Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Sunny Florida!

We are having a great time in Marco Island! The weather could not be better! We are enjoying swimming, sand, beach, sunsets, early runs, too much food, and mid-eighties temps! I will update more later and add some pics. I am on my MIL's computer right now, can't figure out how to hook up to the wireless connection on mine.

The 10 hour drive with the girls went much better than I expected! They were great. We left at 5:41am and arrived in the parking lot at 3:41pm. We had minimal stops. The one glitch was when my spedometer decided to freak out and wouldn't set to zero. So to go 70 mph it looked like I was going 110mph! Took awhile to figure that out, but once I did it was smooth sailing again.

Today the girls are getting braids in their hair...we are going to do some crafts...and we are going to go see Marley and Me. Oh, and we'll hit the pool and the beach too! :)

Stay warm everyone!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Eve and Day in the South

We have had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed having family friends over for a Christmas Eve breakfast, where the kids broke in their new trampoline...a big hit! Check out the video~...




the trampoline gang.


The men (just 2 amongst 8 ladies) brushing up on their Xbox 360 skills...
dear friends.
my babies.

sweet friends.

precious goddaughter.

silly friends.


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After church, we changed into christmas jammies and spread out some reindeer food outside, to make sure rudolph could find us.

the girls were very serious about their food scattering technique...


Our wonderful teenaged neighbors and babysitters came over with presents for the girls...
We finished up the eve with Narnia...Prince Caspian movie, a lovely christmas eve.
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We were up early to kick of Christmas morning! The day before we had written individual notes to Jesus for his birthday telling Him what we are each giving Him for His birthday. We hung them in the tree and then we each opened ours and shared them with each other this morning before starting in on our gifts. It was so precious to hear what the girls had to say. It was a wonderful way to get the gift giving party started!


THE BOOTY...



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REVELING IN THE BOOTY...








MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

2008 Bragg Family Christmas photo and letter

Merry Christmas, 2008!


It is always a joy, as I start cranking out our letter, to think about all of you family and friends that will be receiving it! I hope you are well and smiling right now. :)


My working title for this year was going to be “The Year of the Animal” due to an influx of furry animal friends into our home. Our repertoire, at its height of insanity this year, included 6 guinea pigs, 3 kitties, 1 dog, 1 fish (thrown in to make us seem “normal”), oh, and don’t forget the four children. We have since whittled it down to a much more manageable 3 guinea pigs, 2 kitties, and 1 dog. And we kept the kids. I have a friend who suggested a billy goat for the backyard…hey, it would cut down on mowing! We are taking it into consideration…


Another working title I considered was “The Year of the Emerging Hormones”. We have a “tween-ager”…that confusing time between 8-12 years when parents begin to realize how easy they had it when all they had to do was wipe, kiss, and contain them as baby/toddler/pre-schoolers. I am currently trying to develop a way to bottle up my three-year old before I have no more precious morsels around here and am completely overtaken by this strange new phenomenon called tweenagers.


Of course, an obvious working title choice could have been “The Year of Blessing”. Let’s face it. We are all blessed beyond measure here in this country no matter if you are finding yourself a bit down on your luck right now or not. Our blessings this year have included a beautiful home, many loving friends and family, good health for all six of us, a wonderful church, a great school and teachers, a steady job, healing of areas that needed to be healed, the ability and resources to give of ourselves to serve others, many laughs, many joys, many privileges, many opportunities, many blessings. Thank you, God.


And, back by popular demand, I knew I had to work in another installment of “Let’s Get Ugly…” and so considered a working title of “The Year of the Uglies”. Topics under this title would have included a home interior that CJ has referred to as a landfill or frat house; cereal, eggs, or nothing made for dinner this year much more often than I’d care to admit;, a blossoming realization that we have not done a very good job instilling the concept of personal responsibility in our children thus far in our parenting tenure; a startling revelation that we, in fact, do not, have a thriving money tree growing in our backyard; a pondering of whether it is appropriate to refer to our dog as Lucifer, Stupid Dog, and Idiot in front of our children when we begin to hear the three year old call her the same; beginning to feel the need to hide from others the fact that our three year old still sleeps with us a lot; rethinking the SUV monster I drive when it took $110 to fill it up for several weeks this fall;, feeling concerned that I was not more embarrassed when Sarah, who wore the same uniform for a week straight because she has “clothing issues,” was told by her teacher that it was filthy dirty and needed to be washed before she could wear it again; wondering whether the neighbors can hear our yelling - I mean “loud voices” - from inside the house (incidentally, I asked them once, and it turns out they had wondered the same thing-whether we heard their “loud voices”…doesn’t that just make you feel so normal? Me too. :)) So with many tears, many hurts, many fights, many losses, many fears, many wrongs, many wounds, many uglies…we still thank you for it all, God, because You are in control, You love us, and You are trustworthy..


Ultimately, I decided what summed the year up best was the title, “A Year of Grace”. Grace means receiving something you didn’t earn and don’t deserve. And that is pretty much everything we have, if we look deep into ourselves. Grace always comes from the Lord, but He often gives it to us through things like loving friends, supportive families, inner strength, inner peace, good health, financial provision, knowledgeable doctors, humbleness, giving someone your forgiveness, being forgiven, the sound of a child singing, the warm embrace of a spouse, a beautiful fall colored tree, a good piece of dark chocolate on a bad day, hope…ultimately, it comes in one perfect package named Jesus. Remember this grace on Jesus birthday this year.
2 Corinthians 12:9…But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.


Are you still with me? We have turned the page by now, after all, and I realize many of you have one page rules for Christmas letters. But surely you are going to allow me a few more lines to Bragg about my girls, aren’t you? :)


Evie Jill…our 4th grader is heading towards double digits this February! She is a swimming machine, excelling in year round swimming, and also continues to be a voracious reader and writer. She loves being with her friends, is developing her personal fashion style, loves all her animals, and enjoys having a male teacher for the first time and learning about her favorite subjects – history and science.


Madeline Mary…our 2nd grader is a perfectionist and we remind her often to allow herself some grace. Mady has beautiful, precise handwriting, and is beginning to enjoy reading on her own more as she becomes a stronger reader. She is an excellent student, a fun friend, enjoys tennis lessons, is enormously creative, imaginative and artistic, and is a gentle, loving soul to have around this very noisy, chaotic house.


Sarah Rose…our kindergartener is an exuberant, expressive girl who delights in life and will not be tamed through any means (that are legal :)). She plays creatively, believes she is capable of anything, tries to wrestle control from us over…well, everything. The Rose makes us howl with laughter everyday with her very mature and insightful sense of humor, and lets us know that it may eventually turn out alright when we witness her tender and compassionate heart for God at such a young age.


Grace Josephine…our 3 year old, The Goo. I love her. She is just a delightful, sweet, sassy, imaginative, singy, huggy, kissy little goo. She loves clothes, makeup, animals, make believe, rocking out to Hannah Montana and High School Musical, and insisting that she is a big girl. Her and I are “getting acquainted” this year, as this is the first time I have been alone with just one child while the others are at school in, like, 9 years. She asks frequently if we can go on an “adbenture togeder”. She rocks.


CJ and I are managing this busy household by staying firmly planted in our “provider” and “nurturer” roles. We are thankful for gainful employment, a nice house, terrific kids, full cupboards, cars full of gas, a great school, and a village of friends down here that help keep our life running as smoothly as possible.


**BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…To learn more about this strange, but oddly relatable family (right?! :)) you can view my new blog where I chronicle all sorts of fun in our lives at www.myfourgems.blogspot.com BEEEEP, this has been a public service announcement**


Be blessed today, dear friends and family. I will be smiling as I receive your cards, letters and photos this year…thanks in advance for including us on your list! Enjoy Christ in Christmas and remember what the angel told the shepherds that greatest of Birth Days: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good new of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10, 11.


Much Love From
The Braggs
xoxoxoxoxo

Monday, December 22, 2008

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Charms for my GEMS

I have been wanting a piece of jewelry that represents my four gems for quite some time, but never came across the right piece...until recently. I discovered the person who makes these necklaces with a link from another blog. It just arrived this week and I love it! It is my girls names on hand stamped charms with a smokey quartz and coral bead. It is hand made with love by a lovely woman and you can order yours here: www.suzannemyers.com


Here I am wearing it...
Here it is spread out so you can see all the name charms...
Happy me with my fabulous new charm necklace...


Me and my "charms"...my four gems...

Thank you, Suzanne!

Christmas Morsels

I have no idea how to link to the christmas tour of homes, but for my 5 blog readers out there :) here is a taste of our decorations this year...



Our beautiful tree...sorry its blurry...We have a vaulted family room and so can handle this amazing 9 ft (i think, maybe taller) tree. We are fake tree people. This one is pre-lit. We got it from my inlaws a couple years ago when they downsized their home and it didn't fit anymore...lucky us! I am very traditional with my tree. My favorite ornaments are the homemade ones and the ones given as gifts from loved ones...I round it out with red, silver and white balls and red ribbon. We have a star at the top. I play Andy Williams every year while we decorate...a tradition from my youth.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...if you have been over at my sister's blog, these will look familiar. My family all had these handmade stockings growing up and my mom had one made for my husband and each of my girls (as well as my sister and brothers families) as they were added. I love them so much, they are my favorite things to bring out each Christmas. I remember my sis and bro and I wearing them around the house when they'd come out of the box, they came all the way up to our hips. My girls haven't discovered this fun yet..I may have to suggest it to them before we put them away this year.

My beautiful new nativity set this year...a gift from my husband, and my mom-the wisemen-I love it so much...


Closer look...



My mom got this advent box for me for my birthday this year. This is the first year we are trying it out. I love the concept, but we have not been very good about checking it each night. In each box I put a portion of the christmas story out of the bible, four pieces of a puzzle-one for each girl per night-and a sweet treat for them. When we remember to do it they love it...I think we have about a week's worth of boxes to do tonight...oh well, even that will be a memory in and of itself!


My mil is amazing and hand makes porceline dolls, starting with liquid porceline, she pours it into molds and fires it in her kiln. Then she hand paints them and makes the clothes, ususally with no pattern! Here is our santa...she has made one for everyone in the family and it is a favorite, treasured item to bring out each year.


A little something I put together for the entry table...




My mil helped my girls make this little quilt for me last year...each girl did a square and their picture is in the center of their square...very touching, this kind of sentiment is so me.



My mil also had my girls make these little christmas tote bags a couple years ago and I had the girls color the wood Noel signs...again, the sentimental value of these is high and I love to display them each year...

Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Fantastic Fairies

Yesterday I drove with Sarah and Grace 2 hours north to Greenville, SC, and my friend and her daughter drove 2 hours south to Greenville to meet up for a special fairy godmother day! Donna is the very special "favorite godmudder" to my Grace, and her 14 year old daughter, Ashley, is the very special fairy godsister to Sarah. They are wonderful and loving to my girls and give them the best gift of all...consistently praying for them to grow into the wonderful ladies that God created them to be. Love you both!

We met up at a Chili's and had lunch and exchanged gifts. Then we headed to a Monkey Joes. This was Grace's first time and she had a blast! My full of life, Sarah, was a sweaty mess by the time they had exhausted themselves. Donna and I even got in a little shopping next door when we left Ashley to steer the ship for a bit.


Grace & her fairy godmudder, Donna
Sarah Rose and her fairy godsister, Ashley

Big bouncing fun!

If we all lived life as joyfully as Sarah Rose does, this would be a very happy planet. :)


Sarah Rosy, Ashley, and Grace

Two videos...Sliding Sarah and Bouncie Gracie...