Spring Breakdown

I had to wait until it was official, but I can now proudly proclaim- We survived spring break!!!!!! I know that may not seem proclamation-worthy to everyone, but it is here. In fact, I thought about renting confetti cannons to fire this morning in celebration of the glorious return to school, but I thought that might be going too far.

The best part is, we didn't just survive our week of non-stop togetherness, I'd dare say we thrived. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure that I didn't spend every minute of the break yelling at bored, whiny, fighting children, and simultaneously developing a fairly worrisome drinking problem. The only way to avoid this was to keep them busy. And keep them busy I did. We started small. Monday was declared "Muck out the Mommyvan" day. It looked like homeless people had been squatting in it, and hadn't been washed in far too long. Before we could even consider any spring break adventures, that disaster had to be reckoned with. And if you don't think cleaning out and washing car could fill the better part of a day, well you haven't seen my car. Or tried to accomplish anything with my children's "help."

Once I could see out the windshield, and we could feel fairly certain that you couldn't catch any communicable diseases from the upholstery, we were ready for fun. Luckily, my mom had taken the week off work to lend a hand with spring break-o-rama, and an extra helping of adult supervision opened up a world of possibilities. So we headed out to the Yellow River Game Ranch on Tuesday. I love that place. You can pet the deer that roam freely, chase the chickens, feed bears- it's cool. Totally lives up to its motto, "Like a zoo, only better." The kids had a great time racing down the paths with me and Yaya sprinting behind, yelling, "Slow down!! Wait!!!" But no one got lost or eaten by a bear, so I consider it a total success. And I would like to say, with all sincerity, thank you, Yellow River Game Ranch, for making your gift shop affordable. I was able to let all three boys choose a small souvenir for $10. That NEVER happens. I always have to be the mean mommy that denies them the $40 stuffed animal at the end of every absurdly expensive adventure. But this time I got to be the nice mommy, and say, "Sure, have a stuffed chipmunk. You want a plastic eagle? It's yours." And I gotta tell you, that's a darn good feeling.

Will feeding a deer

Gimme that carrot, kid!

What are you lookin' at??

Please just sit still long enough for one picture!!!

Haysie and a bunny

Wednesday was my project day. So I drug the boys to Lowes, then attempted an ill-fated trip to TJ Maxx to get a few things to revamp our pitiful excuse for a master bathroom. They played outside and watched Power Rangers, and I painted and gussied things up. By the time Matt got home, we had a whole new bathroom. Go, me!

Tiny but improved bathroom

Thursday was by far my most impressive day. I was helping a friend with an ill father by watching her kids that day, so I had a total of five kids- four boys, one girl. In a move that would make home-schooling sister-wives proud, I teamed up with a friend that was watching a little boy in addition to her daughter, and we took all 7 kids to pick strawberries on a farm, then to lunch at McDonalds. AND EVERYONE SURVIVED!!!! (Disclaimer: My mom and one of her best friends came along for the strawberry picking. I'm not sure we would have had complete success without them.) The sister-wives might not have so proud to hear we spent the better part of the afternoon drinking wine while the kids played, but only I after I made a casserole and pie for my friend with the ailing dad. Good deed cancels out questionable behavior, right?

Seven crazy kids

Sweet Mason

Annalise and Jack

My sister-wife, Miriam, with Lainey and the other Jack

The kids were exhausted by Friday. Mason went to a friend's house to play, but the twins and I stayed home and did as little as possible. Well, I tried to get my house back into reasonable shape after its week of neglect while the twins vegged out on Power Rangers. But I knew that I was in the home stretch. That gave me enough strength to give Matt a pass on bathtime/bedtime for the twins so he and Mason could go hit balls at the driving range. Yes, it's true, I'm the nicest mommy ever. (riiiiight)

We made it through the weekend, and we were even fairly productive. A hall bath make-over is in the works, and we've waged war on the public urinal smell that plagues us thanks to the boys' less than accurate aim (but that's a whole different post). And now Mason is back at school, we're back on schedule, and spring break can officially be called a success. The secret seems to be a near-constant stream of fun outings and adventures, so I'm going to need a sizable entertainment budget for summer. Would anyone care to sponsor that? Anyone??