A St. Patrick's 7QT with a Side of St. Joseph

I forgot that yesterday was Friday. Only in terms of blogging - no meat was consumed :). So here's the belated 7 Quick Takes with This Ain't the Lyceum

1

It makes no sense if I thought about it for two seconds, but I completely forgot that St. Patrick's Day is something the wider society celebrates (in its own special little way.) It never occurred to me that there might be some issues with crossing Market to get to the dance store come the Saturday before St. Pat's.

Whoops.

We did make it! Pointe shoes were fitted!

2

Therese was very interested in the band and enjoyed patrolling the parameter while holding onto someone's hand. She makes sure to wave to all her adoring fans.

Parish party the Saturday before St. Patrick's! This year we added an Irish step dance exhibition by two of the students at the parish school. This was in additional to our usual band, that was a bit on the country/bluegrass side this year.

Food is always amazing!

Everyone brings a side/salad of some sort and the parish provides the roast beef, cake, and drinks (Irish coffee anyone?)

Therese got a wee bit tired towards the end and requested endless reading of books. Always good to have a seminarian in your pocket who really will not get tired of reading the same thing over and over again.

3

Therese got a curly pigtail hairdo courtesy of Aunt Katie.

The party continued the next evening with the young adult group St. Patrick's party!!

It is also the birthday of one of our core team members, so these parties also include birthday cake.

We don't believe in lessening the amount of cakes around here.

4

On the morning of honest-to-goodness St. Patrick's...the leprechauns came!

And boy did they.

We have a very Irish priest at our parish, with very Irish connections, and it appears those connections can sometimes result in some extra leprechaun love on the parish lawn.

I did not get pictures of everything but it involved such things as many poems, "Irish" spelled out in potatoes and cabbages, and potatoes lining the walk to the rectory door.

Words of the Leprechauns.

5

Post-nap I needed some time with the kids out of my hair so I set them up with the St. Patrick coloring page from our 26 Letters to Heaven preschool book.

I felt so on top of it until Therese ate a decent part of a crayon....

 6

But I did succeed in making the best Shepherd's Pie I've made yet! The recipe I used was pretty good but I think I prefer mine with a thicker gravy involved. Adding that for next year!

Not pictured: the green pancakes (by kid request and made green by blending in a whole bunch of rainbow chard) and Guinness shakes (by adult request).

7

We had two the of the Jesuit seminarians over dinner. Thursday nights are a regular dance night we have in which we mess around with a bunch of dance styles (ballet, swing, ballroom, and all sorts of tricks in between). Typically at the, much larger Jesuit residence, and not my itty bitty living room.

Therese enjoyed getting in on the dancing. Baby girl's got a talent for wrapping men around her little finger.

Not pictured: we went out to the Starry Plough hoping to catch the ceili. We missed most of the dancers already, but got to hear a good bit of music and good beer was had. First time ever going out on St. Patrick's Day!

Bonus: Happy St. Joseph's Day!!

via Catholic Gag

Because St. Joseph is the patron saint of fathers, we celebrate it like a second Father's Day. 

So far Matt has chosen to go for a long morning run, we'll hang out as a family, do confessions at the parish, and head over for a St. Joseph's dinner with friends (in which we will be taking a liturgical living note from Kendra over at Catholic All Year.)

If you can boil water for pasta, you can celebrate St. Joseph's Day!