the last day

We are baking, coloring, and doing some crafting in preparation for our little party tonight to celebrate the New Year.

Happy New Year everyone and thank you so much for all your support and love this year! I am so looking forward to see what comes of 2010...

Tonight we will have some Ben-cooked food, cookies, and a night of dancing (and possibly a movie) and tomorrow indulging in sushi at my parents' house. What are you doing to ring in the New Year?

the medium-sized dollhouse pillow

I wasn't sure if I was ready to attempt this again, but I did. This time it was for a friend's daughter (she gave it to her as a Christmas gift). It wasn't so bad and I made a general pattern of it as I went along, so maybe recreating another time would be much easier (maybe put a few in the shop sometime later). It wasn't quite as large as Brave's, but the dollhouse pillow still came out really cute. Then again, what little girl wouldn't like some sort of dollhouse pillow in any size?!!

I also made two more, but smaller versions, and it didn't open to reveal an inside. Though the windows were pockets to be sure and give the girls some little places to hide their gadgets and gizmos and such.

To compare sizes, Brave's pillow is on the left and the medium-sized one on the right. Though, the medium-sized one was still pretty big, as it was about the size of a standard pillow.

I know some have emailed me about making some of these and I have turned them down, but maybe I might be comfortable enough in the new year to eventually put a couple in the shop. Can't make any promises, but maybe just maybe. Keep your fingers crossed.

polaroid tuesday: week fifty-two

This is it folks. The last one for 2009 and we celebrated with some balloons. One for each member of our family. We are so glad to close out this wonderful year with a new little member. We are so blessed.

I really enjoyed taking a polaroid a week and sharing it with you all. I am not sure I will continue next year, but I got a week to figure that out, so we will see...

Christmas was good, very good, even if Ben and I had two fights (again, we are so normal) over the weekend and I came down with mastitis the day after Christmas. Nevertheless, it was a joyous time of celebrating Christ's birthday. I will soon share some of the handmades that were given and received.

The biggest thing for me this Christmas was to learn to let things go. I wanted to make a "Merry Christmas" banner, but never got around to it. I wanted to do our family Christmas card, but I had to let that go as well as a few other things that I had envisioned, but realized that I really can't do everything. Having a newborn makes things a bit more difficult. Plus, it isn't the "stuff" that makes Christmas important or special, it is Christ.

The new year is coming and we are excited. We will be getting ready to celebrate it Bratcher-style. It will be oh so fun!

merry christmas

Alas! Everything is done.

This year's presents are brown paper packages tied up with string and a little mushroom for good measure. I am off to take a nap before we get dressed up and head out to my parents' house. We have been telling the girls the story of Jesus' birth and tonight the official festivities to celebrate will begin. We are so glad it is Jesus' birthday!!!

Posting will probably be light until after the New Year as we will continue to enjoy all the happy happenings that come with the holidays. Our little family wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!!!

polaroid tuesday: week fifty-one

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Your branches green delight us.

Presents are wrapped, stockings are hung, Christmas is almost here and one more week left of Polaroid Tuesday... I can hardly believe it!

hung with care

It is a few nights before Christmas when all through the house,

Lots of little girls are stirring, and I hope we don't have a mouse

All the stockings are now hung by the chimney with care,

With a new added purple one for our little Soul hanging with there,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be here...

These stockings were inspired by some Anthro ones from a few years ago. I just finally got around to making Soul's, which like I said, is the slightly purple-ish one hanging. While I was at the stocking making, I decided to change Brave's up a bit too. It used to have some birds on it, but I took them out and added the felt flowers. I like this much better.

Christmas came up really fast and we have been busy little elves in our house. Thus, the non-posting or super late posts of late. I have been learning to just let things go, so if I don't get something done, it isn't the end of the world. I am definitely no super woman as my previous post admitted.

Thank you all for your comments and such thoughtful words. It has been such a difficult trial and I am glad that I am able to share the sinful part of me with all of you too. It is only by God's grace that I can continue even after making mistakes. Thanks again everyone for listening (reading)! I am very glad to share my life with you...

real

This is me... sans make-up, before my shower, sleep deprived, and in pajamas.

This week has been a tough week as I (and Ben) are going through some personal trials, which all started because of me. All because I am quite a sinful gal. I have been selfish and prideful, thus have hurt someone in the process, which I am quite remorseful about.

It is kinda funny when I think about blogging because it usually is a happy place. I am always so encouraged by your comments and emails (and gifts) telling me how much I encourage you in your life, but really, I am not perfect. I don't deserve to be held on a pedestal. I can be crummy towards people, sometimes yell at my children, often get road rage, and have even thrown a chair once while fighting with Ben (not at him, but towards the ground, thankfully we laugh at this now). There are lots of things I am not proud of and I feel I would be doing you an injustice if I didn't share the struggles I deal with too.

I am not sure what you would classify my blog... craft blog, mom blog, etc., but I think it is just a life blog. Therefore, this is me and this is my life. I want to be real and not just portray a happy, magical life of family, love, and crafting. Don't get me wrong, we are happy and sometimes I even think I am living a dream, but we are a real family, with real people, who sin and make mistakes often.

My heart has been burdened and I see the parts of me that need to be changed. I am going to pray that God change that. I also see how this trial can even make me grow bitter and resentful and I pray that God not allow that. A friend told me that God is using this to grow me "from one degree of glory to another." I honestly don't feel it and it can be hard to see the trial as a blessing. Really hard. But I know my friend was right and that is what God is going to use this for.

All this to say, as much as it seems we are loving family, we aren't always. Sin definitely is evident in my life, our lives. It just makes me so much more grateful for Christ and what He accomplished for me on the cross. I even have to admit that with this trial, I felt I shouldn't even be forgiven, but that kind of thinking is "pish-posh." I just feel/felt really bad. It is only through Christ that there is peace. I need to continue to trust God through this.

At the same time, I am thankful for the boldness to be real, but it is only because of Christ that I can share this. I am thankful for a supportive husband and even more in love with Ben and my three girls. Also, I am blessed to have good friends with whom I could share my burdens with and rebuke me when needed. So please, if you think everything in our home is perfect, it isn't. I am not perfect. We are just able to learn, love, and forgive because of what Christ has done for us.

That's all.

I promise next week to share some happier and craftier things going on in our house. Until then, enjoy your weekend!!!

one of those days

I just want to curl up into a ball and be swaddled.

Does anyone else feel that way?

polaroid tuesday: week fifty

I love this dress. I wish it fit me. I want someone to do a fun photo shoot wearing this dress.

Ben is real cute. He loves to read my blog and all your comments. He checks it daily.

Yesterday, he read my post and which linked him back to last year's birthday and then commented, "Wow. That dress has been hanging there for a year."

"A little over," I replied.

I first put the dress there because the wall looked bare, but then in the middle of the night I would get freaked out because well, the dress can kind of look scary hanging there in the middle of the night, so I took it down for a bit. But then, I missed seeing it hanging, so I put it back and so it has stayed there for over a year now. It is such a pretty dress and looks pretty hanging.

Why the dress story?!! Who knows. I just thought it would make such a pretty polaroid. Don't you think?

Happy Tuesday everyone! I have a list of to-dos before Christmas, but I am just not motivated to work. I really just want to watch movies under a cozy blanket and crochet all day.

he gets younger every year

Friday was my Ben's 35th birthday.

We stayed home, made him the traditional breakfast in bed, baked him his favorite cupcakes, and ordered lots of sushi for dinner. It was much simpler than last year's birthday, but still very sweet as now he had four girls to celebrate with.

Us four girls love our main man so much...

winter mantel

Our winter mantel isn't quite done. Something about the placing makes me feel a bit unfinished, but we just haven't figured out what to add to it. I had an idea of a little homemade village amidst the teensies trees, but we will see if we have time to do that. Time for us is a bit different these days with a newborn, but for now this will have to do.

I have some things cut out to sew a "Merry Christmas" banner, but I haven't been in the mood to sew of late. I just like cozying up on the couch with all my girls nearby (and Benny) and some sort of movie on and just crocheting. It is such a cozy winter thing to do!

Do you have any special little vignettes displayed on your winter mantel?

hello sunday

It's just me and Soul.

The other three are off at church this morning.

Hope everyone's weekend is good so far!

Some things to check out:

- Misha Lulu's Surplus Store filled with lots of goodies.

- The sale section at Hijkids.

- My baby sister's account of Soul's birth (this made me cry all over again).

our little advent

I have heard of advent before and even did some form of it as a kid, but never knew what it really was, until I googled it. I mean, I didn't want to do it with the girls if I didn't know what its real purpose was. So according to Wikipedia, advent is a "time of expectance and waiting and preparation for the celebration of the nativity of Jesus at Christmas."

For awhile, I was stuck on what to make for our countdown until Jesus' birthday, but then I saw this and really liked it, but too bad that I was a little too late to order to get it in time for Christmas. Thus, I decided to make my own.

Each little bag contains a note that has some sort of activity written on it. Some things we have done are pick a Christmas tree, make a fire in the fireplace, read about the birth of Christ from their Big Picture Bible. Some are just good 'ol fun activities to do as a family and others are activities to point the girls to the real meaning of Christmas. We started it on the first of December, but with Soul's arrival, we kinda missed a few days, but now the show must go on. Hopefully, we can keep up with the rest of the bags as Brave and True get excited to open one as they have to take turns each day.

If you are doing advent, what are you doing to celebrate it?

they have minds of their own

Last week, amidst our Christmas crafting and my daily walks to help move along baby (I am so glad Soul is here now), Brave and True decided they wanted to make necklaces. Maybe it is cause they see me making some braided ones and they declared they wanted some of their own. Thus, with some of their crafting beads and some of my fabric scraps, that is what we set out to do and they did it all on their own.

The end result was some happy little girls and I always like my girls happy. I can't wait to see Soul joining in on the crafting fun!

p.s. Soul is happy to meet all of you too! Thank you so much for such sweet words about our newest little one. We are definitely enjoying this newborn cuddly time.

polaroid tuesday: week forty-nine

My sweet Soul.

we've got Soul

Meet our newest little babycakies... Soul Valentina Bratcher.

Soul arrived safe and sound early Thursday morning, after some fierce contractions that started around 9pm Wednesday night. Her name Soul Valentina is our little prayer for her as Valentina is from Latin origins and means "strong & healthy." Therefore, we pray that she would have a strong and healthy soul and one who loves to win souls for Christ.

A little side note: If you paid attention to the lyrics of Ben's notes for my Rockin' Mommy Day, her name was there. One of the notes I was given said "SHARE THAT BEAT OF SOUL," but the correct lyrics to Michael Jackson's song is "Share that beat of love." Not sure if anyone caught the slight change of wording.

I am in love all over again and so is my Ben, but most especially big sisters True and Brave.

We are all home now and enjoying these first few days of little Soul's life. There are a lot of kisses, cuddling, snuggling and just a whole lot of loving going on. I have some pre-written posts ready to share for next week of some crafting that went on before Soul's arrival, but don't mind if you a lot of wordless posts too as I will probably just be sharing some pictures of us as we find a "new normal" in our home.

I love my Benny, True, Brave and Soul very much...

it's starting to look a lot like christmas

Gosh. December is here already and I am antsy with anticipation for baby. Meanwhile, we are still continuing to get ready for this Christmas season. We heralded this joyful time of year with some special baked cookies and lots of decorating. Brave and True were mighty happy to get some "healthy" cookies.

We have yet to do our Christmas tree, but this year we opted to go au naturale. I have never had a real tree before, so I am kinda excited, but a little nervous, as all I could think of is Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation movie and the tree up in flames. Good thing Ben has experience with taking care of a real tree, which leads me to believe we will be alright. Therefore, our plan as of now is to go Christmas tree picking Friday afternoon, unless of course I am cringing in pain, which I kinda hope and thus the tree picking will have to wait a tiny bit. Though, I think it will be sweet to have all three girls there together decorating the tree, even if one of the girls is just lying there sweetly sleeping. That is no problem with me.

Me and my sweet girls will continue with the Christmas festivities and we will be sharing more of our Christmas crafting soon. The idea of decorating makes them positively giddy and maybe cause they get "special" cookies out of it, but who can blame them, cookies make me giddy too.

for going home

Having a winter baby made me so stuck. I mean, I just wasn't sure what to sew for a winter baby. Brave and True were born in the spring and summer, so little skirts and onesies were all they needed. Though the good thing is that in southern California, the weather isn't quite extreme. Thus, for her going home outfit I just concocted a simple grey wrap shirt that would perfectly layer over onesies and some brown leggings.

Actually, I went crazy making lots of leggings, so I think she will now be plenty ready for the winter.

With all my crazy sewing, Ben kept calling me "nesting freak" in the most loving way of course. I must agree, I went crazy making baby things, but it is called "nesting" isn't it?!!

Then, I had some left over grey linen, so I made her another wrap dress of sorts. All this baby sewing (and nesting) is quite addicting.

Any other ideas of things to make for a winter baby?

polaroid tuesday: week forty-eight

Hello feet.