Those tricky leprechauns

I can't possibly let another day go by without blogging in regards to those tricky, sneaky leprechauns the girls got to encounter last Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day. I must admit, it's not a holiday I've ever even considered celebrating. I don't drink green beer or dec the house in green. I do wear green (a least a tiny bit) so no one has rights to pinch me, but that for 30 years has been the extent to my St. Patrick Day traditions. This year, I got a book from the library about St. Patrick to read to the girls. However, the education system totally outed me...

Breanne came home excited from preschool. Apparently, there were some leprechauns who snuck into their room and messed it all up. They did hide some gold for the kids to find and like magic, inside each piece of gold was a green bead necklace. She got to see the green milk and eggs the leprechauns had made in one of the girls' homes and she also got a shamrock painted on her face.

Madison's excitement after school was beyond words. She couldn't hardly spit the story out fast enough. Those tricky little leprechauns had snuck into her classroom during last recess, messed it all up and apparently raced down the hall into their 6th grade buddy's classroom. When the Kindergartners returned from recess, they followed the trail of gold to their buddy's room where they found gold coins and green bead necklaces. Their buddies saw the leprechauns and those Kindergartners were all determined to catch one. Oh, yes. She's determined that she'll find their gold at the end of the rainbow and all.

By the time we made the 3-minute drive home, my head was spinning as Madison and Breanne each kept re-living their leprechaun experiences. And then it hit them. Maybe we had leprechauns in our house. I assured them that I hadn't let any leprechauns in. "But, mom. The front door wasn't even locked. They are very sneaky. They could easily get in our house." I gave in. Yes, we might have leprechauns in our house. Suddenly both girls were terrified to go downstairs to see if the leprechauns had messed up their room. (Seriously, I'm not sure they would have noticed if a leprechaun had "messed" it up...it looked like a tornado went through there before they left for school.) Finally, they worked up the courage and were relieved to find out that the leprechauns had not visited our home.

Finally, by six o'clock, the girls had settled down. Derrick no more than walks in the door and again, they both become volcanoes of information, all about the leprechauns. Derrick looks at me with question. I nod. Yes, they've been like that all afternoon. And I thought they'd be excited about green jell-o for dessert. Good thing I decided against it. I don't like lime jell-o.

Don't leave out little Aliya just because she doesn't know what a leprechaun is. This morning, she started digging through our drawers and decided to try on Derrick's boxers. Oh, well. Madi and Breanne wore my underwear around their necks. Yes, they were all clean!

She knows where we live!

On Thursday, March 4th, Madison lost her first tooth! She left for school in the morning with it hanging by a thread. Derrick was sure she was going to swallow it. She was sitting "at carpet" in class when she had to tell her teacher, "Mrs. Watson, I lost my tooth!" She was given the famous "tooth necklace" that holds her tooth and she wore it around her neck all day. She was pretty excited. When I picked her up that afternoon, I knew something was up because she ran up to me covering her mouth. We didn't even know if the tooth fairy knew where we lived, but she found us and left Madison a dollar in exchange for her tooth.

The very next day at dinner, we had just sat down to eat pizza when she said, "Oh, I lost my other tooth!" She's talking a little funny now and loves to stick her tongue in the hole in her bottom teeth. She carried that tooth everywhere that evening. She and Breanne were messing around downstairs when SHE LOST HER TOOTH! We weren't sure what the tooth fairy would do this time. So, before going to bed, she got out a pencil and paper and wrote, "Dear TF," (short for Tooth Fairy), "I lost my tooth. Madison." Much to our surprise, the tooth fairy does give money for lost teeth in exchange for notes, in case you too were wondering.

A quick rewind....to Valentine's Day. All three girls woke up to having their doors decorated with valentines and treats. They also got a killer package in the mail from Grandma Barb...PURSES! Those purses were so full at one point that Derrick told them mom needed to give a lesson on what to carry and what NOT to carry in your purse.

Play dates are a big deal to the big girls lately. Breanne got to have preschool friends over one Tuesday. These three (Breanne, Kelcey and Grace) have been coined the 3-for-1 by their preschool teachers. Madison is also having girls over that go to the day care down the street and we've even struck up a friendship with Birkley, her mom and siblings. Birkley even got to join us for Fusion last week!

Not to leave Miss Aliya out, she is quite the baby. Silly, sassy and going on 7! She is surely a smart little thing and can follow any directions you give her...IF it's on her agenda. She's determined too. We had taken the girls bowling with friends and she got it in her head that she could bowl too. (To steal my sister's phrase..."Anything they can do, I can do better!") I didn't see any harm in it. I understood why Derrick said no after I let her roll my ball. I was terrified that the ball would stop in the middle of the lane. Thankfully, the ball made it to the pins...eventually. She didn't bowl anymore after that.

Let me describe our mornings to you...It could be cool, calm, under control. Or it could be rush, rush, rush, get a "crack-a-lackin'." Or it could be one of those days where they three girls just want to play and yuck around...preferably on my bed. If time allows, I try to remember to be the fun mom and jump on the bed with them.

Breanne is my side-kick for sure on Tuesday and Thursdays. Mostly, that drives me nuts (to have a living, breathing shadow.) She is definitely bored at home now and wishes she could go to school every day! She also has a new fear of being alone. So, where ever I am, she is. This morning, she told me she'd lick anything I was baking. Lick she did... No wonder her face is always dirty!