A Secret Love

In the same vein as my Buttery Garlic Club Cracker addiction confession in my last post, I feel the need to confess one more thing to the blogosphere... I have a secret love of the Orange County Choppers show on the Discovery Channel. I understand that my particular personality slant probably shouldn't jive with that sort of show, but I love it nonetheless.

We stumbled across the OCC when we lived in Lubbock during a phase when we had cable instead of Kate. I would never trade our lives now for our lives then, but in our pre-parenting days we had ample free opportunities to drink in the wonders of cable television without regard to time or money or too much attention to language used. Those men on the show don't exactly exhibit massive amounts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self control - but they sure are creative when it comes to designing and shaping metal into the form of a motorcycle! I've never riden a motorcycle (and I'm not sure I have the desire ever to get on one), but I love watching those guys do seemingly impossible things as they skillfully design a bike for someone under a deadline.

I haven't gotten to watch an episode in a very long time, but all that is about to change: While we were in San Antonio this past week, Cody found the first two seasons of the show on sale for only $5 at the Rivercenter Mall! I imagine if you can find full seasons of a show for only $5, it calls into question its quality - but I choose not to look at it that way... I merely see it as an awesome deal for all. We love spending time with Kate while she's awake, but her bedtime is about to get a little more exciting around our house because Senior and Junior Paulies will be waiting for us in our DVD player!

Garlic is Grand

These tiny little Buttery Garlic Club Crackers being crafted in the trees of those genius Keebler Elves are my latest addiction. Cody's mom brought a box out to Smyer while we were visiting over Thanksgiving. After my first bite, I was hooked. It didn't take me long after we got back home to find a coupon, find a sale at the grocery store, and go buy me a couple packages of these delicious tiny bites of heaven. I'm not typically a huge cracker eater, but over the last couple weeks I've found several occasions to make a meal of these special crackers with just a glass of water (as not to taint the magnificence of the cracker's flavor). So the moral today is this: if you have an opportunity to buy a cracker any time in the near future, go for the Buttery Garlic Club Crackers... but be prepared to be dazzled by their addictively tasty deliciousness.

Daddy's Lights

Yesterday afternoon when Kate and I pulled into the driveway after going to a birthday party for one of her friends, my mouth fell open: THERE WERE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON MY HOUSE!! I couldn't believe my eyes - I was as excited about those lights as a Who in Who-ville!

For you to fully appreciate what a true jaw-dropping miracle these lights are, you need to understand the following:

a) we do not own a ladder tall enough to reach the roof... actually we own nothing in the way of a ladder that is any taller than the little 2 step ladder I use to reach the top shelf of the pantry
b) it was extremely windy yesterday in DFW during mid-day (we're talking West Texas sized gusts!)
c) Cody is not a fan of heights or extreme danger
d) of the past eight Christmases we've spent as a married couple if we've had outdoor lighting it has been very largely due to my solo or nearly solo labor on the roof
e) our little family has been so crazy busy and pathetically unhealthy since we got home from Thanksgiving I'd given up on putting lights on the roof this year
f) our church Christmas program was this weekend - the day Cody hung the lights he'd already been to work that morning, came home early to hang the lights, then he stayed home with Kate while she napped after the birthday party so I could get to church on time, he packed her dinner to eat at church, and brought her to me so he could get back to work on the Christmas program

So last night when we got home from church - even though it was late and we had to be back at church for a long day early this morning - Kate and I stood out in the front of the house under a nearly full moon while Cody plugged in the lights so we could be dramatically dazzled with the display. I'm thrilled to report that Kate was just as impressed as I was when those lights flashed on for the first time of the year. It was awesome to watch her little eyes brighten in the glow and to see that big smile on her face last night - and those eyes and smile haven't faded today every time she's had a chance to talk about "Daddy's lights" on top of the house!

There's no doubt the Lord richly blessed Kate and me with Cody - I'm so thankful he is in our lives as a husband and a daddy! He is a blessing to us for many more reasons than just the Christmas light surprise yesterday afternoon - he's the patient and calming Godly leader we need, his love for us is constant, he encourages us to achieve our potential, he provides for our family financially, and there are so many other examples of how his personality traits are perfectly matched to the known and unknown needs Kate and I have. Even though it's hard to think of my baby girl all grown up, I'm already praying that she'll find a man to marry that will love her and take care of her as well as her daddy does.

What lucky girls we are to have him in our lives!

How much longer?

Kate and her friend Luke have enjoyed baths together at odd times here and there for most of their lives. This past week Luke came to spend the night with us and without a thought I plopped them in the tub together - both for their fun times as well as for my own time efficiency. As they were splashing and laughing together I sat there amazed at how much you can tell they've grown up these past few months just by watching how they interact and play.

My next thought was to go get the camera because if they've grown up this much lately, then who knows how much they'll grow up in the next few months? And it won't take much more growing up before these sweet days of being free to take a bath with one of your friends who just happens to be a boy will be a thing of the past for my precious girl. Kate's so thankful for her dear friend Luke - and even if they get too old to bathe together sometime soon, there's no doubt they'll be good friends for a very, very long time!