Shamrock Cookies for St. Patrick’s Day

My family has always celebrated St. Patrick's Day. My maternal grandfather's family came from the south of Ireland. My mother always makes soda bread and an Irish dinner for St. Patrick's Day. When we were kids she would put shamrock napkins in our lunch bags and give us green milk to drink at dinner. It was always a fun day in our house. I have carried on the tradition of celebrating St. Patrick's Day with our kids. I have been trying to think of ways to honor who St. Patrick was instead of just talking about leprechauns (which the girls' school does plenty of).

If you do not know who St. Patrick was, here is a little overview. St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland. He lived in the fourth century. Born to wealthy British parents, he was taken captive by Irish raiders. He spent six years in captivity in Ireland. During this time, he worked herding sheep and spent most of his time alone. During this time he turned to God for comfort. When he returned home he studied to become a priest and later returned to Ireland to spread the Gospel. There are many legends surrounding his work in Ireland. It is told, that St. Patrick used the three leafed clover to teach about the trinity. The leaves are unique, but all part of the same plant. St. Patrick died on March 17^th 460. There are many great children's books for St. Patrick's Day available. For very young children, The Story of Saint Patrick's Day by Patricia A. Pingry, is a nice one.

I love the visual of the clover/shamrock in teaching about the trinity. The trinity is hard to understand. I don't think I'll really understand it until I reach heaven, but it is an important concept to try to teach our children. I thought St. Patrick's Day would be a great opportunity.

I made each person in our family 3 small heart shaped cookies and one stick shaped cookie. I frosted them all green. After dinner a few nights ago, I read the above book about St. Patrick. I but the platter of cookies on the table and had each person take a "stick".

We each then took one heart representing God. This first heart was placed to the top left of our stick. We talked about God the creator and our heavenly father.

Then we took a second heart and put it at the top of the stick. This one represented Jesus. We talked about Jesus, the son, our savior.

We took a third heart and placed it to on the right side of the stick. Our shamrocks were complete. We talked about God sending the Holy Spirit. We talked about the Holy Spirit living in each of us. Last we talked about the trinity.

Then we ate! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Little Lamb Easter Cards

I love to make crafts with the girls, but sometimes I feel like our house is being overrun by paintings, drawings and construction paper aliens. I know that our extended family loves to see their handiwork too, so I try to come up with art projects that can be turned into gifts or cards. Last week we made these little lamb cards for Easter. I thought some of you may enjoy making them with your kids as well.

Materials:

Lamb Template (print out here)
Scrapbooking paper
Cotton balls
Markers (black plus desired colors)
flower and bug stickers (optional)
5 x 7 card and envelope
Glue
Googley eyes
Ribbon (optional)

Instructions:

1. Print out the picture of the lamb. Cut out the lamb. This is the only part of the picture you need.
   


2. Cut out one piece of 4 ½ x 6 ½ paper and one piece of 5x7 paper per card you want to make.
   


3. 
   
   Trace the lamb onto the piece of 4 ½ x 6 ½ paper. Outline the lamb in black marker and color in square shaped hoofs.
   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   Now you're ready to get the kids involved.
   

   
   

   
   



4. Pull apart 2-3 cotton balls into small loose pieces. Spread glue around the lamb and attach the cotton ball pieces. Do not make it too thick or it will not fit in the envelope.
   


5. Give your lamb an eye and a ribbon bow at the neck.
   


6. Decorate the rest of your 4 ½ by 6 ½ paper with drawings or stickers of flowers, ladybugs, butterflies etc.
   


7. Glue the 4 ½ by 6 ½ paper to the 5 x 7 paper. Glue that to the out side of the card.
   


8. Write your Easter greetings inside.
   
   
   

March Drawing – Ode to my book club gals

Well this is a record! I am actually announcing this month's drawing before half the month is over. Maybe one month I will announce it at the beginning of the month! In honor of my book club which just celebrated its anniversary, this month's drawing prize is a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble.

Anyone who talks to me for very long knows that I love my book club. I am the poster child for the "everyone should be in a book club" movement. I think book club are our generation's version of the bridge club. A time to get together, have an adult conversation and eat good food that we don't have to share with little people. Last Friday night, my book club got together to discuss Gilead, celebrate Jinny's birthday and the two year anniversary of our little group. In the past two years I have been mightily blessed by these four women. They challenge me to read things I would never consider such as Anna Karenina, reminding me that I haven't completely succumb to mommy-brain. They encourage me in becoming a better writer, healthier woman and happier mom. And once a month, they open their homes and give me yummy food and nice wine. J I love them!

If you want to be part of a book club, but don't know how to go about starting one, here is what I did. A few years ago, I was in a very large book club that was part of a local mom's club. The group was ever changing, infrequently talked about the book and met during the day with kids in tow. I knew this was not what I wanted in a book club. There was one woman in the group who seemed to be looking for something different as well. I didn't know Jinny well, but I wanted to get to know her. I called her and she immediately signed up. She knew her friend Lisa would also want to take part. The three of us met for coffee and laid out what we wanted – no kids, evening meetings, books that would make us think, and a small group of women (6 max) who would come every month. We each decided to invite one person so that we could broaden our circle of friends. Two years later, we have five in our group and I have made four amazing friends.

About once a year, our group sits down and picks our books for the coming year. We are just about to do that. So I wanted to share some of our favorites and hear about your personal/book club's favorites.

Snowflake and Secret Fan by Lisa See

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Ten Thousand White Women: The journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls