17 March 2009

Calvin O'Russell visits the Jensens!

Each year, we have a special leprechaun visit our house on March 17th. His name is Calvin O'Russell, and he likes to play tricks on our family. This year, he left us a treat for breakfast...Lucky Charms (which we don't usually buy, because of the marshmallows), a green table cloth, and he turned our silverware green. He left the kids each a new green shirt and hat (or hair) and a green toy. He left shamrock stickers in with the lunch sacks, along with an array of green food for their lunches. We also noticed he left us a card with his picture on it.

I always loved going to my mother's parents house on St. Patrick's Day and eating corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread. It was a special holiday, since I didn't know anyone else that really celebrated St. Patrick's Day, other than just wearing green. My grandfather (Calvin George Harold Russell)passed away in Dec. 1998, and the tradition kind of ended. I wanted to share the fun of St. Patrick's Day with my family, so in 2001, I "invented" our special leprechaun (Calvin O'Russell)to keep my grandpa's spirit alive for my children. I have had a lot of fun with it, and although St. Patrick's Day isn't really about leprechauns and gold...to me it is about family and ancestory and keeping our distant relatives in our lives. They know who he was, and we get to remember him today.







5 comments:

AJ said...

Wow! Your lephrachaun goes all out!!! Love it! I wonder if he also by chance leaves green water in the bathroom? Seriously, what awesome memories for your kids!

Oh, and the Bismarck thing. My husbands company, Intermountain gas, got bought out by Montana Dakota Utilities. they have announced they are moving his department to bismarck (their headquarters) within the next year. We will wait to see what kind of position they will offer us, so right now we really have no clue where we may be a year from now. this economy certainly isn't helping, either.

Kelly said...

That's cool! You guys seem to do lots of cool stuff for holidays.

Jen said...

Melissa, you're awesome! I love how you do such cool things--makes me wish I was better at creating cool family memories. Your kids are going to treasure these forever!

Paula said...

What a fun tradition! The Irish Feast must have started after I left home, but Dad liked holidays and cooking and creativity. Nice way to remember him. The Irish side of the family comes through Mom. Funny thing, some of her friends (probably school-age) actually called her Irish, instead of Iris. I love all the green things your family is sporting...especially the frizzy/curly hair and the braids!

Steph said...

I love all the fun stuff you did - its got me thinking about some things I might try next year in addition to what we already do.