Dear Lord, save us from the Groach.



My daughter is 8--which I remember being one of my favorite years as a child.  Her imagination is fertile, and the world is brimming with endless possibilities.  She loves to write and illustrate her own stories.  She's very inventive, and most recently invented a character named "The Groach."

The Groach--who is loosely based on a large pile of hodge podge sitting on a shelf in my bedroom--appears only in the late afternoon, and resembles a lopsided Christmas tree, with glowing red eyes and a permafrown. 

OH yes.

My oldest son found the Groach hilarious, at first.  Yep--it's all fun and games until someone gets scared poopless--which didn't take very long at all.  Annnnnnnd after just a few moments, he was crying inconsolably because the Groach was going to get him.  Or so he thought.

I could have said a special bedtime prayer that night, but we so often ask God to take away the nightmares [the anxiety, the fear, the bad stuff], rather than to grant us courage [wisdom, serenity, peace] from an endless supply.  The Groach reminded me that we all go through scary, painful, and uncertain times in life.  Just because you may or may not believe in God or another higher power does not grant you immunity from trouble and suffering.  But you may have access to tap into whatever you need at the moment.

Dance Parties & Dreamcatchers

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I told the kids a couple of forevers ago that we would make our own dreamcatchers.  They're pretty concerned, at this age, about warding off bad dreams that creep up in the middle of the night.  More so than paying homage to their Native American heritage, but that's to be expected.  We pray every night, that God would both keep away bad dreams, and help them to be brave and remember that God is always with us, and doesn't want us to be afraid.

I don't tell them this part--but, I also pray that God will protect them from evil spirits and presences.  Lord ha' mercy, if I told them that, they would probably never leave my bed!  I've had a couple of scary encounters of my own with the evil that lurks in the night... but that's a story for another time.

I've had a lot of luck finding all of the supplies at Hobby Lobby so far, plus their ubiquitous 40% off coupon makes for an irresistible deal.  When we finally start our little project, I'll happily share the deets.  Don't worry--I got you, boo.

I was in the middle of my online shopping, when our favorite dance party song came up on the kids' Pandora Kids Bop station-- the Cha Cha Slide (DJ Casper).  If you've ever been to a wedding or family reunion, or any family friendly event hosted by a DJ, you've probably heard and/or danced to the Cha Cha Slide.  It's--hands down--our family's favorite song to dance to together.  Even Baby K knows how to get funky!

Livs and I were laughing through the middle of the song, joking about having wedgies that feel like knives (we love to joke and sometimes play entirely too much), and O goes: "HEY!  You guys were talking so loud I couldn't get funky!"  It took all of my self control not to dissolve into a puddle of laughter in the middle of our living room floor. 

So much fun, these kids are!