3.22.2015

St. Patty's Day, March Madness & World Water Day

What a busy week it has been!
It was conference week (which if you are a teacher, know how crazy that week is!)
We also celebrated St. Patty's Day, one of my favorite days of the year!
It was 3 years ago on St. Patty's Day that we told the girls I was pregnant.
You can read that post {HERE}
And, here he is...my Irish Lad, Lukey!
 Our leprechaun arrived like he does every year, with a box of Lucky Charms & a treasure map.
Finding the map:

There was a trail of gold coins (rolos) leading the kids to their treasure.

They love grabbing the map & finding out where the treasure is:
 The pot of gold coins is always near the treasure.

 The treasure was Rainbow Fishies for Luke, Watercolors & Skittles for the girls:
The girls opened up the paints right away & made Leprechaun pictures:

 The leprechaun also does some mischief around the house
 Boulder's water was turned green:

 And he left a mess in our bathroom:

Some people might roll their eyes at us for doing ridiculous things like this on holidays that don't really matter, but to us, this is the stuff memories are made of.
I love spending a few minutes dying things green and making green food and sending my kids on a treasure hunt. It is so fun for us. It only takes a few extra minutes out of my day, but to see the wonder & excitement on my kids faces makes it all worth. 
They are only kids once...and next year Kate will be 8....will she even believe anymore?
My motto is to make it fun while it lasts! But, to each their own!
 We are part Irish, so it is fun for us to celebrate St. Patricks Day.

 Normally we have our traditional Guinness Stew for St. Patty's dinner, but since the weather was so nice, we decided to have a court St. Patty's Day block party. I was assigned to bring dessert, so I whipped up some Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Rolos in the middle & Bailey's Irish Creme frosting.
 YUM!
 The kids got chocolate & vanilla cupcakes:
Everyone hanging out:
 Cornhole, Corned Beef & Cocktails. It was a great St. Patty's Day.
 In case you missed it, I have a Rodan + Fields March Madness Special going on this month.
Email me melissa_larson17@yahoo.com to place an order or if you have questions!

Speaking of March Madness, did you fill out a bracket?
March Madness is one of my favorite times of the year.
That's why I haven't blogged in a few days...too busy watching Basketball!  
Luke is more into his trains than watching basketball :)

I have Duke winning the whole thing, who do you have?
How is your bracket doing?
Mine was doing okay until this afternoon. Kansas lost & I had them in the Finals against Duke.
But, I picked a few upsets that have panned out & I am still in first place for my Poo...for now :)
 This is what my bracket looks like now:
Did you know that today, March 22 is World Water Day?
In honor of World Water Day, yesterday we joined Team World Vision's 6K for Water.
 We each walked for a child in Africa who now has water for life.
Right now 748 million people in the world don't have access to clean water.
  Over $5000 was raised for today's event. $50 will give a child in Africa water for life.
Here are the kids that we walked for:

 I was so proud of the girls, they walked the entire 4 miles!
It was a great lesson for them, we explained that the girls on their bibs that we supported have to walk 4 miles each day to get water & sometimes that isn't even clean water.
We let them know that now those girls will have access to clean water for the rest of their lives!
If you want to donate to the 6K Water for Life, you can click my sister's fundraising page {HERE} She organized the event, I am so proud of her!
She is a part of Team World Vision and this October, she is running the Chicago Marathon for World Vision and to bring awareness to the lack of clean water in Africa.
Another organization that helps provide clean water is Charity:Water.
If you have read my blog for awhile, you know that in 2009 myself and 5 other bloggers started Project 320 where we raised money for fresh water wells through charity:water.
Read my Project 320 Posts {HERE} We raised over $15,000 for charity water & helped fund 3 wells in Africa with Project 320. Clean water has been a passion of mine for over 5 years, and I think World Water Day is so important....to bring awareness that millions of people in the world don't have access to clean water.


Hope you all had a great weekend & Happy World Water Day!

7 comments:

  1. Preach it sister! These are the things your kids will remember. This is what makes family life special :). I love all of your ideas!

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  2. I think Duke will go far but my bracket says Kentucky all the way!!!

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  3. Love your bracket! I also had Duke and Kansas meeting in the final! Love Duke and while Kansas is now out I still think Duke will win it all! :)

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  4. Could you please post the recipe for the Guinness cupcakes and frosting? They look delicious!

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  5. Way to go! Water is indeed something that must be appreciated, given the varied roles it plays in our lives. It should also be nurtured. The more we can improve its condition, the better. Anyway, it looks that you all had a great time. Thanks for sharing the fun! All the best to the whole family!

    Verna Griffin @ Axeon Water Technologies

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  6. I love how you make "non important" holidays fun! Every year I think I'm going to follow your lead, but then don't. I love it. Simple yet fun and special! I have a week until Easter, maybe if I plan now I'll actually do one of your fun ideas - like the jelly beans to suckers! My girls would love any of these things. Plus you enjoy it and it doesn't add stress to your life, it adds joy! So I say keep on doing it! I love reading it each year/holiday! We love Charity:Water at our house too. My kids decided this year to give up their birthdays (which are all 3 within 2 weeks of each other) and wanted people to donate money for clean water instead of presents! They want to do this every year. I'm so proud of them. Even though they didn't raise "very much" it was the kind of generosity I hope they live their lives with. My 6 yo keeps asking if there's enough for their own well. Nope, but they had enough for 9 people to have clean drinking water for 10 years. And that's pretty stinking awesome! Anyways! Sorry for the long comment. I love reading your blog.

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