Run Hard

What an amazing Mother's Day. I received many loving handmade gifts from my kiddos and a lovely dinner out (last night after the retreat clean up) at my favorite, favorite restaurant- El Rodeo! Get this..... as I was heading home last night and starved (I had saved tons of points for dinner), John asked me if he and all the kids could take me out to dinner. I didn't argue!

When I arrived to El Rodeo's, I walked through the doors to see the most amazingly beautful family that I've ever laid eyes on. One handsome man sat with 7 gorgeous kids and awaited my celebrity-style arrival. I floated around the table and gave each a hug and an "I love you and missed you." (If you are wondering who the 7th child is.. it was Cayla, Anna's BF who's with us all the time) And yes, it did cost a pretty penny- but it was oh so worth it to sit as a proud mother of these children and revel in all that God has done for me and how HE has blessed me with LIFE! Now, here's the shocker- they ALL were perfect for the entire meal. Yes, you read it correctly- PERFECT. I ate in peace, joy, happiness, self-control even. My husband was so supportive and encouraging about the time he had spent with the children over the past few days. It's like he was "reporting" back to me all that they did :)

Back to the handmade gifts. So, Evan made a laminated placemat for me at school. The teacher had asked him a list of questions about his mother. Here's exactly what the placemat says: My comments will be in the ( ......)

By: Evan

My mom is the most wonderful mom in the world! Her name is Kara.
She is as pretty as a mom. (How funny)
She is 30 years old. (very good, evan!)
She has brown eyes and black hair.
She weighs 20 lbs (whoa!!!!! I'm melting away to nothing..literally!)
She is 7 feet tall. (I should be drafted to play basketball for the WNBA. Well, wait a minute. If I only weigh 20 lbs, then it doesn't matter how tall I am cause I have to have some unknown disease!)
Her favorite food is chicken. ( I love chicken!! Baked, grilled, char-boiled, terriyaked with pineapple!!!)
In the good old days when she was litle, she used to play tic-tac-toe. (I've never told Evan this.. how funny!)
I think my mom is funny when she laughs. (I'm glad I laugh and he see joy in our home)
She gets really angry when I do something wrong. (Yikes.. stop there, son. Tell no more :)just kidding of course!!!)
I wouldn't trade my mom for anything. I love my mom because she reads me stories. (Yes, yes, son! Tell the world how great I am for reading you a story twice per month. I really need to work on this!!!!!!)
My mom always says "I love you." (ahhhh... I sound so wonderful and perfect!)
My mom cooks the best pizza. (Aldi's box mix, baby! just add some shredded mozarella!)
This is how she makes it: she uses sauce, dough, pepperoni and cheese. (I have never used pepperoni. How funny that he "recalls" this.)
My mom really loves me. (I do!!!!)
My mom and I like to play outside. (Yes, go son, go!!! I sound like the completely outdoorsy, adventurous kind of mom that I've always wanted to be to him.. But I don't really measure up
to that)
My mom's favorite clothes to wear are flower shirts. (By this point, I'm almost peeing my pants with laughter because highly over weight women tend to love lots of flowers on their shirts. Don't ask why? I'm not sure why! Now, that I think about what all of you wear.. I can't recall ANY flower shirts! ZERO! NONE!!! NADA! Most people wear plain colors.. that's probably the "style", but I'm telling you.. the "PLUS size ladies dept" of most stores have tons of flower shirts- and they are usually on clearance.... Hmmmmmm???? I'm making a vowel right here and today that I will never again purchase a flower shirt. My dream is to NEVER, EVER have to shop in the plus size section again. Yes, some of you are saying "Kara, it's okay. I think you look lovely in those flower shirts." And others of you are saying "Hallalujah! She's finally seeing the light of fashion." )
Then last but not least...
My mom is beautiful because she wears makeup. (Now, I'm hysterically laughing because you all know that I wear very dramatic make up. I do that on purpose of course because I want to feel wide eyed and bushy tailed. This weekend at the women's retreat.. Heather lovingly laughed at me and told me that she thought I might glow in the dark. Ha!!! Ha... Hahhh!! Too fun!
Apparently, my precious son likes the bold look too. Isn't that funny?)

Each child gave me something precious. Anna's gift was to watch the kids this afternoon while i napped for almost 3 glorious hours while she made the most deluctable chicken breasts and fresh fruit salad with yogurt. When I woke up and came to the table at 5:30 p.m., I heard
the angels singing praises in the heavenly realms as the table was set and the food was placed in the middle. Lastly, I want to share with you a precious little note that Johnathan gave me with his handmade sand coated vase with silk flowers. He wrote thoughtful things and then signed it "Johnathan, your soon to be son" Yes.. grab the tissues! It was beautiful and moving. Like I said at the retreat.. I NEVER, EVER was going to adopt any child. Why would I need to? I have 5 amazing kids already. But, then GOD opened a door for us to adopt an orphan. For those of you who don't know this, his mother's parental rights were terminated 2 1/2 years ago and there is no legal father anywhere to be found.. thus he was an orphan. What a privledge I have of being a mom, a nurturer, a care-giver, a nurse, a therapist, a cook, a maid, a cheerleader, a hugger, a referee, a teacher and much more. I am blessed beyond words.

Today, may each of you be strengthened and blessed. Some of you are going through some VERY hard stuff and the only thing I must say is NEVER GIVE UP!!!! NO TURNING
BACK. Pray hard and long and persevere. We have a race to run ladies. Some of us may race until we are 100 years old; some of us may only race one more day, one more year.. only God knows. So run hard , run hard, run hard and never turn back.

As much as I really wanted to post about my feelings/thoughts of the retreat. God told me no.
The only thing I'm supposed to tell you is that I got EXACTLY what I had prayed for and that was a renewed love of my family.
Happy Mother's Day!
Kara