Mother's Day

 I didn't get a good picture with my babies today. Oh we tried...but getting 5 kids and one tired Mama to look good ain't easy, people!!

So I share these from the Fall. We all look the same anyway...my hair is longer but that is about it. This is the first Mother's Day I have five children, fully mine.

 I felt as though my cup truly runneth over.

I had a lovely day with my family.

Billy made breakfast and the children surprised me 

with adorable cards. 

Check out this one from Keishun. Oh what a laugh we had.

True. But he is making up for it now. :)

At church our pastor said, 

 

"Today may be hard for you because you cannot have children. But be encouraged that God has a great purpose for your life. I do not believe womanhood is defined by the opening of a womb." 

  I love that.

I think it is important for the church to recognize that this day can be heartbreaking for those who cannot conceive, have lost their mother, or have said goodbye to their child.

In church during communion I thanked God for each of my children's first mothers by name. I thanked God that they did not abort my babies. 

I thanked God that two of them chose me for their mother.

I came home and was surprised by an email from Jasmine's birthmom. 

 (Remember I prayed for a relationship of some kind from her for all of Jasmine's life)

We have never met. 

She wrote this: 

 "Good morning laurie, i just wanted to wish you a happy mother's day! You are one beautiful woman and i just want you to have all the happiness and joy you could bare. Thank you for everything! And again happy mother's day!"

Wow what a gift to receive.

I thought of Vivi's birthmother and texted her a photo of Viv...saying:

"Happy Mother's Day!"

She replied that her Mother's Day was finally complete and how beautiful she is.

This was a peaceful day for me. I feel that all of the pieces of my life are complete. 

I am content.

 I am grateful.

I pray the same for you today, my friends.

Again?!

That was the question I asked myself on Monday when I woke up from sleep with the strongest pain in my lower right side. I could tell the pain was very much in my ovary and that is what I told the ER doctor an hour later. They did a CAT scan and saw that I do indeed have a 3 centimeter cyst in my right ovary. Greatness.

12 hours and a trip to the Gyno later, I was back in the same ER (Elite Care is the BEST!!) getting a sonogram done. The cyst has not changed, so now I am just dealing with residual cramping. Looks like I need to make an appt. to see an endrochronolist. I don't even know how to spell that. Billy said, "Satan is coming on strong to you honey!! He sure is.

It was less than 6 months ago that I was in surgery dealing with polyps, endometriosis, and a tubal ligation. How am I back dealing with my reproductive system all over again?!

The ER doctor said, "So your reproductive system just came out all wrong didn't it?"
Normally I might get my feathers ruffled by such a blunt statement as that.
But I am soooo beyond that now. I laughed and said, "yes. I guess it did."

I know some of you reading this know exactly what I am going through. I quit asking "why" a long time ago. Five kids ago to be exact.   :)

But at this point I just want it to be over. I feel strongly that this is the thorn in my flesh that God has given me to keep my humble, just as he did Paul. And really I am okay with that. Over it, sure. Tired of it all...YES! But I am okay with God's will for my life to be this.

At my evening ER visit, Isaac called Billy's cell phone from home with Keishun watching them and he handed me the phone. Isaac was crying and saying "I didn't think you were going to make it, Mom!" I stifled my laughter and said, "Oh Isaac. This is not an emergency honey. Remember Mommy said that this broken part of my body is what brought you home."

Keishun texted 20 minutes later and said, "hurry mom. Everyone falls apart when you aren't here." Awwww. Well I know where I belong, that is for sure. And I know my purpose in life. This pain is temporary compared to the eternal glory of living in my Father's good favor.

Great Wolf Lodge

 For our tenth anniversary, we had the privilege of staying at a local family fun spot: 

I was looking for somewhere fun and celebratory for us, and Great Wolf Lodge, Grapevine came to mind. I knew with our family size it would just be too expensive, so I contacted the media marketing manager to ask if I could do a review on the resort. I filled out paperwork and we were accepted at a media rate we could afford! Woohoo!!

So off we went on an unusually cold and blustery day:

 Thursday, May 2nd.

The kids were of course super excited about the indoor waterpark. And what fun it was!

But we will get to THAT in a minute.

First, we checked into our room which was the Loft Suite.

The room had two full beds and a living room with a sofa sleeper.

This gave all of our people the perfect amount of  room for relaxing and sleeping:

The boys enjoyed their semi-private space. The girls spread out on their big bed, and Keishun was thrilled to plop right in the middle of his own bed.

The extra TV's in each room helped too!

And for Billy and I?

Our own private loft with bed and half bath!!

The children of course enjoyed running up and down the stairs to spy on us:

So we unpacked, stocked our mini fridge with drinks and headed down for dinner:

 Here we chose the tortilla chips and dips appetizer (delicious!!), burgers, chicken kids meals, and philly cheesesteak and fried. It was all very good and our waitress was super friendly and engaged with us.

After dinner we toured the facilities:

The arcade:

 The kids spa:

And the gift shop:

There is also an activity you can play called Magiquest...where you purchase magic wands and walk around the resort in an interactive game. 

We didn't do that because we are anxious to get to the waterpark.

A wave pool, lazy river, big slides, kids play parks, and hot tubs kept us nice and busy.

 Jayden is a FISH. 

He spent most of his time underwater in the waves:

After the water park, we bathed and got pajamas on in time for the 9 o' clock lobby clock tower puppet show:

It was cute, but the girls were of course scared.

Then we went down to the Sweet Shop and had our treats:

The desserts were yummy!!

 The only problems we saw with the resort were that it was not maintained well. Note the overflowing trash and recycling. When I took this picture, a Great Wolf Employee walked by...wiped a table (but incidentally did NOT take the trash off the table) and ignored the overflowing trash cans.

 

Also, the breakfast buffet was beautiful but cold and not well maintained...thereby making it over priced. They did have a chef doing up made-to-order omelets, so that redeemed breakfast for Billy and Isaac. I would recommend skipping the the buffet and picking up pastries and drinks at the Starbucks located across from the gift shop.

We made up for the disappointing parts by hitting the 

waterpark on day two:

 Great Wolf Lodge allows you to go to the water park even after checking out...from open til close (9am to 9 pm).

To do much else though, costs money.

So if you want to get all you can out of Great Wolf Lodge...bring lots of cash.

Overall for the price I give the resort 3 out of 5 stars.

For a fun family time, it is worth trying out atleast once cause our kids loved it. Our wallet...not so much!

10th Anniversary

 

10 years ago today, I married my best friend.

What a decade we have had together!! 

We celebrated as a family at Great Wolf Lodge.

It seemed fitting to all be together for this marriage milestone.

My next post will be a resort review, so stay tuned.

Spring is Full of Fun...LOTS of pictures!

 Here are the kids enjoying their spring season to the max. We had Terrance's brother, James' 4th birthday party. SO cute.

Baseball is in full swing around here.

 

 What a goofball. 

I knew grandparents would like these pics.

I promise these should be my last baseball pictures of the season!!

I had the privilege of chaperoning a group from Jayden's pre-k class on their field trip to the zoo.

 Such cuties.

 We got to feed the giraffes. Very cool.

Also...some very exciting news around here is that we are planning on buying a house this summer!

We have not owned in 5 years as we sought to get 

out of credit card debt completely.

Well...we succeeded with that, and in the past 3 years have added three children to our family. So that has meant we very much need a bigger place. Two bathrooms for seven family members is not cutting it anymore. I uploaded Pinterest to my Nook, so I spend my evenings pinning away in preparation for decorating in my very near future. We are currently in process with a house nearby that has 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, and is two stories. 

This will be a big step for us if it works out.

Here is a sneak preview of the house we are pursuing...

I am especially looking forward to a game room:

Lots of new spots to redecorate:

(the rugs and greenery have GOT to go!)

His & hers sinks and closets AND a spa tub...

(bye bye wallpaper!)

And a large amount of closet space...

This house is in a beautiful community with a pool at the end of the street one way and a golf course at the end of the street the other direction. There is also a nice size lake with a beach in our very neighborhood. Keishun's bedroom and bath and our bedroom and private bath would be on the bottom floor with a split floor plan, and the top floor has 3 bedrooms and the game room with a 2 sink bathroom. This would serve as a boys room, girls room, and a craft room/office for Billy and I.

Can you tell I am excited?

 

We should know by the end of the week if this is going to work out for us with an estimated close date of mid June.

We are praying with hope, but know that God will provide for us the very house He knows is right.