St. Patty's Day

Today was a big day in our household. We wore green. We drank green milk. And we celebrated Nate being 1/16th Irish and the children 1/32 Irish. Or something like that. I was the only 100% Swede around, but I will happily celebrate anybody who chased snakes away from anywhere.

Last night Viggo asked me if leprechauns were real. Well I said, "Of course not, honey - they're just fun to pretend about."

Well guess who came home from school today and saw leprechaun footprints around school.

And guess who's friend at school, John, actually saw a real live leprechaun.

Leprechauns do exist!

What do I know?


We ate Rainbow Cupcakes. Typically this type of food flies in the face of our normal healthy fare. I can't say they're healthy . . . or natural . . . or that they can even be classified as nutrition. But I saw this recipe idea in a magazine in a waiting room and knew I had to try it because it just looked like it was so much fun. It also supplies your body with a decade's amount of food dye. I closed my eyes momentarily in shock when I saw the amount of food coloring the recipe calls for. But then I thought, well, the kids will love it.

Viggo had fun squeezing the bags of cake batter to see what color the dye would make it!

It was quick to mix up the dough in ziplocs. Hint: the recipe does not tell you this. I read this tip in someone's review of this recipe, and measured out the batter per her instructions in 5.5 oz. amounts directly into the ziplocs. I measured it on my little digital kitchen scale, which is easily one of the most handiest things I own.

After the batter was mixed well inside the bag, I clipped a tiny corner off and squirted it in the muffin pan and silicone muffin cups.

Purple batter first. Viggo said, "Mom, I think the batter looks too thick on the bottom." He was right. I ran out quickly. What do I know about making rainbow cupcakes anyway?

Then blue, then green. I was more conservative and got through all 18 with a nice, even distribution of colored batter. Viggo was so proud of me.

Viggo and I hid a walnut in one. This is for Nate to take to work tomorrow; he's bringing the leftover cupcakes in for a treat. Whoever gets the cupcake with the walnut wins - a pot of gold! Viggo is supplying the pot of gold; he's going to create one.

Then yellow.

Then orange, then red. I did not smooth out the batter like the directions specify. In several reviews people mentioned this took forever; even up to 2 hours. I didn't have 2 hours to spare, so I just squirted it in rings around the outside edges and let it run together at will. Obviously the person who came up with this recipe had a lot of time on their hands.

While baking, Svea and Viggo went outside to trike and bike.

I came home from IL/MN the other weekend to find that Viggo mastered biking without training wheels! And guess what he tells me: "Mom, Dad showed me how to do a wheelie!"

Also while outside, Viggo was looking at the ground and suddenly cried out, "I found a four-leaf clover!"

He saw leprechaun footprints and found a four-leaf clover. He was living the St. Patty's dream today.

And here's our cupcake, all frosted and ready to be eaten. These are so fun!

Svea was really wowed by all the colors.

Elin was just having a good time eating her squash and rice.

Guess what? Svea has built-in binoculars. Nate does too, but for some reason I could never capture him wearing his.

We hope you had a happy St. Pat's!