Happy St. Patrick's Day a Bit Early!

I was not at all sure if we would be able to fit in a Nana's St. Pat's weekend this year...and, truth be told, I didn't do any more planning than "thinking" about it. The kids schedules are so full these days and the virus news is always changing so I just kind of let it go. Until Thursday, that is, when I was invited to my youngest grand daughter's school to be her guest at her "student led conference". She and I could pick any safely distanced spot anywhere on her campus and she was to tell me her progress and her goals. The weather was picture perfect and it was just lovely. As we were walking back to the building, she asked me if we were doing St. Pat's this year because she would like to...and, of course, that was all this Nana needed to hear to get the ball rolling!

It turned out that my oldest grandson already had plans (after taking first place in the discus throw for his school's track team that morning) but, the two youngest wanted to join. I did a bit of crazy scurrying but, luckily, since I have been doing this for so many years, I had lots of ideas to fall back on!

We really didn't do things to the extent that we usually do, but that was fine.

We did our obligatory photo and then went straight to lunch...an old stand-by of leprechaun sandwiches, rainbow fruit kabobs and chips. Some of us got more creative than others and one someone was so hungry that HE skipped the leprechaun all together so HE could start eating! Not naming any names. Lol

Then it was time to get our craft on. And my new miter saw was invited to the party! I will say, Hudson has had some mighty good "shop" classes while in school because he taught me all kinds of things about my new saw that I truly had no clue about! And, I even let him do most of the cutting - although I will admit that I hovered close!

We chose to move on to an Easter gift since St. Pat's decor will be coming down in just a few days.  Hud cut the wood and then we dry brushed it with chalk paint and used Contact paper stencils to do the bunny. We all loved Presley's configuration the best so, all five were done the same way and we love how they turned out!

Hud's elective this semester is culinary arts and they were working on cookies this week so he asked if he could make his favorite (the double dark chocolate cookies) all by himself. That was fine with Presley because she asked if she could make a St. Pat's napkin decoupage plate all by herself...sometimes life is serendipitous! Lol One in the kitchen...one in the dining room.  

Hud really did a great job on the cookies. They were crisp around the edges but fudgy in the middle.

Before we knew it, it was time to start thinking about dinner. As much as I love some of the complicated meals we have pulled off in past years, we went the simple route this time...spaghetti with either pesto or "green" alfredo sauce (which we forgot to color green when we got a text asking if we would allow a "crasher" - and, of course we would ) and we had to scramble to add another place setting to the table, pot o'gold garlic bread and "trees of Ireland". Dessert was supposed to be green mint chip ice cream and cookies but we were all too full to have any. The ice cream and cookies went home with the kids so I'm sure it will not go to waste!

And, as much as the kids love the traditional scavenger hunt, they were perfectly amenable to just getting the prize at the end of the rainbow without the hunt this year! 

So that was my fun weekend...and, since I have you here and I want to get it documented, I thought I would drag you along  show you the last of the St. Pat's decor. I think we only have the sunroom left...and, truth be told, there's not that much in there to show you.

So, I think that is finally the end of the longest show of St. Pat's decor ever. I am really excited about moving on to Easter now. As I was out shopping for this weekend, I did manage to pick up a few Easter items and some craft supplies for some things I've been thinking about so, come March 18, I will be moving on to all things Easter...which, for some reason includes a lot of carrots or carrot colored things this year. I can't wait to get it going and then share with you. You will be the first to know when it happens. Stay safe and stay tuned.