Lexical Light

Chuy's Parade 9:45 - potty lines

Drink line and potty line at Starbucks crazy long. Wonder if they staffed accordingly. Capitol potty is not that fa away. Girls, don't be afraid to use the boys' bathroom. Bathroom issue major consideration for early parade arrival. Thankfully Kelsie has Mia in potty line while I wait in serving line.

Food & beverage we're enjoying: sweetened passion tea, cake pop (oops don't have any) make that a snowman cookie, non-fat no whip mocha stirred.

It's now 9:50.

Chuy's Parade 9:32 am

Mia is kicked back waiting for the parade to start at 11. (wonder how long she'll stay that way?)

Made it to Congress before it closed and managed to score a parking spot near a Starbucks - crucial to refreshment and potty needs, especially potty needs.

Weather is perfect temperature and cloud cover. Cloudy but not rainy. Little breezy but shouldn't affect balloons.

Only 3 of us this year. Emily and Alexa have play practice at church. Kara had sleep practice. Kelsie got up early to join Niblet & me.

Oops. Time to go potty.

Toilet Paper Day - Hooray!

It's the little things, delivered in bulk, that make me smile. Thank you, Amazon Subscribe & Save, for making this possible.

Thin Place Story: Fathers & Words

  Read today's Thin Place story where Janet Morris  Grimes shares a bit about the impact of losing her father when she was a baby. 

Story of Sisters: A Thin Place Story

Expecting to see her sister die, Sharon was instead blessed with helping her live. Today's Thin Place Story on Mary DeMuth's site underscores the power of relationships. 

From Cheez Its to Buckwheat?

I "jumped on my blog to do a quick post" and ended up researching Cheez Its and Buckwheat. How? It started out as a way to settle a disagreement with my 10 yr. old daughter.

Yesterday, on the way home from school, we somehow ended up talking about school snacks. She said the bags of small Cheez It crackers are called Gritz. I said they are Gripz. (Apparently she has no confidence in my knowledge of snack food and marketing.) We were at an impasse that could only be settled by physical evidence. Being the grown up, and actually acting like it, I diffused the situation saying, "Well have to wait to settle this." 

"Go to the store and buy me some Gritz to prove me wrong, " she said. 

"Ok, I'll buy you some grits," I countered, smiling at the thought of giving her this:

Since I made it to the computer before the store I figured I'd just look it up online. 

The Cheez It snacks are called Gripz. (The z makes them cool.) Sweet, sweet victory! However, being the conscientious person I am, I googled Gritz just to be sure. No snacks showed up in the results. (Hmmm...is there a market for portable grits? Grits bars?)

Thinking of grits called to mind other hot cereal names, some of which also happened to be Little Rascals characters. I had to check the Rascals Wikipedia page for more cereal themed characters. (There are none.)

That lead to reading about Buckwheat. 

So, here I am basking in the glow of being right, smiling at the memories of the Little Rascals and laughing about Buhwheat from SNL. I even got some writing done, and the blogosphere got this fabulous post. 

"Mom, do we have a big family?"

Every now and then one of my five kids will ask me if we have a big family. We do, after-all, drive a 12 passenger van. My answer, "It's relative. (Pun gleefully intended and executed.)  Compared to a one child family, yes. Compared to the Duggars, no."  

I recently learned we lean towards the "not a big family" side when I checked out Mega-Family Blogs via fellow passenger van driver Mopsy's site. According to blog's tagline a Mega Family has "7 to 37 children." We're 2 kids shy of mega size. That's quite all right. My competitive streak is mostly sports and Scrabble related, so I'm content with our family size...and theirs. 

Dance with My Father (Thin Place contest submission)

Back when I was a child, my father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me. He'd spin me around until I fell asleep, then up the stairs he would carry me. I knew for sure I was loved. I'd like to say those words are mine, inspired by childhood memories, but they're not. Luther Vandross wrote and sang them.

A father's love is almost mythical to me, though I grew up with two dads. One was absent, the other harsh.  For whatever reasons, neither one fulfilled the emotional role of a father. I don't remember feeling loved by either of them. So, I cultivated a thick skin of low expectations and apathy in an attempt to protect the daddy-daughter part of my soul that longed for affection. The calluses meant to defend tender spots worked. I managed through life well enough. However, the healthy tenderness required for intimacy remained hidden within a calloused heart.

Some of that hardness is sloughed off during a worship service at church. Raising my hands as I sing, I'm suddenly dancing with my Father - my  arms lifted to God like a young daughter reaching up to dance with Daddy. As I sway, I envision a little girl's black patent shoes on her Daddy's feet. I feel as if I am standing on God's feet as He enjoys my presence. There it is - a thin place in this daughter's heart. As I dance with my Heavenly Father, my Daddy God (Romans 8:15), I know for sure I am loved.

This is my submission to a Win a Kindle 259 Word-Memoir contest as part of a social media tour for Mary E. DeMuth's new book Thin Places.

 

It's His Birthday, We Get Presents

"Mom, if it's Jesus' birthday, why do we get presents?"

Each year the kids bring up the paradox of celebrating Jesus' birthday by giving each other gifts. That doesn't make sense to a kid brain. We don't do that for other people. In their experience, when you celebrate a birthday, you give the birthday person a gift.

We use it as a reminder of Jesus" love for us.

Cinca de Smith...has arrived!

Mia finally made it out, on November 4th, Election Day. Weighing in at 9 lbs. 3 oz. & 20". We're both doing fine. Here she is just 2 hours after her debut. More details to come, but right now she's calling.