As we prepare to bring in the new year, I have to admit that I get a pit in the bottom of my stomach.  It's scary to think about how our lives can change in a year's time.  It's just about now when I have this moment of panic, but then I reflect on God's promise to never leave us nor forsake us and his command,  "Do worry about tomorrow because tomorrow has enough worry of its own." So here I sit looking ahead to 2013.  It's already filled with so much hope and promise.  On Wednesday my dad will start a new job, in March we will welcome our little girl into the world, and this summer my sister will become a bride. The thing you need to know about me is I don't do New Year's Resolutions...EVER!  Instead, I pray for God to give me a "word" to work on in the upcoming year - like a virtue  In the past, it's been Peace, Joy, and Patience to name a few. This year there are three areas I'm taking before the Lord. SIMPLICITY - I li

January- I started a running and weight loss program and lost 18 lbs.  We also transitions Eli into a big boy bed, went to the Corvette Museum, saw the Harlem Globe Trotters, and enjoy Desserts First.  February - we made Ground Hog's Day Cookies, bought Eli a fish named Nemo for Valentine's Day, went to visit my family, and hung out with our friends Gabe and Tina for the Super Bowl.  March - We spent lots of time watching baseball and basketball, played at the park, and went to see Seaseme Street LIVE.   April - Eric turned 28 and we celebrated with his family on the beach. We also had some Easter Fun, played baseball and went to enjoyed out first swim of the season.  May - my parents came for a visit and helped us mulch the landscape.  We also saw the Hot Rods play, celebrated Mother's Day in a big way, and spent Memorial Day in Western Kentucky. June - we went to visit my family for Father's Day, celebrated my birthday, and surv

We would like to wish a happy anniversary to a very special couple. We love you Gigi and Poppa!

Christmas Morning brought magic into the Watson home, just as it should.  At some point the the night before, I ended up in Eli's bed.  So we he started stirring I was there to make sure he didn't get to see the presents before we got his reaction.  Here's the little sleepy head coming into the family room.  And pure joy to see his toys! We spent the morning in out pajama's playing with all the goodies.  Time stood still for me.  There was no rushing to work, no schedule to keep, no chores to do...just me and my boys.  It was precious! After a few hours of playing, it was time for me to get dressed and start on Christmas lunch.  Eric's family was coming into town, and we were serving lunch.   We ate in the dining room on Christmas China, and this boy thought he was special getting such fancy treatment.  By the way, this is a forced smile.  He wouldn't cooperate, so I had to inform him that if he didn't smile, there would

I tried my hardest to have a perfect Christmas Eve, but that's not exactly how things went down - which probably what made perfectly imperfect.   For starters, I had to work which was a MAJOR drag!  Luckily, I wasn't there too horribly long!  When I made it home, we spent the day playing and just enjoying time together along with some laundry!  I decided to make homemade Potato Soup for dinner, but forgot that Eric is making problems with milk.  He ended up eating a frozen dinner, and so did me and Eli after I cooked the potatoes too long! We also made no less that TWO birthday cakes for Jesus.  As Eric was preparing the turkey he managed to splash "juice" into the cake on two separate occasions.  Luckily, after 2,012 birthday's I think Jesus was okay without a cake this year! Finally, we made it to bedtime. I had bought Eli the cutest PJs, but he insisted on wearing what Daddy had on.  Oh well, my perfect holiday didn't jive with Eli's

Whew!  Has it not been the craziest month?  I feel like Christmas was here and gone in a flash, and I barely got to take it all in.  Yet, as I look back on posts that I've made (or need to make) I see that it's been a precious season of blessing. My house has that deflated feeling that lingers the week between Christmas and New Year.  There are way too many leftovers in the fridge, countless presents scattered across the floor and garbage bags full of paper sitting by the door.  Sigh.  Like so many seasons, Christmas came and left a little too quickly.   You'll be reading all about it soon enough, but for now this 29 week update will have to suffice.  I'm playing catch-up at work and then headed home to start tearing down the decorations while Eli is away with my in-laws.  Then it's some much needed relaxation time with my hubby, and more cleaning tomorrow.  In a perfect world there will be some blogging thrown in there too, so stick around.   How Fa

"For Unto Us A Child Is Born" From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!!

We just enjoyed the most delightful weekend celebrating Christmas with my family.  Mom, Dad, Clay and Mandi came into town Friday night.  Of course this was following Mom's wreck.  Well, on our way into the restaurant to eat dinner she stepped on a board with an exposed nail.  Ya'll it was so long that it went through her boot and stuck her foot.  I felt terrible but I couldn't stop laughing.  You would think the bad luck would stop there, but no!  By dad got up and went outside to smoke.  Since our table was by the window, he thought he would be cute and play peek-a-boo with Eli.  Well, he misjudged something and cracked his head open on then window.  Ha!  It actually bled for a while.  Again, uncontrollable laughter! We decided that with all the bad luck, it would be much safer to head home for the night than venture out.  So, after a short light tour we headed back to the house.  On Saturday we got up and went car shopping for Mom and Dad.  They didn't find

It's funny how one phone call can change the course of things.  Sometimes it changes your mood, sometimes it changes your day, and sometimes it changes your life.  I received one of those phone calls this morning. Although it didn't change my life; it change my perspective.   I knew when the phone rang, immediately following the show, that it was probably NOT going to be good news...especially when I realized that caller was my dad.  He never calls me during work hours.  Well, by the grace of God, it was to inform me that my mom had walked away from this wreck with only a few bumps and bruises.  PRAISE THE LORD! She normally drives a very heavy Yukon but took the truck to work this morning so that my dad could have a tune up done.  She hit a patch of ice that sent her spinning into a metal light pole.  As you can see, it ripped part of the truck bed off, broke out some windows and bent the frame.   She is fine and in great spirits although a bit sore. It&

Do you ever have those moments when you're knee deep in a pitty-party and the Lord just serves you a huge does "get over it?"  Well, I sure do and yesterday was one of those mornings. It all started around 3:00 am when Eli called for me to come sleep with him.  This is my least favorite part of parenting...EXHAUSTION!!  I knew what was coming.  My son is the most fitful sleeper, and even though I was quite sure he was doze back off rather quickly I also knew I would not.  I knew that he would toss and turn, grind his teeth, and talk out loud.  I braced myself for the exhausting hour and half that was about to unfold before my alarm sounded. As I did so, I let me Satan creep into my mind. So there I lay at 3:00 am mad at the world that I have to work Christmas Eve, mad at the way things have been stacked against my favor in the office lately, and mad at myself of even thinking about this when I should be sleeping.  So, I said a quick prayer acknowledging my shortcoming

Goodness, ya'll we're a little more than a week away from Christmas and my head is spinning with things that need to be done!  So, in honor of Saint Nicholas I am making a list and checking it twice.  Here goes: 1. Get Ultrasound 2. Eli's Flu Shot 3. Address Christmas Cards 4. Mail Christmas Cards 5. Make Menus for Family 6. Go To Grocery 7. Buy Angel Tree Presents 8. Wrap Christmas Presents 9. Clean House 10. Change Sheets For Guests 11. Buy Final Gift

After church this morning, we decided to continue our holiday fun by having making Christmas cookies with Eli.  Ya'll know I'm not the best cook, so you can imagine how well this went down.  For some reason we could not get the dough to roll our, so I was going to resort to drop cookies.  However, Eric couldn't settle.  Bless is heart, he worked the dough, added tons of flour, and rolled it all out on wax paper, just so Eli could use the cookie cutters.   Then my dear husband made us colored icing so that we could get more creative.   This boy was in Heaven.  He picked every color and even chose the sprinkles to match.   I know you're choppin' at the bit to eat these babies, but please control yourself.  Between all the flour in the them and me overcooking them, they weren't actually eatable.   Of well, it was fun and this sweet boy sure was proud of the finished product! 

I have to tell you that I felt so much pain this morning as I got up to prepare for our Christmas festivities.  On the back of my mind were the families whose plans were permanently interrupted by yesterday's tragedy.  My heart truly breaks even as I recall our day. We awoke this morning and watched Elf On Shelf, then it was scrambled eggs for breakfast and a few chores before getting cleaned up for Cupcakes with Santa.  Normally we do breakfast with Santa, but this year we decided to go for something a little more low key.  This was only a few minutes from our house at Mammoth Cave National Park Resort which meant that we avoided the heavy crowds and the traffic! Another bonus was that it wasn't very busy.  This allowed us to spend lots of time with Jolly Ole Saint Nick, and to take it all in as a family.  You can tell that Eli was just beside himself with excitement, and this picture was taken BEFORE the sugar rush of cupcakes! Eli kept te