WANTED....

This picture was taken in Gatlinburg in April 2005. I had decided I wanted to use it as our Christmas card picture that year. Thought it would be cute and different. I had mentioned this and my plan to stick the pic in a store bought Christmas card, to a friend. A few days later I received a call that helped me come up with DIY Christmas cards that year. Amy Anderson gets credit for the witty verbage, I did the rest. :-)

The Bragg Family: WANTED ..... (front of the card)

....to wish you a Merry Christmas!! (inside of the card)

...(back of the card)

I uploaded the digital picture to Walgreen's online photo center, ordered lots of copies, and had them delivered to my house (it's cheaper that way). I then created the card in Publisher (love that program and I don't even have the latest and greatest version!!). Purchased beige cardstock and printed the cards at home. I also purchased greeting card envelopes at the local supply store (pull & seal, of course).

We received lots of comments on our Christmas cards that year.

Boy Jesus....

This memory pops into my mind randomly throughout the year, but at Christmastime, I think of it often.

In December 1995, Austin was asked to play boy Jesus in our church Christmas musical. Austin's wasn't a speaking part, only a visual during a song where the wisemen and shepherds had finally arrived in Bethlehem to honor Jesus. How excited we were for Austin to have a part in the musical. I play in the orchestra, so I had a front row seat to watch him at rehearsals and he understood well what was expected and most importantly, he understood who he was portraying.

The first big night arrived. My call time was earlier than Austin's, so I went on ahead and Andy would bring him later. Ready to go, Andy buckled Austin into his car seat and off they went to the church. Austin was being very quiet and said he didn't feel good and that he didn't want to be boy Jesus anymore. Have you ever had to bribe your child into doing something? If you say you haven't .... I'm not sure I believe you :-), if you have - you know where this went next. It's the night of and ditching the boy Jesus gig is not an option. Good thing it was Andy with him and not me. I'm not very merciful, patience is not one of my virtues and I'm afraid boy Jesus might have gotten a little attitude adjustment. Andy begins the bribery, sugar pouring from his mouth - nothing but sweetness for our little boy Jesus actor. This was a whatever it takes situation here. Suddenly ... Austin threw up (in the car). Is there anything worse? Well, this might change things just a bit. Maybe he really was sick.

What happened next still, to this day, brings a tear to my eye. Austin was quite familiar with his Bible stories and knew who God was and who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus belonged in Heaven right beside God. In his innocent little mind, he thought that being boy Jesus in the musical meant that he would have to leave us and go to Heaven to be with God and he didn't want to leave his mommy and daddy. He had agonized over being boy Jesus and all that he thought went with it to the point of making himself sick.

We assured Austin that we would never leave him and that he would never have to leave us. Some days I'm ready to send his all-knowing 17 year old self out the door and on to college, but then there are those days that this story comes to mind and I'm reminded how cute and innocent he once was.

Pictures of boy Jesus below ... :-)

Bragg .... Party of 30

Thanksgiving was at our house again this year. This time, however, Thanksgiving was for both sides of our family!! Yes, there were 30!! Lots of people in one place at one time, but we had fun and everything went very smoothly. Everyone was well behaved (children and adults) and there was PLENTY of food for everyone to eat.

Our bonus room is a fun place for a kid to hang out. And since there were 10 children ranging in age from 4 to 11 (someone pass me a drink, please) .... there was a fair amount of time spent by them in the bonus room. There are dress up clothes galore, barbies too many to count, you could start a zoo with all the stuffed animals and of course there's the Wii, the electric keyboard, puzzles, games ... the list goes on and on. Lots of fun pics resulted from the wizards, fairies, powder puff girls, cowboys, lady bugs, etc etc that would emerge down the stairs awaiting approval of their outfit of choice. With that many kids, you'd think that clean up would be a cinch. Really? Why do kids dislike clean up so much? Of course, I think it was mostly the adults who got things back in order. Don't care who done it, just glad it got done. :-)

I am thankful for every single person that was there and I am thankful for having a home to provide for our gathering. I am so blessed. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's a picture from last year's pre-Thanksgiving feast. Fewer seats last year, but basically the same set up. (I forgot to take any pics this year.) We use real china, silver and crystal. Andy's mom provides all that stuff for me. Just have to run downstairs and pick it up. :-) I do name tags for each seat so people don't have to wander about and worry where to sit and I whip up a cute placemat in Publisher with a Happy Thanksgiving note and a Thanksgiving poem, print it out on white paper, back it with colorful construction paper to add a little color and flare to the table. :-) This year I also added a small amount of colorful confetti on the table.

The 3 Mutts-kateers....

I told you about the stray mama and her puppies we inherited on my last post. Since then, we found homes for the three babies. Yay! That was more work than I thought it would be to add 4 dogs into our everyday routine for over 3 weeks. Once the slideshow was posted to youtube and a few flyers were posted around town, it was only 1 week until they were all adopted. We were pleased with that turn around time. The new owners of Cody, Meg and Pumpkin (the puppies new names) are so happy with their new additions. So that leaves us with mama dog ~ Shadow. Looks like she's a keeper. She goes in for spaying and shots on Monday.

I've been slowly introducing her to Minx and Molly's daily routine. She's been sleeping in the garage with them at night for a while (although they are in crates, up until now, she's been sleeping on a bed of towels in the corner). I've put her in the fence with them several times during the day. The first couple of times I literally sat in the kitchen and watched out the window the entire time to make sure Minx and Molly were nice to her. I felt like I was watching The Dog Whisperer. Dog behavior is very interesting. And this weekend, she got her first taste of being in a crate. She really didn't like this idea at all, but was willing to comply (after a little shove).

I want to take a picture of our 3 doggies all together. Not sure if that's even possible, but thought I might give it a try with Austin & Chandler's help. We'll try later this week and post the results of the photo session. :-) Until then, following are individual pics of our canine friends.

Minx

Molly

Shadow

Puppies....

We had a stray dog show up on our street mid September. She wouldn't come close to us. She looked like she might have recently had babies and she always looked hungry, so we started giving her table scraps every day, not really expecting her to stay around. End of September she started focusing mainly on our house. She hung around and slept in our side yard and would stare at us when we were outside, looking sort of sad really. We kept her fed and watered but still couldn't get close to her. She finally warmed up to us in early October. She would let us pet her, she slept in various places around our house and we were feeding her dog food regularly. Still, we were not looking to make her a permanent fixture at our house. Babies were still not evident, but suspected. We came home from church on Sunday, October 11th and when she rolled over wanting a pat on the belly, it was obvious that she had just been nursing puppies. We immediately went to the spot where she favored the most - the side yard on the edge of the woods. Andy went about 20 feet into the woods and low and behold what did he find? 3 babies! Of course, we weren't and still aren't in the market for 4 new dogs, but we certainly couldn't abandon her and her puppies at that point. I took the puppies to the vet on Wednesday 10/21 for their first round of shots. They are 6 weeks old and ready for someone to take them in and love them. We have thoroughly enjoyed playing with and loving on these puppies for almost 2 weeks now. They are healthy, playful and would each make a great pet for someone. We've also enjoyed loving mama doggie, but she needs a home too. She likes to wander around a bit, so I'm thinking someone with some land where she can love her home and have freedom to investigate her surroundings. :-) Attached is a link to a short slideshow I made with pics and info on each dog. Hopefully we'll find them each a home very soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIe_aCo6h1s

Homecoming 2009...

It's not the first time I've written about this recently and certainly it won't be the last. Austin is a senior in high school this year and there are days that it still does not seem real. There are also days that this reality is harder to accept than others. In less than a year, he will begin his journey into independence.

Watching him prepare for and go to the homecoming dance this year was particularly interesting. He took a girl with whom he has been friends since 9th grade. One of his preparations gave him a glimpse into father's protecting their daughter's and what said father's think about the boys their daughter's want to date. :-) His date's father had not personally met Austin before, so he required a personal visit with Austin at their house before he gave the final OK. Austin was obviously nervous, but I never was even a little bit nervous for him. For me, it was one of those moments in his life that I felt like the ground work Andy and I had spent the last 17 years laying would pay off for him. And pay off it did. Meeting her dad was a success - permission for the date was granted. :-) Austin survived and is probably a better young man because of the experience. He and his date had a great time at homecoming.

Seems like it was just yesterday that Andy and I took Austin to the Valentine's Dance at Kids R Kids and now he's off to dance on his own. Of course, this post would not be complete without - you guessed it - Valentine's Dance 1993 photo (no wise-cracks about the hair) and JHS Homecoming Dance 2009 photo.

I Sold Rachel ....

.... and I didn't mean to. :-(

This summer I sold a bunch of stuff in two different consignment sales. I have always been a pack rat when it comes to my kid's stuff. It seemed to me that if I kept the clothes they wore and the toys they played with, it would somehow make them growing up easier to deal with. Sort of like I'm not completely letting go of the past only to have pictures to look back at. Sounds crazy, I know .... don't know any other way to explain it. Anyway, I went through the bonus room for the first sale and rounded up lots of toys that I wanted to get rid of. Still, as I picked up each item, I could picture Austin or Chandler playing with it. There were a few things that just couldn't make the cut .... they are still here. Maybe next time.

Chandler sometimes gets involved when I'm organizing my things for a consignment sale. She'll suggest a price or comment on how she used to wear an article of clothing or play with a toy. After the first sale, she noticed that a little white wicker doll bed was missing. She inquired, I told her I had sold it. She then asked if I had seen Rachel? You know that sinking feeling you get when you know you've made an irreversible mistake? Your face gets flushed, your stomach gets a knot in it, you break into a sweat. Yikes. I thought to myself, I'm pretty sure I sold Rachel with the doll bed. Chandler no longer plays with dolls, but she does have a few items that she has been partial to keeping over the years. Rachel was one of those items and I just realized I sold her. I wanted to cry, but instead I try to cover.

Me: What did she look like?
Chandler: Mom, you know Rachel. She was about this size (holds her arms like she's cradling a doll). She was really soft. Her eyes close when you lay her down. She doesn't have any hair. And here are some of the outfits that fit her.
Me: Hmmmm. I'm not sure. (In my mind I'm going a thousand miles a minute. Can I call the person who put on the consignment sale and tell her there's been a terrible mistake? I wonder if it would be humanly possible to track down the doll. Oh My Gosh! What am I going to do?)
Chandler: No words. Just looking at me for an answer.
Me: No words. I'm shakin' in my shoes because I'm gonna have to come clean here in a minute, just trying to decide exactly how that's gonna go. Think, think, think. There's must be a solution to this problem.
Chandler: Mom. Do you think you sold her?
Me: No words. Still thinking. Nothing is coming to mind. I think I'm gonna cry. Pull it together.

I finally decide to come clean and I tell her the truth. I tell her I'm pretty sure the doll she is describing is the one I sold with the doll bed. She's not mad, but I can tell is disappointed. Seriously, I went downstairs and cried for a minute. Not because of the doll, but because I disappointed Chandler. I was so mad at me for doing such a dumb thing.

It's been a few weeks since "the incident" and I have been completely forgiven. Isn't unconditional love grand? :-) I hope Rachel has a happy family.