Acorn Up the Nose

Greetings friends and family,

I kept a secret from Kendra for a couple of weeks and it was very difficult not to spoil the surprise for her or the twins.  Uncle Casey showed up in town for a few days to visit us and some friends.  We took advantage of the quality time and babysitter allotment to have some fun together.  We took the drive up South Mountain just in time to catch an amazing sunset.

The goofy look on my face was intentional, but I hoped another picture turned out better of the three of us.  This one is it! Also, he was standing on a taller rock.  Casey is tall, but I'm not THAT short.

Kendra and I shared a few brief moments hanging onto each other and enjoyed God showing off through nature.  Was nice to be kid-less for an evening and share an adventure experience with Casey while he was here.  We went to dinner at Los Dos Molinos, an authentic Mexican restaurant, because it was on the way to South Mountain.  Almost 11 years ago I proposed to Kendra in our back yard.  Then when we went straight to a party where my group of 20 or so friends were waiting on our arrival.  They sang "for he's the jolly good fellow" and celebrated with us.  This momentous occasion took place at Los Dos Molinos.  We've only been back there once since then so revisiting our engagement night memories was a welcomed walk down memory lane.

This is the best sunset picture I captured that evening.  I'm hoping to take a shutter bug friend or two sometime up here to be shown how to take more vibrant pictures.  I'll put that on my sabbatical "to do" list.

I've been recovering from my vasectomy relatively well and now the feeling is changed from being kicked in the privates to just being annoyed by the persistent caution I have to take.  I was finally able to carry Layla to bed tonight.  She's been asking me patiently each night, "can you carry me to bed yet, Daddy?"  We have that as part of our routine and I'm glad she missed me doing that while I recovered.

We went to church on Sunday and while it was uncomfortable I still managed to sit through service and get on stage to give the offering message.  The afternoon was spent birthday party hopping.  First to Pastor's house for his granddaughter's three year old birthday party.  Layla was one of the first ones in the water and wanted to keep her tiara on.  Kind of completes the Ariel swim suit and princess character, huh?

She quickly found the social friends and paddled around in the pool for the leisurely afternoon. 

Easton found his buddies and the dare devils were doing kamikaze cannonballs into the hot tub.

We had to talk them down from the tall water feature in the pool because they were trying to figure out how to jump from it into the pool without hitting the step.  No trips to the hospital yet for Easton or Layla.  I want to keep it that way...

As I drove to the gas station with the twins Easton was talking about an acorn he kept from church.  He wanted me to look at it, but since i was driving I told him I'd check it out when we stopped.  As I pulled into the gas station Layla says, "Easton stuck the acorn up his nose!" in her best tattle-tale voice. Then I hear Easton start to panic and realize this is not a joke.  I jump out and open his door.  His head is tilted up and I'm freaked out because if he sucked it up into his sinuses that would mean a trip to the hospital.  I peeked up his nose and could see the edge of the nut.  Whew! Then all I had to do was convince him to blow as I massaged the nut down out of his nasal passage.  That.  Was.  Disgusting.

We talked in lengthy detail about the potential dangers of putting things up our nose.  Once I was convinced he and Layla caught it (understood it) then I made this proclamation: "From this moment forward we will never discuss the nut in the nose again.  Do you understand, Layla?"  She agreed and Easton agreed.  I did this because he was concerned about feeling shameful about it later.  He knows his sister well enough to know she'll tell everything to everybody every chance she gets.  If I hadn't said that then Easton would have had to relive the painful event 100 times over the next month.  I can understand that.  Nobody wants to be the butt of a joke or story even if it's true.  No guilt, no shame, what's done is done!  That's how we roll at the Webb house.

This morning at 4:30 AM Layla crawled into bed with us.  She had some bad dreams and needed a little cuddle time.  After 15 minutes or so of cuddling with me and being consoled she was ready to walk back to bed.  I lay there wide away for another hour.  I got out of bed and went to do some work on the laptop in the den.

Big Time came out of his room at 6:30 AM, which is incredibly abnormal for Mr. 7:15 on-the-dot.  He walked straight over to me and said, "did you superglue my space shuttle's rocket booster like you said you would last night?"  Wow.  He woke up early because he was excited for me to fix his space shuttle.  I forgot last night...  oops.  I asked if he wanted to go for a Daddy date to eat breakfast.  He hesitated and then asked to stay here.  Then I said, "What if I superglue the part now?  do you want to go after that?"  "YES!" he said enthusiastically.  I figured out that his hesitation to go eat was because he just wanted me to glue his rocket.  We glued it and headed out the door.

I saw an add for a Dunkin Doughnut breakfast sandwich somewhere last week and since it was close to our house we went there.  As we sat down to eat I put my hand on his head and prayed over him.  My prayer was way to long to be considered a simple, meal-time prayer, but I took the opportunity because it doesn't come along often for us to have boy time.  I prayed a special blessing of favor over him, affirmed him as a boy growing into a young man, and thanked God for giving Easton as a gift.  I watched him absorb and receive every word I spoke over him.  We ate the sandwich and then decided to eat our doughnut at the same time to show Mommy how silly we are.  I counted "1, 2, 3" and he tricked me by not putting it in his mouth for the picture.

We went through this trickery cycle a few times and were laughing so hard that the other patrons were staring at us.

We had so much fun talking and laughing. I felt bad because everybody else slithered their way in looking like a cross between the Grich who stole Christmas and a troll.  Apparently since they didn't have their coffee yet we were a disturbance to their grumpiness.  So be it!  We got a few smiles and nods from those who's day was brightened by hearing the laugh of a child.

See you soon!

5 Webbs? Not a Chance.

Today is a sad, painful day for me.  I endured a MAJOR surgery, but am safe at home recovering.  The classification as "out-patient" doesn't convey whether a surgery is major or not.  It's a major surgery because it was on my body.  When another guy goes through it, then it's "trivial".  Today will forever be known as "V-day".  Forget Valentines day or Victory day...  The V stands for vasectomy.  I had such a low number of soldiers we went through the process of IVF to get Easton and Layla.  Even so, there was always a chance we would turn into the 5 Webbs.  Kendra and I agreed on our third date that we both want exactly two kids.  That's not a typical third-date conversation topic, but it was important for us to find our commonalities in the spiritual and the natural world.  

The day the twins arrived we reaffirmed our desire to keep the man-to-man defense in place.  Since them when we see other families or a struggling single mother chasing down five kids through a Walmart we would look at each other and silently smile knowing we are content with the 4 Webbs.  One pregnancy, one boy, one girl, and one sleepless year, and one diaper stage (that lasted 5 years).  Not a single day has passed where we thought, "we really need to have another kid".  Some couples want zero, some want 10 and crazy people on TV want 19.  It's all good and I don't disparage anyone for their choice for the number of kids they get.  We just know our own limits in parenting abilities and what we can handle.

Kendra consistently asked me for the past 5 years to get a vasectomy.  I outright declined and spent numerous brain cycles thinking of reasons not to do it.  Fear, low pain tolerance, unfounded internet chatter about increased testicular cancer, and all kinds of madness.  If it were up to me I would never get a vasectomy.  ever.  Not because I was unsure of possibly wanting have more kids in the future, but because I hate pain.  Especially voluntary pain where I sign up and pay someone to inflict it.  Tattoos?  No way.  I'm a wimp and I know it.  

Kendra finally convinced me to do it with very few good consequences in her argument other than "no more babies and no more worrying about it!"  If you consider the average child costs about $1 Million, then paying $1,000 to avoid the cost of an additional child seems like a good investment.  I finally gave in and scheduled the consultation.  I showed up and my first question of the East Indian doctor was, "how many of these surgeries have you performed?"  He said, "Over 700.  I've been doing this for 10 years."  I was looking for excuses NOT to do this and his inexperience was off the table as one of them.  I read through the three-page informational print-off and all my myths and concerns were dispelled.  

After I ran out of questions and he ran out of patience for my barrage he said, "when do you want to schedule the surgery?  How about tomorrow morning?"  Whoa...  you mean 18 hours from now?  It takes me longer to choose what basketball shoes to buy than that and this guy who I never met before wants to cut on my sensitive parts... tomorrow?  Again, I ran out of excuses why not to do it and sheepishly agreed.   

I'm not a big worrier, but I hate pain and there was no way around the truth of how much a vasectomy hurts.  Kendra drove me to the doctor's office with the twins in tow.  I explained enough about the surgery for the twins to know I was going to get a shot, but that's all they need to know.  

The two ladies in the room watched as the doctor started tinkering with my private parts.  Talk about awkward...  The nurse lady held a hand on my shoulder to comfort me and the other lady just stood there without saying a word, staring the entire time.   Thank God for Valium.  I popped two of those before entering the surgery room.  I can't tell if they did any good or not, but at least it was a placebo if nothing else.  

I was breathing deeply and sweating like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.   The doctor kept holding up needles, scissors, soldering iron, instruments of mass torture, and other things I just didn't have the breath to ask what they were for.  The procedure was over in 38 minutes.  It felt like 3 minutes... under water...  with a crab firmly gripping my groin.  I fractured the tibia bone in my leg once.  That hurt worse.  Other than that incident I can't remember a more painful feeling.  

Yes, it sucked, but if I had to do it over again I would go through with it.  Even though I'm still in slight discomfort and have yet to enjoy any of the benefits, it's the right thing to do (for me).  I should have done it 3 years ago.  When a kid is young it's difficult to tell whether they will have health issues that may kill them.  If there was even a slight condition that could prove fatal for Easton or Layla I would continue to wait for the vasectomy.   If we lost one or both of the twins I would definitely want to try for another.  However, once we knew Easton and Layla were both healthy and had the right start in life to be happy and productive, then that should have been the decision point to have the vasectomy.  

I've spent the last 24 hours following the doctor's instructions:  A bag of frozen peas resting gently for 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off.  I spent all day yesterday laying down, but this morning I woke up and cooked breakfast for the kids and I.  Kendra had some one-on-one time with a friend  so I hung out and played board games with the twins.  It's finally over and things will slowly get back to normal over the next couple of days.  I'll be at church tomorrow and back to work on Monday.  End of story.

Here's all the stuff that happened before I was rendered impotent:

Easton finally earned the right to go mountain biking with me.  He passed the three tests, which consisted of three rides through the neighborhood, canal trail, and around the duck park.  We rode part of Desert Classic on South Mountain and he loved it. I enjoyed it more than he did because I've been holding my breath for 5 years to see whether he would like something I like.  There are several things like dancing and singing that he really dislikes.  We don't push either of the twins into hobbies or activities they don't like.  Our job as parents is to bring them up in the way they are designed.  You know those pushy, angry fathers of high school football kids?  the guys who push their kids to do the thing they did or weren't able to do?  Well, that's rubbish and we are the anti-rubbish family.  My job is to help Easton and Layla discover their gifts and talents, then enable them to pursue what they want and be as good as they desire.  

Anyway,  Easton laughed and screamed for joy the entire ride like it was a roller coaster.  He held on tight and pedaled with all his might.  

I'm excited he had a good experience and is looking forward to the next time we get to ride together. He dropped my bike after this picture and was worried about whether I would be disappointed or sad.

Even though the bike costs about $5,700, I just got down on his level and gave him a hug.  I said, "Daddy's not mad.  It was just an accident.  Besides, it's just a bike.  Your heart is more important than any thing, including a piece of metal."  He agreed and understood.  That moment of showing him how much more valuable he is than any thing I have was worth the whole trip.  Many more to come!

The hot tub is officially open for summer.  Today marks 25 days in a row of above average temperatures here in Phoenix.  The water is 76 degrees and the twins are loving the early swim season!

On Tuesday night I had the evening with just the twins and I because Kendra went to her Bible study ladies group.  I thought for a few minutes about what to do and remembered how Bass Pro Shops has a free kid's night every Tuesday.  We showed up just in time to watch the live feeding of the fish in the enormous aquarium.  There were about 15 kids lined up along the aquarium edge.  Easton and Layla were the most expressive with their loud exclamations and vocabulary.  A few other parents giggled and made comments to me about how lively they are.  Other kids sat there like stone statues, but the twins were doing a play-by-play commentary.

Then we went up stairs to the archery room where they had the chance to shoot a real bow and arrow.  The area was equipped with two lanes so they shot simultaneously.

Layla took on the character of Merida.  Her eyes lit up when she hit the target.

Easton was mildly impressed, but he's my "future oriented" boy.  The first thing he said afterwards was, "When can I get my own bow and arrow?"  Looks like we'll be making a trip to Dick's sporting goods soon.  They have the real-deal setups for $15 (cheapest I could find).

We wandered around Bass Pro looking at the stuffed animals and boats and fish.  So much to see there... It's like a museum where they sell lots of stuff.

Layla picks out her outfits most days.  She wore Ouma's hand-made dress one day, then slept in it, then wore it again the next day.  At least she changed her underwear.  The hat was given to her by Aunt Mary.  She received numerous compliments during her errands with Kendra that day.  I expected the attention from other shoppers to stop after the first year or so with the twins.  People don't talk to us as much as they used to, but everywhere we take them they get lots of smiles and friendly comments.  

Layla decided to paint Easton and Will's face.  She got the idea from the face painting our friend Tam does.  Her creativity and artistic abilities are getting a good boost in the right direction.  Her confidence and pride in her work is increasing at an incredible rate.  Can't wait to see what she does with her life.

See you soon!

Easter Funny

Happy Easter friends and family,

Kendra and I made a conscious effort to be intentional about explaining Easter this year to the twins.  For the past few weeks (yes weeks) I've been singing Like A Lion by David Crowder Band as Easton and Layla's bedtime song.

I usually let them choose what song I sing, but since they know this song I was able to show them the slideshow of pictures and explain the details of Jesus' death and resurrection.  They saw "The Bible" series from the History Channel and parts of the crucifixion scenes (they aren't too gory).  Our conversations and focus and music and church were all very much dedicated to the truth of the reason for the Easter celebration.

On the other hand...  We had a great time together doing the traditional, worldly version of the "holiday" as well.  Kendra took Saturday off from the kids and I had a great Daddy day with them.  We ate breakfast together, then straight to the somewhat local park where half of my town showed up.  They had two baseball fields full of eggs.  Just the 5-6 year olds surrounded the entire field perimeter.  It was insane, but the part of the magic was being a part of something so massive.  Here they were eager to get started.

They were very self-controlled as they stood patiently looking at a ball field full of eggs while the others slowly lined up.  Some kids weren't as patient and parents were chasing a few kids around like chickens across the field.  Not sure if you've ever seen anyone chase chickens, but if you have that's what it looked like.

The announcer said, "go!" and off they went.  They were polite and efficient at the same time.  When their baskets were full they came back to show me their loot.

I think they had around 14 eggs each.  As we were leaving the field I noticed another girl who only got a few eggs and her Dad was consoling her.  I described the situation to the twins and then let the wheels turn to see what they would do.  They decided and agreed on their own to give the girl one egg each.  That made her day and mine.

The most proud moment of the weekend was seeing their self-control and their giving hearts on full display.  They are following directions well and making good choices on their own to share of their abundance.  I can't ask for more than that of my soon-to-be Kindergartners.

They enjoyed breaking open each egg to discover the treasure inside.  I was completely unsatisfied because the total take on the day amounted to about 7 cents worth of useless junk.  no candy, just tiny erasers, tattoos, and stickers.  I didn't dare ruin it for them, but if that were my Easter hunt I'd be disappointed.  lucky for me this was all for them!

Easton liked the jumpy plastic frog and the rubber popper thing best.  They each gave me a giraffe sticker, which I proudly wore on the front of my shirt for the remainder of the day.

Sunday was an excellent day.  Church was good and we spent lots of time before and after with our church family.  The twins are fast becoming local celebrities because of their social personalities and smiley faces.  We took a few pictures on our back patio and these are my favorites.  Like I said...  smiley faces.

and the 4 Webb's official Easter picture!

We invited my friend and his Dad over for lunch.  They were both thankful for the home cooking of Kendra's big Easter meal and the chance to hang out with us in the afternoon.  We hid 30 eggs stuffed with coins and jelly beans in the greenbelt.  Easton followed Layla around and picked up the ones she carelessly walked by.  She was interested in the easily found eggs.  Easton wanted a challenge.

The twins recovered all but one egg.  I guess we hid the eggs so well that even the adults couldn't remember where they all were.  Layla became a little too competitive when Easton started finding more than she had.  Nothing a little side-conversation about sportsmanship couldn't fix.

This was one of those weekends where I was as sad as Easton and Layla about going back to work on Monday morning.  Not because I hate my job, but because I love being at home with them and Kendra.  I care less and less about work each day as I get closer to sabbatical.  less than 4 weeks away!  I am so excited to be away from work and with my family for that many weeks.  the countdown is on.

Game Night Coming Soon

Greetings friends and family,

Another week closer to the longest vacation of my life and we're sprinting to the finish.  The progress is most notable in our garage.  We've lived here for over a year and until last week we only made enough room in the four-car garage for one car to park.  I know, it's almost silly to think we are that unorganized and lazy to have such a problem months after moving into the house.  No matter, it is what it is and Kendra completed her refinishing job on the filing cabinet which we use as a night stand.  My goal this week is to do a home makeover comparison between the original pictures I took when we moved in and the latest and greatest.  Kendra did several projects to use what we had available to furnish the rooms.  Anyway, just planning and setting the stage for the next few days.

We are eeking out the last bits of spring weather by taking daily trips to the variety of parks nearby.

Easton's measure of my success as a father is based on whether I play with them at the park or not.  Occasionally I'll just let them interact with other kids and only jump in as referee when strange boys throw sand in their hair.  The twins much prefer when I play chase or Star Wars with them on the playground equipment though.

They can read!  The first book they learned to sight read is Hop on Pop.  That's a peculiar coincidence because they regularly  hop on pop for real as we rough-house and wrestle.  I keep trying to capture that in a picture or video, but it's difficult to film or photograph when the two spider monkeys are jumping from the top ropes of the couch and kneeing me in the stomach.  They are both very proud of their accomplishment as readers and we are even more proud because they achieved this (small) milestone so early in life.

Part of the reason they love to read so much is because all do it so often.  By we I mean Kendra, me, and everybody else who hangs out at our house for any length of time.  Matthew came over for an evening to hang out with us for dinner.  As we were preparing the meal he helped calm the twins down for dinner time by reading the next chapter in Peter Pan.

Did you know Wendy get's shot with an arrow and falls to the ground?  The movie doesn't show that, but the book does!

Easton isn't very excited to be on video so it's a rare occasion for him to perform, so to speak.  I captured this short clip of his Hop on Pop reading.

Layla has always been the creative type who loves to be called a great artist.  She beams with pride when I compliment her drawing abilities.  Her face looks a little less excited in the picture than she had in the moment because the sun was in her eyes.  I was impressed with her flower and the colors.  She's already a better artist than me!  I know that's not saying much, but I'm continually surprised by how creative she thinks and how well she's able to put the ideas on paper (or cement).

Unlike Easton, Layla loves to be on video.  She performed an improvisational dance to the Thomas O'Malley Cat song from Aristocats.  I'm absolutely certain this video will show up during her high school years.  She's awesome for so many reasons.  I stopped counting long ago...

Easton's interest in aerospace and flying things continues to increase.  He got introduced to Legos over the past few months and now he's able to follow instructions fairly well and build his own flying machines.

Easter is here and nothing makes Easton's day more than a postal-delivered card and chocolate.  He asked me to read it to him several times.  I could tell he was doing his best to memorize the words so he could sight read it.

I surprised the twins with a new game.  One that shaped almost all of our generation X lives... Uno!  Come to find out, they already knew how to play from the church kids.  We also added Candyland to our repertoire of household games.  The official game night at the 4 Webb's house has yet to be declared, but soon we will have a weekly night dedicated to teaching (appropriate) competition, how to win gracefully (ahem, Layla) and lessons about how life isn't always fair or about winning.  Let the indoor games begin!

My mentoring group of 5 guys is going very well and we are through two month's worth of interactions, Bible memorization, book reading, and communication.  The next book is already loaded into the Kindle and the spine is broken, digitally speaking.

I'm only in the first chapter, but I can already tell this is going to be right up my alley.  My favorite chapter 1 quote is:  to the degree you face and name and deal with your failures as a leader, to that same extent you will create an environment conducive to growing and retaining productive and committed colleagues.

What has two thumbs and a permit to carry a concealed weapon?  This guy.

Yep, the state of Arizona has one less gun-ignorant citizen.  Now I know the laws for, proper handling of, and different types of guns.  I love this state.  Castle Doctrine is awesome.  I had a friend of mine send me a message as a result of my Facebook post about the gun safety class.  He asked, "Do you think Jesus would carry a gun?"  Ummmm...  I don't even know where to begin to address this level of stupidity.  So I didn't.  I learned a while ago that it's not my job to criticize others or change their minds about anything.  I resigned that job and gave it back to the rightful owner in Heaven.

Kendra is scheduled to attend next week's class and I'm looking forward to her feeling more comfortable about having a gun in the house.

See you soon!

Why I Chose Mommy

Greetings friends and family,

Disneyland tickets, Disneyland hotel accommodations, and our flight to the mid-west are all purchased!  Even though we've been saving up for 5 years to experience the vacation of a lifetime it was still difficult to pull that many dollar bills out of my miserly hands.  After I grieved parting with such a large chunk of change I slowly came around to be giddy as a school boy for what's on the horizon.  I'm 32 days away from taking my 10 week sabbatical vacation.  My desire to finish strong at work over the next few weeks is devolving quickly into an I don't care anymore attitude.  Pray for my strength and focus to see this work stuff through to the end.

I don't have too many new pictures, but our friend Betty has a bunch to give me from her and her daughter's time with Kendra and the twins.  Betty and her family have become good friends with the 4 Webbs and I'm excited to have them be a part of our lives more.  Betty and her teenage daughter, Mariah, joined the two of us to see Phil Wickham in concert.  He was only on stage for about 45 minutes, but the evening was worth the pricey tickets just to enjoy his music live and be with Kendra.  

I'm taking more video clips lately just for fun.  I captured this two minute clip of my conversation with the twins.  The topic began with Easton asked why I chose Kendra as my wife.  He said, "Why did you pick Mommy?"  aaaaaaand go:

There are so many reasons I chose Kendra as my wife.  Her beliefs and mine are the same in every way.  And by that I mean much more than just we are of the same religion or have the same background.  We literally agree on every point of every scripture in the Bible.  We are in agreement.  That power is one of the biggest boosts to our marriage and to each other individually.  It's very refreshing for us to get beyond petty arguing over convictions or principles to a place where we can link arms and take on the world together.  She is becoming my best friend more day by day and I'm thankful for all of her qualities.

One silly day as we were hanging around at home together I put Layla on my back and spun around in our living room really fast while capturing a selfie.  I am becoming less serious every day thanks to Easton and Layla's fun personalities.

This past week was very long M-F because I had lots of work while Kendra manned the house and taught school.  Even so, she was willing to let me take a trip to Sedona on Saturday to ride with my new friend Bob.  Bob is a guy from church who rides lightening fast.  So fast that it motivates me to ride better.  We rode for two hours and 30 minutes.  My legs and lungs and heart really had a big work out!

Layla is fair skinned as you can tell by the picture.  I think that's because she is part Native American Indian (from me) and part angel...  what.  have you ever seen a dark skinned angel?  just sayin.

Will is fitting into our family well on his two days per week with us.  Kendra seems to be doing a good job of teaching while not losing focus on the twins.  He's a good kid, but it's amazing how much easier it have patience with my own kids more than another.

Easton and Layla decided to do my hair up in bows.  The two of them clipped and poked every bow in Layla's collection to my head.  I sat there patiently waiting for their imaginative work of living art.  Wow, I look old and scary...  One of the many reasons I enjoy being with the twins is that they could care less how I look or what condition I'm in.  Their unconditional love for me is amazingly fulfilling.

I shaved my beard off again (you're welcome, Mom) and got a refill on my contact prescription so I'm on my way to a decent make-over.

See you soon!

Tomatoes and Bells

Greetings friends and family,

The video of our "Power of Safety" message is online now so let me know if you want the URL. Our friend Betty and her daughter took several pics of us and I'm really glad she was able to capture the occasion.

When you teach, you learn.  That's the best result from our many hours of preparation and research and quality time together.  The response of people coming forward at the end to receive prayer and talk with us was overwhelming.  We spent the entire next week fielding phone calls, texts, and emails from people who are in the situation we were in.  The short version is that we are a miracle.  Our fulfillment of our marriage and family is only possible because of what God did through us and for us.

OK, so what's this have to do with the adventures with twins?  Well, the main thing the concept of "safe relationships" produced was a safe household.  By safe I mean a place where:


- Basic needs are met
- Love is given and received
- A person can grow towards maturity
- trust is given and received
- freedom to serve others
- emotions can be expressed
- relationships grow strong and healthy

Sounds like a great environment to raise kids for greatness, right?   The best part is that we don't have to be perfect, but we do have to work on this daily and learn from our mistakes.  Speaking of raising, guess who has tomato plants growing?   These two...

We water every day and just like the instructions said "after 7-10 days" we see the sprouts coming up.  Easton and Layla are amazed each time we go out by how quickly they are growing.  I got the idea from their green-thumb cousin farmer, Silas.

Easton has been chomping at the bit to get on the trail-a-bike with me.  He wanted to go straight to South Mountain to do some serious mountain biking, but I yielded to Kendra's advice and took him for a ride on the dirt path by the canal.  He was expressively cheering and screaming the whole time we rode.  The reward for his good riding skills was to share a frosty at Wendy's.  I told him to give his tough-guy look. After I took the picture he said, "I don't have a tough guy look!"  That's fine with me.

These are special bell flowers that bloom in our backyard. These are Layla's favorite of all the growing things in our yard.  She picks them off one by one, smells them, and gives them to me to put in my pocket.  I have the best smelling pink pockets of anybody thanks to this little girl.

She strolled into the den waiting on me to notice her.  As I looked up from my computer and placed it aside we had a lengthy conversation about here three babies.  That's right, she has triplets.  :)  I tell her regularly how wonderful of a mother she will be some day.  Some day far, far, far in the future because I just can't fathom the idea that Layla will ever not be in our house.

Easton and Layla are the perfect age right now.  My limited view on raising children suggests that probably age 5-7 will be the best years of parenting and then things will get a little more difficult.  Although with the right attitude and perspective every year will be delightful in its own way.

See you soon!