My first blizzard December 29, 2009
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2 birds with one stone. Last week I not only experienced my first blizzard but also my first white Christmas! (We had a dusting one year in Saint Louis, but you could still see the grass through the snow – so that doesn’t count). The huge storm that came through Oklahoma on Christmas Eve dumped 6 inches of snow on us in Duncan and an unheard of 12 inches at our house in OKC.
I love driving on snow and am thankful that they haven’t cleared off the roads in our neighborhood yet. I even saw one person skiing down the street! Lots of snowmen and one of neighbors built an igloo. Quite impressive as you can see.
Payton can’t get enough of snowball fights. Every time we go to the car he throws a snowball at me.
We’re supposed to get more snow today and tomorrow! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Hunnymoon Cottage December 23, 2009
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One of the benefits of having in-laws who own a bed and breakfast (not to mention having worked there myself for 8 months last year) is that Carey and I can have a free get-away from time to time. My parents took our kids to the ranch for a couple of nights which gave us some time to ourselves.
We spent the last couple of nights (and the rest of the week to come) in the Honeymoon Cottage. It’s like living in the lap of luxury. Double Jacuzzi tub, fireplace, and most importantly – no children! We love our children and miss them occasionally, but one of the reasons we have such a great marriage is that we get away from them periodically.
We’ve been staying up late to watch movies, shopping, talking theology, reading together and eating whatever we want. It’s been a great couple of days and it helps remind me of how truly special my hunny is.
If you’re ever looking for a place to get away check out the Lindley House. Make sure to check out the virtual tour of the honeymoon cottage to see where we’ve been staying.
Baby magic December 21, 2009
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I have a theory that babies possess a magical ability to put me to sleep. Without fail, anytime I pick up a baby, I get this overwhelming urge to sit down in a recliner and take a nap with them. I got to play with my nephew Travis yesterday who is 10 months old. While I was sitting there holding him, baby magic struck again, and I had to fight off sleep.
According to my theory, a baby’s magic weakens with every passing month so that by the time they are 5 years old it is gone completely. Alliyah still has a strong bit of baby magic, evidenced by the fact that I love taking naps with her.
The only exception to this rule that I know of is my wife. She has an unnatural amount of baby magic still running through her veins (I speculate that it came from one of her 4 pregnancies). Anytime she sits down next to me on a couch I immediately get drowsy and want to take a nap.
Please understand that this is still just speculation on my part as I don’t have any conclusive evidence yet – but I’m working on it 
Can I have this dance December 18, 2009
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Madi had a dance at school this afternoon. She had multiple boys in her class ask her to go to the dance with them. She turned them all down
Instead she asked me to go with her. During the fast songs, she and her girlfriends danced together but when it was time to slow dance she left them and found me so we could dance together. She taught me how to waltz, which they’ve been working on at school.
This was a good day to be a dad.
On the fourth day of Christmas December 17, 2009
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Last night we went with a group of friends to sing Christmas carols at a retirement home. The residents were very thankful for our singing and our visit. The thing I think they enjoyed the most though was watching our kids. It struck me that in the life they lead, they rarely if ever see children. That makes me sad but also reminds me of the great blessing that my children are.
As a parent it’s easy to overlook the joy they bring to my life and just see the hassle. If tomorrow I woke up with no Madi, Emma, Payton, or Alli it would be a very dull existence indeed. They bring a spark and a wonder to the mundane things in my life – like spray butter – who knew that it was such a big deal. Watching them dance or discover reading or being surprised by their love and thoughtfulness are all moments that stick with me.
Today, if you’re a parent, look past the challenges and take time to see your child for the wonder they are.
Dracula December 14, 2009
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I bought a Kindle a couple of months ago. One of the great features is that you can download and read most classic books for free.
I finished “Dracula” today. It was written by Bram Stoker in 1897. I really enjoyed the book – with the exception of the blood transfusions It is written in an epistolary style (presented as a series of documents) which was a definite change of pace from the things I normally read. I love the dialogue in classics from the 19th century because of how differently they use language. Sentences are well thought through and dripping with sincerity and meaning. I guess it’s the influence of Romanticism. Their words expressed depth of feeling and underlying thoughts that we rarely find in books of the newer variety.
Reading a modern novel is very much like eating at McDonald’s – you know what you’re getting and so you keep going back (even though it lacks nourishment and interest). Reading a classic is like dining at an indigenous cafe from some scenic spot in Europe – you have no idea what the meal will be like or if you’ll even understand the waiter, but you leave a different person because of the experience.
“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.” Joseph Joubert
Another nog December 11, 2009
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This is becoming an annual tradition for me. Once a year I pay tribute to the drink that has brought more confusion and happiness to the world than any other. I had my first egg nog of the season on Thanksgiving compliments of my sister Mindy. How do you know someone loves you? When they remember that you love nog and they go out of their way to get it for you.
Carey also showed her love for me a couple of days ago when she brought me the next best thing to real egg nog. I have discovered “Holiday Nog”. It is an egg nog flavored milk. You lose none of the flavor but go from a ridiculous 18 grams of fat per cup to a very manageable 5 grams per cup.
What does this mean? Simply that I can drink 3 times as much “Holiday Nog” as I can regular “Egg Nog”. And that my friends is a reason to celebrate. I wish I had a YouTube clip in honor of the man who invented “Holiday Nog”. But since I don’t, sit back and enjoy the next 60 seconds.
If you’re interested in reminiscing with me this link and this one will take you back to previous nog tributes.
Green December 9, 2009
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I just finished reading the book “Green” by Ted Dekker. I was looking forward to this read because it is an extension of his trilogy “Black”, “Red”, and “White” which I loved. I was overly disappointed with this new addition. He should have left the original story alone and not added anything else to it.
Sure it was nice initially to catch up with characters I had grown to love, but that was where the good times stopped. It felt like the concepts and storyline were forced onto the original story. The overall arc was not balanced either – when I was two-thirds of the way through – right where the book should have hit its stride and begun to climax – there was nothing. I still felt like I was plodding along.
If you plan to read “Green” stop reading here as there are some spoilers below – although I’m not sure how you spoil something that was this bad.
Two things really bothered me about this book. First of all, vampires. Why in the world bring vampires into the story? It was pointless. It felt like Ted was just trying to capitalize on the whole vampire craze in pop culture. Very disappointing.
Secondly, the addition of “Green” made this a circular series. It never ends, it just starts over and over and over without the hope of ever being different. It’s ridiculous to choose to live your life over again if you don’t take any knowledge back with you. Without any changing variables, you will make identical choices each successive time. Pointless. That’s how I feel about this book and the time I spent reading it.
Too much computer December 5, 2009
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All 4 of our kids value their time on the computer. With all of them trying to share one computer things get a little tricky. Alli decided to make the most of her time today.
It’s for Wii December 4, 2009
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One of our supporting churches gave us some money that we were instructed to use on Christmas presents for our kids.
They had been asking for a Wii Balance Board and the game Wii Fit. So we purchased it.
Last night after we put the kids to bed, Carey and I got out the game and played it for 2 hours. Once we were done we put it back in the box and hid it again. I think this is what we will be doing every night between now and Christmas
Please don’t tell my kids.
