Almost too much to squeeze into a short amount of time

I am finally getting life back in order after the past two weeks. Spring break was a lot of fun. Well, more or less... We didn't go anywhere and just tried to pack as many local fun things into a short amount of time. We flew a kite and saw baby animals at Frying Pan Park. We went to see 'Race to Witch Mountain' at the movie theater. We ate dinner at Red Robin. But, mostly, we cleaned, ran errands, cleaned, and ran errands.

At the end of the week of Spring Break, Jessie, Taylor, and baby Brody came to town. Then Brooke, Justin, and their kids arrived the next day. My dad and Josh arrived back from their multi-week adventure in China. It was so fun to have everyone in town.

For Easter Sunday, the kids did an Easter egg hunt in Grandfather's back yard. We had Easter Dinner.

Speaking of Easter, here is an excerpt of a conversation I had with Maddie:

Allie: I have some bad news about the Easter Bunny. (I had at one point mentioned that the Easter Bunny might bring pet goldfish in lieu of candy and baskets. That was before I saw how much it would cost to buy supplies and a bowl for the 13 cent goldfish)

Maddie: What? You mean that there is no Easter Bunny?

Allie: What? Why would you say that?

Maddie: Because, I know there isn't.

Allie: Who told you that?

Maddie: You did. Two years ago.

Hmmm... It seemed familiar, but I had forgotten.

Here is the conversation that I had with Andrew after he spotted the bag of Easter Candy and Easter Basket stuff on the way home from Target:

Andrew: Mom, what is all of this stuff?

Allie: What stuff?

Andrew: All of this Easter stuff.

Allie: Don't look at it! It's not to look at!

Andrew: Why?

Allie: If you must know, it turns out I am allergic to the Easter Bunny and he is not allowed into our home or I would have horrible allergies. So would you Andrew. So, I have to put your Easter basket together so you still get fun things even if the Easter Bunny can't come in our house.

Andrew: Oh. Does that mean you are the one who decided we can't have goldfish?

Allie: Yes. They were cheap, but their stuff was a rip off.

Andrew: Oh. Well, I hope that next Easter you can go stay somewhere else and the real Easter Bunny can bring me a pet goldfish.

I suppose I am ok with it. As long as the real Easter Bunny brings it.

Josh turned 20 on April 13th. There are no more teenagers left in the Lee family. Which is amazing, considering my dad has had a teenage child for the past 16 years. We celebrated this milestone at a great steakhouse in Arlington called Ray's the Steaks.

The next day Josh went through the temple for the first time. It wasn't until I was getting out of the car at the temple that I thought to look at my recommend. It expired at the end of March. So, I wasn't able to go through with the rest of the family. Lesson learned.

Ben started his job on Thursday. It is so nice to have him employed again. Five months is a long stretch of time to go through a job hunt. He is working at a company called Handysoft, which he worked at a few years ago, and he is excited to be back there again.

I am amazed by how much time it seems I have now that he is at the office. It is so nice to not try to keep kids quiet and away from a home office. I didn't think I would be so grateful to have him out of the house during work hours, but I am surprisingly more productive with him gone. The kids are not happy that they once again have to go on EVERY outing and errand, since the option to stay home with one of the parents is no longer an option. Such is life.

Friday we had family pictures taken. My dad purchased all of the grandchildren coordinating outfits. Expensive coordinating outfits. Zack's lasted until we were almost to the photo shoot location, at which point he tripped (even though we asked him not to run, he still did) and he slid down the hill picking up some mud and grass stains just in time to be photographed.

Saturday, Brody received a name and a blessing at my dad's house. It was a very nice blessing and fun to see everyone.

Sunday was Josh's mission farewell and open house. It is still amazing to me that Josh is off for the next two years on a mission.

Monday, Jessie and fam and Dad and Josh headed to Utah. Brooke and Justin and fam headed back to Texas.

Life is resuming as usual. Laundry, dishes, kids to preschool, speech, sports practices, homework, errand running. I like it.