Spring Break

Cav had surgery the Friday before Spring Break, actually he and Tao were supposed to but Gd was smarter than me and knew that would be the death of me.

However, I did NOT make ANY plans for Spring BReak because of the surgery

AND our natives are restless LOL!

It's funny, most of the time I don't feel like I have a big family,
MOST of the time, I don't feel like we have an 'odd' family.

BUT Spring Break has brought out those two facts 100 fold.

The restless natives forced me to quickly call our prosthetist for a next day appt and a FUN family trip in our over sized VAN which BTW doesn't fit in parking garages and this momma forgot about until we hit the little swinging bar and then had to BACK UP the monster van ugh!!

Anyhow, Cav's legs are a little more even, and we spent the day at the natural history museum with our friends who met us in Denver.

Then we went to the kids favorite Casa Bonita  - the food is slightly better and they had a blast showing their friends around!!

For all of those Cav fans out there - I was so proud of him today.  We brought the double stroller, and I made him stay in it most of the time so he wouldn't get knocked over.  ANYHOW, at one point the noise, heat whatever got to much, he laid back, we closed the sun shade and he chilled.

He did NOT scream
He did NOT cry
he chilled
and this momma is jumping for JOY!!

FeiFei is mispopularity and has had a ton of playdates.

Cav & Tao can con jsut about any unsuspecting adoption loving momma out of their phone!!

Awesome new space exhibit at Denver natural history museum

Painting with friends!!

Rest

We have had this mini vacation planned since December.

And oh was it so needed, but oh was it so hard to get out the door.

Our normally fairly easy going children have been fighting - we are experiencing some pretty good spiritual warfare right now, and I have no idea why - maybe because this adoption was to easy, we have been waiting ofr the other shoe to drop and are finally realizing that our sweet little man is jsut that sweet.

Oh he can get his way, and is smart enough to realize with 7 others in the family he can usually con someone into getting him what he wants.

BUT how his fat little hands as they clasp my cheeks for a big smacker - oh that is pure heaven.

Anyhow, after a major fight with our oldest kids we packed up the car - oh wait that would be both cars (but that's another post LOL!)

I took the kids and hubby followed a couple hours later.

We haven't been to this particular spot for years and years, but we had heard they built cabis, and I had found a deal!

Can I jsut say pure heaven - we jsut can't do one hotel room any longer.  Eventhought I tell myself that half our kids are short, it jsut doesn't work, no many wiggles, noises and momma gets no sleep.

So the cabin had a loft with two queen beds and a large chair with ottoman.  THen downstairs was our own room with a comfy bed (so much PTSD after sleeping on so many horrible beds in China we now appreciate a good bed LOL!)

THe only thing we longed for was another bathroom.

Now mind you it's 20 degrees out so you can imagine the looks I got when I said put on your swimsuit I have a surprise.

Daddy wasn't there yet, so I braved the natural hot springs pool by myself with floaties and two majorly helpful big kids.

Tao hates water, he screamed as Morgan handed him to me, AND then he calmed, still clutching to my side.  He splashed and then laughed and we all cheered!!

Sunday we took the big kids snowboarding, - between the free pass with the room and Morgan's 5th grade pass (free skiing all winter) they were all completely FREE!!  Plus we still have an adult ticket to use later in the year!  Tristan & Morgan took in more runs than they could count.

Brahm practiced his snowboarding - and loved their covered magic carpet.  The lift operators all fell in love with him, and called him bull (bullwinkle) by the end of the day.

THe best part was we put the littles to sleep and slipped out to walk across the way for dinner alone - my hubby and I - two nights in a row!!

The second night Cav started having issues which lasted the rest of the trip.  We chose not to fight with him, and allowed him to pout by himself as we enjoyed our time relaxing as a family.

THe hot springs water comes out to my right and then the snow run off stream os to my left, you build dams to allow enough cold water in so that you and the kids can stand it, while still staying warm!!

We feel relaxed and a family once again!!

You can see Cav, we asked numerous times if he wanted to join us - (he did swim twice)
I jsut pray some day he will feel the natural urge to be part of our family.

So blessed!

Back together and lessons learned from Stampin Up!

Heehee couldn't help the blog post title, but bear with me and I hope I can express my thoughts.

First of all it is so wonderful to be back together as a family!  It has been over 2 weeks and everyone has gone in different directions.

I have missed my boys fighting ;0)  Ok little man trying to beat the crude out of his BIG brother. 

I have missed the noise, the squabbles and the talking.  Did I jsut type that for real?

Seriously, our home is jsut that HOME, it is comfortable, it is what we have both created and been provided.  I feel blessed that by being good stewards of God's money we live in such a peaceful place.

If you follow along, then you will remember the big kids went to away camp the week of the fourth - it was a sale so they both went.  I explicitly made arrangements for this past week as I was going . . . gasp . . . out of town!  Long story short, I went to the Stampin Up Convention in Salt Lake City.  It was four days away from home and an airplane flight!

Now I know a lot of parents that vacation, or travel for business, but I am not one of them.  I hold the fort down at home.  This WAS A TRUE LUXURY, which I considered cancelling many times.  My sweet husband on the other hand insisted I go. 

So our big boy was signed up for all day basketball camp, our princess went to another away camp (both church so still pretty inexpensive) with her friends, and little man - he had daddy time.

I went to my first Stampin Up Convention with friends who have been for many years - so they knew the ropes.  Stampin Up is my one vice in life . . besides chocolate but that's really a need!  I love their products, and being a demonstrator has afforded me the ability to work from home.  In addition, having a blog allows me to reach out to many people near and far.  They can shop directly through my blog AND get a discount.  But I regress that's NOT what this post is about.

It is about the experiences and 'ME' time that I so often forget.  It was so interesting to be able to connect with others who have adopted or are adopting.  It felt good to answer - 5 kids when people asked how many children we had.  It was fabulous to sit down with complete strangers and be able to share God's plan and especially Cavanaugh's story. 

I'll post in the next few days about a few other major impacts this trip had, but for now I'll leave it that my sweet husband has a new understanding for my job!  He now referrs to spending days with little man like having your head in a blender! 

But most importantly, we are all home together, everyone has a renewed sense of the importance all members play in our family.  And perhaps most importantly, we feel refreshed for the arrival of our final members.  Our heart still aches to have them here but we know that soon they will be home.