Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My heritage is a little more than Irish, however it is predominantly Irish and the only culture I was raised with. My great grandparents on my father's side came directly from Ireland. My grandfather was a judge, my uncle is a lawyer, and my dad was a cop. Can you get more Irish than that? Too funny!

It seems St. Patrick's Day has become quite a strong tradition within my immediate family. The holiday has become right along the line of Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with my kids. They truly look forward to it as a time to gather and share a meal. It kind of surprised me.

Last year, I didn't really invite anyone over. I just planned my meal as to just include those of us still living in our family home and invited a couple over that we have grown close with over the years. I honestly thought that the kids would just celebrate on their own if they chose to. Well, I was wrong.

Our second oldest called and wanted to know if we were having dinner. Of course I was, so she came over with our oldest grandchild. Then, two other of the older kids called. They didn't end up coming over, but they were looking for the traditional meal as well.

Needless to say, I just planned the meal to include everyone this year, and it was a big hit. However, it is VERY time consuming and costly. I think we are going to have to rethink how we do it next year. I will have to teach these kids how to make some of the food so I am not tending to everything. It really is a lot of work.

I hope those of you that celebrate have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. Our celebration was held on Sunday, so we are enjoying the leftovers for lunch today. If you never have studied it out, the history associated with St. Patrick's Day is very interesting and a worthwhile venture.