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 :)

Maggie is Nine Months Old!!

Can you believe it? maggie is already 9 months old!! It has gone by so quickly. She is such a sweet baby. She is trying to stand on her own and can do so for about 15-30 seconds at a time. She is also eating lots of new things, saying "Mama" and "Dada" and making all kinds of noises, and cutting her third tooth. As you can imagine she is adored by all in our house and we are enjoying watching her grow.

Austin Going To Rochester New York

Hi everyone! I wanted to let you all know that Austin has made the USA 14 team for the Hockey Festival In Rochester New York! He worked very hard to make this team and we are extrememly proud of him. He willl be going in July to the week long hockey Festival as a representative of USA Hockey! Good job son!

true love

Boy am I jealous!! I had no idea Maggie could give kisses and last night she was kissing Mike and loving on him:) Just goes to show the bond between a daddy and his Little girl!!

The Hair cut

Hi All - I just got a hair cut about a week and a half ago. As many of you know I usually keep my hair long. It was down to my bra - the middle of my back. I got about 5 inches cut off. I love having a hair style and not having to put it up. Of course the hubby is not too thrilled that it is short and some of my sons do not like it either. What is it with men and long hair?!! I hope you all like it and I hope to see or hear from all of you soon. This week is our last wek of school - HURRAY!!! We are so happy to be done and getting on with summer. Hopefully we will have time to get together with some of you and just hang out:)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers I know. I am very blessed to be surrounded by my mother, my mother-in-law, and many faithful Catholic Mothers who love God and their families!! I hope this finds all in good health. I hope you all have a very restful and joyful Mother's Day.

Mom's Night Out

Last night I went to Mom's Night Out with the women from our homeschooling group - the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What an incredible group of women who love and serve the Lord. I felt so loved and like I was sitting at women's group back in Michigan. We honored Val for her hard work as principle and we had a baby shower for Val and Lourdes. Unfrotunately Lourdes could not make it as she was caring for Lucia Corrina, but we sure missed her. What fun we had playing games, sharing, and just being there for and with each other. Thanks so much for being there for me and for being my friends. I can't wait to go to the prayer meeting next Thursday!! Love you all and have a great summer :)

Ben's First Holy Communion

Yesterday - 5/6/06 - we celebrated Ben's First Holy Communion with family and friends. Ben did such a great job and was very handsome. My husbands parents- Grammy and Grandpa -were able to join us. My family joined us in prayer and in spirit. We enjoyed a wonderful celebration with pizza, fruit, veggies, snacks, cake, and pop. I am always amazed at how grown up my children seem when they make their First Communions. I was teary eyed as I thought about how blessed we are to have our children receive the real body and blood of our Lord. Thanks to all who prayed for our family during this wonderful and grace filled time and thanks to all who came to celebrate with us.

May the month of Mary

Good Morning everyone. Well it is actually May 1st already!! Time sure flies when you are busy. May is the month of Mary and is a good time to remember Mary's obedience to God and her goodness to all of us. It is also a good time to renew our dedication to the Rosary and begin praying the Rosary again or continue saying it. I can hardly believe that spring is in full force and school is almost done. I hope everyone utilizes the blessings in store through the intercession of Our Lady. Please keep in your prayers all of those in Lehigh Acres, Florida. Two ten year old boys started a huge brush fire there which destroyed 25 homes and burned over 2,000 acres. 1,000 people are without power still. Luckily my sister Jenny and her family were not in the line of the fires though they live in Lehigh Acres. All of the homeschooling families we know that live there were also spared - Praise God. Please continue to pray for Ben as his First Communion approaches on Saturday. Love ya all and have a great week.

TGIF

I must say - I am sooo glad it is Friday. As the school year ends we are more than ready to be finished. We had a great week, but we are grateful for Friday's off! We found out this week that the van needs a new engine - oh boy. The good thing is this engine had 235,000 miles on it and the engines for this van are among the cheapest. I will be without a vehicle for a little longer though so it is hard not to feel trapped. Tonight Mike and I have a babysitter coming so we can go watch Mikey's baseball game together. It will be nice to actually watch the game - haha. Have a great weekend everyone - I know we will.

Go Wings!!!

A new week

Hello all - well it is the beginning of a new week and it started in true Watson fashion with our van breaking down on the way home from church. The good part is that a bunch of people were on their way home and gave us rides home. It looks like it is just a head gasket and should be easy to fix - thank goodness. We are getting back to school this week after a glorious 2 week break. Only 6 weeks left and then we are all finished with our school year. It has not been without its challenges, but it sure has been worth it! The boys are so smart and they love to homeschool. We are on the two week count down until Ben makes his First Holy Communion and Nate turns 4. Please pray for Ben as this special Sacrament approaches. Love to you all and have a super week.

Happy Belated Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. We had a very nice Easter Sunday until about 6:00 in the evening. That is when the stomach flu hit and it is still going through the ranks. YIKES! At times like this a big family is hard because they all get sick. I hope everyone had a joyful Easter. It was 86 degrees here and sunny. We went to mass, had a nice brunch, gave the boys their Easter baskets, and then went to my sister Jenny's house. We had to leave early but it was still good to see Jenny, John, and Jacob. The boys were so glad that Easter was here - they had given up dessert and couldn't wait to dig in. We had also been going to daily mass during Lent. That was a challenge but awesome. Here in Florida the parishes have early times for daily mass - about 7:OOAM - and it is hard to go. During lent however they had a second mass time at around 9:00 am so that is when we went. Some of the other homeschooling families would go everyday too. It was a wonderful time to pray and get closer to God. When you have a good lent Easter seems better too. Love to all and again Happy Easter.

Good Friday

Today we observe Good Friday and remember the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for each one of us. As a family of lots of little ones we usually do not go to the lengthy Good Friday service. Instead we observe this momentous day at home. At about 2:00 we say the rosary, we read the Passion, and then we watch a great movie my Mother-in-law gave us years back called the Easter Promise. It is a cartoon movie for children but it is very well done. It always touches our hearts and keeps us focused on the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter. We are praying for all of you and hope you are all well .

Well here I go again. This is a picture of the Manhardt clan from the Bahamas. Mike's parents very generously sent all the adults to the Bahamas for our Christmas gift. We went the last weekend in March and had a great time. Maggie was allowed to join us. They had a babysitter at the hotel so we were able to enjoy adult time at night. This picture was taken our last night there after dinner.

My second post- Hi all I am just learning the joys of blogging along with tryng to keep up with quarrels, dirty diapers, and nursing the baby. I have figured out how to post a photo -so here it goes:)