My Budding Scholar

In the past week or so Maggie has decided she wants to read and color!! The first pics show her readng my mail to me. She sat on the floor and would take the mail and start to babble like she was reading to me. It was sooo cute.

Tody she sat with her crayons and paper and colored with Christian. She likes to color and then she was showing me her work. I can't wait to homeschool her!!

The Flu!!!

Well this is what our house loooks like right now - the face of the flu!! For the past 5 or 6 days my kids have had a fever, headaches, some earaches, the little ones have rashes, and vomiting!! They cry out in pain and are miserable. I can't wait until this is over!!!! As you can tell they are ready for it to be over too. Today a couple of them are better - now we wait for the rest to heal up. Your prayers are appreciated!!

Maggie's First Pigtails!!!

Today I managed to put Maggie's hair in pigtials. I cannot expres how happy and excited I was. I have waited many years to do this to someone's hair!! Of course the boys disliked it and thought she looked silly. Shows you what boys know - haha. She pulled them out about 2 minutes after I put them in but they were cute while they lasted. The last pic shows her getting irritated at me for taking pictures - she was over it!!

Valentine's Day the Florida Way

There is no better way to celebrate Valentine's Day then lots of sunshine, donuts for breakfast, suger cookies for snack, and eating outside by your pool at lunch.

The kids took the day of off school and the weather was perfect - sunny and 78 degrees. They swam and played in the sun. We had a great time enjoying our pool and our sunny Florida weather. It is a good thing too because it is now 65 degrees for the high and won't be warm enough for swimming until next week.

Our New House

We moved from our old house into this new one on February 1st. It is about 3.5 miles from the otehr one, but it is competely different. We now have 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,000 square feet. We also have a pool and are on a basin. We are in Love. We are renting with the option to buy and we are very happy here. I just told Mike today that is Florida living at it's best.

The kids just love swimming and use every opportunity to jump right in. I think they are a little crazy as the poool is not heated and is quite fridgid, but they love it. The basin has otters, alligators, bass, water moccasin, and all kinds of fun thing to see. It is so relaxing just to sit on the docck and enjoy the view - especially at night.

Thanks to all who prayed for us as we looked for a house. Thanks for all who helped out with the move. We couldn't have done it without you all.

Our Trip To Michigan

This past weekend - the weekend of the 12th-the 14th - Mike, Maggie, and I went to Michigan for a few days. For those that did not know we were there- basicaly everyone - we did that because we knew our time was limited and we would not be able to see anyone. We went to spend Austin's 15th birthday with him and to spend some time watching him play hockey in a tournament in Port Huron. We had a wonderful time. We were able to meet some of the parents from the team we had never met, spend time with my family, watch Austin do what he loves, and just hang out. We were also able to just spend time for his birthday. I must say the weekend was exhausting though. We were on the run the whole time. We went from the rink to eat and then to the hotel where my parents were staying and back to the rink again many times.

Austin and his team had a great weekend. They lost in the quarter finals in overtime. They played well as a team to make it that far. On Sunday we went to my parents and celebrated Austin's birthday. He is such a wonderful young man. We are soo proud of him. He handles himself very well and we love him very much.

It was also great to spend time with my family. I have not seen my Dad since he had his heart attack in early November. He is doing well except he does tire more easliy. He has also lost weight and looks good. I was able to go out Friday night and dance the night away with my brother Matt. We have not done anything like that in a long time. My Mom, my sister, and I also got to hang out and do some shopping with Maggie - a girls day together. We had so much fun just being together. One the things I miss most about Michigan is seeing my family regularly. I must say that I do not miss the weather though!!

For all of those we missed getting to see - everyone:) - we are planning a family trip to Michigan in March. We are planning on staying for 11 days so we can spend lots of time catching up with you all.

Just so you know who is the pictures here is the list -

#1 - Mike, Maggie, Austin, and I
#2 - Maggie feeding Uncle matt- my brother - her sucker
#3 - Austin
#4 - My sister Chris, me, and my brother Matt

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We had a very Merry Christmas and happy New Year. For Christmas we went to Christmas Eve mass and then came home and had dinner. After dinner we opened our gifts. We had a great time watching the kids with their new things. They loved their gifts. For Christmas Day we drove to Vero and spent the day with Mike's parents. The kids really had a great time with Grammy and Grandpa. It is always good to see them.

Austin got here on New Year's Eve and was put to work watching his siblings while Mike and I went out. We went to a bowling party with my sister and brother-in-law. We had a great time! It was fun and relaxing. When we got home I hung out with Austin for a while and then went to bed. He will be here until the 7th and we love having him home.

Hope this New Year is filled with health, happiness, everything good.

A Hard and Sad Week

For all those who do not know yet I lost the baby this past week. I thought that I was 12 weeks along and when they did my ultrasound on Tuesday there was no heartbeat. The doctor originally thought that I was about 12 weeks also. I had a D & C on Thursday and it went well except the Dcotor found that the baby and my uterus were 4 weeks further along than we thought making me16 weeks. I had a hard time coming out of the anethesia and was quite sick to my stomach. I also lost a lot of blood and so I was very tired and slept a lot. I am doing much better now physically and emotionally it is up and down. I am having all the post partum issues just without the joy of holding a baby.

The doctor was unable to determine the gender of the baby but we named the baby Ambrose. It was a name we were thinking of for this baby and my D & C was on the December 8 th which has St. Ambrose as the saint of the day. It seemed very appropriate. Ambrose means "immortal" which our little saint in heaven is now. I am happy that I was able to keep an ultrsound picture of the baby.

The kids are sad too and have been a big help. My Nate misses the baby so much and keeps praying that God send us a new baby very soon. He was very excited to have a new baby coming and now he is sad. Kolbe has also been sad and has been crying on and off. They understand but they are helping mom and coping well.

God is good and has sent us wonderful friends through our church and homeschooling group. They have been such a help and support with prayers, meals, rides, babysitting, and more.. I love you all and am grateful for all of your help. Our family and friends in Michigan and Jen and John here, have been wonderful too though I wish they were all closer. They have been there in thoughts and prayers. Also the women of the Catholic Mom Community and the 4 Real Learning Forum have been such a support sharing their stories and their love and prayers. Thank you all.

Florida Backyard Fun

Today the boys were living it up in our backyard. In Florida there are lots of fun critters to try to catch. Some of their favorites are snakes, tree frogs, and lizards. Today they were able to catch this black racer snake. It is non-poisonous and they are fun to catch. The boys also love getting bit by them - go figure! They think it is cool to show of the fang marks and blood!! This is one of the many things we love about living here in Florida.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We had a very blessed Thanksgiving. Austin was able to come home and we spent Thanksgiving Day at Mike's parents house. My Mother-in-law made a wonderful meal and we had our fill!! After eating the boys played tennis with Mike for a while and then with Grammy. I was at the pool with the smaller ones and then Mike joined me. Of course it wouldn't be a pool time without me having to go in in my clothes to rescue Christian- lol!

Friday after Thanksgiving we hung out and Austin, Mikey, R.J., and Ben went to a movie together . They had lots of fun. Today - Saturday - we went bowling with my sister Jenny, my brother-in-law John, and my nephew Jacob. We had soo much fun. We had lunch out and then relaxed a bit before getting Austin to the airport.

We also had exciting news to share with everyone this Thanksgiving. We are having our 9th baby in June. My due date is June 16th!! I can't believe I am 12 weeks along already. We are very happy and the kids are thrilled. We are looking forward to finding out if it is a sister for Maggie or another brother for the boys. Time will tell.

Ben's 8th Birthday

Today is Ben's 8th birthday. He was born at 3:59 in the afternoon. I remember I was soo sure he was a girl because I had gained so little weight compared to the other 3 pregnancies. I guess I let a lot of people know because I was asked more than once if I was alright with the fact that he was a boy. Of course I was!! God had blessed me with a beautiful and healthy baby and I was soo glad he was finally born.

Ben is our sweet and intellectual boy. He is smart and loves to hang out and do puzzles. He has started to really enjoy soccer. He is also good at reading and baseball. We are very happy Benedict Gregory is a part of our family. Happy birthday, Ben!!!

God is good

There have been many struggles for our family over the past few years. We have seen strokes, loss of jobs, loss of our home, miscarriages, etc.... I have stuggled during this time with feelings of despair, anger, and fear. They have all stemmed from pride and not trusting enough. God has been leading me on a journey of faith. He has been stretching me and helping me to grow. He has led us to tithe faithfully again, to trust Him with all of my hopes and fears, to depend on Him to care for our needs even when it seems impossible, to being a better wife and mother. Through it all He has been showing me that He does love me even when I do not feel it and that he will care for me and those I love.


This weekend was a huge example of God's faithfulness and love. This Friday Mike's paycheck was lower than expected and I struggled with the dilema of not putting the money in the checking account to cover the bills and just buying groceries or instead making do with the food we have this week and putting the money in so no checks would bounce. I must say in the past the pattern - out of lack of trust - has been to let the checks bounce and just buy food. Well, I felt convicted to tithe and put the rest of the money needed into the checking account so we would not end up in the hole. That left me with $10 for groceries. I told the boys we would have to eat what we had and that it would not be a fancy week but we would not go hungry. They are struggling a little without their desserts and extras but they are fed.

As a result of this leap - and I do not say leap lightly - of faith God has blessed us abundantly this weekend. I have seen His hand in providing the money for a bill that I was not sure how it would be paid, by Mike selling a car to customers yesterday that no one else - even the veterans - have been able to sell a car to and by given me extraordinary peace in the given trial. Another example shows he cares not only for our needs but the desires of our hearts.

At Mike's work the boss is paying for the employees interested to go to the gym 3-4 days a week with a personal trainer and get fit. He has split them into teams and they exercise and diet together. Mike is looking sooo good. Well Mike told me that a few of the women dropped out and that Mr. Marazzi had already paid $1,700 a person for them to get fit. I told Mike I would take one of their spots if Mr. Marazzi would let me. Last night we went to the employee softball game between New Cars and Used Cars. While there I was speaking to Mr. Marazzi and Mike prompted me to ask him for my desire. I told him that if he didn't mind I would love to take the place of one of the women who quit the challenge so his money would not go to waste and I want to get fit again after having Maggie. Right away he said yes!!! He told me to talk to Bonnie in HR and work it all out. Of course the next step was someone to care for the kids while I was exercising. Timing was crucial as a lot of us homeschool so their kids wouldn't be free until later in the day. God has shown his infinite care for me by providing my gym times for 5:00 - 6:00pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's. I called one of our favorite sitters and he can do it!! It worked out just like that - a breeze.

God does love us and He calls us everyday - in the good and the bad - to remain faithful and trusting. I am a leader and struggle to follow. I do not like abrupt changes and have had many over the past 4 years. I like to be the head man in charge!!! God has lead me to follow him and Mike instead of leading all the time. This is not to say that I am perfect at it and I always do the right thing. It means that I am a work in progress and God has shown me that He does love me no matter what and that He is always there holding me up whenever the burdens are heavy and I fall.

Thnak you Lord for all of your provisions and for loving more than I can imagine. Amen

September has brought us two fun birthdays. On September 20th it was Christian's 3rd birthdy and on September 26th it was Maggie's 1st birthday! The time goes by soo fast. For Christian's birthday we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - The Ligthhouse Crab - with my sister Chris who was visiting from Michigan. We came home and had cake, ice cream, and opened presents.

For Maggie's birthday we had two parties. We had a small party in the late afternoon with a few girls I worked with at Friday's. Then after dinner we had some of our friends and their kids over for more cake, ice cream, and presents. We had soo much fun celebrating this month and enjoying all the changes in our kids over the past year.

Christian has gotten soo big and has begun to talk so well. He went from being a little guy to a big boy! He is oo sweet and will hug anone who he sees. He is just starting the potty training process and he loves playing with his big brothers. Maggie has changed by leaps and bounds as all babys do in their first year of life. She loves to walk and run, if she can, everywhere and be in everyone's business. She is adorable and at the same time she is too much like me - haha! We are grateful for these two blessings that were given to us in Spetmeber.

Go Blue

With the University of Michigan vs. Notre Dame game today it was appropriate to dress Maggie in her U of M finery! She will wear this outfit with pride every big game day. We may not live in Michigan anymore but we still bleed maize and blue. Go Blue!!!

The Van is Fixed!!!

Thank you Lord- I am mobile again!! I must share with you the story of the miracle of getting our van fixed. Four months ago on April 23rd I posted on here how our van broke down on the way home form church. Well it looked intitally like the problem would be an easy fix. We would soon learn that the engine had died!! It had 235,ooo miles on it and it just was done. Well - at the time there just wasn't money to fix it. We knew it would be worth fixing as it is a good van, it just had lots of miles on it. We also knew that a new engine would go just as long. We waited and waited patiently - ok sort of - for extra money to get the van fixed. After many months I started to ask St. Rita for help - she is the saint of the impossible. I also began asking for your prayers. Well - it worked. God is so good and faithful. With the help of some wonderful friends in our homeschooling group who offered to help by taking up a collection we were able to get enough together to get our van fixed. Sunday was the first time in 4 months that we were able to drive to church together instead of making two trips or taking two spearate vehicles. The boys, Mike, and I were so happy and grateful. Thanks for helping us everyone and Praise God for the way he cares for even the smallest needs we have.

Big Boy haircut

Well - we finally broke down and cut Christian's hair. He was sooo cute with all his blode curls. In the first picture you can see them a little. His hair was longer and curlier than that . We decided he was starting to look girly so it was time. He now looks soooo big with his haircut. He is adorable as ever though.

Adding comments on my blog

Hi All - Some of you have had problems posting comments. Well - I fixed the problem in my security settings so any of you may now leave me comments. Love ya all - Me

My Big Girl

I can hardly believe how big Maggie has gotten. There are pictures of her in her first pretty pink nightgown. She looks so big walking around in her nightie. The other two pictures are just pics I took of her last Sunday. She was hating the adorable shoes because they are hard for her to walk in. She is a full time walker now and is getting her fourth tooth. She has also learned how to climb up the ladder to the boys bunk beds - YIKES!! Time goes by sooo fast. She will be one in a month and a half! Hope you all like the photos and I will be posting again soon.

Update

Hi Everyone - Since it has been a while I have decided to put a post on here. The Watson house is full of life and energy as usual. This past weekend my brother Matt was here from Michigan and bought a car from Mike. It was a short but wonderful visit. I miss my family and friends in Michigan and always love seeing them.

The boys are just hanging out this summer and waiting for the school year to begin in a few weeks. They are all done with sports for now, but we are hoping to get up and running in the Fall by trying out some new sports like soccer and basketball. Austin has returned from Rochester and the USA Develpoment Camp. It went well and resulted in him receiving a profile sheet from the USA National Developent Program. He filled it out and sent it in and then they will scout him this year. He goes to camp in Traverse City next week. Maggie is now 10 months old and takes a few steps at a time on her own. I can hardy believe she is almost one. Oh where does the time go!!

Asfar as life here not much is new. Mike is working hard selling Toyotas at the largest Toyota dealership in Southwest Florida. He is doing well. We are praying for a couple of miracles though and would appreciate if you could join us in praying that - 1) our van could be fixed. The engine went on it 3 month ago and we just do not have the extra to pay for the repair. Please pary that God provides for this. It is very hard on myself and the boys since we can't go anywhere and school activities will be starting soon. I also worry about if there is an emergency adn I have to leave... 2) Pray for money for school books. I need to purchse them soon and as of now just do not have the money. God is good and I know he will provide. Please pray that we are able to purchase our books in a timely manner. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers. I know these may seem minor but they comsume my thoughts as I try to figure out where to find the money for these two major areas.

The Naples Zoo

Hi To All - Yesterday was a great day for the Watson Clan. We took a trip to the Naples Zoo. Mike was given free tickets for the whole family! We arrived there at 10:00am and stayed until 3:30pm. We saw all kinds of cool animals like lemurs, spider monkeys, IndoChinese Tigers, Lions, Panthers, snakes of all kinds, the Alligators being fed chickens, and much more!!! The kids had sooo much fun as did Mike and I. Here are a few Pictures. From top Left clockwise - Maggie enjoying the view from the Monkey Cruise we took - the boys waiting in line for the cruise - Mike, Mikey, Austin, Ben and Christian - Austin trying to get Christian to pet the snake while Kolbe tries to decide if he should take a turn :)