08-25-2009 - Sickies

What's worse than morning sickness or the flu? Having both at the same time. :( Kara and I woke up this morning with the flu. Yuck! Poor little baby. My mom came over to pick up Leah to take her to soulwinning nursery. Afterward, they went to the library. Leah no sooner walked into our apartment than she looked awful. Sure enough, she came down with it, too, within thirty minutes of being home. GREAT! So we are all resing now, though not as much as we would like, thanks to our upset tummies. This too shall pass, right?

08-22-2009 - We're Having A Baby!

If there are any who haven't heard, we found out on Saturday that Child #3 will be making a grand entrance into the world around the end of April, maybe beginning of May. :) Woo-hoo! It was a very informative weekend: accepted a contract on the house on Friday afternoon; find out we are pregnant Saturday afternoon. *phew* We are so happy.

08-21-2009 - House

Well, it happened! Our realtor called yesterday to tell us that the price on the house we REALLY liked had been dropped significantly. We place an offer on it, received a counteroffer this morning, and accepted the counter this afternoon! Woo-hoo! It's a "TLC" house, so it's gonna take us some elbow grease to get it ready, but we are SOOOOO looking forward to actually having a house. We will hopefully meet with our loan officer this week to receive our official paperwork. Then, we need to schedule a home inspection ASAP. Provided that goes well, we begin the rest of the inspections. Fun times! :) This all transpired so quickly that I think we are still trying to process everything that transpired. Wow! Our closing date is set for September 28th. Please continue to pray.

My in-laws are still here but will be leaving this evening. We will meet my parents for supper, then Mom and Dad Bragg will leave shortly after that.

08-20-2009 - School Started!

I'm pretty sure it's a good thing that school started. Sometimes the fixed schedule is a lot better than a flexible schedule in the summer. Too many "things" get crowded into that kind. :) Now I' have a lot to do. I volunteered t be the Box Tops and Campbell's Soup Label Coordinator! Oh, my! I am up for any suggestions on either front.

My in-laws came up on Tuesday evening. Dad Bragg is preaching our Back-To-School revival. They get to stay until Friday evening, though we were hoping they could stay until Sunday afternoon. The girls are enjoying their Papaw and Grammy. I don't think I have ever heard "Cinderella" read so many times in such a short period of time.

We are still working on the house front. We placed a hopeful (but not holding our breath) offer on a HUD home that did not go through. Oh well. We haven't given up hope on the other house. God knows.

The girls are growing and becoming more ornery as each day goes by. Leah is a 7-year-old stuck in a 3-year-old's body. She's hilarious. Drops her baby off on my lap so she can go shopping. Her litle hands out, telling me her baby will be okay, she (the baby) may cry for her (Leah), but she will be back soon, so I need not worry. Too funny! She has a sweet spirit, and she is my cleaning helper...the child loves to wipe things down and vacuum. Kara has figured out she has a choice to obey or NOT, usually she chooses the NOT...little bugger. She is a riot though. She has such a great personality.

August 11, 2009 - My crazy kids

We have been capitalizing on Kara's new tricks. While reading an animal book a couple of weeks ago, Mike pointed out a skunk, covered his nose, and said "Pee-eew!" That action and word have become a signature Kara move. This picture is demonstrating this cuteness.

As for the video, Leah has written a new song, and I figured I would share this great piece of musical talent.

August 2-5 - Trip to St. Louis

Michael journeyed to Dwight for the 15th Annual Midwest Christian Boys Football Camp (I'm not sure if I have all of those words in the right order though). Since I'm not one who enjoys staying home alone for a WHOLE week, the girls and I went to St. Louis to hang out with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and grandma-in-law. We had a blast. We arrived Sunday about five minutes late for church. OOPS! Monday we took it easy and were just lazy. Tuesday included the girls' second trip to a zoo (their first to the St. Louis Zoo), although their first was in December, and I highly doubt either of them remembered. It was wet, cold, and yucky. :( Anyway, they had a blast. Kara enjoyed almost all of the animals; Leah was alright with them so long as they couldn't get anywhere near her. However, she found a flower and yelled for a giraffe to come see her. Mom, Jana and I were taking bets as to the level of her fear should the giraffe actually come within 10 feet of her. She would have FLIPPED! True to St. Louis weather, it was hot and humid, so we only lasted about 2-3 hours, but that was perfect for the girls. On our way out of the zoo, we caught the "feeding of the sea lions" show. That was pretty cool.

August 1, 2009 - Downtown Chicago

We made an impromptu trip to Chicago where we took a boat ride down the Chicago River followed by spectacular view of the fireworks from the Lake. Loved it. Leah loved it, thinking she owned the boat. Kara actually did well. I was kinda schocked. We had never taken that trip in the evening. We loved seeing he skyline at night. How beautiful! Never really realized how bright the top of the John Hancock building was at night. Have to admit thought, seeing the Sears Tower and trying to think of it as the Willis Tower was really weird. Silly British people renaming that. :)

July, 31, 2009

We went to the Shedd Aquarium yesterday. We had a great time, though there were LOTS of people there. :( The girls had parts that they liked and parts they disliked. In one section, you could walk on a glass aquarium; below you were some sting rays. Kara flipped out about that. Leah had a hard time with a floor-to-ceiling aquarium that contained sharks and other fish. However, we could have stayed for hours at the Caribbean aquarium. They LOVED watching all of the fish, sting rays, hammerheads, sea turtle, and many other "things". We enjoyed having a family field trip.