Weekend Adventure

The weekend after I quit my job we took our very first family vacation to a little spot outside of Glen Rose, TX called Hideaway Ranch and Retreat. We had so much fun and have been all but dying to go back. So a few months ago I went to their website and booked us for this weekend...except this time we made a last minute decision to go by ourselves and let the girls spend some quality time with the grandparents. So Friday afternoon we loaded up and dropped them off and headed out to what would be our weekend home....."The Lonestar"..... Hideaway Ranch is located on 155 acres and they have 10 cabins scattered in the woods hidden from each other. Each cabin has its own private drive and you are basically secluded from the world (or so it feels). There is little to no cell service and no Internet (I did not have access to facebook or google for two days). The cabins, however, have everything you could need (coffee pot, cooking utensils, satellite tv)....plus a view that could kill.... We took our dogs with us (yes that's right we left the kids and took the dogs) and I am pretty sure they had the best time of their lives! The Ranch has over 55 acres of hiking trails and the dogs were allowed to just roam around with us and they took full advantage....they had smiles on their faces the whole weekend.... We spent our weekend fishing....until we saw a water moccasin that is (that was undoubtedly my deal breaker).....hiking we saw all kinds of animal tracks...deer, horses, but the coolest and craziest one we saw were big ol bear tracks! I carried a stick the whole time (or a club as I liked to think of it) and spent much time in prayer just hoping that we didn't run into the creatures that left those tracks... I thought for sure since we were not taking the kids with us we should sleep in so before we went to sleep on Friday we decided that we would sleep in as late as we wanted. So Saturday morning we slept, and slept and slept and then when I thought surely it was afternoon time I got up and went to the kitchen to look at the only clock in the cabin and it was 9 am! Now if you want to get all technical about it that IS sleeping in considering most of our days start at 5 or 6....but man I used to be able to waste half a day sleeping in! So I was up for the day....the husband however went back to sleep so I drank my coffee on the front porch swing and soaked up the morning and then I went and laid on the couch and did what I did A LOT this weekend.....I read....3 cups of coffee, seven chapters and a shower later my husband decided he was ready to drag himself out of bed. We took the jeep for a ride and found some lunch before we came back to the cabin to hike and fish and read some more. Our nights were spent in the best place in the whole cabin....the back patio home of our own private hot tub..... We had the best weekend EVER and as we were loading everything up this morning I was so sad to be leaving! It is so nice to go somewhere and have the pace of life slow down and the concept of time disappear. I think I even almost missed my kids :-) The weekend went by so fast and we are already planning our next trip out there. We love, love, love that place!!!!

When It's Hard To Be A Mom

Okay well let’s be honest there is not a single day that goes by that being a mom is not hard. Being a mom means that you worry about things that never even existed in your world until your children came along. Being responsible for another life is pretty much the hardest thing in this world. But in my honest and humble opinion being a mom is the hardest when your child is sick....it is even harder when said sickness may or may not be a fake sickness. Let me explain.....Thursday of last week I get a call from the school nurse at Brooke's school and she says to me that Brooke is in her office and she is complaining that her stomach hurts....she has been in my office EVERY day this week complaining of a stomach ache she says, but today she is running a fever. Well first of all why did it take four days for anyone to tell me that my child did not feel good...okay, okay that is a whole other blog...so anyway I go and pick her up from school and give her some Tylenol and let her rest...I told my husband that if she did not feel better by the morning I would take her to see the doctor. Well Friday we woke up and she was still complaining so I called the doctor and got her in. Let me back up just a bit and explain that she has NO other symptoms at all....the fever has not even come back....and her stomach ache surely has not slowed down her eating. The doctor listens to her stomach and says that "It is moving pretty fast"...whatever in the world that means...he said it is probably either a stomach virus or maybe e-coli or salmonella so to error on the safe side he put her on an antibiotic. Well that was Friday and today is Monday and when I woke her up for school this morning she started crying saying her stomach hurt. Now she did complain on and off all weekend, but she played and ate and ran around everywhere to....so here I sit a mother in confusion and worry with my hands all but tied behind my back. I didn't want to send her to school if she really didn't feel good, but I can't help but wonder if she is just trying to get out of school. Or maybe there is something more serious wrong with her stomach other than "it is moving pretty fast." In either case...it is hard to be a mom when your child is sick....it is even harder when your child is sick and you have to play detective.

Mother's Day

I remember my first Mother's Day as a mom....I eagerly anticipated the day and expected to sleep in until noon and wake up to breakfast in bed, folded laundry and a sparkling house while trumpets played and fireworks were shot off....and then I woke up at the crack of dawn and was flung right back into reality and realized that Mother's Day was actually another day of being a mom. Just because it was mothers day did not mean that the baby did not need to be fed or changed and the laundry and house certainly did not magically clean itself. Today is my sixth Mothers Day and while I still have not heard trumpets play or seen a magical firework show...and while my duties as a mom still have not been put on hold for even so much as a second...I celebrate the fact that two special little girls make me a mom in the first place. I remember that without them I wouldn't even have a day and I am thankful today and everyday for the chance to just be there mom. Being a mom is the hardest job that anyone could ever have, but it pays in kisses and hugs. When I look into my children's faces (mostly when they are QUIETLY asleep) I can't help but feel like this is the ultimate reward and every day is really Mother's Day when you are thankful to be a mom.