Gator Country Pictures.....

Bella and Daddy at the kids outdoor salt water pool!!



I was able to travel with Guy to Florida a couple weeks ago, just me, Guy, sunshine and....Bella. Oh well it was still a trip away from cleaning, cooking and crying ( just kidding that came with us). Our wonderful trip turned out to be me stuck in the hotel while Guy worked 14 hour days:( But the hotel was cool. This is the view from our balcony! All of this is indoors, the atrium was filled with footpaths, streams, gator springs and even a few small waterfalls. It was amazing!!

I think next time we go we will make sure Guy doesn't have to work!!

Mother dear I love you so......

It's funny, I still cry every time I see this picture. I don't know why. There isn't a certain memory that comes to mind. I guess it is that I just miss her.
I really thought this mother's day was going to be difficult, but it was a beautiful day of remembering. I was just coming off of a week long trip away from my boys and as happy as I was leaving them, I was even happier coming home. As I sat on the plane some lady next to me wished me a happy mother's day. I hadn't thought about the day for me I was just thinking how grateful I am for all my mom did for me. Not a day goes by that I don't do something that she taught me. I think I pass on part of her as I fold laundry with my kids, make banana bread with her recipe, rock one of my kids in the rocking chair and especially watch Jay Leno:)
As I was going through a box of her things, I had prepped myself into keeping only things that would be useful. So as I opened the box, suddenly everything became useful....her old hair brush, her pin cushion, her toe nail clippers and even some old talcum powder and makeup. I looked at my garbage pile and my keep pile and it seemed I needed everything. I needed her hairbrush to remember her hair color, her scented powder to remember her smell, her makeup to remember her face color. I know it seems silly because those were only temporal things, but they were hers and I was not ready to give them up.
I decided to take a break and look through a book she gave me "I never meant to become a witch" When she first gave it to me it made no sense, why was this woman calling herself a witch. But now that I have become one I know. I know what it is like to tell a child no they can't play, or tell them to practice their piano, and the meanest....clean your room!! All things witch's do.
She knew long ago the things I would need to be a strong and good woman. She knew that by making me cook dinner I would learn to feed my family. She always knew what I needed. So this mother's day I am thankful for my mom, my friend, and now my guardian angel. I love you mom and miss you so much. Happy Mother's day!!