Petunia

Happy Mother's Day!

My Dad nicknamed me "Porky" as a kid.


Not sure where that came from considering I've always been a feather-weight string bean, but it's a term of endearment I've always loved. So what's a guy named Porky supposed to get his wife for Mother's Day?


Why, a Petunia plant of course. Happy Mother's Day, Kendra! The hanging plant will add some color to our backyard as we begin the summer regimen of evening swims.

Kendra is an excellent mother to our twins. I love her with all of my heart and the fact that she is such a great mom is icing on the cake... and oh how I DO enjoy icing. I couldn't be more proud of how dedicated she is to raising our kids correctly and how well we work as a team.

My friend who is getting married asked me point blank what advice to give him and this is (roughly) what I said:

Expect nothing. Search your heart and whatever you come up with as something you expect from your wife, that is what you need to let go of. Why? Well, because if your wife is simply meeting your expectations, there is no room her to do anything out of love. Is it possible to have zero expectations of your wife? No... but it is a goal. Just like perfection is not what God calls us to be, but it is a goal. I paraphrased this section based on the iMarriage DVD series Kendra and I went through together a few years ago. I work to align my mind with this concept every day and will continue as long as I live.
Enough serious stuff, here are my weekend revelations (Things I've learned):

1. No matter how long a shirt hangs in the closet the wrinkles never come out without a little heat and pressure. That could be an incredible philosophical statement about dealing with your own issues. Or it could be the result of my lazy personality and unfulfilled wishes every time I open my closet door and do nothing about the wrinkled shirts.

2. Ripped jeans are in fashion again. I KNEW I should have kept the tornado washed jeans from my freshman year of high school! Oh wait, those weren't even cool back then from what I remember.

3. Haim Ginott's quote below is right on. I modified it for parenting and it applies just as well for me personally as it does for a teacher as originally intended:

I have come to a frightening conclusion.
I am the decisive element in the house.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a father/mother I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis
will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.

There are some words of wisdom for you in case you're Monday morning is getting off to a slow start. What a busy, fun weekend! I gained a new helper for the car washing duties.


and Easton was content to just sit in the kiddie tub and throw water around.


Although when we were done washing the car Easton quickly turned into a fireman. We learned the hard way it is not wise to give a 2 year old complete control over a water hose. He went after Kendra first and then turned the hose on me. luckily I pulled the camera away just in time after this picture to keep it from getting a bath. Water and electronics don't go together well.


In other big news... I bought a train table off Craigslist for $40 and we finally put together the train set which has been in his closet for months. I think it is humorous we both have the same expression on our face watching Thomas the Train chug by. I'm starting to see the resemblance between us.


Easton is learning the hard way about sharing. He was completely unprepared for Layla to jump in on the train action, but he's coming along fine.


Kendra's brother Casey came into town for a few days and I'll save the rest of our weekend for another post tomorrow.

See you soon!