So Lucky

I say it every year, but I love St. Patrick's Day. Mainly because minor holidays are super-fun, but also because my favorite color is green, and both the Millers and Kelleys have hefty Irish roots (and English, who were historically at odds with the Irish. I promise that if there were a British-themed minor holiday, I would celebrate it too, as we did with the London Olympics!)

Every year, we take a family pic in all our green. It's a fun tradition, and a good opportunity to take a picture that has not just a child or two, and not just a child or two with one parent, but via selfie or timer, to get us all in the shot. That's so much rarer than it should be, when one parent is always behind the camera!

 As on Valentine's last month, I decorated the dining room and fixed a nice dinner for the fam. I considered doing all green foods, like spinach fettuccine, zucchini, and salad, but my kids don't really care for green foods, and even if the green pasta tasted just like regular pasta, it would be no dice. So, I made corned beef, mashed potatoes, and kale (for Mommy and Daddy; the kids got leftover green beans and sweet potato fries for their veggies).

 

I'm going to keep it real here and confess that, while I love doing fun theme dinners and such, it increases my frustration when the kids aren't automatically on their best behavior and super-polite during said dinner. I was kind of on edge throughout the meal. 

 

Toward the end of dinner, I pulled the old Thanksgiving staple, with a twist: "Let's all say why we're lucky!"

Kate replied: "Why we're lucky."

Why yes, she does have a smart mouth. How'd you guess?

Kate did give a serious answer, though, saying she was lucky to have a sister and a foster sister and a mommy and a daddy.

Claire's answer was simply: "Pie." (May I remind you her babyhood nickname was Hungry Hungry Hippo?)

Hope you feel as lucky as we do—whether it's because of familial love or just a nice dessert. Both are good reasons to celebrate.