redefine busy

Hey friends and family,

I feel the need to redefine the word "busy" because many people (myself included) have an idea of what busy means as a single person or married couple. Adding twins or even a singleton into the mix sets the bar several notches higher than what I conceived as possible when it comes to busy.

My disclaimer up front is that some of our time is spent together (without kids) as well as doing individual hobbies. So not everything is out of our control as far as available time is concerned. "All work and no play" has nothing to do with whether a person is dull or not. It's a matter of sane vs. insane. We choose to be sane. :)

Anyway, today Kendra started her mentoring / training and then went to soccer tonight. That meant I was in charge of the twins for the entire evening. After cooking dinner for them (not myself) I headed directly to the park because the sun sets earlier every night and they needed some exercise. After the park play time I stopped by Arby's on the way home knowing it was time for the three B's (bath, books, bed). I helped them into the tub and then sat on the edge. I attempted to eat my sandwich with one hand while keeping Ariel away from the shark with the other.

Easton doused my sandwich accidently with bath water and that's when I realized "this is busy". It's not like I can just go sit and relax in the living room eating my sandwich in peace. There is no way for me to leave the house to replace my soggy sandwich without a monumental effort getting the twins out of the tub, dressed, and into the car.

Instead, I just ate my soggy sandwich. Actually, I shared my sandwich with Easton and Layla before it was watered down so the truth is: I ate my soggy half-sandwich. Don't cry for me though. I'm not sad or mad at all. The whole incident resulted in a laugh-out-loud moment. Layla stopped splashing long enough to ask, "what is so funny, Daddy?" They are both exceptionally intelligent, but I didn't bother to explain the humor of the moment. Instead I just said, "YOU two are so funny."

After working all day, then running the household this evening I will make time for this blog, then a P90X workout, then do some work and hopefully be in bed before midnight.

As I said, much of my busyness is self-imposed, but it feels like I have less and less time as the months go by. When I think back to what life was like with new born twins, it was tiring, but absolutely less busy. I remember having hours at a time to play video games or watch TV or (gasp) do absolutely nothing.

People ask if parenting gets easier as time goes on and I can tell you definitively, no. It gets more challenging because spare time is virtually non-existent. Every minute I spend doing something I WANT to do is time away from parenting. However, I feel less guilty about taking an hour for martial arts if I modify my schedule to include more time with the twins some time that day.

That's my journal entry for the day so now on to the adventures. Story time at the library kicked off again after the summer hiatus. This time they have an automatic bubble blower so it looks like a kid-friendly disco, if you ask me.


The Library Lady told the kids to put their hands on their head so she could give everyone a stamp.


I think it was a puppy paw or something, but by the time I arrived home from work that evening it was just a smudged dark mess I thought was a bruise.

The pool is still semi-comfortable at 86 degrees so we stretched the pool time out a few extra days. Easton and I turned the foam noodles into swords and pretended to be Captain Hook and Peter Pan. We BOTH lost though because Layla squirted us with the water gun. I consider it a success though because they were as tired as me.


I'll have to talk with Kendra and justify buying any clothes for Layla for the next year. What's the point??? She'll end up wearing her princess dress all the time so why bother with shirts and shorts? Even on the sit-n-spin she's still a princess...


The sunsets around here are excellent most of the time. Easton and Layla loved running around in the park in dark.


You can see how long Layla's hair is growing. Especially since Kendra stopped cutting it (thank you very much).


The grounds keepers freshly mowed the lawn and also raked the sand around the playground equipment. Easton, Layla, and I took our shoes off and ran in the playground feeling the sand squish between our toes.


Layla's hair isn't quite as light as the picture shows, but it has lightened considerably in the summer sun.

We're gearing up for our trip to Missouri, which takes weeks of planning. It is well worth it though. The 4 Webbs are all amped to see my family and cousins. From what I heard there is a family reunion of sorts in the works including my extended family and 96 year old grandpa. Also, we'll have our next round of family photos just in time for me to finish hanging the ones from last year on our wall.

See you soon!