When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

When Irish eyes are smiling

Sure it's like a morn in spring.

In the lilt of Irish laughter,

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

Sure, they steal your heart away...

We had so many reasons to smile last week as we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. On Wednesday we got together with Teagan's buddies at an art studio to make all kinds of crafty fun!

I love this idea! They used contact paper which allowed the kids to stick buttons, felt, glitter and more to their shamrocks. When they were finished contact paper was added to the top to seal everything in and the excess was trimmed away! My friend Nisha said she will do this with an egg shape for an Easter craft for her neighborhood kids. Brilliant!

Sweet little Ashleigh!

I am so glad we recently met Katie from England and her precious boy, Leo! He hasn't met little Brecken, Liam or Landon yet but they are sure to become fast friends!

Two of my favorite girls! Lera and mommy Natasha.

Lera always has the best smiles!

We were super psyched that Zea and mom Nisha switched their schedule around to join us!

Ellie and Vivienne are also new, treasured friends. They are the sweetest and prettiest little girls. This goo they are playing with is like play dough/slime that doesn't stick. I heard it was made of some sort of acid....yikes! Normally the mention of acid and my little babies make for one nervous mommy but thankfully by the time I heard what it was made of the kids had been playing happily with it. In fact, they LOVED it! I have a hard enough time getting our dinners made according to the recipe so I don't see us trying this one at home!

Teagan and Ellie painting with colored shaving cream.

With the Irish, Russians, British, Americans and French representin' we've become quite the international play group! French Ellie is here with Teagan. Ellie is seriously talented with her art as is photographer mom, Catherine!

Aren't Vivienne and mom Heather beautiful? They lived in Colorado and Texas too!

It was a treat to catch up with Daniel, sister Ashleigh and their mom, Polly! We miss seeing them each week.

Zea and Teagan grabbing a quick hug!

This was another project where the kids used tongs to drop metal balls covered with sparkly paint into galvanized pizza pans. When the balls hit the round paper they made a cool pattern! Those ladies at the studio are just genius! I can't wait for Tea's next class with them later this month for Easter!

I spied little Ashleigh working away on her own as the class wrapped up. I just love this shot but wish my blog template would let me display a bigger version. It would even be cool in black and white or with a color focus. And I love that we can see all our kid's artwork hanging up above her drying before we head home with them.

Destination: Inspiration is coming up for Tuesday! And I can't wait to share photos from our Paddy's Day celebrations on Saturday afternoon and night! Have a great Monday, all!

ShamROCKIN' Good Sugar Cookie Recipe!

Welcome! If you are looking for this week's linky party please click

Destination: Inspiration Tuesday Linky Party #6

Last St. Patrick's Day I put out a call to anyone who could tell me for the love of all mom's who have to bake cookies, why oh why my sugar cookies resembled more of a ...blob...than a shamrock??? Since then I've been on the hunt for THE perfect recipe.

Thanks to The Girl Who Ate Everything who posted this recipe by her friend Alison I have found it! If you are looking for a moist cookie that is a puffy cloud of perfection, not too sweet and holds its shape then look no further! I made these for Valentine's and again for St. Patrick's Day with no worries.

Soft Sugar Cookies
by Alison Tolbert
1 cup sour cream
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, slightly softened
4 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla (I like almond)
6 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine sour cream, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla/almond extract. Beat for 2-3 minutes.

Add dry ingredients and mix well. Dough will still be wet and sticky. Let the dough chill in fridge for 25 minutes or until firm.

Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to make shapes or circles. You may have to add a little flour to roll them out so the dough is workable but remember the less flour you use the softer your cookie will be.

Bake until LIGHT golden brown about 8-10 minutes. When you take them out they will seem underdone but they aren't. Let them cool on the pan and they will be perfect and moist. It you like them harder and more crunchy just bake them a little longer.

Makes around 4 dozen.

We were in a hurry and just used canned frosting but colored it two shades of green because little Teagan just can't get enough of her favorite color this holiday!

The only snafu I ran into was giving a toddler flour...yeah, don't do that. Ever. Make that fairy princess. Lately this costume from her Auntie Angie is the only thing she wants to wear!

I never posted a picture of our St. Patrick's mantel. I love the burlap and green this year. Next time instead of the foam shamrocks with wooden painted gold lettering I am going to use fabric scraps instead for more texture (thanks for the idea, Leah)! I tried to take them down because I wasn't sure about them but my Irish husband is still loyal to the Emerald Isle and wouldn't hear of it! *LOL*

Yesterday Madeline came over to help me with the girls and the cookies. She is just the sweetest girl! And I had to snap this picture of her with Isla who woke up from her nap with the funniest bedhead! My little monkey. It's hard to believe she will be a year old in one month!

Have a great day there! I can't wait to post the story of our infertility struggle and path to parenthood this week!

A ShamRockin' Good Time

Welcome to March everyone! I love this month for its celebration of St. Patrick's Day which reminds me of why I fell in love with my husband from Co. Galway and everything about The Emerald Isle! I've spent the last few days getting in the Paddy's spirit by listening to The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues, Linger by The Cranberries, anything by U2, and Ordinary Man by Christy Moore.

This has me reliving memories of our nine years in Colorado that we shared with a large group of Irish that also made it their home away from home. They were and still are so precious to us. Words can't describe how much we miss them! Some of our best times were shutting down our beautiful town for the night with a good ole Irish sing-a-long. I'll always think of them whenever I hear The Wild Rover or The Fields of Athenry! And of course we miss all our family and friends in Ireland and can't wait to see them this summer when we go home with the babies for Ita's wedding!

In the meantime, do you know the story behind St. Patrick's Day? With the United State's love of green beer, lively revelers and parades it is easy to miss that this day started as a religious holiday in Ireland many years ago. St. Patrick is the most famous patron saint of Ireland and was sent there to teach the Irish about Christianity. According to folklore he used the three leafed shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity, or the unity of God our Father, Son and Holy Ghost in one divine being.

Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Isn't that a surprise? But over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's Day grew. The phrase "the wearing of the green" means to wear a shamrock on one's clothing.

Also surprising to me is the discovery that American school children created the incessant pinching of those who forget to wear green on this festive day, not the Irish. Ouch! Wish I had that little tidbit at my fingertips when I was in the first grade, thank-you-very-much Trey Smith!

I'll be making a few posts this St. Patrick's season including one with a great recipe for Irish Soda Bread passed on to me by my sweet Japanese friend Michiko who is also married to an Irish Brian, beer bread, fun kiddie crafts, parades and more so stay tuned! In the meantime, I'd love to hear how you and yours will celebrate this season!