The Lucy Moments

| Mommakisses

My friends seem to think of me as the Queen of Cool, and I feel the need to set the record straight, so I wanted to share with you what I call “My Lucy Moment.”

When we lived in North Nashville, my DH built the cats a cat tree out of scrap wood and carpet. This thing was pretty ugly, and only about 85% covered with the carpet. He kept talking about fixing it or building another one… well, it never happened.

So, when we had our new house built, I decided I would buy them a cat tree, rather than letting him build another. I bought one that said on the box (my first mistake) it would fit 7-9 foot ceilings. Ours are 8, so no problem, right???? I get it home and put it together without a hitch. I picked where I wanted it to go, and started to slide it into place. And it would not go. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It would get about 75% there and stop (should have been a clue!).

Then I think, maybe it’s the carpet, not letting it slide in the way it should. So I drag this thing over by the FRONT door, where there is hardwood and try to push it into place. Again, it would not go. So I push, and push, and push… and it pops! I look up to find a hole in my brand new ceiling! The spring-loaded rod has shot right through the plaster into the unfinished upper room.

Panic sets in… all I can think is “Oh, @#$#@$, T will kill me!” And I go running upstairs to see if I can find the rod (not having any idea as to how I will fix it, should I find it). I open the door to this sea of pink that is mostly undisturbed. The only spot that is out of place is where that rod had to have shot through, and the lovely hole looking down on my hardwood floor! (Yes, I was walking on rafters with 2 month old G and 3 year old J downstairs napping!) The rod is, to this day, still MIA!

After about 40 minutes of this, I finally gave up and emailed my husband to break the news about the hole. He went to Home Depot and bought a short rod (I guess one has to cut them to the right size) and used a 2×4 over the hole for the rod to rest on.

Now that we no longer have cats (allergies for the kids), there is just a crack showing where the plaster has been laid back into place and never really fixed… maybe someday…

I hope this started your day with a good laugh.

The Gathering

| Mommakisses

Ted Dekker at the Gathering 2008Yes, I am a member of the Circle… or for those who are not in the know, I am a Ted Dekker fan. And today my DH (that’s Darling Husband – and he is a darling) and I got to go to a conference with about 300 other Dekker fans, otherwise known as The Gathering. And we got to go without children! That’s a big deal when you have kids!

While standing in line at the bookstore, I found myself in the middle of young people (when did I become old enough to use that phrase?) who wanted to seem so intellectual as they discussed the finer points of Dekker, CS Lewis and J. R. R. Tolken. Honestly none of them seemed old enough to know what finer points are. Too much living in books and analyzing them and not enough living in the moment. Too much tearing apart and not enough enjoying the whole.

Isn’t that the way we are with God? Too much focus on our little part here or there, and not enough seeing the big picture? What are we missing when we forget to ask Him to show us what He wants us to see? How much of the message are we missing by focusing on the details of the metaphor?

The highlight of the day was seeing those sweet faces welcoming us home… and lots of sweet baby kisses! What a great reminder that ultimately our relationships are the big picture, not the people we place on pedestals. They are simply a detail to guide us along in our viewing of that big picture.

Come on, Dekker heads – Dive Deep! And if you are not a Dekker head… you too need to Dive Deep!

Oh, as an added bonus, my DH created posters to display at the Gathering:

Nicknames

| Mommakisses

By the time each of my kids were 6 months old, I had a nickname for them. I didn’t know how much it really mattered to them until we started talking about what K’s name would be. Honestly, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to come up with one for her. The whole time I was pregnant, I thought about it… and thought about it… and thought about it. I should have known God would give me the right name when He was ready.

See, when J was a baby, I called him Boo Bear. He was just so cute and cuddly. When G came along, Booga Boo just popped out of my mouth, and S was Baby Cakes almost from the day she was born. The three of them will talk about their nicknames. They go over who is called what. They talked about what we could call K… but nothing seemed to fit. And usually they were thrown into fits of giggles by the time it was over.

The other day, it just tumbled out and I thought… Ah, there it is… Thank You, Jesus… and when I told the kids, J said “Cool… it’s part of mine and S’s.” Well, sort of. Then they all called her by her nickname and kissed on her some more.

Welcome home, Sugar Bear!

Mom to Mom

| Mommakisses

20 minutes ago this seemed like a good idea… Now, I’m not so sure…

My kidsI am the mom of 4 wonderful, beautiful, God-given children… 2 boys (J & G) and 2 girls (S & K). J, the oldest is 8, G will be five in 2 weeks, S is 3 and K is 6 months. (Why am I not sleeping???)

I have a bunch of friends who are social butterflies… they do well in big groups. I am more like a retriever (or some days a tired old mutt), I find a friend and stick with them… through just about anything… and thus I do much better in one on one situations. I like to sit and really have a conversation with whomever I am talking to.

Thus, my time talking with you today… just us… mom to mom… friend to friend… you with your coffee (or whatever) and me with my tea (or carbonated beverage of choice). I figure we can hang out, I can tell you what I find works, and you can share your thoughts… and we’ll see where that gets us.

My kids seem to NEED Momma Kisses… I am so thankful for that… Tonight, J kept coming back for more… While we had a friend staying with the kids the other night S wanted to make sure I came in and gave her extra kisses on her cheek… G just loves to give kisses out of the blue, and demands “hug and kiss” whenever he is headed for bed… K is just very kissable!

You know… at 37 I still want kisses from my Mom, too… they are a gift. Enjoy them, if you are giving or getting, while you can… it seems like you will always want them… probably more so when you can no longer get them.