Big Boy 2 yr. old!

It's so hard to believe my little man is no longer a baby! This little guy brings so much laughter and fun to our family. His little face speaks more loudly than any words! You can always tell how he is feeling or what he is thinking by his face. It is so expressive. That is probably part of the reason he is holding back on actual words. He doesn't need them!

Since Olivia had pancakes for breakfast Judson wanted them too!
Poor guy. His birthday fell right in the middle of VBS. I figured this is the last year I can get away with out doing something special for the cake..... He got the hang of blowing out the candles by lunch time! He did it all by himself.

He liked it even though it wasn't shaped like anything!

Opening gifts.

He liked them.

Off to do some work with his new tool box.


This little man is a testimony to the faithfulness of God in our family. Months before we knew he was on his way, the girls prayed for a baby brother. They prayed faithfully, with great assurance. Our Father did not disappoint. He has so many ladies taking care of him. He is charmer too! He has two settings: Happy-Not Happy. He did, of course, inherit the Bragdon Stare. They all got that. I can't imagine our family without him. This school year, with Olivia starting preschool, Judson will get some good one-on-one time with his Mama. I haven't taken the time to read with him like I did the others and I am so excited to make up some lost time. And since we have a rule that once you start Preschool you don't have to take a nap, Olivia will get some good time with Mama in the afternoons. Next year it will just me and Judson....

Good grief. Raising a little boy to love and fear the Lord seems like a HUGE task. I don't have the slightest clue where to even begin. This little guy has a wonderful sense of adventure. The girls love having another man around the house. Judson has become the resident bug picker-upper. He loves to help. He helps me unload the dishwasher. I pray that his loving, helpful spirit will go with him always. It is my hope and faithful prayer that he will love others above himself and always go out of his way to help those in need. I also pray that God will grant us the wisdom and grace to help him reach his marriage day with a purity that seems almost impossible for men to accomplish in this sex-saturated world.

Father, I place Him in your ultimate care. Reach his heart and grow him in your love and understanding. Give him a thirst for your truth and a wisdom to seek you! Thank you for giving me enough room in my heart and home for this precious work of Your hands!

Our Big 4 yr. Old OLIVIA!

I figured I had better get these pictures up before Judson's Birthday tomorrow.

It is hard to believe that our little ball of fire is 4. She will be starting Preschool this fall with Mrs. Cathy. It doesn't seem right. Three mornings a week I will home with only one child! I knew that this was coming but I am just not ready for it!

Olivia asked for pancakes for breakfast.

She asked for a castle cake. That was the best I could do. Thankfully, she was satisfied.

For her special Birthday Lunch she picked corn dogs, french fries, and pink Lemonade.

We had a little party game. Olivia won.

We had some cake.



And Olivia tried out her present. In our house if you get outside toys you get to ride them inside on your birthday, but only the birthday girl or boy!

This child has caused us great concern from the moment she came into this world! She has fought us tooth and nail to be in charge. She has brought more joy and laughter into our house, not to mention questions, than I thought possible.

She wins the hearts of who ever she is with. Her personality and sweet, deceptively innocent, smile has taken more than one heart captive. She is full of life and love for others. She isn't afraid to tell you what she thinks and she is the loudest child I know!

I love this girl more than any words can express. She goes to sleep loud and wakes up loud. You can not ever forget she is around! She does everything at breakneck speed and only slows down if she is made to- And usually to observe the wreckage she has left in her wake!

She is so eager to learn and help. She is tons of fun and has one of the best belly laughs around! I find it a great honor to call myself Olivia's Mom. We soak up all the drama we can from every situation possible. We get each other. I love her so much and am looking forward to seeing how God grows her this year. I am thankful for her outgoing personality, her courage, and her love for others.

Thank you, Lord that Miss Olivia is in our care. Help us to love her with Your love and teacher her to others in the same way.

For Aunt Angie

Here are some picks from our trip to Nana and Papa's

Can you see that Papa let Judson drive! He LOVED it!

So did Olivia!

We got lots of good time with Memaw Crabb!

We like to refer to this little hike as the Bragdon Death March. We are carrying on a grand tradition. It used to be called the Clark Death March. Good Times. This beautiful shady path is how it started out.This is how it ended up. There were a few leeches involved too. And we were all quite possibly closer to heat stroke than this Momma likes to admit. But look there....I did admit it. And on the internet where anyone who want to can see it. That little rock was the only shade to be had.

This is the only picture of Youth Camp I will be posting. Most of you don't know the kids in our Youth group and they don't read my blog so I will spare you. We had a WONDERFUL time. This right before we left to come home. Only the third time I put on make-up that week.

So many things I SHOULD be doing.....but in the true spirit of procrastination:

Here are Elise's Preschool Graduation pictures.

Mrs. Cathy and EliseSuch a big girl!

She loves her Daddy!

Proud of our Sister!

Here are all the table mates!

We leave for our family vacation tomorrow! Tomorrow also happens to be Cow Appreciation day at Chick-fil-A! We spent a good part of today making our outfits. If you dress like a cow you get a free combo. If you make an effort you get a free entree. Tomorrow we might happen to drive past one on our way to our vacation destination right about lunch time. We might even find one around dinner time, too! But we haven't mapped it out or anything!

Now I guess we better get our packing done! Happy July! Try to stay cool. I said TRY!

Life is Movin' Along

I have been terribly remiss in my blog posting. But that's life. I am trying hard to be faithful to the job the Lord has given me. The computer can be a terrible distraction in my line of work as Wife and Mom.

But I have lots of pictures to upload.

-We had Elise's Pre-K graduation.
-Youth Camp- SO FUN!
-Some backyard pool time!

Maybe I will actually get those pictures uploaded soon, but maybe not.

I have to make sure I am living life instead of worrying about recording it all. I would much rather participate!

HAPPY SUMMER!

Famous Last Words...

There are lots of famous last words....

Frankly my dear, I don't give a da*n- Rhett Butler

Rosebud... -Citizen Kane

Et tu, Brute? -Julius Ceasar

Let's Roll! -Todd Beamer

It is finished. -Jesus Christ

There are also some infamous last words.....

like

It will only take me a few hours. --Me

I will be done by the time FaithLyn gets home from school.... -Also ME

And with those words I began my painting project.

The girls have been waiting for me to paint their room for two whole years. I woke up Thursday last week and decided to just do it. I had all the stuff and it's a small room. I could do it in one morning, no problem!


So I started painting. The paint was ok while it was wet. I knew it would dry darker....but I was not expecting my green to be ARMY green! GROSS. It was like Mossy Oak with out the Oak! It was A.W.F.U.L!

So, I took a trip to Lowes and spent about $50 bucks on some wash to try and lighten up the nastiness. And about 5 hours later and one major meltdown later I realized all I had to do was to add some left over white paint to the green and I did. I started painting coat #3 at about 9 pm that night.

And ONLY 36 hours later I was finished with this room. I am not in love with the color but it is WAY better than Army green. All the walls are one color and it works.

Sheesh!

Ode to Our Moms

We have been incredibly blessed by our mothers. Dan and I lived worlds apart growing up. I grew up on a farm where my Mom took me with her in the tractor to help Dad out by plowing. Dan grew up in the military. Both of our Moms made hard choices. Diana moved a LOT and kept such a wonderful warm home and a magical sense of normal for her family in all those different places. My Mom lived on a farm and it was our life. In the summers we all put in long hard hours but my Mom would then come home and prepare a meal for us and do laundry and somehow managed to keep the house clean.

Both Moms faced challenges I can only imagine. Both Moms taught us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Both of our mothers showed us the self-sacrificing love that is so like the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Both put in lots of long hours of worry, work, and tons of laundry with very little thanks. And neither of them expected thanks for the hours of prayer, labor and sleepless nights.

Every year that I am a mother I appreciate the love of our mothers a little more. I see a little more clearly the path that they so lovingly and dedicatedly walked. I am blessed to walk the same road. It's tough. But it is the most wonderful kind of tired you will ever experience.

I am not sure I would like to compare myself as a mother to our own mothers. There is no comaparison. I am so thankful to have such faithful friends, prayer warriors, advice givers, encouragers, and lovers of my children in not just MY mother but my sweet Mother-in-Law as well. I have been doubly blessed. I am praying the same for my children.

I pray that the Lord will encourage me on this journey to never let good enough be enough. May I always love my children more than myself, and help me, Lord, not to resent their every minute of the day need of me. Rather allow me to embrace it and loose myself in it so that these precious blessings might find themselves in You. In reality I ask only to be the kind of mother that our Moms were for us!

The Progression

Addendum

I had some pictures I wanted to share from the Kindergarten Cowboy day.

I also realized that not all my readers are from Texas or have my cowboy background....My ancestors helped settle Texas....just so you know I am qualified to say I have a cowboy background; I could pull a Paul and tell you all my other qualifications but I will spare you.....So I thought I might share some of the fun activities the kids got to do. Of course there was the Hula Hoop Roping. I helped with that...

There was also Stick Horse Barrel Racing:

Then some of my other favorites: Steer Branding

Cowpatty Toss (Much like Throwing the Discus)- Don't worry they were only tossing cookies -we aren't uncivilized!

Cowboy Duds Relay

Bandana Water Relay

And the Sack Race

I also wanted to mention to Stella the reason that my yearly exam made it into my rundown...

I forgot to mention that I WAS going to have to take my three youngest children with me. Yeah, there isn't enough therapy in the world to make that right! Who wants to have to calm a hysterical 3 yr old and explain why that is ok? I wasn't really looking forward to that......But my appointment was at 2 pm and I didn't figure I could make it back in time to pick up FL from school so I asked a friend to pick her up and she offered to keep the other kids! WooHoo! No mental/emotional scarring for MY kids. Not on that day anyway, but there's always tomorrow!

Here's a Run Down....

Ok, this is for my one friend who still checks...

I am going to try and give you a run down of the last few weeks to get all caught up so I can start again.

March:

March 4- Took Judson for his 18 month check-up ~ got some shots.

March 10- PTA meeting

March 13-15 Visit to see Angie and Luke. Fun but rainy. The moms got stir crazy with 5 kids stuck in doors....

March 17-19 Youth Group Spring Break Trip to Robbers Cave State Park, OK

March 9ish-22ish -Long hard battle with chemically evolved Head Lice resistant to even the most deadly of chemicals! One of the joys of Public School...it happens to the best of us. This also blessed us with LOADS of laundry, all the linens, coats and clothes, many long tedious head checks and we finally won the battle by picking out the bugs and nits one. by. one.....BY HAND! It makes me sick just thinking of it. I am an expert on Head Lice now...Have any questions? I bet I can answer them. I am also pretty adept at spotting those TINY little bugs in even the lightest of hair!

March 25- 6 month Cleaning appointment for FaithLyn and Elise

March 26- VBS Training Conference

This year I am teaching the Missions Rotation. I am super excited, it's always my favorite part of VBS. Here is part of my room. The chairs are set up like a boat.

March 27- Kindergarten Cowboy Fun Day at the Camp

I love helping with FaithLyn's class. I got to help with Hula Hoop Calf Roping. The kids had a great time. They also got to do some Square Dancing and got a real Roping demonstration. But we live in Cowboy land so it wasn't too new for many kids.

March 30- I made a whirlwind trip to Lubbock to be with my family while Dad had his surgery.

It went really well and I am SOOO thankful that Dan made it possible for me to go. What was I thinking that I didn't need to be there??? My dad is recovering super quick from the surgery and it was a complete success! No more cancer. Praise God!

I had to rush home that afternoon to make it back for a date with Dan. He got a babysitter so we could go the High School One-Act Play Dinner Theater. I was pretty pooped.

April:

April 6- Yearly Exam with my OB/GYN....NEVER fun!

April 7-9 Quick visit home to see Dad. Again thanks to Dan for making it possible. FaithLyn got some good Daddy time!

April 10 Good Friday- Dan got the day off. We did some landscaping and got some hair cuts for Easter. I cut Dan and Judson and the girls went to a local hair cutting chain.

April 11 Worked on the piles of laundry and cleaned on the house. Dan took the kids to an egg hunt in town. I got a much needed haircut from a friend who came to my house! Talk about convenient!

April 12 -Easter I didn't get any pictures....BOO! My camera was dead....5 people to get ready is a LOT. I forgot to put the turkey in the oven, I came back in the middle of Sunday school. The turkey was done at 2...We had some for dinner.

We had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. It didn't quite go as I had planned....But still full of God's grace, mercy, and the joy of our salvation!

April 14- PTA meeting

April 21- Elise went for her Kindergarten screening!!!

We have a pretty big weekend planned ~I hope to tell you all about it!