Miles Apart…Yet So Close To My Heart

My little sister has always been my best friend. But me moving to Florida truly broke her heart. She knew it was something I needed to do…but we struggle with all we had to give up to allow me to create a new life. We had dreams of raising our children together and playing such a huge role in their lives. I sometimes feel like I let her down along with my niece and nephew. We would do everything together…we were each other’s rock. She was such a big part of Brittany’s life and unfortunately Logan is missing out on that. We played through every scenario in our minds to come up with a fail safe plan on how we can make it still work…but it always has a snag.
I think the holidays are the hardest for us…especially the years that I don’t go home for Christmas. I thought by having a blog and us having Facebook we would feel better because we could see what each other is doing and keep in touch better. But instead it makes us sad because we get to see all that we are both missing out on. So that ended up being snag #2590!
How do I make things better? I need brainstorming comments!

My next plan is video conferencing nightly after dinner!

My Sister Tonya!

My Neice & Nephew (Allie & Ethan)..along with Logan

Our Honorary Walk For Ryan!

Me, Brittany, Jenn, and Charlotte have joined the March of Dimes -March For Babies in honor of Jenn's little guy, Ryan. We are walking on Sunday, Nov. 16th. He was born 8 weeks early and we are thankful everyday for all the love and care he received by some very special people in the NICU. So we are walking to celebrate his triumph and raise money to make sure every child gets their 9 months!

GatorWalk 2008!

Catching Up...

My life got busy..and my blog just didn't rank as high on my lists of to-do's unfortunately. But after noticing that Jenn and Tim started back up..I figured it wasn't too late for me. So Let me summarize the last 3 months!



My Daughter Started Her Senior Year.



















Vince Turned the Big '60'!



















Braedyn Turned "2"
















Visited Laine & Watched Him Play Football...



















I Went To Michigan To See My Sister....and we joined the 'Walk For Breast Cancer'
















Then of course Halloween!

Mickey's Not So Scarey Halloween Party

Pumpkin Carving

Logan's Photo Shoot

Oh..and how could I forget..Brittany's Senior Homecoming Dance..

So no one can say we have not been busy..lol..but we like it that way! I love to make sure my kids get to experience as much as they can and I love anytime we spend with family!
So Bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas..lol

My Special Little Nephew Turns "1"

I have to share some cute pictures from his Birthday Party!

He has a smile that can melt anyone's heart! Logan loves to play with him and make him laugh!

His Mom and Dad have been through some scarely moments with him

- But they were able to celebrate this special day!

...My Little Girl Prepares

It is that time again, for Brittany to go to her Dad's for the summer. But this year is very different. It is like she knows this year it is going to be a big change and she is giving up a lot more to make the trip. Fortunately she understands the value of the trip and the reason it needs to happen. I unfortunately have moments of sadness and would love to give her 10 excuses why she should stay. But then what kind of Mom would I be?
She is struggling with Logan not understanding why she is gone, but I told her that is my job to make that transition go smoothly and it is not something she should stress about. She will definitely be missed by him! Especially the wake up calls..lol She also has a boyfriend she is having to be away from and her wonderful friends...but with college approaching this might prepare her for the fact that she can survive without those things because it opens the door to new things.
We have had many heart-to-hearts lately, and I can honestly say my little girl is turning into quite the young adult.
So maybe I did my job okay with her!

A Mother's Day...

I had a very nice day. Tim and the kids made me a huge breakfast. Then the kids gave me their presents..Logan made me the cutest picture stand clip with a poem attached that he made at daycare. Britt got me the DVD I have been wanting..so cool! No matter how many times I told him I didn't want anything, my stubborn husband managed to get me something awsome anyway...thanks sweetie!
We had Tim's Mom and Dad over for the afternoon. We sipped margaritas and Tim made kabobs on the grill and we just had a nice visit. Things got a little crazy when we had to try and put Logan down for a nap when his grandparents were there..but it was well needed and eventually he did sleep..for a whole 50 mins...lol After they had to head back home, we went to Lowes and got a planter for my Herb garden and some other little things for my garden. It was nice because Logan allowed me to browse..lol. We then came back home and got everything planted...then relaxed in the living room eating pizza and watching my DVD.
The best part of the day was having the time to breathe and put my feet up!-YAH!

The day of our lives...

I was sitting here trying to remember when was the last time I had a complete Drama free week...wow it has been a long time! Between Bentley's vet visits, Britt's episode with the ambulance and ER and then Logan's head trauma incident...I need a bout of relaxation. The part I laugh about is we have actually a dedicated line item in the budget for medical expenses...I think we need to re-evaluate that dollar amount..lol

This weekend my "no so little" girl is going to take her ACT test - Wow! I can't believe how time has flown by! I remember sitting with her when she was in 3rd grade working on homework at the dining room table telling myself "I can't believe how many more years I have to do this...ugh"..lol and now look one more year to go and she is officially going to graduate! I am so excited for her to begin her life...but the Mom in me wants her to be around all the time. I better start saving for all those 'Senior Year' expenses!

Logan is talking more and more all the time. He is forming sentences, and that is what I notice more and more. The other day he said "Mom, sing to me more" - and I had a 'Mommy heart smile' moment...you know they feeling inside where it feels like you heart just smiled from the inside out...ok..well I don't know how else to explain it..lol Anyway this is definitely an enjoyable time for me and Logan! He is still not sleeping wonderfully so me and Tim have broke down and are having him sleep with us when he wakes up the first time...I know I know..bad..bad...but darn it I need sleep after 2 years and besides I feel good knowing he is resting well. Besides the way I see it you either pay in the beginning or at the end...and I was just getting tired of paying for it...I need a break....I will deal with the repercussions later - for now I am going to take advantage of some good beauty sleep! I think the people I work with has appreciated that I am getting more sleep the most..lol

I am hoping for a productive weekend of landscaping - because Logan is enjoying the dirt in the backyard a little too much - but I will tell you Shout pretreater Rocks! I am a little nervous about us doing the work ourselves - but the feeling of accomplishment when it is all done makes it worth it. So far we have re-routed the sprinklers and are now going to level out an area in the backyard where the retaining wall will be going up -creating a playground area for Logan and we are also creating a bigger walkway area from the back porch area to the playground. Then begins the fun part - my garden and the planting of all the flowers!