I had a choice to make when I got up this morning:
#1 Be disappointed that I was not spending Mother's Day with all of my children.
#2 Be thankful for 5 wonderful children that I was BLESSED to spend the day with.
I chose #2 . . . and was not disappointed in the least.
I was absolutely BLESSED all day long . . .
and am so THANKFUL that I got to spend the day
with these 5 AMAZING kids / teens / young adults.
We started out the day by heading to the Early Service.
(leaving the house at 8:10am)
After Early Service, we went to Sunday School.
Jim needed to run home to get something for Children's Church,
and came back with a Hot Mocha for Mama.
Sweet Treat #1.
After Sunday School, we all stayed for our first day of ministry with Children's Church.
Our family is in charge of Children's Church (for the 4-6 year olds),
during 2nd Service on the 2nd Sunday of each month.
After church, each woman was given a single long stemmed rose.
After all the women were given their roses, the man in charge came looking for,
"the woman with the most kids", and BLESSED me with an arm full of extra roses.
What a TREAT!
(I filled 2 vases when I got home: 1 for the kitchen and 1 for the living room.)
After church . . . Papa took all of us out to lunch at Bob's Burgers.
Yummm . . .
I decided to TREAT myself for Mother's Day,
and ordered an Avocado Bacon Chicken Burger with JoJos . . .
instead of my usual Salad.
Oh. My. Yum.
After lunch, we came home and Mama asked for a little Photo Shoot . . .
outside . . .
in the rain . . .
with the 3 photographers in the picture.
Papa did a pretty good job, though, don't you think?
Funniest Thing:
When we got dressed for church at 7:30am, we were NOT in any way planning to "match"
for Family Pictures. No. There was NO discussion of purple and blue and stripes.
We probably couldn't have matched better if we'd tried. (smile)
I then asked Ben to take a few pics of Mama & Papa before we headed out for a Coffee Date.
He just started randomly shooting pics in any which way.
Oops.
Cut off Papa's head here.
Not quite what I was hoping for.
Getting better . . .
Not too bad.
The kids headed inside to take naps
(their choice, not mandatory for teenagers)
and "chill" for awhile,
while Papa and Mama headed out for a Coffee Date.
Another Sweet Treat!
What a Day!
Papa and I returned from our Coffee Date,
and it was time for a Hand & Foot (card game) Tournament with the kids.
Oh how Mama LOVES to play Hand & Foot with her kids!
Mama & Elijah were partners, and we got beat badly,
but he was a great sport, and we still had a lot of fun.
We finished up Hand & Foot at 9:15, and it was nearly bed time.
But, before bed, the kids pulled out a few cards and a couple of presents.
I LOVE this sign from Ben.
And, what a TREAT from Hosanna!
After cards and presents and hugs and kisses and prayers . . .
Papa and the Young Ones headed to bed.
Since I had already made the choice to forego my diet for the day,
Hosanna and I "snuck" out to DQ for a Mint Oreo Blizzard.
Oh. My. Yum.
After sticking to 1000 calories per day for many, many months . . .
I believe I surpassed 1000 calories in this one "little" treat. Yikes!
(not to mention the 1000+ calorie burger and jojos from lunch)
Back to the treadmill tomorrow . . .
but, today I was BLESSED to set aside my diet . . .
to set aside all of the "stuff" going on in my life . . .
to set aside the hurts and pain and frustrations . . .
and to CELEBRATE the JOY of the BLESSINGS the LORD has given me !!!
And . . .
in addition to spending the day with these 5 WONDERFUL children . . .
I got a homemade card from Lindsey in Australia yesterday . . .
I got a card from Gregg, Kayla, and Noah (signed with his handprint) yesterday . . .
I got a present and a phone call from Rachel yesterday . . .
I got early morning text messages today from Cassie & Carissa in Minnesota . . .
I got afternoon text messages today from Gregg & Kayla and Josh & Hannah . . .
I got an afternoon phone call today from Carissa . . .
and . . .
I got FB messages and thank you's from most of the Big Kids, too.
I was truly BLESSED on this Mother's Day !!!