Leprechaun Invasion

Though it is said that “everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day”, I am one of those people proud to be Irish year round.  With a family name of Shannon (and Byers on my mother’s side) the green blood runs deep in my veins.

One of my favorite memories of St. Patrick’s Day past was when I was eleven. We never did much of anything to celebrate before so I wasn’t expecting anything. In that little farm-house in Northeast Wisconsin, my little brother (who was 5) and I shared a room that was right off the kitchen.  When we woke up the morning of March 17th, we walked into the kitchen – and chaos!  There were underwear hanging from cupboard handles, paper strewn everywhere, and what seemed like hundreds of little footprints all over the walls and countertops.  To top it off, in the middle of the kitchen table was a big platter of green sugar cookies.  My mom came into the kitchen when she heard us, and exclaimed, “the Leprechaun’s must’ve come last night!”

Now that I’m grown with kids of my own, I realize that she must have stayed up all night getting everything ready.  It was a very thoughtful thing to do just to surprise a couple little boys. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day
I miss you, Mom! xxoo