Friday, September 17, 2010

A Day In the Life of Brady

Now that Brady has started school, I hate to say it, but I really don't have as much material to write about:-(

I miss my little sidekick, he has grown up too fast! He is still a little Dennis the Menace and doesn't disappoint me on giving me new material when he gets home from school! That kid never ceases to amaze me with the stuff he comes up with and his little mind always at work.
He loves to ham it up for the camera, and cries and pouts if you take a picture of someone else and not of him. I can't imagine where he got that from. Me a camera hog? Never!






He wasn't excited about going to school, he was actually dreading it. When he and I discussed school, I would tell him he was a big boy now and needs to learn to read. His response was "I don't wanna learn to read!" Finally after a few times of him saying that, I said "Well Brady, if you don't learn to read you will never be able to text."
Lo and behold, that did the trick! He was suddenly all excited to learn to read so that one day he will be able to text too just like his older brothers and sister! Ahh, technology!
He loves all the Gameboys, iPhones, iPads, anything like that. Look at him in this picture below. It was just too funny not to capture! He had been running around acting crazy all night at one of Patrick's football games, UNTIL he noticed the cute little girl sitting in the stands playing on an iPhone! I think that was the only time he sat down all night!
Yes, he is definitely an entertaining little fella. I seriously doubt he will ever stop giving me blog material, something tells me he will always be a little funny character. It's just in his personality.

He is now loving school. He even has a girlfriend! Her name is Anna and she is a little cutie pie! I have been volunteering at the school two days a week for the kindergarten classes, so I get to see first hand what all Brady has been up to. He was sitting at the same table as Anna, but the teacher had to move him for talking to her too much. I've never had a kindergartner have a girlfriend before. He says he wants to marry her and even asked me to make her a necklace! He is not shy about professing his love for her either. I'm not sure if I should think it's cute or be worried! He won't even kiss me goodbye anymore, just hug me bye because "big boys" hug not kiss their mommy goodbye:-(

I guess that is what I get for telling him he is a big boy! whaaaaaaaaaaa!!

On a brighter, non-depressing note, next week I am going to revamp my blog a bit. I am going to post on certain subjects on certain days, so that way I will be more diligent and consistent in my blog postings. For instance, I will have "Easy Peasy Recipe Wednesday." I'll let ya know the other subjects next week. I will probably have a "craft tutorial day" too, especially since it is getting to be "Halloween" season and I love the "haunted crafts!" Speaking of haunted crafts, now is the time to check out Dollar General or Family Dollar to see the 70 -90% summer clearance stuff. Summer stuff makes awesome Halloween decorations. The styrofoam boogie boards make great tombstones, garden fence makes awesome grave yard fencing and garden statues can easily be made into spooky statues.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Friday, September 3, 2010

"Duck"-Tape! Mommy's Little Helper

My bff Stephanie always makes fun of me because I bring duct tape with me everywhere. Once, I brought it to the beach and she just thought that was the funniest thing ever~well guess what?? That duct-tape came in mighty handy!!! It helped hold the tent together when the wind kept blowing it apart and it made a great waterproof sock for Patrick when he had stitches and couldn't get his foot wet! Shoot, we even duct taped Brendan's baseball shoes once when he was playing in the all-stars and his soles were coming apart! If I were to sit and think about all the things that I have done with that oh-so-useful tape, the list would run 50 pages long! They even sell it in all kind of different colors now, which is awesome!:-) Today while I was flipping through a home and garden magazine, I saw an article on it and discovered quiet a few interesting new things about it................................

Duct-tape was created in the 1940's and was created for a war-time tape that was strong, sticky and waterproof. It was originally army green and was nick-named "duck-tape" because it was waterproof.
When the GI's brought the duck tape home, Americans used it in air-conditioning duct-work, hence why the makers changed it to gray and started calling it "duct tape"

In the 1970's when an oxygen tank explodes, astronauts on the Apollo 13 made a lifesaving carbon-dioxide filter out of plastics bags, cardboard and.......... you guessed............. DUCT TAPE!!

In 2002 Doctor's discovered Duct tape gets rid of 85% of patients' warts!

There are countless uses for it, the list could go on and on...........................for sure it is one the the best "mommy's little helper" of all time!

What have you used it for?? I would love to hear it!!



I know it has been a while since my last post, so sorry and I promise to not stay away so long again! We have just been busy busy but I am vowing to blog at least 3 times a week from here on out..................and you can hold me to it!!:-) As a matter of fact........................Halloween post coming soon!!!!!! Have a great weekend yall!!!!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Emergency Brake........

Since my tire blow-out fiasco, Brady has hated getting in my SUV. He is afraid we are going to go "BOOM" again. I've tried to reassure him that mommy's tire is not got to blow-out again and that we now have brand new tire on it. But, my car had been making strange noises since the blow-out, especially when I was changing gears. I thought the transmission was going out or something so when Brian took it up to the car place to get the new tire I told him to get it checked out..............they found nothing wrong. After a few days of it doing this, I was talking to my husband about it and he said "it's almost like the emergency brake is on".................and a light-bulb went off in my head!!!! Oh yea, that nice man who changed my tire put the brake on so the truck wouldn't roll back on the fella underneath it!!! I ran out to check it and sure enough, the brake was down...............................so I drove all the way home from Collins.................and then all over town for 4 days without realizing my emergency brake was on!!!! Man, I knew it was having a funny smell, like burnt rubber..................oops!!!!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Treasures

I know this is my 3rd post on my new little flower bed...........but I am so proud of it! It makes me smile every time I look out the window and see it. Yesterday afternoon I decided to fancy it up a bit. We had some bricks from my kids old school so I used them as a border. This little bed has turned out to be so much more than just a garden to me. It is more a sort of memorial. I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age. The fact that the plants came from something my grandmother actually grew and nurtured means the world to me. It's no secret that material things don't mean a thing to me............I'm the Dollar General Queen and I love hand me downs . Don't get me wrong, I like having nice things, it's just that I could take it or leave it. Especially after experiencing Katrina, and seeing my family and all my friends lose every single thing they owned. You realize the important things are the sentimental treasures in life............that is what means the most. My husband did clean-up work in the months after Katrina because his mortgage company office was wiped away. When he was assigned St Paul's Catholic School.......which was the school he attended and our 2 oldest sons, it was very hard on him. That school held many fond memories for him and tons of others. When he brought home some of the bricks that made up the school I knew I had to find something special to do with them. So all this time they have been laying around waiting to be put to use. It came to me the other day when I was watering my new plants.......Voila! This would be a PERFECT spot for them.............so here they are.................displayed for us to see every day!!!!
I hope you all have a very Happy Father's Day and a Great Weekend!!
Thanks for reading!!
C

Thursday, June 17, 2010

My Grandmother's Flower Bloomed!!

This morning I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I was thinking about my friend Angie who just passed away. I mourn so much for her................ and for her beautiful daughter, who looks just like her and for her young son that reminds me so much of my Brady. It is just heart-breaking thinking of them having their mother taken away...............Life can be so unfair sometimes. So this morning when I woke with Angie heavy on my heart, my husband goes out to water the flowers and sees the most beautiful sight!!!!! My dear sweet Grandmother's flower that my Aunt Janet gave me had bloomed the prettiest yellow flower................after seeing that I knew that Angie was going to be alright in Heaven and sweet Zola Mae is taking good care of her!:-)




Whenever I see that beautiful yellow flower bloom, I will think of my dear friend Angie.............and remember her always...............







Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Plants, Baseball & Pies......OH MY!!

I went home to Forest last week.........for one of my high school best friend's funeral. It was the 4th friend that I have buried since 2006. It was such a bittersweet visit..............being home for such a terribly painful thing but also getting to see friends that I haven't seen in over 20 years. It is so strange how you grow up with your schoolmates, spending every day together for so many years and then loose touch with them.......but when you see them again.......even if it has been 20 years, you pick right up like a day hasn't passed. Kinda like being in a time warp. I am so thankful for all the wonderful friends that I had growing up. They all had such an impact on my life and have helped mold me into the woman I am today. It was so nice reminiscing about "the good ole days" with them..............even though some memories could have stayed in the memory book!!haha I really feel bad for the kids of toady's age...........any dumb teenage mistakes or foolish things they do will be forever immortalized via digital camera, video cam, internet or cell phone, poor things!

While I was home I visited with my wonderful aunts........Aunt Sheila and Aunt Janet. My Aunt Janet gave me some plants and flowers that came from my grandmother, Zola Mae's yard. When I got home, my husband planted them for me, right in the corner in of my back yard so that I can look outside the window everyday and think of my sweet grandmother. I strive to be even half as good of a woman as she was..............I don't think there will ever be another one like her.

I just pray that I don't kill them!!!
I came home from our trip to Forest last Thursday so that I could make it to Bren's all-star baseball game. We left around 5-5:30......thinking I could just go straight to his game since it wasn't until 8 that night. I had Katie and Brady with me..........we were jam-packed to the gill with clothes, plants, old pictures and memorabilia from high school. When we got to Collins, as we were trekking along with the radio jamming.............I hear a big BOOM!!!!!! Really, it sounded like a bomb went off.........my car started pulling very hard to the left..........MY TIRE HAD BLOWN OUT!!! I don't know how I remained calm and didn't flip the SUV..............it had to have been Divine Intervention. I'm not the best driver, and I'm certainly not the calmest person around.....but all I kept saying to the kids was "be calm.......yall be calm......be calm!!" (they weren't saying a word, by the way) I think I was talking to myself more than them! We made it safely to a parking lot on the side of the highway.............where I got out to adjust the damage........knowing good and well I had know idea how to change a flat tire! I didn't even know where the spare was!(FYI-it was underneath the car! who'd thunk it??) I called my hubby who was all the way on the coast who tried to call a friend in Hattiesburg (who was outta town!!).............I'm freaking out and hot hot hot!!!! I called my high school friend Mechelle Dunn who lives in Hattiesburg and had been home for the funeral too. She said she would call around and call me back, but in the mean time 2 nice men stopped and asked me if I needed some help.........oh thank God for the kindness of strangers! They went to work right away changing the tire for me.......they even located the spare up under the vehicle!! While they were changing it another guy (a friend theirs) stopped by who was a volunteer firefighter. Mechalle had called her friend's parents who lived in Semenary, so they came up to check on us since I was a lone woman with 2 kids stranded on the side of the road with 3 anonymous men. They stayed with me the entire time the guys were changing the tire. And coincidentally, they all knew each other!! Small world............and believe me when I say Collins and Semenary Mississippi is the best place in the whole wide world to break down!!!! They are the kindest, most helpful people and I am forever grateful!!!!! The fellas that changed the tire wouldn't even except any money......not even a coca cola........and the poor guys were filthy with dirt and sweat when they finished changing it!! This was definitely an experience that I will try to "pay it forward"!!! Oh how I love the South and this great state of Mississippi that I live in!!:-)

Needless to say, I didn't make it to my Bren's game.............but I did go to his 3 games over the weekend........he played so awesome and he even hit a triple!! Lucky for me, I had my camera and got to get pics of his big play!!!








Brian watched the cooking channel again and he can recreate anything he sees on that show!! He made this ice-cream bar and it was divine!! I'll try to post the recipe for it as soon as I can.........and yes that is strawberry drizzled on the chocolate!!!! SOOOOO YUMMMYY!!!!

Hope you all have a great and safe week!!! Always remember the kindness of strangers and try to "pass it on" when you can!! I know I will!!!!
C












Monday, May 24, 2010

THIS IS CRAZY!!!!

As many of you know, I have been keeping a close eye on the privacy changes FACEBOOK has been incurring. I read up on all the techno blogs, research articles, and try to find all the information out there in order to pass the word and try to keep all of our personal stuff private. Facebook's new Instant Personalization is confusing at best........I'm not sure if this was purposeful or if the peeps at facebook are just stupid, but they have made it as complicated as possible for you to make sure all your info stays private. Previously I have posted how to set your settings in order to do this, how to opt out of the Instant Personalization, among other settings.......but just discovered today that even doing this doesn't protect you from sharing your information with the partners of facebook. In order to do that, you must BLOCK each and every partner's application. As of today, they have 3 partners. Whenever they partner up with anyone new, you must BLOCK them too. If you don't believe me, pay attention to the friend's list on each of the partners site, any of your friends that haven't BLOCKED the app will show up. Hopefully the peeps at facebook will be making changes for better privacy, the head guy announced they were working on it.......but until then you might want to go in and block the apps, just to be safe. It's crazy when you think you have all your info set to PRIVATE and discover that it wasn't as PRIVATE as you thought it was. Basically whatever your "likes" are, they are viewable for the whole world to see.......even if it was something that you would rather not share with everyone. I read a good analogy on one of the privacy sites........"it's like your best friend promising not to tell your secretes and then blabbing them to the whole class!!".......................................................We are very vulnerable in this day and age, but I think we are here to stay, people don't want to give up their facebook, their iphones, their laptops.........so the next best thing is to stay as up to date and knowledgeable as possible. I will certainly try my best to keep you all "IN THE KNOW"..........You might want to "follow" me and the network blog on my FB home page too to make sure you don't miss anything;-). http://networkedblogs.com/3xmiY

Thanks yall, stay safe on the net!!!
PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY!!!!
1st.......Make sure you have opted out of the Instant Personalization privacy setting. Make sure ALLOW is UNCHECKED....................
2nd.........Go to the page for Microsoft Docs, click Block Application on the page, click Block Application on the pop-up, and click Okay on the next pop-up.
3rd..........Go to the page for Pandora, click Block Application on the page, click Block Application on the pop-up, and click Okay on the next pop-up.
4th...........Go to the page for Yelp , click Block Application on the page, click Block Application on the pop-up, and click Okay on the next pop-up.
That's all the partners so far, but I will be sure to post updates of new partners as they join.

How to Opt Out of Facebook’s Instant Personalization Electronic Frontier Foundation

Oh, and FYI, there is a new book coming out called The Facebook Effect, I know I am a nerd to be excited about this, but my geekiness is yall's gain because you know I will blog about all the good parts;-)

http://www.amazon.com/Facebook-Effect-Inside-Company-Connecting/dp/1439102112

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Brian's Key Lime Pie

Brian finally made his Key Lime Pie last night! We have been so busy with school winding down that he really hadn't had time to do it before. I had to use the kitchen the last two nights to bake cookies and brownies for the kids bake sale and Art Show. It was well worth the wait!!! Honestly I don't think you can compare these two........they are totally different in taste and either you love Key Lime or you don't..........I love them both so I really enjoyed eating both of them.......of course I am partial to mine since I made it;-) His presentation was really good.......he even did a design on top............So I guess it is up to yall in cyberspace to let me know which one looks the best!!!







Both were yummy!!
I'll get his recipe tonight and post it on here!!


Monday, May 17, 2010

The "Pie Cook-Off"

It was a nasty weather weekend.......rainy, storming with thunder and lightning. Of course on days like that all you want to do is lay around and eat. Brian and I decided to have a "Pie Cook-Off". He was going to make Key Lime Pie and I was making Chocolate Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Bars Pie. He ended up not making his.........we got so full on mine........but he is making it this week so the contest is still on!! I'm posting the recipe below, but I did do a few alterations for my recipe. Since we were having a "Pie" contest, I decided to turn the "bar" recipe into a pie recipe. The base of the pie was supposed to be peanut butter cookies pressed into a square, so I just molded it into a pie crust cookie in my pie pan..............and followed the rest of the directions as is. Oh my, was it delicious. I'm going to have to diet all week to loose the pounds from this weekend!;-) Honestly, I don't think Brian will be able to beat me on presentation, but I promise I will be fair and take just as good of pics with his......honest!!
It was a big hit with the kids......Brady even said "Mama, you make good stuff!" best complement ever~
Cookie Base and Topping
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
Filling
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream


1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie base and topping ingredients until soft dough forms. Shape 6 (1-inch) balls of dough. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls 2 inches apart; flatten in crisscross pattern with fork.
2. Press remaining dough in pan. Bake cookies and base 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Reserve cookies for topping.
3. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and stirred smooth. Spread evenly over bars. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
4. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and whipping cream with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat on high speed about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Spread over chocolate layer.
5. Crush reserved cookies; sprinkle over cream cheese layer. Press in lightly. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
ENJOY!!!!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fun Weekend

After having such a sad week the week before, I was in dire need of a fun girls weekend. My cousin Melissa and best buddies from my home town of Forest, Mississippi came down to the Coast for a little visit. We stayed in Biloxi and had the time of our lives. It was so nice to just laugh and have a good time and not be stressed out at all.

Here is a picture of us all vamped out at the casino restaurant Sat. night.
Shelly, Carrie, Mel, Me, Brenda and Angie
They all drove in from Forest Friday night and picked me up. We went to the Treasure Bay casino and Hard Rock.
The bar/restaurant at Treasure Bay was fun. But honestly, we would have had fun in a barn as long as we were all together!:-)
This picture was taken at the Hard Rock. It's one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. They look like Rock Stars!!
The bartender took this pic of me and Mel. He was trying to get all artistic on us!LOL
You can tell how much fun we were having by the shear joy on our faces!!:-)
Saturday morning was cloudy and rainy so we decided to go eat first and then decide what to do the rest of the day.
The food was really good and Bloody Mary's were even better!
We decided to ride over to Ocean Springs where they just so happened to be having an Arts & Crafts Show. This painting was from a local artist and when everybody saw the naked lady painting they all said "look Christie, there you are"........not too sure what they meant by that but the painting was cute!:-) So of course I had to get a pic with it.
Carrie, Me and Shelly sitting outside a shop. Ocean Springs is such a cool town with so many shops that you can just walk along the street and visit.
So after our visit to Ocean Springs we decided to go back to the room and start getting ready for our big night out. I did everybody's eye makeup, glamming them out with glitter included, of course. Melissa did everybody's hair...............so we were all feeling our inner DIVA and READY for our night out on the town!!
I brought my little tri-pod and boy was I glad I did........how else could we have gotten such awesome group shots??
Brenda and Carrie looking all glamorous!!
Me and Brenda
Carrie, Me and Mel out at the "club"
Mel, Angie and Brenda
Looking like the "Sex In The City" girls!LOL
Mel, Shelly and Carrie.......I LOVE these girls so much!!

Really, I don't know how the weekend could have been any better. I really did have such a fun fun fun time!!!! It seems like this past year has just been so hard.......on all of us......first with our friend Gina dying..........who we loved so much. Then Gina's fiance' Paul dying............and then Brian's dad dying..............saying we all needed this fun weekend is an understatement! Thanks girls, I had a blast and hope to do it again soon!!! I love yall!!
I hope all you peeps in the cyberworld have a great weekend. You all deserve
it!! Thanks for reading!!
C










































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Brian's Eulogy For His Dad

Play From The Heart
By Brian Logan

Our family would like to thank everyone for coming to celebrate the life of a tremendous man, a tremendous husband, a tremendous coach, and a tremendous dad. My most vivid memories of my dad were of him roaming the sidelines, with a cigar in his mouth, barking instructions. My dad had a passion for coaching, but his true passion was making a difference in the life of every child that played for him. He loved sports, coaching gave him the vehicle to impact many young lives, thousands of lives. While my dad was drilling us with the fundamentals of that particular sport, what we didn’t realize at such a young age, he was forming the foundations of our lives. Through winning and losing peewee games, he showed us how to have dignity and respect. He taught us to shake hands in defeat, become better from our losses, and to be humble as a winner. Hotdogging was never allowed. My dad had an uncanny ability to reach in every kid and get the best out of that kid. The main thing he showed at such a young age was no matter how big the obstacle, if you played from the heart, you can overcome almost anything and accomplish big things. All St. Paul teams possessed this mindset. We were mentally tough and played from the heart. We exemplified our coaches, Dad and Coach Wittman. Because of these attributes, we didn’t lose many games and won games we had no business being on the field with the opposing team. With all the successes and wins, if my dad was here today, he would tell you, it is not about the victories on the field. It is all about the kids,… all about the kids,… all about the victories off the field. It was his goal to not only make each child a better player, but a better person, from the first time my dad laid his eyes on them, to the time he was through coaching them. It was very important to him that St Paul’s was well represented. I can remember one fall driving out to the Kiln to play Hancock 6th graders. When we walked toward the field, we noticed some of the opposing players driving up in cars and trucks. The kids had side burns, mustaches and, they were huge. Well, as we would quickly find out, this was Hancock’s middle school team, 6-8 grades. My dad went over to the coach and told him we would not play against their 8th graders, but we will gladly play the 7th graders. The 7th graders were big, but no where near the size of the 8th graders. We were like, Dad, these guys are too big. He said, “son, they put their pants on the same way you do”. So if my dad thought we could do it, the team thought we could do it. After battling to a 0-0 game with two minutes left, we fumbled inside our ten yard line. The other coach who had been embarrassed by a younger, smaller team, to this point, suddenly sent his 8th grade unit onto the field to score. My dad was furious. We were all scared, but after we looked over to the sidelines, my dad was pumping his fist, dig in boys, he yelled, dig in and stay low. He believed in us, he knew we would give it our best shot. Four plays later, the 8th grade unit couldn’t penetrate our goal line and the half ended 0-0. My dad walked over, picked up his football, had a few choice words for the other coach and told us to load up, we were going home. My dad had proved his point, we left the field standing tall. I can also remember my 5th grade year we were playing the Pass Christian city champs, who also had several 7th graders, one by the name Gene Lang., who would later go on to play professional football. My dad told us not to be intimidated and to play from the heart. We led the whole game by 6 points, and late in the 4th quarter, Lang, the fastest kid on the field, broke a long run. It appeared he would take it in, but, out of nowhere, a kid by the name of Andy Waggoner, took off and ran Lang down inside the 10 yard line. We would hold on and beat them. For that moment, that play, Andy, had heard my dad’s teachings, play from the heart, it was probably playing over and over in his head as he ran down the fastest kid on the field. For that moment, Andy, was the fastest kid. We had taken on the traits of my dad, and played with the same passion that he coached with. We had overcome insurmountable odds. My dad exemplified this until his dying breathes. With him lying in his hospital bed, suffering from a severely broken hip, one they didn’t know if they could repair, suffering from pneumonia, fighting a staff infection, his kidneys completely shut down, two feet badly damaged from diabetes, he believed he could walk out of that hospital. Who could have doubted him. He had always battled back. We thought he would make it home. Sean and my mom walked into his hospital room one day to find my dad had put his blanket through the triangle dangling above his bed and he was trying to pull himself up, so he could get up and leave the hospital. He was determined, but God had a better plan.

I would like to take a moment to read a few messages that have been sent to my family regarding my dad.

Ric Oustalet wrote,”I am so sad to hear about the passing of Coach Logan. He was truly the example of a hero and role model for all of us who had the privilege of having in our lives. His dedication and patience with all of us at St. Paul’s was an illustration of how we should all work to make a positive impact on the lives of the kids in our communities. I know…see more than that, he was one of the first role models in my life and he will be missed. Since my dad was not living with me, Coach Logan, made sure to provide a supportive male authority figure in my life. Our loss is heaven’s gain….he probably has a rag tag group of kids doing the Oklahoma drill in heaven, getting ready for yet another undefeated season! God Bless you Coach Logan!”

Joey Rogers wrote, “He taught us how to be tough, to be disciplined, to have good sportsmanship, to be dedicated, to work hard and how to be a winner. He taught us the game of football. You will always be part of our life. Thanks Coach Henry Logan we will miss you!”

Larry Hopkins wrote,”Sorry to hear about your loss. I always associate him with the Pass ballpark. I remember the first time at the field and him yelling at you and Sean. He scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, but later learned it was more bark than bite. He really was a good coach.”

Well, Larry unfortunately there was a lot of bite to my dad. He would never touch another kid, just grab a face mask here or there. Whenever a kid was acting up to a point my dad wanted to strangle him, he would just whip me or Sean. We got a lot of whippings, but it had a calming effect on the players.

I believe God had noticed all my Dads good deeds on earth. I believe my dad had secretly made a pack with God. God had made packs in the past with people, he made one with Moses. He made one with Abraham. I don’t know for sure if this is true, but feel certain it is. I believed it happened something like this…..God came to my Dad a few years back and said, “Coach Logan, I need you. I need you to coach the lost souls of purgatory and get them to the next level”. My dad said, “ I am your humble servant, and would be honored to, if you will allow me 3 things.” God then said “Go on” Dad said, “ First, I need to make sure Marlene is out of the FEMA trailer and into her house. Secondly, I would like to see the Rockachaws win a football state championship, and thirdly, I would like to see the Saints to win a SuperBowl.” If you knew my Dad, he was a die-hard Saints fan. God responded, “The first one is easy, the second one will take a little work. But the third one, that one is going to need Divine Intervention.” If you saw the Minnesota game, there was definitely Divine Intervention. I thank you God for allowing my dad to witness it. All three made my Dad’s day and put immense enjoyment in my Dad’s final years.

Last year a prominent women’s basketball coach passed from a battle with breast cancer. Her name was Kay Yow, coach of North Carolina State. She left us with this saying that I think is fitting. “When Life Kicks You, just make sure it kicks you forward.” Well, Life has kicked my dad forward. God, you gotcha a good one. Dad, we love you, and you will be sorely missed.

Monday, April 19, 2010

In Memory of Papa Logan





God took home a wonderful man April 14th, 2010. My dear Father-In-Law left a legacy that no one will soon forget. He also left 5 sons and 1 daughter and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was 82 years old and lived a long and fruitful life. He left such an impact on so many, with his years of coaching and volunteering for the church. I am very proud to have known him and grateful to him for raising the man that became my husband. I know that he is the one that helped mold my husband into the wonderful man that he has become. When my husband Brian spoke the eulogy at the funeral, I had never been more proud of him. My heart swelled with love, pride and sorrow for the man that I have been married to for over 16 years. I have never seen him in so much pain, but yet he was so strong and held his composure. It's not like this was unexpected, Papa had been in the hospital for almost a month, but I guess losing a parent is something you never truly can prepare for. No matter what age you are, your parents are your parents and life without them can't be easy, but at least Papa is no longer in pain and in a much better place. Actually, the whole service was beautiful. It was such a wonderful, loving tribute to such a well respected man. Patrick, Cody and Luke (grandsons) all did a great job doing the reading. Taylor did great. Our niece Courtney did a moving eulogy. Morgan read a poem.......everyone did such a great job, it really showed what a great family Gram and Papa have raised. I am sure Papa was looking down from heaven smiling at such a fantastic memorial service.
It has been such a long emotional month, I don't even know where to begin, I have so many people that I owe thanks and appreciate so much for helping out during this time. I guess I'll just start at the beginning..........Approximately 3 weeks ago Papa fell and broke his hip. At first he wouldn't go to the hospital, (he was a VERY VERY strong tough man).......but the next day when he fell again, Gram was able to talk him into letting an ambulance come and get him. Morgan, my great-niece who lives with Gram and Papa, stayed with us while Gram would spend the night at the hospital with Papa. At first we thought Papa would be in and out quickly, but they ended up finding numerous other ailments that wouldn't allow them to do the hip surgery. In the end, most of his organs were losing function and he was in a lot of pain. But, he was tough til the very end, (just ask the nurses). He hated hospitals and didn't want the nurses or doctors touching him. He would insist my mother-in-law do most of the things the nurses were supposed to do. He loved his wife more than life itself, and I can still hear him yelling "MARLENE"! any time she would walk out of the hospital room.

So this brings me to my first person who I am so thankful too.......My friend Amy. Amy is an ICU nurse at the hospital Papa was in. When Papa got so sick that they kept him in ICU instead of a room, he was miserable. I called my friend who had been on vacation and didn't even know he was in the hospital.......she called the hospital and specifically requested Papa as her patient. Until that point, Gram had felt like the hospital staff had not been on the up and up with her. Amy took such good care of Papa and made Gram feel so much more "In the Know". Thank you so much Amy! I love you. We all appreciated you so much!!
The first week Papa was in the hospital, Brian had to go on a business trip. That left me home alone with 5 kids. Actually, when you have 4 kids, one or two more extra is no big deal, but when you have 4 kids all in sports, it becomes a little difficult getting them all to practices and games at the same time. Luckily for me, my neighbor Shannon, has a daughter that was on the same baseball team as Morgan. Thank you so much Shannon for helping me out getting Morgan back and forth to practice and games. You helped out more than you will ever know. Camille always helps me out with anything I ever need. Especially when finding something to wear. I always know I can go to "Camille's Closet" anytime I need to dress up for something! Thanks so much Camille!! I love you!! My neighbors Shanae and Tara helped out whenever needed too. They would keep the kids for me and do whatever needed to be done. Thanks to all of yall so very much!! I really am so fortunate to live in the neighborhood that I do. I consider my neighbors more than just friends, I love them as if they were family. I know that I can count on them for anything, and they didn't disappoint me. So I want to thank Jan, Camille, Candace, Tara, Jennifer, Shanae for everything yall have done for me. Thanks for the beautiful plant yall sent, thanks for being there to listen to me fuss and complain, helping out with the kids, I could go on and on...........I love yall so much!!!!
Thanks to my best friend Stephanie for helping me pick out songs for Papa's picture DVD. That was such a big help! I love you dearly!

I also want to thank my friend Leanne. We go way back to the high school days. She lives in Dallas now and a couple of weeks ago just out of the blue she texted me asking for my shoe size. When my "happy" came, it was the day Papa died. Getting my shoes on that day, such a sad sad day, they couldn't have came at a better time. I thank you for thinking about me Leanne, I love you!!

It seems that I have had such a rough go with "death" lately. One thing it has taught me is that life is way too short. Don't sweat the small stuff, and always smile. I want to live life to the fullest and never have any regrets. I know and appreciate how loved I am and how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful loving family and such awesome friends. I know I am one lucky
cookie!:-)

So in closing, I would like to wish you all a happy life.........now go hug your loved ones or call a friend that you haven't spoken to in a while, because you never know what tomorrow is gonna bring. God Bless!