Presto Chango

 Every Christmas at my Grandma Rose's house we do a gift exchange. Everyone brings a $5 wrapped gift that is then numbered and we each randomly draw a number. My Grandma was beside herself hoping I would get one particular gift.

"Walker has the gift I was so hoping you would get," she said. I watched with curiosity as Walker, my nephew, opened the gift to reveal this:

Bless her heart, my grandma saw this little troll and thought of me. I don't want this get back to my grandma, but this little troll became the inside joke of the gift exchange. Of course my 4-year-old nephew wasn't interested in it, so much to my sister's amusement, it came home with me.

I decided to make a little lemonade in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

I used a little green, and reddish paint to update his look, making him an adorable little leprechaun for the basket on my front porch. I usually just let the winter decorations stay in the basket until Easter, but I decided I'd try to spread a little Irish luck this year.

So I have my little leprechaun and his pot of gold. If I get a chance I may paint a sign that says "Happy St. Patrick's Day." My pot of gold isn't quite what I had in mind, but it was the best I could do on my budget, which was slim to none.