Easter

As much as I hate Lent, Easter is definitely worth it. We had our annual Easter egg coloring party. There were about 30 people, more than half of which were children, and every mug we had in the cupboard spread across two tables with different variations of vinegar-induced dyes. I had boiled 12 dozen eggs (so you can imagine how lovely the house smelled!) and fun was had by all!

I was so impressed with Dax and his friend Lance who are both four. This was the first year that the eggs got more coloring than they did! I was so busy running around and helping/cleaning that when I finally decided I should check on the four year old, he was off and playing and his 12 eggs were neatly lying in a row, perfectly colored! Once again, a downfall to being number four--you learn to fend for yourself more quickly than you should have to.

Drew served at the Easter Vigil even though he was pretty sure he would, "fall asleep and torch the place!" But he made it through and didn't fall asleep once. However, all of the other kids did. In their defense, the mass starts at 9 PM and didn't end until almost midnight. At which point they all wake up and start their frantic cries of "we have to get home!" and "What if HE came already?" I try to point out that I don't really see the Easter Bunny as a male figure, I mean he wears pastel, lays eggs (at which point Drew points out that I just lost all scientific credibility), and makes lots of candy. I start on my rant of being disappointed that I was raising my kids to assume anyone in a role of power was male, when I realized I had successfully gotten them all to fall back asleep in the van on the way home. So, by the time we got them all in bed, and made sure "Easter" had arrived at our house, it was nearly 2 in the morning. The kids were still up by 6:30 ready to find their baskets and the eggs!

I keep thinking there will be days that I will get to catch up on sleep, but the image that pops in my mind is when they are all teenagers, and they all want to sleep all day and do nothing even remotely close to family time, and then I realize I won't be sleeping at all then. I guess I prefer mindlessly holding an egg carton as my kids push each other out of the way to get to the eggs, then remembering I need to start breakfast as Easter grass is strewn from one end of the house to the other! Yeah, I think I'll take that for as long as it will last.

He's BA-ACK!

Shawn made it back from Vegas in one piece. The kids were relieved and it only took Drake about a day to realize he really does like Daddy better, so I don't exist again! We got home from the airport around midnight and the next morning, we started right back into all of our activities. Shawn had to coach soccer and I took Dawsyn to her First Communion Retreat. She is getting excited to make her First Communion, although her main concern seems to be what she is wearing. Sometimes keeping that girl focused on what is most important is very difficult! The weekend was busy, but nice. On Monday morning, I was relieved to have Shawn there to help get the day started with the kids...for about 5 minutes!!! Then I realized he had forgotten to make the coffee like he said he would, he had left the corner roll-top cupboard open (a consistently annoying habit of his), and the kids were totally distracted with him being there. Instead of jumping right in and getting stuff done, they just kind of sat around and did a whole lot of nothing. I couldn't believe it! It was actually more organized and easier by myself? How is that possible???? The more women I talk to, the more I realize this is a common phenomena I will term the "Daddy effect". When Daddy is away, the kids try very hard to behave, help out, and get everything done. I realize I also am most organized, least distracted, and in charge of getting things done. I tend to start something and finish it. Shawn tends to start five things, forget two, and possibly finish something from yesterday. This is all a huge distraction to the kids, who instead of staying at the table and listening to Mommy's directions, choose to go hang on Daddy's legs, or be entertained by watching Daddy open numerous cupboards in succession, while never actually taking anything out. Around 6:30, Daddy finally snaps back to reality and starts saying "Time to leave!" At this point, he manages to not notice that one child is shoeless, one child is crying for a drink, two forgot their bookbags, and the oldest, who is supposed to be the easiest has his socks on his hands and is staring at them while turning his hands from side to side! The saying, "Can't live with him, can't live without him" comes to mind!

He's a Star!

Dax is officially a TV star!!!! Mom and Dad took him to the local grocery store because they were hadning out free weather radios. Apparently the weather man took a liking to Dax and had him stay for a few segments. The rest of us were at home watching on our TV and I thought to grab the camera and take a picture of the television. When Dax started waving to us, the rest of the kids swore he must be able to see us through the TV! LOL! On another note, Shawn comes home from Vegas tonight. We pick him up at 9:40 at the airport! The kids are so excited. I'm very interested to see Drake's reaction...

Operation Single Mom!

Just for fun, because our daily life isn't crazy enough, we decided to conduct a little experiment this week by having Shawn fly to Las Vegas for the week for an IBM conference (I know--you were thinking, "wow! Shawn is going to Vegas--cool", then you hear the IBM conference part and you're left with "oh"). I know many husbands travel for their work all of the time. However, I feel we are to be given a little extra sympathy here for a number of reasons. Most families I know who have a travelling Daddy are a little different from ours. Most of the time, the wives don't work, the number of kids is generally 3 or less, and they aren't involved in the scope and sequence of activities that our kids are. Plus, our kids just are NOT used to either of us being gone. We don't travel without them. In nine years, we have not been on a vacation without the kids, so they just aren't used to it. These would probably have been good things for me to consider yesterday, before I decided it would be a great idea to take the kids to the airport to "see Daddy off". We parked on the roof of the airport so we could see his plane take off, we walked him into the airport and watched him check in, we ate in the airport restaurant, and then walked him to security at his gate. All was good until this point. The kids were all smiles, and having a great time, then Daddy had to leave. At this point, I was pretty sure we were going to be escorted out the door by airport security for "inciting panic". They all started to cry, Dax repeating the "are you gonna die?" question, (which really helped Shawn with the whole "flying on an airplane anxiety), Delaney just cried loudly, like she does everything, Dawsyn was dramatically crying and stating how humiliating it was that her father was just leaving her for no good reason, and Drake just kept putting his chubby little hands up and crying "Da-Da". Drew, who refused to cry, just kept taking off his glasses and saying that his eyes itched. I must admit that the scene of crying and kids hugging and hanging off of Daddy, added to the very worried, conflicted look in Shawn's eyes, caused me to get a little teary-eyed. Shawn finally peeled the last kid of off him, plastering them onto me, then walked through the gates. We stood and watched while he waited in line to go through security. Other passengers (who had just witnessed the scene) were patting his back supportively. When we could no longer see him, we walked back to the front of the airport where I pointed out the electronic signs that kept track of the arrivals and departures and told the kids that on Friday, we would be back looking at the "arrival" screen and be very excited to be getting Daddy back. We then went back to the parking garage roof and waiting to watch his plane take off. Once again, the kids seemed to like this until the plane actually left the ground and then the crying started again. They all fell asleep on the drive home, and the evening was kept pretty busy getting things ready for the school week. However, when darkness of night came, I had 5 pairs of very big eyes looking at me, sure that they would not be able to go to sleep without Daddy. Since I knew they could not stay up until midnight when he could call and say he was there, we found his flight on an on-line tracker and watched as it made its progress across the country. This morning, I got up early, worked out, got my shower, and got the kids up and ready for school. I was pretty proud of my organization and the general ease with which I was able to get 5 kids up, dressed, organized, and out the door by 6:30 all on my own. On the way to the sitter's I was feeling pretty confident in myself. I should have known! We were about ten minutes away from the sitter's house when Drake started throwing up all over himself and the van! Happy Single Mom Monday! One thing I will say is that I have truly gained a new respect for single moms, and those whose husbands go away for long lengths of time--and it hasn't even been a complete 24 hours!