journal March 1983

"I started early in March telling the kids what fun St. Patrick's Day is - really getting them excited. I made place mats out of green gingham and bought some little presents for the girls. That morning at breakfast I brought out some glasses with green flowers on them that they'd never seen, and lighted a green candle on the table. We had a really good breakfast. Then we all dressed with some green on and then put green barrettes in the girls hair. We took Kristen to pre-school at Madsens where she was having a St. Patrick's party and took Amy and April with us bowling with Roy and Kathy Tuck. That night we had the neighbors, Bob, Connie and Jeff Watson over for dinner. Mark made corned beef and cabbage. I gave the 2 girls each a T shirt and a little soap shaped like a dog and a frog I had wrapped up in tissue paper with green ribbon. Connie Watson brought over a green cake. We had had a fun day. I'm really starting to feel like traditions, lots of them are fun and important to families."

Ah, our tradition of having traditions begins!