included a plethora of options.

Trumpkin got dolled up, too.

We love a good theme-y outfit around here.

Like, we get SO excited!

One of the positive things that came out of our pandemic year is that I was able to get back into very regular contact with my friend, Mindy. We've been friends for about 13 years now, and we've been friends across many states, countries, continents, and time zones. We reconnected via Marco Polo and talked just about every day over the last year! We started our Marco Polo-ing in March 2020, and she came to see us in person in March 2021! It was SO GOOD for my heart. Obviously, we couldn't do a whole lot outside of our house (#pandemiclife and especially #pandemiclifeindurham), but I had a blast just sitting and talking with her. In person! And, she's no stranger to entertaining small humans, so she came prepared with a bucket full of new blocks that the girls LOVED. 

I got a grand total of 2 pictures, but it was one of the best weekends of my pandemic experience, nonetheless. 

Love you, Mindy!

I love that my girls find so much joy in friends and visitors, as well as creating fun for imaginary magical creatures. It makes finding joy in the world that much easier.