Why? Because.

Hi friends and family,

Voluntary Solitary Confinement is over and the 4 Webbs are back together again. I spent a long weekend alone in the sweat box known as 115 degree AZ summer days. Meanwhile the rest of the family went on their own adventures in NorCal. Although it may appear to be a sarcastic exaggeration of the cool delta breeze, Layla just wanted to wear the coat because she saw it hanging in the closet.


Kendra said Layla's comment of "I'm so pretty!" was attached to the hand gesture and body language from the coat picture. Makes me proud of her. Kendra took the kids for a memorable playdate with her cousin's and their families. Layla's cousins Alana and Alexa had as much fun dressing up Layla as she did.


As an added bonus, Alana gave Layla that princess dress. A dream come true for her because as soon as she saw the dress at Alana's house her eyes lit up. When I came home today she had the dress on over her street clothes so this dress will certainly show up many more times over the next year until she grows out of it.

Easton played cars with Braden in his room as Kendra watched from the door. I know she was loving every minute of the cousin togetherness time because she talks often about how special her memories of playing in the summer with her cousins. These times together with family are a big part of the reason we spend so much time here at once.

I wanted to wait until my trip was over before getting together with Dustin and Michaela so I could be a part of it too. We've been looking forward to getting ourselves and the kids together with them for a long time.

Another outing I missed was taking the twins to go visit Oma at the school. With the students not yet in session Easton and Layla were free to roam the halls in their graduation caps. I'm confident this picture will be a part of their senior year book.


We are all amazed at how well Easton and Layla wear hats, sun glasses, and dress up gear. From what I've been told most toddlers don't like costume parts or hats or eye wear or anything on their heads. Easton gets excited to wear his Phineas and Ferb sunglasses for an hour or more as he plays outside.

Did you know there is a character on that cartoon named Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. I laugh every time I hear that name. It sounds even funnier coming from a toddler's vocabulary. We could be teaching them Spanish or Mandarin Chinese or something, but instead they can clearly say "Doofenshmirtz". Oh well, just have to celebrate the small successes.

Even though I terribly missed Kendra and the twins over the past several days, I jumped right back in to make up for lost time and took them for a walk on the jogging path. I may have missed out on a few things, but I was here for this kodak moment.


The picture is especially notable because Easton's shirt says it all... Just kidding. The real memorable part of this story is that we saw a freshly dead mouse on the trail and before I could say, "don't touch that!" Layla touched it. Then I said, "Don't touch that!" and Easton lifted his foot and squashed it. I had to determine whether to use this as a "teachable moment" to correct their behavior or just let it go and realize kids will be kids.

I did something in between by squatting down to their level, holding both of their hands and confirmed they knew not to do what they just did. They agreed, understood, and then we went on our merry way.

They picked up flowers, feathers, and rocks for Oma. Every item they picked up was seen in the same way as a cat bringing in a dead mouse to their owner. Not so much as a gift, but rather as an affirmation of their abilities. We still have the rocks down stairs and I hope we can keep them as a "pet rock", which will undoubtedly get lost in the seat of our car at some point.

When a parent is with a child (or two) every second of every day the changes are imperceptible. The interesting part of my mini-vacation away from the twins was the noticeable growth. Layla's hair seems longer, Easton speaks more clearly, and their personalities shine through like never before.


The latest cognitive advancement is a great milestone in communication. We have entered the age of, "WHY?" Not yet to the situation where a kid asks why 20 times in a row to every response you give, although that is coming. I'm referring to their ability to respond in a sentence beginning with the word "because" to MY question of, "Why?"

It may seem trivial, but getting them express their feelings and explain their actions/emotions is a big leap in communication. As I noted before a few posts ago, there is a cyclical conversation that becomes meaningless until they are able to get to the root of the problem and answer the why question with a because statement.

I started reading the book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". It has sat dusty on my shelf for over 5 years and I grabbed it on the way out the door to read on the airplane. I am pleasantly surprised at the excellence of the concepts and even more captivated because of how much the content deals with parenting. I highly recommend it and can't wait to finish the second half soon. By "soon" I really mean "when I have 3 hours of boredom and no internet connectivity or family present". Uhhh... I don't even know if that will occur again this year. There's always, 2011!

See you soon.