Ready to Bike

Greetings friends and family,

I'm a Craigslist fanatic.  Easton and Layla are not interested in riding their bikes without training wheels.  I read somewhere not to force the issue, but I really want to get some more serious riding in with the twins.  The best option I could find was the Adams Trail-a-bike.  Retails for $225, but I'm not about to spend that kind of money for a one-wheel heavy trailer.  I searched on Craigslist for a few weeks and found a deal.  $50 for a used one that was in brand new condition except the hitch was missing.  I bought it and had the $20 part shipped to my house. Ta-da!

Easton was raring to go as soon as I clipped it on my bike.  Layla took some convincing, but once Easton excited screamed about how awesome it is, she was willing to give it a try. She said, "I'm a little nervous so stay on the sidewalk, OK?" 

Easton wanted another turn around the neighborhood.  I think he's a mountain biker in the making. 

I can tell we're going to get plenty of use from the trailer.  I'm relieved we got such a good deal because after a couple of years of use I'll be able to sell it and make a few bucks.  I inherited a little bit of the Webb wheelin' and dealin' gene, but i'll never get to the level of my Dad. 

Easton's first sleep over was a success for him and for the other three Webbs. We slept in on Saturday morning because Easton wasn't there to be our first alarm clock at 7:15.  Talk about a major victory!  I took Layla for a Daddy date first thing after we woke up.  We rode to the local grocer where they have an outdoor eating area.  I brought a backpack full of breakfast and we shared a meal while enjoying the lovely outdoors.  She screamed with joy as we rode quickly down the path.  That was by far the fastest she's ever been on two wheels, but she's brave.

We were singing together and telling jokes back and forth.  A group of snowbird ladies from Kansas stopped by and struck up a conversation with us.  They said she was delightful and they were impressed with how sweet she is.  That's not just a proud Dad saying it!  A group of random ladies thought so much of her that they felt the need to stop by and brag on her themselves.

Easton's sleepover was successful because he didn't get injured and he had a blast.  His friend's dad said they stayed up late and wore each other out all morning playing.

He took a nap this afternoon, which is extremely rare.  Even more odd was that he came into my room as I was posting stuff to sale on Craigslist.  He climbed up into my lap and just laid there comfortably.  I asked if he wanted to have some quiet time in my bed and he immediately walked over and crashed on my bed.

A few nights ago my longing for a fresh Krispy Kreme doughnut became so great that I packed up the twins and Kyle and drove 20 minutes to the closest one.  Easton likes Oreos almost as much as me so he chose the Oreo one straight away.

The hot, fresh light was on so we indulged in the cakey goodness.  Layla asked to wear her bridal veil and princess dress and princess shoes.  Everybody enjoyed her grand entrance to the store.  She won over the hearts of the cashier ladies and they gave us two fresh, free glazed doughnuts.

My craving is satisfied for another few months now.  I'm starting to get revved up for Andy's frozen custard in Missouri when we travel there this summer.  mmmm...  my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

See you soon!

The New Kid

Hello friends and family,

Tonight is a big step in our parenting world.  Easton is staying the night at his friends house.  alone.  without me.  I know...  it's not THAT big of a deal, but I'm having the hardest time accepting the fact that Easton is self-sufficient enough to spend the night somewhere else.  His friend's family is one I trust completely since they are good personal friends of ours.  It's not an issue of trust.  It's just me struggling to let go of the bedtime routine and the healthy interdependent relationship we have.

Kendra and I took Layla to the mall for some alone time with just us.  We gave her a few options and said, "we can do anything you want tonight!"  She requested a trip to mall for a cruise through the Disney store, a pretzel with cheese, and swinging from our arms as we gallop down the halls.  During the short drive to the mall Layla had a frown and furrowed brow.  She stared sadly at the seat where Easton's car seat usually stays.  She said, "I miss Easton."  After arrived at the mall everything turned bright and sunny for her attitude.  After dinner she said, "this is the best day EVER!"  My, how quickly her mood changes.  All I do is love her through it and encourage her when she's down.

Will, the part-time student staying at our house, is getting acclimated to the Webb academy of education. Easton is happy to have him around (most of the time) and he's fitting in well.

I mean, really well.  Book time dressed as superheros is extra adventurous when Kendra adds her spirited acting skills while narrating the stories.

Having Will at our house is really good for Layla because she's learning to do her own thing once in a while.  She's such a social butterfly and leader by nature, but it's good for her to sometimes follow and sometimes do her own thing.

During Easton's first year on Earth I took a picture of him wearing my Lakers jersey (Sorry GG).  I didn't plan on it being a yearly thing, but here it is:

He wasn't and isn't the least bit interested in watching basketball, but he's a good cuddle bug even when he was still a one-year-old.  Not yet able to walk masterfully so I had to get this picture just hanging out sitting on my lap.

When he was two he was stable enough to stand and take the picture in the jersey, but still couldn't see his toes under the extra long length.

At three he was starting to get the hang of wearing Daddy's baggy shirt around the house.

By age four he's able to recognize the Lakers logo and knows basketball is a sport.

Now at age 5 he has his own kid's goal in the back yard and likes to make baskets.  I think he may be onto something here, but it's still to early to know if he'll be tall enough to be competitive.  or if he'll even care enough about sports to have a competitive spirit.  Either way, he's growing into my jersey nicely and I'm proud of his progress.

I found another Discovery Kids Fort set (on clearance at Khol's for $12) to make an uber fort in the great room.  I made a sturdy play structure for the twins to play in and it has held up relatively well.  Our friend Matthew came over to have dinner and ended up in the middle of a Star Wars ambush.

He's a good friend and loves to hang out with the 4 Webbs.  He sure knows how to get involved!

Every day Easton and Layla ask me "is this a work day?"  and I give them the count down for the week.  Well, now that the weekend is here it's time to play!

See you soon.

Preachers and Farmers

Greetings friends and family,

For the past two weeks the 4 Webbs were on full isolation lock down from the outside world.  Easton and Layla were still our top priority, but from 8-11 almost every night (and several hours on some days) we were preparing for our first attempt at preaching a full sermon.  OK, maybe not so much preaching as it was teaching and not so much a sermon as it was a testimony of our marriage.  At any rate, we sacrificed TV, household chores, friends, dates, book time, alone time, and gym time. This was the largest collaborative effort Kendra and I have ever undertaken.  An unexpected joy that I received from our message was how great it was to have Kendra's undivided attention for so many minutes at a time.  She was probably tired of me, but I loved every minute of it.

I'm proud to proclaim, "We did it!" and we did it well, with excellence.  The preparation, teamwork, delivery, and results were nothing less than amazing.

The twins survived double church class without any hiccups.  They've never had to be there for two services in a row.  We weren't concerned about it, but they did really well with spending almost 5 hours inside a classroom.  Especially considering the weather is perfect today.

So after the fanfare of our incredible morning, I offered Easton and Layla an option of going to watch our friend's son race on the BMX track or taking a hike.  They chose to head out for the mountains for a hike.

I'm happy to report we made it to the second peak and back to the car without a single injury.  Hooray for coordination and balance!

They were great hikers.  We talked with each and every person we passed or who passed us.  Who'd have thought hiking was a social event?  These two do...

Layla decided she wasn't interested in going to Home Depot for a tomato plant.  Easton and I dropped her off at home and went searching for the necessary components to produce our own tomatoes.  We had the pot already.  The only three things we needed were seeds, soil, and a cage.

Layla joined us two farmers in her princess gear and promised me she wouldn't get them dirty.  We added the rocks in the bottom, soil, and seeds one at a time.

Layla brought the watering can and we made the shift from pretend, imaginary gardening to "the real deal"!  We'll know in seven days whether we have green thumbs or just another pot of useless dirt.

Another shift from imagination to reality is makeup.  Layla rediscovered her cell phone makeup kit when I rescued it from the Pilot center console during a recent trip to the car wash.

I watched as she gently applied the gooey, brown chunk of mascara onto her half-closed eyelid.  Here she is squinting and asking if she looks good.  As always, I know how to respond...  Yes!  She's always asking, "Am I lovely?" and these are the moments when I have a chance to be her inner voice that will carry throughout her life.     

Kendra and I took a lunch break during our on-stage practice run.  We don't get many babysitting dates and it was difficult to consider that we could spend our entire window of opportunity on the stage at church.  We cashed in our Groupon for sushi with delicious raw fish.  yum.  We sat quietly a few minutes with our heads resting against each other and our eyes closed.  We were both so glad to have a few minutes of public alone time without the kids.

Another week in the books and another week closer to my sabbatical in less than 8 weeks!

See you soon.

Breakfast Boys

Greetings friends and family,

The twins have a new twice-weekly playmate.  We decided to take Will, their old class mate, into our house during the day for the next few months.  His Mom knows us well and wants will to be in a loving environment with schooling discipline.  Kendra believes she can maintain the same level of learning growth for the twins and bring Will up to speed as well.  The extra few hundred dollars per month will offset some of Obama's tax increase and help us stay above water between now and my sabbatical.

I told Easton and Layla we get 10 million pennies per year (just for round numbers sake) and they were blown away.  They must think we're the richest people in the world now.  It's extra entertaining to watch them divide up change from my pocket.  all coins are equal in their eyes and the ones with ridges must be worth more, right?

Easton made a special request to have some boy's time with just us two.  I told him if he woke me up early the next morning that we'd go to breakfast together.  Just like clockwork he gave me the nose-to-nose wake up at 7:15.  We loaded up the car still wearing our morning breath and drove to the local breakfast greasy spoon.  He wanted pancakes.  I wanted him to learn to use a knife.  We both won.

I've been stepping up the responsibility and risk taking slowly over the past few weeks.  I say something like, "You are five now and I know you can do it!"  They always prove me right and then act confidently proud as if they knew all along they could do it.

We ventured out beyond the greenbelt to the canal.  We saw big carp swimming, a couple of ducks landed in the water and seashells litter the edge for a few hundred yards.  We trotted along finding new things to investigate while joggers and bikers went by.  I put on Layla's Disney princess cape because they wanted me to be Darth Vader.  I also took the cap gun along because they wanted me to be Han Solo later.

The scene reenactments didn't take any audience into consideration.  The family that walked their dogs, the jogger, and the group of teenage boys all smiled and watched as they went by.  I don't mind wearing a pink cape or pretending to shoot the bad guys.

Having so much fun with Easton and Layla is worth way more than any pride I may feel to be "cool" to a bunch of strangers.  It's taken a long time for my imagination and play skills to come back, but luckily kids take a while to get to this stage of life. 

Kendra and I are still spending every single spare second working on our message for Sunday.  As I reflected last night on other collaborative efforts I realized this is the most intense team work we've ever shared in our history.  Spending one or two nights together on a home project or something is about the extent of our collaboration.  I'm enjoying this way more than I (or Kendra) thought I would.  It's nice to pull towards a common goal and work hard on something together.  

Only three more days until we get to share our story.  I'm not nervous about Kendra or how it will go.  My small amount of anxiety is because I understand the responsibility and magnitude of what we're taking on by standing in front of the church.   We're turning our marriage and struggles into an open book.  Vulnerability is scary, but without risk there is no reward.  

The greatest compliment we could receive is for someone to say they were encouraged and hopeful about their own life after hearing about ours.  

See you soon!

Give and Receive Love

Greetings friends and family,

I'm sitting at my desk at work eating lunch.  This is the only time I have to blog and I'm even having to sacrifice time in the gym because I have so much to blog about.  My usual late night routine and blogging  was allocated for the past week and will be until after Sunday.  Kendra and I are speaking at our church on Sunday.  We've both taught and spoke at various small venues, but this will be the opportunity of a lifetime (so far).  Our senior pastor will be out of town and he's turning over then entire service to us.  This is incredibly humbling, to say the least.  We're using every spare minute to develop the content, practice, and prepare.  I'm excited about it and can't wait to share our story and teaching to others who desperately need it.

Last weekend was my birthday.  I didn't want a party or any big fanfare because I don't look forward to birthdays anymore.  That switch from excitement to disdain occurred somewhere around 30 and I've been wanting to avoid birthdays ever since.  None the less, Easton and Layla think everyone should have fabulous parties and celebrations.  What I really wanted was to ride my mountain bike and be away from my little three mile radius of church, home, work.  I joined a few friends at the McDowell mountain trails and followed it up with a burrito lunch.  Taking a Saturday morning away was a great treat.  As much as I love Kendra and the twins, I need some guy time too.

For my birthday I requested an impromptu photo shoot.  This is the way I want to commemorate my day.  Just being together for dinner and cake time is enough for me.  

I also talked them into making a LOVE sign.  L is for Layla, E is for Easton.  It fits well...

Kendra made a home-made chocolate cake with the right amount of frosting.  She loaded it up with candles and the twins joined her in the birthday song.  The three of us blew out the candles together and chowed down.

One of the new standard operating procedures we implemented at the Webb house is the bedtime routine.  They are starting to read well, but i put the pictures there just to give them a little help.  They pointed out that books should be between pink juice (mouth wash) and bed.  I'll need to work on version 2.0 this week and resubmit to the committee for approval before hanging it on the fridge again.  From 7-8 PM every night of every week of every month this is what I (we) do.  OK, maybe once per week I'm gone to some other engagement, but the probability is very high this is what I'm doing from 7-8.

The Chariot CX2 is gone!  The unit with all accessories retails for $1,550.  I know... that's insane.  We paid $600 on Craigslist five years ago when it was new in the box.  Some guy had twins and then learned he had cancer and couldn't physically get out for exercise any longer.  Sad situation, but we were happy to get such a great deal.  We just sold it for...  drumroll...  $600.  That's right!  we used this for free for five years.  Can't as for a better buying and selling process than that.  So long, Chariot.

Why did we sell it?  Well, the twins are old enough to ride by themselves and I continue to hold tightly to the idea that we shouldn't do anything for the twins that they can do themselves.  We took the longest ride yet by riding to In-N-Out burger.  When I baited them with a chocolate shake and hamburger for dinner they suddenly found plenty of energy to ride all the way there.

Layla fell as she was trying to cross one of the streets and the cars attempting to turn in the lane were kind and patient as she picked herself up and rode across the street.  I was freaked out because I told her to go back and wait on the cars to pass because she fell within 2 feet of coming into the street.  Instead of listening she got back on her bike and peddled across where Easton and I were.  Lesson learned for both of us.  They go first, then I go behind them.  duh...  and Layla knows not to waste time by waving to the line of cars waiting on her to cross.  She thought it was like a parade.  Oh, Princess Layla...

Jacob came by on Sunday to hang out.  He had the bright idea to throw the ball on the roof and wait for it to roll back down.  The twins found this repetitive task to be extremely fun.  45 minutes worth to be exact.

He's a retired police officer who carries cuffs around.  This is as close as I ever want Easton or Layla to get to hand cuffs ever again.  They thought it was fun, but didn't understand the point of them because their hands are small enough to slip right out.

I alternate taking one of the twins to the mailbox each day alone.  Layla wanted to ride our bikes together yesterday.  That was a welcomed change because I'm used to carrying them piggy-back style normally.  I found a dandelion on the way back and Layla was more than happy to make a wish and blow the fluffy bits away.

There is another unwritten rule I have around our house for adults.  You must accept all gifts from Easton and Layla.  period.  Kid's are giving by nature.  They might say "mine" a thousand times when they are two-years-old, but by this age they should be learning to share and, most importantly, learning to give.  At their age they have nothing to really give me.  I am the bread-winner of the family.  I bought everything they have. There is literally not a single thing they can give me that I don't already own.  BUT, when they do give me something it is still an expression of love that I enjoy.

Layla gave me a rock from our yard.

Yes, i know it's just a rock.  However, it is special to her because it is sparkly, which means it's special to me because she was willing to give it to me.  I make a big deal of every gift no matter how big or small because I want to encourage giving as much as possible during these early days.

See you soon!

Uniqueness of Talents

Greetings friends and family,

Five years ago today my Uncle Dave passed away.  Does it feel like Easton and Layla are five years old? Yes! because I've been with them virtually every single day since they were conceived.  Does it feel like Uncle Dave's been gone for five years?  No way.  Seems extremely odd to even consider it's been that long, but it truly has been.  One of the benefits of living in this house is how I get to see Dave every day in it.  I spent the 13 years on and off making memories.  Every time I turn on a light switch we replaced together or hear the sound of ice cubes hitting the bottom of his plastic cups or pull into the carpet-covered driveway I think of him.

He could never take the place of my Dad, but he supplemented my up-bringing.  He believed in me, supported me, advised me, and taught me.  Since he left I've been alone in my indecision.  I know it's part of growing up and becoming a man, but I'll never get too old that I don't seek wise counsel.  Even the oldest man on the planet should be seeking wise counsel from those youngsters who are more expert than he in some area.  

He was more than willing to call me out on my faults, but equally willing to be open with me about his.  I never saw him as "perfect".  If I did, I couldn't relate to him.  If he had tried to pretend to be perfect I would have rejected the relationship on grounds of lying and deceit.  Thankfully, he didn't accept my imperfections by condoning them, but he accepted me in spite of them.

I know... blah, blah, blah, now tell me about the little monkeys!  Their home-schooling skills are difficult to measure day-to-day, but their hearts and minds are growing in ways I can see.  Layla free-handed me a picture of her and I together.  Both smiling as we hold hands.  So what if I don't have eyes.  The fact that she perceives me as bigger than her, loving, and involved is all I care about.

Dino Dan on the other hand isn't interested in imagination drawing.  He learned how to do a color-by-number project and his first request after finishing and posing for this picture was to hang it over his bed.  He takes pride in his work and completed the task to the best of his ability.  and he knows how to pronounce euoplocephalus (You-oh-ploe-seff-ah-luss) That's my boy...

Easton also expresses interest in golf.  When I mentioned the idea of playing in the greenbelt his first request was to bring his clubs.  I'm doing my best to keep his basics fresh until Oupa has another chance to start up lessons again.

He's happy when he swings.  His natural smile is the sign of a boy who enjoys what he does and does what he enjoys.   Layla was off looking for bugs under the rocks because if she doesn't "get" something within the first few minutes it becomes laborious.

Conversely, I asked him to sing a few lines of the Peter Cottontail song which he and Layla both know.  He almost broke down in tears at the thought of performing alone in front of me alone.  No biggie.  I gave the stage to Layla and she sang it like the national anthem at a baseball game.

Our neighbors across the way fly the confederate flag.  I've GOT to get to know them better.  Those are the kind of neighbors you want to have as friends, not enemies.

One morning I woke up at 3:30 AM and couldn't go back to sleep.  I sat in the living room working on my laptop.  Just like clockwork, at 7:15 Mr. Happy Sunshine came out of him room and cuddled with me on the couch for a bit.  Then, as if he's reading from a script every morning he says, "I'm hungry, Dad".  The two of us watched the sunrise through the bay window as we conversed over a bowl of Fruity Cheerios.

The girls slept in and we quietly enjoyed the morning together reading books and answering the never-ending questions from Easton's inquisitive mind.  I enjoy Easton at this age so much that I want him to be 5 forever.  If only...

Layla pulled out the aerobic steps and the weights.  She claimed they need to exercise like Mommy and Daddy.  She lifted the weight over her head and did a little dance followed by a one-legged pose.  She successfully combined Yoga, weight lifting, Zumba, and P90X all in one moment.

Easton wanted his turn.  As I've said before, all boys ask the question, "Do I have what it takes?" whenever they attempt something.  I cheered him on and congratulated him for lifting, not one, but two weights over his head in a military press.  I won't let him in the gym until he's 14 or so, but he's got a good start to a healthy workout routine.   

I can't get this iPhone picture to rotate, but as I was working at my desk one day the twins came in to hang out.  They stood around for a bit, then sat down, then eventually laid down.  I couldn't bore them enough to leave so I just took a picture instead.

 It's such a privilege to enjoy Easton and Layla.  Quality and quantity of time will continue to decrease as the years progress so I'm taking every opportunity to make sure I have no regrets.

See you soon!