Catch as Catch Leprechaun

The kiddos built a leprechaun trap last night with their babysitter, Miss H, while I was at a St. Patrick's Day fundraiser for the historic house (it was wonderful--crowded, jolly, and with an old 17th-century setting, not too unlike some British pubs, no doubt.)

Leprechaun traps seem to be a thing now, at least here in CT (unlike pinching people who don't wear green.) Lots of elementary-school kids make them as part of their celebration.  Our kids' classes never have, so it was fun that they got to make one last night, consisting of tempting chocolate coins and a hidden pit.

This morning, Bud and Sis raced downstairs to see what had happened.  The trap was clearly sprung, with all the chocolate coins in the box . . . and some British pounds for our trip!  So, a question, why do leprechauns leave presents for people who try to trap them?  And why do we even try to trap them?  Mama thinks the leprechaun tried to take the chocolate, fell in, losing his money in the process, and then escaped without taking his stuff, never intending to leave anything.

I think the cats ate him.

The kids didn't like either theory.

And how creepy is it that the kids like the idea that a tiny man was running around our house amok last night?

A New Babysitter

We tried out a new babysitter today, one not named "M," thereby breaking our streak.  But we liked her anyway.  She's their first-grade teacher's teenaged daughter and so I warned the kids extra that whatever they did with the babysitter not only came back to me but would get back to their teacher!  Double whammy.

But they were great.  A tad precocious, actually, because they spent the get-to-know-you hour teaching her how to play chess!

Babysitters, Old and New

It's a week for babysitters here. Of course, we still have our nanny, who is as wonderful and well-liked now as she was at first.

Even better, tonight our beloved Babysitter, who has completed her first year of college, is home from school and coming for a visit. We might start having her come for a few hours on weekends, just to give Mama a little break.

Lastly, I have my own babysitter coming this weekend: Goo is going to watch me while Mama and the kiddos go on a little overnight (more on that after the fact). Even with my new bedrest-less state, a trip is too much to handle. And, because I'm not up to stairs, or bending, I needed someone to help out here--to feed me, feed the cats, etc etc. Just to make us all feel better about the weekend. And Goo (my BIL, for newcomers) has graciously agreed to come up. Should be fun, actually, we we both like food and haven't gotten much chance to hang out since he started grad school/med school (first, his MS and now his DO).

Date Night

Canceled during Gommie and Pop's visit, date night happened last night because of the generosity of our young neighborhood babysitter M (the 11-year old who comes over on Tuesdays). She and her mom gave us a free night of babysitting for Christmas! I think this is one of the best presents we've ever gotten.

And so, like in days of old, before it was even called "date night" because we didn't have children and pretty much every night was date night, we went for dinner and then grocery shopping! (Usually, we would've done the bookstore, too, but we were ready to go home.) Dinner was Indian: masala dosa (this great potato-and-pea-filled crunchy rice crepe) and shaam savera (spinach/cheese dumpling in sweet-tangy tomato sauce), my beloved mango lassi, followed by chole peshwari (chickpeas and tomato in tangy sauce, a lot like chana masala, in the packages at the grocery) and paneer hare pyaza (paneer cooked in creamy tomato sauce with spring onions), plus lots of rice, chapati and poori breads (the poori reminded me of unsweet fried beignets! Boy, how I wanted powdered sugar). AND we ended with our favorite "squeaky cheese dumplings in creamy rose-pisatchio sauce." It was happy birthday, happy 2nd wedding anniversary, and happy new year all in one!

Then, surely not disposed to make unwarranted purchases, we headed to the special grocery store. "Let's get what's on our list first," I remarked, causing a man next to me to laugh. And while it's true that we always buy off-list at this store more than any other, I was more concerned that my grocery app hadn't uploaded my latest list yet. It did but the store was out of black-eyed peas!!!! A helpful clerk steered me to canned, at which I audibly balked. "See, I'm from Texas and I make my own black-eyes." He was from Alabama and understood, having mistaken me for a canned-pea-eating Yankee. But we did get some heirloom bean mixtures, a bag of farro, a few pomegranates, some funky museli, and a rose syrup, which rang up free, a nice little present.

The babysitters reported an easy and fun evening, offering to do it again in 6 weeks or so, a fantastic gift, to borrow Bud's evaluation of the evening, that keeps on giving!

A Graduation Luau

"I'm on my way home

to the middle of the sea.

There''s an island lullaby

that is calling out to me

I'm on my way home,

my Pacific paradise.

Blue water cools my face

and the mountains touch the sky."

--Imagination Movers, from the song in "Trouble in Paradise"

I might be on a ranch kick, but the kids are all Hawaii 5-0.

See, the Imagination Movers have a new episode, "Trouble in Paradise," in which the character Nina needs a traditional Hawaiian skill to perform at her "tutu's" (grandmother's) birthday. After drumming and surfing, she chooses a hula dance. The kids are under her "island lullaby." Bud had me transcribe the words to the song's chorus, along with a few pictures, so that he could dance the hula too.

And so when it came time today to decide on a theme for Babysitter's graduation party with us, they chose "to celebrate Hawaiian style!" We bought leis, floral plates and tablecloth, bright napkins, and the best thing, a lit singing palm tree! They went crazy cleaning and then decorating the house, pulling out their ukelele and bongo drums (okay, not Hawaiian, but similar to the ones in the show). They even made a poster with a palm tree on an island and dolphins in the water, "Time to have a Graduation Luau!" We had Zinger Punch, a recipe Sis loved from Aunt Banana at the bay (though, it occurred to me afterwards that we should have had Gommie's virgin pina coladas with Coco Lopez coconut milk and pineapple juice blended with ice!), and brownie sundaes.

Babysitter arrived early, which was perfect because the kids were bursting out of their skins, and Bud did his hula dance for her, while Sis jumped around giggling. We then all got our leis and sat around the table listening to the palm tree while Babysitter looked at her Texas soap (a souvenir from our trip), two bracelets the kids made today, and our card. We then dug into the brownie sundaes, the first real food we'd all had since breakfast because we were too busy and excited to have snack or lunch. Babysitter told us all about graduation and then her orientation at college--she has grown up so much since she was an eighth grader, obviously; she really is an amazing young woman--or just "woman," I guess, without the young--and has been so good to the kids, who love her dearly, we'll be so sad to see her go away in two months.

But today we celebrated, "Hawaiian style," because we're so proud of her!

Shaka, Babysitter!

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Zinger Punch

1-2 liter bottle of Sprite

2 Red Zinger Celestial Seasonings tea bags

(optional: pineapple rings, separated and frozen; sherbet would be good too)

Steep tea bags in bottle of Sprite until the soda turns pink (I'd say you need at least 30+ minutes to get minimum flavor; I imagine you can steep it overnight in the fridge, so it's chilled. If you're in a rush, though, steep at room temperature and then chill with frozen pineapple/sherbet). Serve with garnishes of your choice.

Aunt Banana