ahh, happy easter!

Today is Easter, for all intents and purposes. We are having our ham dinner, and the baskets, and hunting for eggs. Tomorrow, Paul and I and Abigail and Joseph are working at the baseball stadium, so today is our Easter.

The little girls are so very excited. We are having three friends over for dinner and making them baskets, and the little girls want to help fill them. They have been dancing around here all morning. They made a list of names for baskets and labelled them for me with masking tape. (A bowl for Emily, Abigail, and Mali to share, then 14 more).

We have to clean up the house. The puppies bring in so much dirt, even though we keep a few towels by the door and wipe their paws when they come in. I sweep the floor several times a day, but one cannot sweep until one picks up the various items that end up strewn around, like socks, stuffed animals, dolls, a hair elastic....and the little girls have made themselves thrones in front of the t.v. cabinet. They stacked up those work-out maps, put plastic bins on top, then their yellow Little Tikes chairs. They asked if they could Please Please Please leave them there so they could sit on their thrones while they have their baskets. Whatever. It really adds to that Better Homes And Gardens look we don't have going on here.

Margaret made some yummy cookies with Jonathan last night, for later. I am making chocolate pies and a coconut cream pie, and thinking of attempting some home made rolls. Then again, I keep lazily reasoning, perhaps just ham and applesauce and veggies, because of all the sugar from the candy and pies, which I do not plan to partake of anyway.

Paul is taking the kids to the park to ride their bikes. They are adjusting helmets and getting sneakers on, and gloves, it is chilly today. He is mailing some letters to Samuel, also. I was considering having him stop at the store for store-bought rolls, but...it is so crowded the day before Easter, and he hates stores.

Samuel gets to call us today! He wrote to us, and he is passing everything and doing well. He has a good attitude, too.

rrr. Evelyn is up and wants to get cleaning. I am not ready to start yet, and besides, I already swept up the kitchen, washed dishes, served breakfast to the little ones. I like sitting here for a bit. But...I cannot relax, knowing I have things to do. I am tired, because we picked Mirielle and Kathryn up from the airport last night, and the ride home wasn't long enough to hear about their trip to California...so I stayed up past two...three o'clock, I climbed into bed. 7:30 this morning, I woke up, tried SO hard to fall back to sleep...but I KNEW Sam was going to call today, and what if I slept through it? I knew I had to clean and make pies and clean...rrr.

Sam said we shouldn't come to his graduation in June. He says he may have to ship out right on his graduation day, and have no day with us. He also said he could possibly have ten days of leave, it just isn't clear yet. So, he wants us to come for Family Day in May. Family day x 3, actually, three full days of leave for him, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. He says if he ships immediately after graduation he may not get any leave until Christmas, so if we don't go to Family Day in May, we are out. So. Change of plans....I am waiting until after I talk to him today to change our hotel reservations, but I think we are going to Georgia in a few weeks!

Phew, Paul finally went out the door with the kids. I probably don't have to explain that I seriously love them. But I am trying to write here! Adjust my helmet, mama! I can't find my other glove! I don't NEED to go pee, I know there aren't bathrooms there, I won't have to go!

I am getting up out of my comfy chair now, it's niggling at me, all the things I have to do.