Bragging + Blogging = Blagging. Or is it Brogging?

Whatever it is, you've been warned!

It's odd how the older my children get, the less I feel I can write about them.  Funny anecdotes at age two are precious.  Funny anecdotes at age 14 are embarrassing.  And so, out of respect, I keep the details about such things as laundry opera, kitchen dance marathons and sisterly wrestling matches under wraps.  

For now.

But I am saving up.  And when my children are all up and out, the reminiscing will begin!  (And if anyone fusses, I will shuffle over and remind them that it is not kind to criticize old people:) 

On the other hand, it is also hard to praise my kids in a public forum without coming off as bragadocious.   But tonight I am going to take that risk because my heart is full. 

This morning, my daughters and Jamey ran a 5K together.  Rebekah has arthritis in her hips and back.  Christina just hates running.  And Jamey not only has arthritis, but also an injured hamstring.  

And it was 32 degrees and snowing.  

They trained for months with no prodding, no partners, and no real incentives, other than that they wanted to achieve a goal together.  At the end of the Jingle Bell Run, the girls had beaten their best time ever and crossed the line together at 32 minutes, 28 seconds.  Jamey smoked his previous record with a 22:10 finish and got a medal for second place...  

...which he did not want me to hang on the Christmas tree--but, surprise!  I did it anyway. 

 I have decided it will be our family "pickle".  (FYI, Birmingham family members, whoever can find where I put it, gets a brand new pair of festive socks!  Happy hunting:)  

After that, the girls had a Christmas party to attend, so the boys, ages 10, 7, 5, and 5, cleaned our entire house as an Advent Blessing project.  No, it wasn't their idea, but they didn't balk when it was announced as the project for the day.  

I took care of scouring the bathrooms, but they did all the trash emptying and window washing.  They vacuumed every rug and carpet and swept every floor.  They put fresh sheets on the beds, sorted and cleaned out the shoe bench, organized the coat carnage in the garage, put away all the folded laundry, and  unloaded the dishwasher.  

Then Jude and Elijah mopped every tile and wood floor in the house while Isaiah vacuumed edges and Kaiden helped sort and put away misplaced toys. 

Keira was also helping...and not helping.  She did help me put some wet clothes into the dryer. 

She also poured a bottle of Windex in a pretty blue trail through three rooms, carpeted the playroom with about 120 baby wipes, and colored her entire stomach and three toenails with a green marker.  You can argue over the usefulness of her projects, but you have to admit, that is a lot to accomplish before nap time!  So, props to Keira as well! 

And YES I WAS providing adult supervision.  That's the same thing Jamey asked me when he got home!  (She is very industrious and efficient, and I only left her for brief moments while I ran quality control  inspections for the boys.  And also I had to rescue Jude from the vacuum hose, repeatedly.  That boy should probably never drive a car, poor thing.)

So, there it is.  I am a proud and happy Momma tonight, sitting in my clean house, brogging about my blessings on my blag.  Love you guys!