Can't Wait - Truly Expecting

Well, today is 37 weeks, and we are getting so excited. This weekend I pulled out Baby clothes. I cried as I went through baby girl clothes and I cried as I went through baby boy clothes. Oddly, I was crying because either way, I wasn't going to get to use one box. Funny, huh?

Our family is just giddy with anticipation. Asher and Baby have matching Pooh towels that he is anxiously waiting to use. He wants to know when Baby is going to stop "hiding". Everyone else is just excited about finding out if Baby is a boy or a girl and excited about spending time at the hospital :-). This baby is going to be so loved. The girls want to dress up a girl and the boys just want another "vote" on their side (they have quite the majority building up). The big kids all want to hold the Baby, and the little ones do too.

So these are going to be three loooonnnng weeks, but Christmas came, didn't it? Delivery Day will come too. And I'm so glad. Because I love this Baby more than life itself, and I'm so grateful to God for blessing us with another head to kiss, another bottom to diaper, another girl to take to dance or another boy to take to soccer (I know, I know Grace is the soccer Queen! lol). We are being blessed with another precious life to teach about Jesus. I truly can't wait.

Tip of the Day

We do about two loads of laundry a day (Beth is in charge of combining and bringing down all hampers once a day). So here's my tip of the day. We do this to save a couple dollars a year.

Only use half a dryer sheet. That's all. No rocket science. Just rip it in half. It works fine.

Now aren't you glad you came to my blog today? ;-)

April

The Hostess With the Mostest

What a great hostess! Maybe she has learned a lesson or two about hospitality. We try to open our home at least semi-regularly for guests for several reasons. First, it's fun. Second, it teaches us all to share and to put the needs and wants of others first. Third, it keeps the house clean :-). Well, Gracie got a wonderful tea set for Christmas (Thank you Grandma Willis!) and has put it to use with daily tea parties in her room (invitation only). It is quite an honor to be invited for tea in Grace's room. She brings down her pitcher and I send her up with tea and a snack to share. Baby (another Grandma gift) is always invited, and today the special guests were her brothers (who we call Little Man and Middle Man). Asher is too young to balk at a tea party. And Ethan is too aware that *real* food and drink are being served. He can put up with a little pink for a snack. LOL

Christmas at the Brackers

Christmas at the Bracker house is a lot of fun. We take it slowly and calmly, but somehow each day gets filled up with activities. Our town begins the month of December with a Christmas parade that we have attended for five years straight. Some years we are in the parade on our church float, but this year we just watched. Something about "not getting as much candy when you ride".
The parade goes right through the heart of our town on the main road, so many citizens get there an hour ahead of time and tailgate. We tried that this year and it worked very well. We had our hot chocolate and camp chairs and blankets and had a fabulous time!

We've had Christmas parties at church and at home. We had to watch Alabama beat Florida, and it's best to do it with company!!! The children had Christmas programs at church, along with our church celebration called Christmas in the Country, a two day festival that includes everything from hay rides to a live manger scene with animals.

Our family has baked tons of sweets, to give and to eat. The girls and I made homemade Christmas cards to send out, which was lots of fun! And tonight we're going out to drive around and see Christmas lights.

I am beyond thrilled that, as a country, we still take time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It seems that might be lost in all the hoopla, but not at our house. We do a yearly advent calendar to keep a daily focus on the true story. We also have memorized Luke 2 as a family, where the Bible describes the birth of Jesus. And then on Christmas morning, we read again through the Biblical description *before* we open presents. It may seem like just a list of things that we do, as opposed to how we feel, but that's because it's hard for me in a blog to explain the investing we do in our children daily. As we homeschool, we talk about the Lord constantly, and so it is very real to our children. They understand the difference between truth and fiction, the foolishness of the world vs. the wisdom of God.

Christmas is a lot of fun....celebrations are supposed to be! So we celebrate Christ's birth with festivity. In our home, we try to celebrate a lot of different aspects of life with festivity, because we were created to glorify God. So whatever we do, we do to the glory of God. Our birthdays are fun. Our family nights are fun. Our family devotions each night are fun. Frankly, it's hard to get together with 8 people who all have a great sense of humor and not have a good time.

Anyway that's a picture of a Bracker Christmas. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with your families, and I hope you all have the peace that comes with knowing Christ, knowing He is in charge of your life.

Birthday Season

In the Bracker house, all 9 birthdays happen within the same six month period. It's called Birthday season and when Bethany's birthday ushers it in, we all get excited. We have four birthdays in the fall, followed by holidays in November and December. Then we have four more in the winter (and Ash in early Spring).


Beth's birthday is first. We only get parties when we turn 5, 10, or 15, so Beth just decided to invite a friend (and siblings) over to make Monster Cookies! The recipe is so large, we had to cut it in half and we still had too much (with 12 children!!!). You scoop them out with an ice cream scoop.




Grace's birthday is next, two weeks later. She turned 5 and got her BIG party at the park with all of her friends.




Lastly, Ethan comes 3 weeks later. He turned 7. Robert took off work and the whole family went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Then we ate cupcakes and did presents at the Taco Bell, which happens to be where our family eats out 98% of the time.

Now we get a break for holidays until 2 birthdays in January and 2 in February. One of the February birthdays will be a literal birth day. Can't wait for that one. :-)

The Beauty of Piano

When we began piano lessons, it seemed a burden to sit in the teacher's driveway for an hour (2 teachers x 4 children @ 1/2 hour each= 1 hour). We'd struggle to find things to do and feel we were wasting time.

Well, all that has changed. Because now we spend 2 1/2 hours in the front yard and it has become a blessing. Funny how the Lord changes things, isn't it? See, we lost a teacher when one of ours married. And then we added Gracie to the roster. She's 5 and was DYING to take lessons (whereas some others merely tolerate the lessons). So five children in a row equals 2 1/2 hours.

But now, we use our time wisely and look forward to our weekly picnic. We eat lunch together, a weekly picnic, under the trees. Then when Thomas goes in, we do elementary science. When Grace goes in, we do history. When Ethan goes in, we do spelling. When Daniel & Beth go in, we play and read. It's so much fun! The children bring soccer balls and books and we have such a nice time.

So if you're bored on a Thursday afternoon, think about the Brackers. You know where we'll be! :-)

Our New Van

When we found out we were expecting our newest little one, one of our first thoughts was, "Well, The Mini isn't going to fit any longer." So we began shopping. Unfortunately, our criteria are not readily met in Alabama. You see, we needed something that would fit our family, but luxury was not high on our list. Since we've determined not to take on any debt (we're completely debt-free except for mortgage), we were restricted to using cash on hand. So we turned to EBay.

After searching and bidding on a few, we found our new van in Denver! We won the van with a bid of $1950 and I flew to Denver to pick it up. Robert tried to be chivalrous, but it simply wouldn't fit into his schedule (between work and being Beth's soccer coach). Besides, I really wanted to fly and drive across the country. To him, it was a chore. To me, an adventure.

So I left one Saturday morning by plane, arriving in Denver in early afternoon. I was there about an hour filling out paperwork, and immediately turned around and drove home. I left Denver around 5:00 p.m. Alabama time, early enough to be able to enjoy two hours of daylight in Colorado. It was completely worth it! I'd never been to Colorado before! That night, I drove through Kansas, sleeping from 12:30 to 4:00 a.m. at a truck stop. By 7:00 a.m. I was driving through Kansas City, and that began a really long day. I killed a skunk, got detoured and subsequently lost in St. Louis, ran into a practical typhoon in Nashville, and arrived home at 8:30 p.m. to very excited children.

The van runs GREAT! It's 1995 with 90,000 miles. Engine is good and strong, transmission too. Interior is basic, definitely no frills. But lots and lots of space.

And best of all? It's paid for! And it will only take 7 months to refill our "van" envelope completely, including the new van, airfare, gas, etc. I think 7 car payments (to ourselves) is much better than 60! Anyway, that's our adventure. The children have named the van Shakespeare. We're keeping the Mini to use when we have less than 9 people to save gas.