car washers

Hi friends and family,

What an outsanding weekend! Our time together wasn't without issues, but overall we accomplished what needed to be done and had a ton of fun along the way. I've heard people describe this age as the "Terrible Two's", but Kendra and I reject those negative statements as fast as they roll off the lips of unknowing people and correct them by saying, "this age is the TERRIFIC Two's, thank you very much". Even so, I would more accurately describe this age as "obedience training". When Easton and Layla learned the word, "no" it was a blessing because they could communicate with us about well-being situations. We ask questions and they are able to respond with a yes or no answer. That made our lives 10 times easier.

Then recently they learned they have a choice to obey or disobey through obedience or saying, "no". That brings consequences which include (but are not limited to) toy time-out where the airplanes and princess dolls are taken away for a few minutes. This is proving to be a better discipline method than timeout for them.

Working through the discipline scenarios is exhausting, but they also do things that make me very proud of them. This picture hangs on our hallway wall next to Easton and Layla's kiddie table.


During snack time Easton looked at the picture and then said to me, "Mommy is a princess." And Layla (not wanting to be outdone) said, "and Daddy is a prince." I agreed and then the two of them proceeded to argue about WHICH princess Mommy is. Easton says she is Snow White and Layla says she is Belle. Hearing them make their case in an attempt to convince the other made my day. I'm happy they were willing to stand up for what they believe even if it is something as simple as defining which princess Kendra is.

Going to the grocery store alone with the twins is getting easier. Partly because they like to ride in the side-by-side car extension on the front of the baskets. two steering wheels and two seat belts. It makes the whole shopping experience more tolerable.


Sounds like the cart was custom made for Easton and Layla, right? Well... one horn worked and the other didn't so they argued the entire time about the horn as Layla kept trying to honk Easton's functioning horn. They straightened up when I threatened to take away toys so at least that part is working well.

The car needed a bath so I suited up the twins and recruited their help in washing it so Kendra would have a shiny car to drive. As you can tell, the elastic in Easton's trunks is worn out and he needs some new ones. Maybe he'll be a plumber when he grows up???


Using so much water as they sprayed each other down turned our cul-de-sac into a giant puddle. The twins wanted to splash around and run through it so of course I agreed to let them.


Easton's balance and running ability improved hugely over the past few weeks. He used to have a tendency of falling often on the blacktop, but he does great now.


Kendra came out all dressed up for an evening out with her friend April. She still took time to help push Layla up the driveway on her tricycle. Mommy mode is never "off" and sometimes it takes a while for her to even put it on pause for a night out with friends.


I took the Saturday morning shift with the twins and we went early to the park. However, it wasn't early enough. The amount of time it takes to get the three of us out the door is obscene. The temperature outside is still super hot (96 degrees by 9:00 AM) so by the time we left the park they were a little over heated.


Both of them love to dig in the sand and get dirty though so the heat didn't stop us from having a great time together. I stopped by Circle K for a round of Icees and then we went directly into the pool at home. My goal was to have as much fun as possible and ensure they were worn out enough to take a nap. Mission accomplished!

Kendra played soccer on Sunday night and I snuck in a sunrise mountain bike ride Sunday morning. We rode the trails for 9 miles, but as we crossed over a street we saw a Red Diamond Rattlesnake laying across the road. We threw a few rocks at it in an attempt to get it off the road, but it didn't budge one bit! We cruised past it and went on our merry way, but so close to such a deadly reptile really made my skin crawl.


Packing has officially commenced and we are preparing for our longest journeys of the year. We can't wait to see my family!