Our Visit to the Nursing Home Tuesday

On Tuesday we went to a local nursing home with other home schoolers from our parish. Father came and said mass, we sang Carols, and then the kids helped give out gifts and even helped some of the residents open theirs.

this was such a wonderful experience for my kids. It is actually the first time we have done this. They were a little shy at first and taking in their surroundings. Once they warmed up they jumped right in.

Maggie tried to take a couple of the residents for rides, Kolbe helped open some gifts, Christian shook hands and said "Hello" to many of the residents....it was wonderful. It was so nice to see them interacting with the residents and seeing how happy the residents were to have children among them.

What Happens When a 4 yo Trys To Ride a 2 wheeler

About a week and a half ago Christian decided to take on rising a two wheeler. Unfortunately the bike won! Christian feel off and hurt his eye pretty good. He came in the house with blood coming out of the corner of his eye which was frightening. He had cut himself up under the eyelid in the corner. Luckily he was just swollen for a few days.

I am sure next time he will wait for someone to teach him how to ride and pick a slightly smaller bike!

May Tracy and All The Souls...

Of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in Peace - Amen

Yesterday our dear friend Tracy passed away after a year long fight. A year ago in October she had a heart aneurysm and during the open heart surgery to save her she suffered a stroke. She was badly brain damaged. She was on a feeding tube and respirator. Over the past year she started to make improvements - she was taking some breaths on her own occasionally and beginning to respond by movement and trying to open her eyes to familiar voices and music. Well - her heart gave out yesterday morning and they were unable to revive her. Tracy was such a wonderful person. She loved God and was a loyal and faithful friend. We will miss her very much but know she is on her way to the Lord. At least she is whole again and not suffering anymore.

We will miss you Tracy - God Bless your family and friends in their time of grief.

Happy Birthday To My Dear Husband

Today is my husband Mike's 37th Birthday.

Happy Birthday Mike! I am so proud of the husband and father you are. I love how open to life you are and how much you love all of us. No matter how big my faults you love me unconditionally.
I hope that you are blessed with a great year this coming year. May God Bless you and keep you close to his Heart.

I love you very much!! Thanks for all you do and for our beautiful children!!!

Remember With Me...

Today is one year since my D & C with Ambrose. This year has gone by so fast and yet I have cried many times over the loss of our precious Ambrose and our two other babies . It has been hard, but it is comforting knowing my babies are in heaven.

I remember so clearly going to my in-laws for Thanksgiving a year ago and telling everyone we were having a baby; a week later going to the doctor and there seeing my perfect little one with no heart beat. Crying all day and knowing that I was going to have a D & C 4 days later. Going in and wishing it wasn't true but knowing that I saw with my own eyes that there was no heartbeat and knowing it before they even told me. Feeling so much pain and being so sick after the surgery - two hours to come to - being sick for hours afterwards. The phone call the next morning from my doctor telling me that I had lost a lot of blood because the baby was not 12 weeks as we had thought but 4 weeks further - 16 weeks. Crying and crying with my hubby and kids. Feeling all those postpartum things but with no baby to hold and love....

Please pray for us today and remember with us.

Kolbe's First Reconciliation

Kolbe made his First Reconciliation on Saturday December 2nd. It is such a special day for all the kids. Kolbe did a wonderful job and had his Act Of Contrition all memorized.

Each child made a lamb and put their lamb on the banner after they made their Confession to Father. The kids also sang a song after they were all done. The following day they were announced at Mass and then there was cake and punch for them in the Parish Hall to celebrate their sacrament with them.


You see Kolbe with his lamb, waiting to go to confession, in front of the banner with all the lambs, and then at the parish hall with his buddy Jack after eating his cake.


Congratulations Kolbe!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Ben

Ok - I am the biggest slacker - I am way behind on Ben's Birthday post seeing as his birthday was November 20!
Ben turned nine this November and is just a delight. he is such a sweet and smart boy. he likes to play soccer and baseball. As you can see he got catchers gear for his birthday from Aunt Chris and Grandma and Grandpa. He loves it! He uses it as much as he can for now. Baseball season will put it into much more use.

We had a nice celebration at our house with Aunt Jenny, Uncle John, and Jake. Then we celebrated again at Thanksgiving with Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Kris , and Uncle Brian. So much fun for such a wonderful and handsome boy.

God bless you this year Dear Ben!

Joy And Thankfulness

I just had to post and tell you how happy, excited and absolutely grateful I am today. My hubby finally got a job!! It has been a long 3 months let me tell you. He started working today for a company called Majestic Airport Transportation. He picks people up at the airport and takes them to their destination or else picks them up at home or the hotel to take them to the airport. They pay everyday and he makes 1/2 of each fare ( they are set fares) plus tips. So far he loves it!!

The drawbacks are that he is an independent contractor so there are no benefits. Also the hours are long - 12 to 16 hours per day. The great part is they pay everyday and provide the vehicles (either a van, mini-van or a town car) This is such a good job for him I am sure he will succeed.

Thanks to all of you who have prayed, offered encouragement and just listened when I needed to vent. I love you all and I am so thankful to our Good Lord for this job!!!

Fun With Maggie

Hi All - I am very behind on posting but I thought I would post some of the silly, crazy, and funny things Maggie has done recently.

The first story is from Thanksgiving at my in-laws. After eating turkey and all the trimmings, watching a great movie called "the Ultimate Gift" and playing outside we had some sandwiches for dinner before heading back to Cape Coral - a 3 hour drive. Maggie was eating her sandwich while her brothers sat and ate also. Some of them finished before her and asked Grammy for an apple. Maggie then decides that she would also like an apple. We tell her she may have one after she finishes her sandwich. After banging her hands on the counter and saying she wants apple and getting the same answer she decides on a different route. She takes what is left of her sandwich off of her plate and puts it on the loaf of bread in front of her. After doing this she proceeds to hand Grammy her empty plate and wait for her apple. Needless to say after watching this and hiding our laughter she still did not get the apple for she never finished her sandwich.


Today while I was our running errands Maggie was taking her nap. We have put her in a "big girl bed" - actually her crib converts to a day bed. Now that she is in a "big girl bed" we sometimes find her sleeping other places besides her bed at nap time. When Mike went in to check on her he found her asleep in the rocking chair. He was amazed that she could curl up and fit in such a small space and still be comfortable enough to sleep. As you can see she looks so sweet sleeping in her rocking chair with her blankets, pillow, and care bears.

The last one is the icing on the cake! Today after maggie woke up from her nap she kept telling Mike to "get it out" while pointing at her nose. We thought she had a big booger in there so we kept trying to clear out her nose. Then she tells Mike "to get it out" and shows him a popcorn seed. He asks me to look and see if she has a popcorn seed in her nose but I do not see one from the angle I am looking so I say "no" and think no more of it. About 10 minutes later she is rubbing her nose and saying "get it out" and getting ready to cry. I decide I better take a better look up her nose to make sure it is clear. I put her on my lap and tilt her head back and sure enough there is a popcorn see up her nose!!!! Luckily there is some space on the top so it is not totally lodged in. I tell her to blow her nose and she makes me get a kleenex first. While Mike is getting the tweezers I am able to push her nostril back enough to bring it forward and then I am able to use my little finger to get it out. Immediately afterwards she says "Better now". Amazing how that works isn't it? After all those boys she is the first of our kids to put something in their nose.

Oh my - here I am typing and she is at it again. Maggie has been chewing a piece of gum now for about an hour. This is amazing to me as it is since my boys never master the concept of chewing gum until they are about 4 or 5 and she is only two. The only problem is she likes to put it places and then go back a little later - like a minute or so - and chew it again. Well just a minute ago I asked her where her gum was. She runs over to our entertainment center - which is missing its door handles so it has two holes - and shows me her gum put neatly in the little hole where the handle should be. She then picks it up and starts chewing again.

I tell you she just cracks me up! She sure does keep us on our toes!!!

Go Illinois

Thank you Fighting Illini!!!




I never thought I would be so excited to see one team beat another, but today I am!! Thanks to the Fighting Illini for beating Ohio State! Because they came into Columbus and beat the Buckeyes it is now a show down between Michigan and Ohio State for the Rose Bowl. I am praying that Chad Henne and Mike Hart will be healthy enough to play next week in the 'Big House'. What a sweet victory it will be if Michigan can pull this off. Now - I am smart enough to see that Michigan will need it's home field advantage and Henne and Hart, but as we can see nothing is impossible. Go Blue!!

Biopsy Results

Yesterday I was told the results of my 2nd biopsy! What great news- they got all of the cells. I need to go back in 6 months for an all over skin check, but that is all! I am so happy. thanks for all of your prayers.

Halloween, Chicago, And more

Yesterday was so much fun. In the afternoon the boys helped clean out the pumpkin so I cold make pumpkin seeds and Dad could carve the pumpkin. Then My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came over for piza and trcik-or-treating. The kids all dressed up so cute a you can see. Mikey was the basketball head, RJ was a ninja, Ben was Darth Vader, my nephew Jake was a warrior, Kolbe was a football player, Nate was Captain Jack Sparrow, Christian was a fire Fighter, and Maggie was Dorothy. I must say it was so much fun dressing her up. She said trick-or-treat , Happy Halloween, and thank you when she got candy. She was a hit around the neighborhood as well as all of the kids. I must say I thought we would have a lot more trick-or-treaters than we did. Now I have tons of candy left over in addition to their haul.

Today I leave for Detroit so I can go to Austin's tournament in Chicago. I am really looking forward to the time with Austin and my family. It is going to be buys but wonderful. Austin and I are also going to be seeing some very dear friends while we are there. I can't wait it has been years since we have seen them.

Please keep prayingf or Mike's job situation. He did not get the city job. They gave it to someone with previous police dispatch experience. He did apply for 911 dispatch where we live and call taker for Ft. Myers. Please pray he gets a job soon. Also my job has ended. The company I work for has ceased operations. I am so bummed. It was a great job for at home and I was starting to earn a decent amount. I know God has a plan I just wish it involved jobs for our family.

Not much else new but you know I will be posting when I get back from Detroit.

Weekend Away And more

As You can see by the pictures the wedding was just wonderful. Mike's youngest step-sister was married - the last girl in the family. Beth and Chris are off on their honeymoon after a wonderful celebration.

Mike and I got into New Jersey late Friday but we were able to sleep in and relax Saturday before the festivities began. The wedding was just awesome. We really enjoyed being with the family and catching up with everyone.

When we got back Saturday morning we headed out to pick up all the kids. They were so good when we were gone. Mike and I were very proud of them. After picking them up we headed to RJ's baseball games. The first game they won and he had a double. In the second game he walked once and then got out. The team played well and lost by one run.

This week is a short one for me. I leave Thursday to go to Detroit. Once in Detroit my sister will pick me up at the airport and off to Chicago we go. We will be there until Sunday watching Austin play in the Nike Bauer Invitational. It will be busy but loads of fun. It is the first time since we have been married that I have gone anywhere without an infant or the whole family. I am sooo excited! Other than that we are having a Halloween get together with my Sister, Brother-in-law and nephew. We are having pizza and trick-or-treating. I will post Halloween Pictures Thursday before I go.

Have a great week everyone!!!

2nd Biopsy Tomorrow

As excited as I am for the weekend to arrive I wish I did not have to endure a second biopsy first. I go in tomorrow afternoon for a deeper biopsy on my mole on my back. As you know the first biopsy showed that it is Dysplastic and so they are going to do a biopsy that goes deeper and compare the two. ouch! I am not looking forward to it as you can imagine. I will let you all know what they say in a couple of weeks.

Other than that we are all counting down to Friday when they all get to go to friend's houses and Mom and Dad get to go away for a couple of days:)

Looking Forward To Friday

Hello Everyone - Well at the start of this week I am looking forward to Friday. It cannot get here soon enough:) Mike and I are getting a weekend away to attend his sister's wedding in New Jersey. We are really looking forward to alone time and time to just chill with the adults. It has been a long time since we have gotten to get away without any kids.

Thanks to the generosity of Mike' parents and all those who are helping out by taking in our kids for the weekend we are going to relax and have some fun:) Now I just have to survive the week!

More Girl Fun

Maggie has this crazy curly hair- which I love - but she refuses to put it up. It hangs in her face and makes me crazy. Well on Thursday night RJ had a baseball game and I decided to try to persuade Maggie into putting her hair up by putting mine up. I put pigtails in and came out of my room and Maggie was soo excited. She wanted hair pretties like Mom's. I put her hair up and as you can see she looks adorable. It was a small price to pay:)

God Fatihful in The Little Details

This weekend my hubby has been gone to Ann Arbor to watch our son play hockey for the weekend. My parents generously paid his way there. Needless to say that such weekends alone with 7 kids, sports, and one vehicle can be a little hectic.

Well yet again God showed me His love for me in the little details. R.J. was supposed to have a baseball tournament locally this weekend and Mikey's games were supposed to be Saturday. Also Kolbe was supposed to attend Mass at 4:00 Saturday with his CCD Class. All this was going to make for interesting arrangement making for me as well as the other kids who were going to be dragged along behind me where ever I went.

In God's great mercy and goodness everything was changed around for the better. RJ had no baseball this weekend - not even practice! His tournament is now this weekend coming up. Mikey's games were changed to today which left us completely free to hang around and get chores done Saturday and attend 4:00 Mass where Kolbe was able to then sit with his CCD class in preparation for First Holy Communion. Not only that but Friday was relatively free so I was able to get a lot of work done for my legal coding job and we still had time to go to my sister's house for dinner and hockey - University of Michigan was on and they get the Big Ten channel with their satellite dish so they had us over for dinner, hockey and fun time for the kids to hang out with their cousin.

All in all it was a great weekend where I continually felt God's gentle guidance. I must continue to ask for prayers for my sanity however. The prednisone (60 mg per day for a week) is making me very hyper and none to kind. I lost my temper badly a couple of times this weekend and had to apologize to my kiddos. They are so sweet and forgiving - I am much harder on myself. I am also struggling a little with my walk with God and all the stresses and the grind of daily life but I have definitely felt all of your prayers and have seen the results of such faithful friends praying for me and thinking of me. Have a great week everyone and I will be back as soon as I can get here.....

The Results Are In

Well - I am back from getting my biopsy result for my rash and my mole.

The rash is Granuloma Annulare and so they are putting me on prednisone for a week and then a month off and then prednisone for a week. They are also giving me a steroid cream to use and they say that should stop the spreading and it should eventually go away.

The mole is not normal. It is not at melanoma stage and may never get here but it is Dysplastic Nevus - the stage before Melanoma. They are going to take a deeper biopsy in two weeks after this one heals a little more. The deeper biopsy will be compared to the other one to see if they need to take more or if they have gotten all the abnormal cells.

All in All not too bad. I am glad to have answers, but I am not glad to need a deeper biopsy in to weeks. Oh well -Such is life.

p.s. - our phone situation should be finally resolved by this evening. What a mess of lost paymetns a dreversed payents - Yikes!!!

Phone Problems

Hey all - If you are trying to reach us by phone our phone company screwed up a couple of our payments and shut our phones off with no warning. When Mike went to try to resolve the issue the computers were already shut down for the day so we have no phone service until tomorrow morning sometime. Reach me her or via e-mail

Sorry about this - we made the payments and they screwed up how they credited them and then they reversed two of our payments so it showed unpaid balances - so crazy.

talk to you all soon

Me

Thanks Everyone

Hi again - I am back after a looong day at the baseball diamond. Mikey's team had a three way where their team and two others play against each other. They won both their games which is HUGE for us. We have not won a game since the first game of the season. It was great to see the boys put together a nice team effort to win their games. Unfortunately RJ had a double header today at a different field and since we have only one vehicle we had to miss his games. they lost both of theirs by a big margin but they played the number one team in the state and did well for the most part.

I wanted to also thank all of you who called or wrote to me with such kind words and support. I must say that it has helped to lighten my load. We also were able to go to First Friday Mass as a family which is a bonus to having a hubby out of work. At First Friday Mass they did a consecration of families to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. It brought me to tears and helped a lot. God knows just what we need. I am still struggling with all of this but it is not as bad - I am not crying myself to sleep every night now and I am feeling more myself. I am struggling with my tongue though and we are fighting quite a bit due to all the stress. That has not helped my feelings of isolation but I know we are both just worn out physically and emotionally.

On a good note he has a job interview on the 16th with the City Police Department as a dispatcher. Please beg God that he gets this job. Though the pay is not great in the beginning the benefits, retirement, stability, etc are awesome.

I love you all and am so grateful to each of you for praying for me, my family, and for our situation. I will be on soon I am sure. Have a wonderful weekend everyone:)

Dropping In to Say 'Hi"

Hey Everyone - I have been so busy that I have not been to good about posting regularly.

Life here is pretty hectic at the moment. We have been very busy with homeschooling. I am teaching 5 kids this year so my days are full not to mention working for home on top of it all. At the end of a day I am spent to say the least. Mike is still looking for work which is stressful. The economy here is horrible and has been ranked as the worst place in the US to find a job. It is causing lots of stress around here but we are holding up. I am waiting for my appointment on the 12th to find out what my biopsies showed if anything.

The kids are busy too. Between school work, CCD for Kolbe and baseball we are always on the go. It is good though. The kids are doing great in school. Kolbe loves CCD and is excited to make his First Reconciliation and First Communion this year. Mikey and RJ are both thriving in baseball and love their new teams. Though they are no winning much they are learning and that is key. Austin is super busy with school work and hockey. He is finding that social time is very limited because he is so busy. Things are going well and many scouts from colleges, National Team Development Program, and the OHL are avidly watching him this year.

I am overwhelmed lately and feeling very alone and stressed. It is hard sometimes to understand why things happen and why they seem to be continual for us. I know God allows suffering because He loves us and that He loves me - it is just hard to swallow it at times. I am tired of the stress, lack of money, lack of stability, the fear of how we are going to make it etc. I am sad and have been thinking about the fact that we may be done having babies. I know we are blessed with the wonderful kids we have yet we want more. Now is obviously not the best time but I have found myself missing the babies I have lost over the past year and a half. I find that my heart and arms feel so empty at times. Well it is just where I am right now - sad, lonely, stressed, a little frightened and tired of it all. I love God and I know He is caring for us it is just hard - I am human after all.

I hope life is treating everyone well and will be back soon.....

I Am Honored

I have been nominated not once but twice for this wonderful Nice Matters Award. This is what the award is about -

“This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award."

So I am now going to nominate seven other deserving bloggers for this award and I humbly thank those two ladies who thought enough of me to nominate me for this award.

Here are my seven bloggers:

Lynne -from A View From the Inside - http://lynne-aviewfromtheinside.blogspot.com/ - Lynne is such an inspiration. She homeschools, works, and still finds time to take care of herself by working out. She is tireless and is a good friend whom I am privileged enough to know in person as well as on the web. She definitely fits the bill for this award.

Sharon - From The Bird's Nest - http://www.nesthome.blogspot.com/ - Sharon is such a good mother. I love her thought provoking posts and how her love for her family shines through her writing. I am also inspired by her faith and her weight loss quest through Weight Watchers. I enjoy her and her blog. I am privileged enough to know her through a coupe of venues and I am hoping to meet her in person someday soon.

Justine - From Justinespired -http://www.justinespired.blogspot.com/ - Justine is just a wonderful woman and a phenomenal writer. I love reading her posts which are equally inspiring and entertaining. I am also inspired by her deep faith. She has such a zest for life that shows through her writing.

Ruth - From Just Another Day In paradise - http://thetuckerbunch.typepad.com/ - Ruth is one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. I met her online and have had the great privilege of talking to her on the phone. She is so inspiring and has a very deep prayer life. Her prayers have kept me going for almost a year now. She is very insightful and ha a deep trust in the Lord, Our Lady, and the Saints.

Katie - From Redheadmama - http://redheadmama.blogspot.com/ - Katie is joyful. She is always smiling and she is a very busy Mama. She volunteers and gets involved in her kids activities. She also helps out at church. Katie is always thinking of others and reaching out to them. Her blog is just a peek into the wonderful woman she is.

Bridget - From Our Magnum Opus - http:///www.ourmagnumopus.com/ - Bridget is one amazing woman. I know her in "real life" as well as being able to stay connected through an online community. Bridget personifies Christ and the virtues of a holy woman of God. I feel so blessed to know her. Her blog is inspiring and so is her lifestyle and that of her family.

These are the women whom I feel I know well enough to nominate for this award. Each of you is truly special to me and I am so thankful to have you all as part of my life in some way, shape, or form.

Maggie's 2nd Birthday

On Wednesday the 26th Maggie turned 2!!!! I can hardley believe that my baby is two!!!! She is such a sweet girl. She is very smart, bossy, sweet, into everything, and the ruler of all our worlds.

Her birthday celebration was a lot of fun. She was born on my parent's anniversary - the only granddaughter - and named after my Mom. They were able to be down here for her birthday and their anniversary. We also had my sister, my brother - in - law and my nephew over. It was lot of fun. She is at an age where she is fun to watch play with her gifts. Her two favorite were her cell phone which came in a purse and her Dora fabric toy boxes. She kept talking on her phone - her mother's child - and putting the toy box on her head. It was adorable. She loves Dora and would name all the names of the characters on the Dora things for her bedroom. She also loved her Care Bear (theyare second to Dora) cake and was licking frosting off the bottom of the Care Bear. It was was very funny to watch her dip the Care Bears bottom on the frosting and lick it off.

We are grateful for our daughter and we are enjoying watching her grow up though at times it is bitter sweet. This is the first time that there is no new baby in my arms or on the way when I have a child turning two. It was strange yet we are really able to enjoy her and the other kids. We are looking forward to many more birthday celebrations for her and all of our boys.

Happy 4th Birthday Christian

Happy Belated 4th Birthday Christian!!!

On Thursday it was Christian's 4th birthday. We had a very nice day. For dinner we had Chicken Parmesean and for dessert a yummy ice cream cake. We got Christian his very own football helmet. We also got him a scooter complete with helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. He loves his scooter and rides it all over the place.

Christian is a very sweet boy who loves his mama! I can hardly believe that he is 4 already. Some of his accomplishments this past year include potty training, learning to swim, diving off the diving board, and leaving behind the toddler stage for the big boy stage. We are very proud of him ad we love him a lot!!! Happy Birthday buddy:)

RJ 's Third AAU Game

Here are some pics from RJ's third AAU game. We missed the first two because they were a double header a couple of hours away and he went with his coach.

This was the first game of a double header against a very good team. They beat us soundly but the kids never gave up and tried their best. RJ looked good and is loving AAU baseball.