Vanessa Williams: Small Screen Star - & Soccer Mom!

With four kids, a steady stream of acting gigs and a new book about to hit the shelves, it's safe to say that Vanessa Williams is one very busy mom! The 48-year-old actress, who is mom to Melanie, Jillian, Devon and Sasha, talks to Parade about the end of Desperate Housewives and her hectic home life.

On her busy days: "I'm literally driving my 11-year-old to school and bringing snacks to soccer games and going to her swim meets, so there's not much down time. But if I was away on vacation, my first stop would probably be to a spa to get a nice massage and relax!"

On the end of Desperate Housewives: "Unfortunately, that show's going too, but at least we had a forewarning. They've been doing it for eight years, I'm just happy to be able to jump on the last two. It's been wonderful. We still have another seven episodes to shoot, so we don't finish until the end of April. The mood on set hasn't been too sad because we still have a tremendous amount of work to do, but I'm sure after eight years it's going to get kind of teary toward the end."

On what's next: "I've got at holding deal with ABC, so we'll see what new projects they might have that could be right for me. I'll also try to sneak in some theater in between and work on a new album. I've got a book coming out April 17, which I wrote with my mother, so I'm sure I'll be busy with that as well."

Read Vanessa's entire interview at Parade.com