More from the top ten

5.  Easter meant preparing our hearts with prayer and good deeds.  It also meant dyeing eggs.  With a family our size...lots of eggs.  We ate them in a few short days.

6.  Almost there.....the end of the school year that is.  We are finishing up work and looking forward to a summer of trips and camps.  I am making my to-do list of all those items that don't get done on a regular basis.  Some deep cleaning of the van, sorting through DVDs and CDs....some sewing maybe?  The end of the year can't get here soon enough, for all of us.

7.  Visits...we have had lots of visits with friends and family.  We have had grandparents in town.  We've gone on a few trips.  Patrick had his 10 year reunion in Cincinnati, so he and I got away for the weekend.  We just got back from a trip to Charleston.  We have had tons of fun, so much fun that the camera went untouched.  Oops!

8.  Easter brought a great surprise in that friends called early that afternoon and asked us to pack up our food and head over to their house where we combined dinners and hung out enjoying each others' company.  This is never hard for my kids since their "big kids" (ie some are big enough to drink beer!) are some of my kids' favorite people.  Infact, Andrew is a regular to our home several mornings a week since he is Patrick's workout buddy.  But when I take the kids out any afternoon, the first question once we hit the garage is, "Is Andrew here?"    Here are some of the pals.  Easter involved the pals hiding eggs for an egg hunt for our kids.  It was hilarious to watch the little ones hunt for eggs in the rain, and attempt to remove eggs from the top of basketball hoops and other crazy places.

9.  My new favorite thing is grocery shopping online.  I just click the mouse a few times and then I'm done.  The magical lady at the store actually roams the aisles and loads the cart...which is a blessing since most trips I end up with multiple carts, which is difficult with little ones in tow.  Then they pack the bags and call me.  I just head to the store where the magical lady and her assistants load my car, give me some cookies for the kids, and I head home.  I don't believe I can put into words the time and trouble this saves me.  Plus, there is no, "Mommy, can we get...." 

10.New things around here.....new carpet, new granite counters, new painting......soon to be some new appliances.  Brand new baby chicks are here too!  So cute.  Picture to follow.