Spring Break Day 2--St. Patricks Day Party

It started the night before, when we let the boys stay up late and we tie dyed shirts for them to wear on St. Pat's. I planned to do it before, but you know how that goes.....

I got the green die and shirts and rubber bands all ready. We started about 9pm (after Alyssa was safely asleep) and Michael helped us brew green stuff over the stove. Matthew was pretty skeptical with the whole idea, but I told him to trust me--it was going to be awesome!
Here they are with their shirts all banded up about to go in the brew.
They took turns stirring over the next 20 minutes or so....then we rinsed them out and washed them, to examine in the morning.
I spent the morning making treats: dipping cookies and pretzels in green chocolate (got that new Wilton chocolate melter and loved it. Figured I like to use those chocolates and will get good use out of it).


Funny--I don't think I even tried them. Didn't seem appetizing at the time of consumption.

Here are the boys in the shirts they made and Alyssa in her St. Patty's Day shirt she had been anxiously waiting to wear for weeks.
If I didn't have Michael help me with the shirts the night before, I would have had him hanging streamers. But I ran out of time and energy and did it myself in the morning (picture large pregnant woman getting up on chair, in socks, hanging strings from the ceiling). I was mostly pleased with the streamer job.
Then the masses started coming. I told the kids they could each invite 3 friends (then it turned into just a few more). Everyone that we invited came. I maybe would have done games, but I decided to do a movie: Darby O'Gill and the Little People. A movie my sis in law, Kim, told me about (that she loves and watches every year). It's a Disney movie, and though I'd never watched it before, showed it anyway. The kids came in and out of the movie room.
Here is our group shot--someone said we had 30 kids total, but this is less than that here.
Then we had a green lunch. I just made the treats--other friends brought all the other green things.
It was yummy.
I wanted to share my green outfit, even though I'm not a fan of what I look like here. I wore a shirt from last year, with a maternity shirt under it. I realized later I shouldn't have done that...I just didn't think it looked too flattering. I got worn out, but it was worth it. I love getting together and celebrating like this.
Later in the evening, I got a cuddle with my little one. (If you can see my socks, michael gave them to me just after we were married and had to order them because he couldn't find them in any stores).

I even made twice baked potatoes in the evening and went to a recipe club swap. I just can't pass up a chance to socialize, no matter my "condition."