What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

So here we are and it's already Mid February, where does the time go?  Life seems to go by so fast at times I just want that pause button to relish this very moment in time.  Things have been so crazy these last few years that just when I think everything is getting back to "normal" life throws you a curve ball!  What's the saying, It is what it is! Yep, it sure is!

So this past week I was up visiting MI for my sister Sara's Baby Shower!  They are having a baby girl in April and this little girl is a blessing in itself since they had to do In Vitro to get her here!  She's quite small right now and they are keeping a very close eye on this little one so please keep them in your prayers for a healthy baby girl! The shower was beautiful and I had a wonderful time with my family and friends!  Saturday night was Girls Night Out and I was Celebrating my singlehood again...Divorce was Final this past week.  We had a great time!  Lots of Drinks, Laughs and of course Drama! :-) Never a dull moment with 15 girls :-) Then unfortunately I woke up to a call Sunday Morning from Wayne saying my Mom was having a stroke and he was taking her to ER.  This was not what I wanted to hear since I have to fly home later that day.  We rushed to the Hospital to be with her where we found her with loss of speech and mobility on her left side.  They did an MRI and tests to see if there was a blockage of some kind and sure enough there was, she had suffered a stroke.  She was in the Hospital til Wednesday and has been resting at home and has orders not to return to work for another week.  She is doing much better and her speech is coming back but she will need Speech Therapy.  Please keep her in your prayers as well.  February is always such a tough month for our family already!

So I returned home Sunday night and this past week has been filled with Jackson being star of the week and Valentine Party's!  The kids are growing up so fast, I just love each one of their ages right now!  Lola has been fulling potty trained since September and is such a little girl no longer my baby girl!  She loves to sing and dance and is very loving and affectionate.  Max and Jackson are both growing like weeds!  Both are going to be really tall boys.  They both love School and are doing really well.  Jackson seems to have an issue with talking allot (hmmmm, wonder where he gets that?) and keeping focus at times but all in all is a good student and good friend to others.  Max, well the teachers just LOVE him and how can you not!  He is my little lover, no doubt!  So sweet and always smiling that boy!

We are all returning to MI in April to hopefully see a new baby and visit over the Easter Break.  The kids are looking forward to seeing Grandma Billie , Gee Gee and of course their Aunts and cousins! :-) We will then return again in July to celebrate the 4th which is our new tradition :-) Lots of good stuff to look forward too!

Again, please keep my family in your prayers if you can! :-) Love Always, Heather

Hello 2012

Well it has been quite the year for us!  I can't say that I'm sad to see 2011 go, more like BRING on 2012!!! This past year has been full of it's up's and down's, but all in all I have grown from my past and I continue to grow everyday.  Along my journey I have meet some amazing people who have blessed my life with their friendship and love.  For these people who have come into my life I am truly grateful.  For others, it wasn't soon enough for them to move on out...LOL! :-) God has taught me to be more patient and to live in the moment more these past couple of years.  I treasure this, especially with the kids.  They are such wonderful little beings.  I feel as though I have been given such a wonderful opportunity to really connect with my kids and they have taught me so much about myself! Divorce is never easy, but I think the kids and I are much happier and have allot to be thankful for.  Bottom line, they have two parents that love them! :-)
Speaking of the kids, they spent Christmas Eve with me and Santa made a special trip just for them since he knew they wouldn't be here Christmas Morning!  They were sooo excited to see that the Big Man made an early arrival!  It was a great day and later that evening I took them to their dad's so they could have Christmas day with him and his family.  They are now in FL with him and return Sunday from their vacation with Dad.  As for me, I have really taken allot of time this week to mediate and focus on my goals for this coming year.  I have been given the opportunity to build my business more through different contacts, I have placed 3 weddings on the books for 2012 already and I'm working with a venue to possibly be their in house photographer.  All good things and very exciting!
Personally I know that 2012 is going to be a great year.  For one my sister is finally expecting a beautiful, healthy baby girl that they tried really hard to get!  She is a true blessing and can't wait for her arrival in April.  Another is our now annual trip to MI over Fourth of July!  The kids and I had such a blast last year that Jackson said "mom we have to go to MI every year for the 4th" Now, how can I turn that down?! :-) I love it when all the kids are together and our family just keeps growing!  So wonderful and exciting!

I hope that all of you reading this have enjoyed the holidays with family, friends and the ones you love!  Here's to an exciting 2012 filled with HOPE, LAUGHTER and LOVE!!! :-)
Happy New Year :-)
xoxo Heather

Bye, Bye Summer!

Wow, what a fantastic summer we had this year!  I feel so blessed to have been able to go and visit as many places as we did and people that we got to see along the way!  The kids had a trip to Disney with their dad the last week in July and I got to spend a week with my best friend Dawn and her kids.  This was the first time her kids had seen Mountains or the ocean so it was so much fun for them!!! We went to VA Beach for a weekend, went through the caves and saw the Natural Bridge.  It was great and I really enjoyed spending the week with them, but missed my kiddos of course!!  Once the kids arrived home from Disney, the following week we headed to Myrtle Beach!  It was wonderful, we had a great Condo right on the beach and enjoyed every minute of it!  We will be heading back again next year for sure! Lots of other new things going on are Lola has a new "Big" girl bed and Max and Jackson decided they wanted to share a room so I moved Max from the basement upstairs to Jackson's room.  They are doing great and I feel much better having the kids all on the same floor!

Well today was Jackson's first day of school as a 1st Grader!  He had a great day and he said he really likes his teacher and has lots of friends in his class! :-) Max and Lola start preschool next week so we are getting excited about that as well!  What ever will I do without my babies at home??  Sub of course! :-) I look forward to volunteering at the preschool as needed.  I'm also focusing more and more on my photography and continuing my DivorceCare group.  That has helped me so much and brought me to such a better place in this journey.  As soon as everything is final, my plan is to hopefully help counsel others in DivorceCare as well.  It really is a wonderful ministry and I feel God has a plan for me there.

For now, I'm just enjoying every second with these beautiful children!  Life is too short and sometimes we fail to see the beauty in all that is around us!  I'm happy, our children are happy and I'm looking forward to what is in store for us!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers!  Lots of Love....xoxo

What a Summer So Far!!!! :-)

God, I feel like I haven't written in so long!  So much going on, it's so hard to keep up!!! Well summer has been going great and we all have been keeping busy!  The kids and I had a great (unexpected) 2 week vacation in MI visiting family & friends!  We were only planning on being there for a week, but things changed and we ended up there a week earlier than planned!  The first weekend there we Celebrated by having Baby Henry and Lola Baptized together!  It was so special and HOT I may add!  It was 90 that day, crazy hot for MI!  Then this is the first year the kids have ever experienced the Fourth of July in Clawson!  All I can say, is man I miss that place!  Nothing like it on the 4th of July, anywhere!  It was so great to see it through their eyes and think back to all those days my sisters and I experienced that growing up, just awesome!!!  A great big Thank You to The Partin's for the great hospitality that day and a GREAT place to watch the Fireworks!!! :-) The kids and I also traveled over to Kalamazoo for a couple days to spend time with my brother/sister in law and kids!  So glad we made the trip and LOVED watching the kids together, truly a blessing they all love each other so much!  They may only see each other once a year, but they make up for it when they do! They have a chicken coop with chickens and Jackson was in love.  Needless to say, I'm looking into chicken coop's for us to have here in our backyard! ;-)  From there we got to the beach with my cousin Lisa one day, boating with Aunt Dawn and camping for a weekend with all my family and friends!  It was so much fun, great seeing all these kids together!  This trip back home just made my heart happy, for the first time in a long time!   It was a long trip for the kids, since they were already up in MI a week prior with their Dad unexpectedly but all in all they did great for being away from home 3 weeks!  They did great on the way home and we made it in 10.5 hours, so pretty good I'd say!!

In other news, this week I got to shoot my very first Wedding and it went great!  I just hope they like the photos as much as I do.  I have really been praying that God continues to bless me with more and more of these opportunities! I just love it! :-) From here I have another wedding in NC in September and a few more family photo shoots lined up.  I'm also looking forward to subbing at the kids Pre-School this year so I'm keeping myself busy!  I can't believe that school will be starting in another month, man summer has flown by!  Before the kids and I head back, I have friends coming down the first of August, then the kids, Katie and I head to Myrtle Beach for 4 days!  I'm really, really looking forward to these 4 days......Low key, laying on the beach and just relaxing! Yay!

Please continue to pray for the kids and I!  Lots going on "behind" the scenes and just hoping for a BRIGHT light at the end of this long.......tunnel! :-)
xoxo Heather :-)

Look Who's 2! :-)

This past weekend we celebrated Lola Grace's 2nd Birthday with lots of friends.  I can't believe that she is 2 already, where has the time gone??!  She is talking up a storm, almost potty trained and extremely independent! She is such a bright little light that has this family wrapped around her little finger! :-)

This past week was also Max's last day of Preschool and Jackson's 1st Musical! It has been busy, busy but so much fun! Next week Jackson has a Field Trip to Smith Mountain Lake that I'm hoping to go along with the class and Patriot Games (Field Day)!  Lots of end of the year fun!  He also did extremely well on his PALS testing and is reading at a 1st grade level, way too go Jackson!!! :-)

Here are a few pic's to share!  I hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and enjoying the begining of summer!!!
Much Love xoxo
Heather & Kiddos :-)