About My "Good" Day...

I figure I should tell you what was so 'good' about the day I commented on that got the whole facebook drama started the other night....  I hate that I allowed some random person to steal my joy that day.  I'm a slow learner.  But anyway, here it is:

It was Samuel's 3rd birthday and Matt is on vacation this week so we had a slow day at home.  My dad stopped by in the morning to give Sam his present and gave us some money to use at our planned Chuck E Cheese trip.  Sam also got some money from my in-laws (Matt's Dad & Step Mom) a few days prior. 

We left mid afternoon, grabbed some coffees, went to Walmart to let Sam pick out some 'big boy undies' and officially took him out of diapers... (still cleaning up a lot of pee, but we're trying to stick with it)  We used his birthday money to get him those and some new sneakers he's been needing. Then we went to Chuck E Cheese.  We had decided ahead of time that we would all work really hard to win tickets and we would give them all to Sam at the end so he could get something good.  This was my first major blessing; Des and Isaiah had great attitudes about this!  Watching them win tickets and run over to show Sam how many more he had was such a special moment for me.  I can't tell you how much it meant.  Those are the kind of kids I want....and to see it in them was awesome.  So, we ended up winning more tickets than we ever have before - well over 500 of them!  We got Sam a cool ball, but then got them each a giant pixie stick as a surprise reward for their attitudes.

We left there and went to Chili's where my mom had sent me a coupon to.  It was only good for 2 days, Sam's b-day being one of them and it was for free kids meals.  This was my next huge blessing... this was the first time we have gone out to eat since Sam's allergies to milk and eggs have cleared.  He was able to order a kids meal!!  This might not sound huge, but if you have dealt with it, you know how hard it is to go ANYWHERE with an allergic kid.  Normally we have to bring rice and ask them to warm it up and make sure we don't put anything close to him that he shouldn't touch and he usually cries through the entire meal and often had reactions to the food residue on the highchairs. This time, he ordered chicken crispers and fries and a chocolate milk and he PIGGED out while sitting right next to us!  It was SO nice to see my little boy eat good.  Then we asked them to sing him happy birthday and he got a free sundae from them.  He was so cute, when they came out singing, he had NO idea what was going on...  His face says it all.  At the end of the video, you will see Matt look at me and frown...that is because I was now crying.  Between being able to spend 3 whole years with my son to the fact that for the first time in his entire life he was eating ice cream on his birthday AND eating something special while everyone else watched him instead of the other way around - I just felt so thankful and happy I couldn't help but cry.  And then, my sweet son who has always been left out of the ice cream treats, instead of taking his turn to have his own, started handing out bites to everyone else.  He is such an amazing little boy.  When I say "Happy birthday Samuel" through my tears at the end, it means so much more than "Happy birthday" to me.  (you'll also notice Isaiah climbing things...as usual!)



He apparently inherited the 'open my mouth when I give you a bite' gene from Matt

 Our whole bill came to just $21 and we were able to give the waitress a really nice tip and still ended up only spending $6 out of our own money for Samuel's birthday celebration, new shoes, undies, fun, food and all. 

On top of all of that, little things went extremely well - like the baby sleeping in my front carrier while we played games, me & Des hung out a lot together at Chuck E's which never happens when Daddy's around and was so fun for me, the kids all did well at the restaurant, our waitress was awesome, we got front row parking, there was no wait, nobody spilled their pixie sticks in the van :o)  With 5 kids, things don't usually go this smoothly EVER.  It was awesome!  We drove by a street called "Alice Street" and immediately after past a work van with the number "143" on the side, and we all fit into the little photo booth that we've made our tradition for years....and we found a way to include Rachel.  (see my arm behind Des? And her little hand?) :o)  We don't ever forget her.  These booths are meant for 1-2 people... I have to say I think we're talented!

Then we got home and there was this in the mail:

Baby Rachel's Legacy is officially a non-profit and registered with the Charitable Trusts Division of NH!! And you won't hear me say this often, if ever again, but I am proud of myself for this.  This was a lot of work, patience, tears, dedication - and a whole lot of faking my way through things and figuring it out as I go... but I finally did it and I'm so excited to see what God is going to do through this.

So when I said "Today was the best day I've had in a very long time" it had absolutely nothing to do with me 'moving on' and everything to do with God and my family - and the sweet blessing of having both in my life....including Rachel and even through some tears.