Welcome Home!

I thought I would share a few classic Lyons Den greetings.  These pictures are representative of what might await me as I arrive home from work on any given day.  As you can see, there is a chance that our dear little "Cubs" might be scratching at the door, hoping to get to the other side.  This greeting is often accompanied by excited shouts of "DADA!" as they smear the glass with boogies.  That really kills me -- not the snot-smeard glass... God knows I've come to live with that but, it's the shouts of DADA that really get me.  I mean, really, I'm the one who had these guys in my belly for 36 weeks, the one who arguably changes more diapers, gives more baths and on and on and yet, almost 18 months later, they are still calling me DaDa!  I swear they do it just to taunt me.  That and because, in fairness, DaDa is probably (ok, definitely!) a lot more fun and they wish that he was the one coming through the door first!

This second greeting is becoming a bit more common.  It's the "we didn't rush to the door because we don't care that you're home because we're too busy getting into trouble" kind of a sneaky, silent welcome.  This is the type of welcome I received tonight. Here's what went down in our Lyons Den in just about an hour's time...

• Declan and Kevin took a dive into the toilet bowl... it would seem that Ciara forgot to put the lid down and shut the door after she tinkled.  Oops!  And, gross! 
• Cormac decided to chew on an electrical cord... not necessarily my idea of a healthy snack.
• The three of them thought it would be fun to play "Magic Carpet" as they pulled and pushed each other around the kitchen on the rug that usually goes by the sink
• Quickly tiring of the "Magic Carpet" game, they took to moving furniture -- taking turns pushing the stools around the counter and then relocating poor Finnegan's bowls... which, of course, were empty. Poor dog!
• "52 pickup" was next on the agenda... although, these guys don't play with cards (yet!) -- for them, it's Tupperware -- and I swear, there must have been at least 52 pieces that they scattered around the kitchen and dining room

Keep in mind that as I tripped over toddlers and Tupperware, I was also trying to put the finishing touches on "Tuesday Turkey Taco Night".  While Liam and Ciara moaned that they were STAARRVVINGG, I was doing my best to keep my cool but felt myself starting to lose it... just as I was about to scream, there was a jingle at the door... and who should appear but... DADA!!!!!!!!!  I don't know who was happier to see him -- the five kids who just escaped Mama blowing a gasket or me, happy to know that an extra set of baby-wrangling hands had just arrived on the scene.  Either way, for DaDa, it was a warm welcome home indeed.