I'm Not A Stepmom, I'm the Mum That Stepped Up

I know I am way overdue with updating my blog. I have so many words in my head I'd love to flow through my fingers, but finding the time to sit down and make it happen is challenging.

Speaking of challenging, I had a challenging day yesterday. The kind of day where you wonder what the right thing is for your kid and desperately wanting to make the right decision but it's difficult to discern which way to go.

In the evening, I was working on the computer and a message popped up from Cody's piano teacher. She sent me the following words. Tears streamed down my face as I read them. It was exactly what I needed to read yesterday. Thank you Lord for speaking through her!

A good stepmom is not made, she is built. She is built by the hardships of her role, the tears she cries in secret, and by the lessons she learns through trial and error.

The passionate stepmom makes mistakes. She has strong opinions that she often can't express. She remains quiet when she wants to scream. She makes sacrifices others may not be capable of. She learns how to love in many different ways. And she gives. She gives her heart, her soul, and her life to making sure a child she didn't give birth to smiles, has wonderful memories, and - most importantly - feels loved.

Spring Break!

This year, we decided to head somewhere warm for March break. We had tossed around a variety of ideas of places to go during Cody's time off school including a cruise, Florida and Washington, DC. Washington was a front-runner for a while. It's been on my "list" for a while and it's a day's drive from home. While it wouldn't be hot during March break, it would be pleasant. In fact, when I mentioned our plans to my sister Jo-Anne, she thought it sounded like so much fun that they might want to go too! We started looking for a house we could rent for all 7 of us.

As we researched our trip to Washington, we were getting excited about the interesting places we would see and things we would do. We found a great house to stay at just outside the city. Things were coming together. Except the public service workers were in the middle of a work stoppage and we weren't sure if it would still be happening during our stay. If that were the case, we could not see any of the places we had planned to see. This required a change of plans and direction. We decided, instead, to head to Myrtle Beach.

We found a great beach house inside a gated community. It had four bedrooms - each with its own bathroom, two large covered decks. It was right on the water and had tons of stuff to do including a skateboard park, basketball, ping pong, indoor pool, mini golf and, of course, the ocean! The only downside was it was about 5 more hours of driving than Washington.

We survived the LONG drive - which included a snowstorm through the Virginia mountains! We opted to drive there in one day but take 2 days to drive home. We were exhausted when we finally reached our destination but we made it one piece.

The week was filled with:

• coffee & reading on the deck
• cousin adventures
• many games of mini golf (a Myrtle Beach staple)
• Bingo (both Devin & Cody won a round)
• snacks
• Monopoly Deal
• independent boys with a walkie talkie
• splashing in the ocean
• fresh seafood
• memories to last a lifetime!

 We had such a fun time and it was a beautiful spot. We made friends with our neighbours who own multiple properties within Ocean Lakes. I think we will return at some point in the future.