St Patrick’s Day is normally a well celebrated holiday in our household, but Tom often goes to visit his family, so I was happy to finally have him in town. We went to Wilmington’s St Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday, which will include anything, include a hip hop dance group and the NY Jets Club. Then we enjoyed the “festival” which had some live music and beer, and one tent selling kitsch. 

The most enjoyable part, at least for the parent of two small children, was dropping them off at playcare, getting some food and drink at the Irish pub, then hopping to another Irish pub. The most surreal moment was when an older gentleman invited himself to sit with us and tried to open a tab with a Sam’s Club card.

On St Paddy’s Day proper, we celebrated the birthday of one of Harper’s best friends, and came home to corned beef and cabbage stew and soda bread.

It is our second year tradition that we pick peaches over the 4th of July weekend. Here I am, in 100 degree heat (why is it always 100 degrees when we do this?!)", with a basket of peaches and a sweet little boy. We pick peaches in South Carolina, about 45 minutes away from Erin. Although we may need to find a less sweltering weekend to do so.

As Harper gets older, we are slowly assigning him chores. I typically don’t say “chores” though, I typically tell him that he is “helping the family.” This is his first attempt at setting the table. He’s actually getting quite good now, but only if I give him specifics (ie. “Get the forks out” “Put the plates on the table”). He also puts the silverware away (except the sharp knives). I feel that it is important for Harper to learn that we all help the family!

Is there anything sweeter than a fresh picked strawberry on a gentle spring day? My Harper is a pro – can you believe he’s not even three, and this is his 3rd year picking strawberries? He’s very good at it. Corbin will learn next year, although he’s already learned how tasty the outcome is!.

Dad came for a visit in early December (yes, I know, it’s January and I’ll try harder to blog more frequently) and we had a wonderful time. Dad hadn’t been to Wilmington ever (we’ve been here for almost 4 years) and since he didn’t get to come when Harper was born, he came when Corbin was born. We had a GREAT time. We, of course, went to beach (yay for unseasonably warm weather), we went to dinner at Front Street, and Dad introduced me to the wonder that is the rutabaga! Seriously, how have I gone 28 years without rutabagas?

Having Dad here was a reminder of how nice it can be to have family locally. He had to leave after a week, but I hope he and the family can visit again soon…

For the holiday weekend, the family traveled to Erin’s for a bit of fun and celebration. We had a fantastic weekend – filled with a fun, but odd, museum (The Museum of York County). They had a walk through story book, African animal collections, a planetarium, local geography and more. We had a splendid time. Afterwards, we picked our own peaches at a South Carolina farm and enjoyed fresh ice cream after our time in the sweltering 100 degree heat. And lastly, we enjoyed time at Erin’s new place, including the development’s large, kid friendly pool.

We didn’t catch fireworks this year, but all the other wonderful memories more than made up for it!

Growing up, birthday parties were generally a family affair. I did have some memorable “friends” parties (my 16th birthday Hawaiian murder mystery party comes to mind), but generally birthdays were my favorite dinner cooked by Mema, blowing out candles and opening presents from family both present and not, and then playing with Nate.

Here, there is no family. Just friends. I wanted to celebrate Harper’s birthday and didn’t know how to do it without family (Tom’s family came to celebrate Harper’s birthday last year). So we went with the friend birthday party.

Preparations were done – but the big one I neglected was that by choosing the park that does not require reservations for their shelters, I had completely missed there was MS Walk-A-Thon that was going on that day. The parking lots as far as the eye could see were packed. People were everywhere. Shelters were full – there were tents and booths everywhere. I have to admit – panic mode commenced!

There were crowds and live music and finally we found a little out of the way shelter, with the tiniest picnic tables I’d ever seen and overrun with ivy. But it was beautiful, far enough from the crowds to not be bothered, but close enough to hear the music. And so the show went on.

The party itself was a success. I got some cute decorations, had goodie bags and hidden “dinosaur eggs,” Tom grilled some wonderful burgers and we all played and talked in the park. Harper had a lovely time and we made some wonderful memories! But maybe next year, we’ll just do the family party…

Tom, Harper and I celebrated Christmas at home this year.

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated the true spirit of the season at Pine Valley UMC in the afternoon, after which I started Christmas dinner preparations. That was followed by more rejoicing at St Mark’s Catholic church, with a beautiful mass. Once at home, we got into our new flannel Christmas Eve jammies and read A Night Before Christmas with Harper. Tom and I cuddled and watched all the Doctor Who Christmas specials to date and then snuggled into bed.

The next morning, we gathered presents and stockings by the tree (no mantle place). Christmas morning was full of lovely surprises, a wonderful breakfast, watching Harper open presents, lazing around, Christmas Dinner, naps, cleaning up, Christmas movies, and phone calls with families.

All in all, we’re setting up some great Christmas traditions for our little family.

I made my first full Christmas Dinner this year for Tom, Harper and I. I made garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Swiss cheese green beans, stuffing, and a roast chicken (a 5-8 pound chicken made more sense for our family). I also made cranberry sauce, but whoever said you could do it in the Crockpot overnight was full of lies. But, the burned cranberry sauce was the only mistake in otherwise a delicious meal (I have this on a reliable source).

I looked for some recipes that were similar to old family recipes I had in a cookbook that I forget to get back before the holidays. Others, I tried brand new – a cornbread sausage stuffing with apples and bacon, and a tasty quiche and roasted potatoes for breakfast.

I have to thank the good cooks in my life, and those who passed down deliciousness like never before!!