Sanity Break, at last!

I am a mother of six, plus I am married to a farmer. Throw in a bucket calf that refuses to grow, a few dogs that bark only at night and cats that refuse to catch mice and you get Crazy Eight's. We live in rural Nebraska, on the edge of the Midwest and insanity. We grow corn, alfalfa and children. I am a substitute teacher when I need a break from my own kids and the whirlwind schedule at home.

Needless to say,our lives our busy, but I managed to survive another Easter weekend with my beloved children. From in-laws to out-laws, temper tantrums, missed naps, loose teeth and new teeth, and Easter Mass, I am READY for school to start back on Tuesday.

My almost 8th month old, Joel, had decided to set a record breaking teeth cutting marathon with 8 new teeth in less than one month. All my other children were considerate to wait until they were one year old--well past the weaning stage for breastfeeding. The poor kid. You can tell he is so miserable, but he still smiles his cute double-dimpled grin whenever I flash a smile at him. My mother-in-law is thrilled because she sees it as an invitation to sneak food to him when I'm not looking. (I don't like this).

John, my almost 6-year old, lost his FIRST tooth just this morning. Which reminds me--I need to play the part of the tooth fairy. There have been times with my other children that the tooth fairy was "too busy to visit--but she said she would swing by later". They accept the explanation and forget about the coin prize being late. Whew.

And correct as usual, King Friday, my family found way to much Easter candy. I also figured out that I have been going about Easter all wrong the past few years. If we hit every local Easter Egg hunt within a 20 mile radius, I could recycle all the candy they recieved and use it for our own Easter Egg hunt and they would never know the difference. They get the joy of looking and I get the joy of not spending any money on candy and only need to find a small treasure per child. Also, if I don't have excess candy in the house before the big holiday, the less apt I am to eat it. And my pants and my children thank me.

Josef, the two and a half year old, was the last one to give up tonight. He and Joel were neck in neck for fighting sleep, but Josef held out. I do need to relay that Joel has learned the trick of shaking his head back and forth to try and keep himself awake. Wonderful. It seems this is a genetic trait that all of the kids have.

As I write this, peace and quiet has ensued over the household. That is, until the sky cleared up and the dogs started their night serenade. Again. I need to go play tooth fairy. She had room in her schedule tonight.