This past week, military families received a dispensation from eating meat on St. Patrick’s Day. However, if we ate our traditional St. Paddy’s Day meat on Friday, we had to choose a meatless day in the week. So, it wasn’t a complete dispensation.
After hearing my husband mention to someone a couple weeks ago that, “Shepherd’s Pie” is much more traditional of an Irish meal, than corned beef, I decided to make our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations last several days this year, beginning with Shepherd’s Pie on Thursday. I used an instant mashed potatoes recipe by McCormick this year, which turned out quite well.
In the lead-up to our Friday festivities, I accepted an offer to try a couple craft activities by Trendily. She shared her St. Paddy’s craft activities for free, in exchange for an honest review.
I am allergic to craft activities – I’ve been honest with that for years. So, I was a little hesitant to participate, but put my discomfort aside to encourage my son, who himself has a dislike of coloring, to participate. We even got Little Miss in on the action.
When everything was said and done, I think the activity and craft was a success! In the packet from Trendzilly were coloring pages (seen above), and prayer cards to assemble. We put together the prayer cards, which my son handed out to other children at the Stations of the Cross on Friday evening.
I would say this packet was a great success, and next year, I know to use glue stick on the prayer cards, rather than regular glue. One of the parts I appreciated with this activity, aside from being family-friendly, was watching my son take ownership and pride in his St. Patrick picture (which is colored with red eyes, since apparently St. Patrick is a Bergen – if you haven’t seen Trolls, our family recommends it), and watching my son proudly approach other children at the chapel, wishing them a Happy St. Patrick’s Day as he offered them a prayer card.
We kicked off St. Paddy’s Day with green pancakes – something my four year old looked forward to, until they were on his plate. He then asked to make TMNT cookies, “Because they are green, Mom! And, could we make [Little Miss] her pink cookies, too?!”
No St. Patrick’s Day, though, in my heart, is complete without corned beef. Even if it isn’t a traditional Irish dish, it is Irish American, so it counts to me. Therefore, I scheduled a St. Patrick’s Day Do-Again for today. Granted, I am the only one who participated in wearing green, but, dinner tonight is corned beef, red potatoes, and green beans.
My husband surprised me this morning by sending me off to Mass with just Little Miss – he was hoping I would get something out of Mass by just having one child. So, this is what was worn to Mass this weekend:
And, here is what I remember from the homily at Mass:
“God is well-rested, and never tires of waiting for us.”
What I heard? God is not exhausted. Unlike me. I am not like God. Lucky God.
Our chaplain also made a strong case for religion-based spirituality. He said some things which were similar to Christ’s message in the book,
I happen to know the chaplain hasn’t read this book, but the messages were a comforting reminder.
How did your family celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? What’s your take on corned beef? Have you read any good books lately? Have you cooked anything yummy, or done a family activity together which you would like to share?
I look forward to hearing in the comments!
I made shepherd’s pie earlier in the week (my husband had a snow day so I could cook something more complicated than usual) and we had broccoli & cheddar soup on St. Patrick’s Day (because it’s green!) with bread & Kerry gold butter – one of the kids DIDN’T LIKE THE BUTTER!! Maybe because my husband got unsalted? So, so weird… We also read about St. Patrick and the kids watched the CCC movie about him, and I was really impressed that we got that much liturgical-ish stuff in!!
Hope having just one kid at Mass was a lovely break!
Sounds like a great St. Patrick’s Day!! This is the second time I’ve heard of Kerry Gold Butter… I am unfamiliar with it…
It was a semi-break; I realized today I spend the majority of Mass with Little Miss just trying to keep her quiet. Her brother, on the other hand, will at least be quiet while coloring, or reading some of his books. However, she pays attention more to the Consecration than he does, so there is definitely a trade off in what I get to pay attention to!
ohhhhh, Kerrygold <3 It's the BEST.
Shepherd's Pie is a favorite dish around here. It's DELICIOUS, a little labor intensive, but such a comfort food for me.
This specific recipe was not labor intensive, which I appreciated!! I was dreading making the usual one, with a crying toddler at my feet; so, I appreciated this recipe.
Thanks for your comment!
Mmmm, shepherds pie sounds delicious! I haven’t made that in awhile. And I totally just finished Immaculee’s book Left to Tell this week. SO good – I read it in 2 days!
She is such an amazing writer! I binge-read “Our Lady of Kibeho” by her, when my husband was deployed and I had major insomnia. It is also phenomenal!
Those prayer cards came out great! I haven’t seen trolls yet… thanks for the recommendation, maybe we’ll check it out! We’ve been on a Moana kick. Of course, the Ninja Turtle cookies again. haha. pffft I’m cracking up at the “God is well-rested” bit! I do like the “He doesn’t tire of waiting for us” part. Makes me think of how I get impatient with my kids, like come onnnnnn allreaddyyyyy, do we have to walk so slow? Stop at every crack in the sidewalk? You don’t know how to button your own clothes yet? Seriously? God never tires of waiting for us to learn. To come to Him. To love Him. Amazing! I could take a lesson from God today 🙂
Your reflection on God not tiring is so much more thoughtful than mine! 😂😂 But, you definitely raise a good point, when it comes to children and how we approach them!
We just got Moana this past Thursday. It has been watched daily since, although my son is also still asking for Trolls. My daughter “sings” with Moana, and my son wants Trolls. But, at least they will watch the other’s video of choice.
Kerry Gold is one of my daughter’s go-to butters. Try it in colcannon! Great post.
Thanks for the recommendation, and comment!!
A wonderful St Paddy’s post. Thanks, Anni!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!