She's Home

Greetings friends and family,

Peace is restored to the kingdom.  Of all the pictures from my Daddy week with the twins, this one is my favorite of all.  See that white circle hovering over the airport?

That is Kendra's phone responding with location information indicating she landed at the Phoenix airport.  Her anticipated arrival time of 6:20 PM was close... She was only late by FIVE hours.  Thanks, Southwest airlines.  Thanks a lot.  Her flight was cancelled, then she arrived in San Diego to find out she missed her connecting flight and then her next flight was delayed.  more drama, blah, blah and then...  She's home!

We are seriously limiting the twin's dessert times and sugar intake, but once in a while we splurge.  After eating healthy turkey sandwiches at Firehouse Subs (again this week) we walked next door to Culver's where Easton made a complete mess of his mint oreo ice cream cookie.  I'm considering this for his high school year book picture.  The chocolate smile...

Before Kendra arrived home we had one last day of the "work and school" routine.  I picked them up and went straight to the library because I received an overdue notice.  Do you know how much a single day overdue is for 35 books?  $17.50.  Ouch.  I paid the fine and we headed off to the books. I said, "you can get whatever books you want as long as they fit in the book bag."  Layla went to the I Can Read book section and chose several level 2 books to fit her current reading level.  Easton walked past the kids section straight to the adult science section.  He came to me with this massive book about the universe and asked kindly if he can get it.  Why, yes.  Yes you can.      

He also grabbed everything about planets he could get his hands on until I called it quits because the library bag was screaming at the seams for mercy.  On our way out the door Layla said, in a not-so-quiet voice, "why are people in the library so quiet?  This place could use some sunshine and dancing!"  people close by did their best to hold in the laughter, but I heard a few chuckles.

At home they did the bed time routine before dinner so we could have plenty of playtime all the way up until the last minute.  I allowed them to make dinner with me.  They came alive in the kitchen as chefs.

We made mini-pizzas from biscuits, pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.  I even let them roll out their own dough.

We learned that coconut flour is NOT the same as regular flour.  I also used too much of it so the pizzas were close to disgusting, but at least they were almost tolerable.  I took a picture of the three of us as we trashed the kitchen one last time before Kendra came home.

Overall the Daddy week was as successful as I'd hoped.  No lives were lost.  I wouldn't call it "epic", but we had many bonding moments together and lots of quality time doing normal day to day life.  They said they missed Mommy several times per day and I agreed.  I'm just as happy for Kendra to have the time away from the day to day as I am about the chance to have real one-on-two time with them.  Kendra was content with the cleanliness of the house even though the floors were a little crunchy and dirty.  She can never leave us for 7 days in a row again.  Just kidding.  kind of.

See you soon!

Mother's Day Without Mommy

Happy Mother's Day friends and family,

First, a big virtual hug and happy wishes for my mom on this special day.  I'm disappointed that I can't be there to fulfill her wish to have all of her children and grandchildren in church and out to dinner to celebrate.  I know that is what she wished for if she saw the first star or picked a 4-leaf clover recently.  I have about 35,000 pictures now and only a few with just Mom and me.  I'm looking forward to this coming summer to be there in Springfield with her and my family.

As for Kendra, she is having the time of her life without us.  Sometimes the greatest gift I can give Kendra is time away.  She should probably have a week or two per year like this where she is kid-less and temporarily removed from all responsibilities.

I made a picture slide show just for fun.  It shows virtually every picture of just me and the twins since the day they were born.  It's amazing to watch them grow up in front of my eyes when I watch this.  Kendra, as the mother who gave me these two gems, is the one who made this video possible.  At dinner Easton and Layla correctly assessment what I would be doing at dinner if they weren't here.  Layla said, "you would be sitting her lonely without Mommy if we weren't here with you."  She's absolutely right.  Because of Kendra.  I have this.  

As for the twins and I, we are doing very well without Kendra, but I can't hold the ship together much longer.  The house is relatively in order enough to welcome Kendra home after work Monday.  I cleaned the kitchen so that disaster is just a memory.  Breakfast this morning consisted of toast, cottage cheese, fruit, and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.  And we made it to church on time.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with our friend, Jacob.  He came over to hang out and we played in the park.  The twins and I had some serious bonding time this week even without going on any serious adventures.  No museums or long trips.  Just hanging out and playing whatever they want to do.  Lots of coloring, rough house, games, and puzzles.  I planned to go see a movie sometime, but we were all content with just spending time together.

The week was a success, but I can't wait for Kendra to get home.  Not because the work load is overwhelming.  I want my friend and lover back.  Even with all the music and kids screaming and appliances going, our house is still empty without her here.

One more day!

See you soon.

Wait, What Day Is It?

Oh yeah, day 4 and 5.  Howdy friends and family!

Kendra will be home soon!  We are doing well without her, but certainly ready for her to be home.  I'm navigating the ship well, but miss my first mate.  We talked a few times by phone and once by Skype.  Communication has been purposefully limited between us so she can focus on her Megan's bridal shower and bachelorette party.  Her purpose for being there is to disconnect from the day to day Mommy life.  Her secondary purpose is to spend time with friends and family.  Her tertiary purpose is to coordinate and throw her cousin's bridal shower and bachelorette party.  From what I can tell she's keeping those things in the proper order, which makes me very happy.

I took a break from the twins and went for a mountain bike ride.  I'm abusing Kendra's bike more than it's ever experienced while I make due without a bike, but it is a Specialized so I'm not worried about breaking it.  Her bike is too small, too heavy, and too squishy for me, but I was all smiles anyway.

It doesn't matter to me what I'm riding or where I'm riding.  Just getting out on the trail and climbing some hills really clears my mind.

That being said, if I had my choice of bikes I'd pick the Santa Cruz 5010. It is the ultimate dream bike.  I'm content to ride Kendra's bike, but I can still dream!   If anybody wants to buy me one I'll take a large, please.  I'll even take an aluminum version to knock $1,300 off the price compared to the carbon one.  I will have one of these some day.  It'll just take some time to save up more and wait for a used one to go on Craigslist.  :)

Saturday morning was supposed to be a time of sleeping in and being lazy.  Instead, Easton and Layla were both up and playing at 6:30!  The days of the twins sleeping 7pm-7am are probably over for good.  I can get them to bed by 7pm, but I'll pay for it the next morning with an early wake up.  I cooked breakfast as we rocked out to Capital Kings dance music.  They wanted to go for a hike so we did a new one on South Mountain called Telegraph Pass.  The climb up is really rocky and jagged, but they are skilled enough not to get tripped up.  I was relieved when we made it to the car without a single scrape or fall.  The views, nature sounds, and heart pounding exercise were a perfect way to start the day.

We picked up our friends, Ben and Trinity, who are 14 year old twins.  They spent the afternoon at our house playing.  I didn't take a single picture because I was either busy playing or busy relaxing.  Ben and Trinity and I put on an impromptu sock puppet theater for the twins.  We only made it through a few minutes before Easton stood up from the floor and attacked our hands.  Because there was no adult supervision to say, "please don't attack the sock puppets" it didn't last long.  I had to be the bad guy and deal out some consequences for the bad choices, but that comes with the territory as a Dad.  Especially when Mama is not home!

I took a twin-morph photo a year or so ago.  I updated it today, but will have to redo it because I couldn't get the angle and perspective to line up like I hoped it would.  They are twins, but putting them together makes the differences very noticeable.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'm happy Kendra is able to spend it with her mother and without us!

See you soon.

Day 3 of 7: Still Alive

Hi friends and family,

At first I was afraid.  I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side.  But then I spent so many nights thinking how you left me home and I grew strong!  And I learned how to get along.  Did you think I'd crumble?  Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I. I will survive!  Oh as long as I know how to love I know I will stay alive.  I will survive (hey-hey)

That about sums up my experience so far as a single parent.  Survival isn't a great measure of success, but let's start there.  The kitchen and den are still war zones, but all other rooms are clean (slow clap).

I have some explaining to do to Kendra, but this is me taking full advantage of having my own bedroom from 7pm to midnight every night.  It's hard to describe how much I've done with this many hours of free time.  I bought a guitar...

At work when someone recognizes me for extra effort they award me with $10 or $20 as a "thank you".  I've been saving up for the past year or so.  I used some of this well-earned play money to buy a guitar because I want to sing songs with Easton and Layla.  It's a Yamaha FG650MS and I picked it up for $100.  My fingers are raw, but I'm happy with how quickly the skills are coming back to me from a decade ago when I last played.

Today was Layla's last ice skating lesson for a while.  We jetted over from school to the rink.  Easton asked, "While Layla is skating can we talk about our day?"  I was already planning to do that, but I was shocked to hear him request that.  He didn't ask for the iPad or to go run around.  He wanted to talk with me. Layla did her "princess on ice" thing.  Easton sat in my lap with both of us facing the ice so we could talk and watch her skate.

I thought maybe something bad happened at school he wanted to discuss, but his only big topic was about... Mars.  He said, "Dad, there's water on Mars and I think I can find it."  His all time favorite movie is Rocketman, but I think he should give it a break because Layla asked, "What does 'He who smelt it, dealt it' mean?"  I could do without those conversations, but Easton loves slapstick humor.

Anyway, after ice skating they were starving so we stopped by Firehouse Subs for some dinner.

We walked out the door and crossed paths with the local firemen.  Their truck was parked just outside and they walked by us in their comfortable gear.  The twins waved and even gave a few high fives to the guys.  They were stunned that firemen actually eat at the Firehouse Subs shop.  It blew their minds!  One of my favorite memories of the week, for sure.

Homework this week was completed on time.  They are in such a great routine with Kendra that after the sand dumps from their shoes they know it is time to get homework done.  now the weekend is here and that means playtime and no homework!

I had an idea come to mind of a picture I wanted to take.  It turned out like this.

The quality of the camera and software is not the problem.  It's operator error.  I know it's not great, but it turned out OK enough to post on the blog.  Neither of the twins could imagine what I was trying to do so their patience and interest in taking pictures was near zero.  At least they got to wear costumes!  What I attempted to capture is the tug-of-war between school and play that goes on every day for them.  At this age they willingly do both school and play, but I'm sure they would rather just play all day if they were given a choice.  We go for balance in all things.

I've been up until past midnight every night since Kendra left.  My tiredness is completely my fault, but having my own "office" has been amazingly productive and enjoyable.  My office is in our master bedroom so when Kendra goes to bed it's a forced power-down of whatever I'm doing.  Not this week!  Pictures and movies and music are much more organized. I'm also reading my book, "The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church".  Such an eye-opener for the direction the church is going.  I find it very fascinating...  and I'm learning to play guitar again.  hooray!

See you tomorrow.

Day 2 of 7 : Single Parent

Howdy friends and family,

Before I get into the single parent stories, let me back up to last weekend now that the pictures are uploaded.  Our church had a cookout after service this past Sunday.  We were happy to experience our other campus because we know several of the people and met dozens of new ones.

I was proud of the twins for going with the flow because they've only been to a couple of churches in their entire life.

Other than traveling on vacation, our current church is the only location they've ever known.  that's a good thing too.  One of the most concerning trends today is the church hopping and lack of commitment.  It's easy to bust people's chops because I only had one pastor for the first 21 years of my life (Dad) and have been at this church for 7 years.  I agree with the whole "Judge not, that you be not judged" concept.  I am perfectly happy to be judged by the same standard.

Anyway, enough of my soap box for today.  Back the more interesting subjects... the twins.  They blended in and were friendly to everyone.  Made me proud of their social skills.


They rented a mobile rock wall for the kids to climb.  Every rock wall before this one had a weight limit Easton and Layla hadn't yet crossed.  This one was lenient enough to let them climb.

Easton was chomping at the bit to give climbing a try.  

He waited patiently for Layla to get clipped in and then they were off to the races.  All 8 feet of it until they were gassed out.  I didn't expect them to make it to the top because this was their first time to try it.

They were both very brave with no fear.  I was confident in the rock wall staff and their equipment.

And since this is Throwback Thursday, here is an old pic from my climbing heyday with my best friend Ryan.  We spent days and weeks at this place climbing some serious routes.   I'm ecstatic to see the twins on the rock wall because I hope this is one of the ways we can bond when they get a few more years older.

Here's a random picture of the twins with Trish, the Children's Director of our church.  They love Miss Trish and much of their happy church experience is attributed to her leadership and coordination.

Day 2 of 7 without our wonderful wife and mother.  Here are the top 10 measures of success for my single parent week:

1. The children are still alive

That's all I have to say about that.

The house is an absolute wreck.  After only 2 days the kitchen looks like a tornado blew right through our house.  Sorry.  It'll be cleaned up before Kendra gets home, but right now it's a bio-hazard wasteland.

When I picked the twins up from school they had stickers and flyers indicating it was Peter Piper Pizza fund raiser night for their school.  They asked me to take them and I gladly agreed.  cheap pizza and some free tokens seemed like a great way to burn some energy and support their school.  They hit the jackpot on tickets a few times and came away with some cheap crap that won't make it through the weekend.  They were excited to have won the tickets and for the chance to pick out their own items from the display cases.  If they're happy then I'm happy!

The twins brought out the Marble run box yesterday.  We planned to do some building, but Pizza time preempted our build time.  I woke up this morning to find Easton fully constructed one of the marble run sets.  I have no idea what time he woke up, but he waited until exactly 6:30 to wake me up as I requested.  His ability to follow instructions and build without help is growing leaps and bounds since the huge space shuttle project.

I had to slowly wake up miss sleepy-head princess.  She said she felt sick so I called doctor Kendra for a Facetime diagnosis.  As much as I hated to wake up Kendra I needed her advice on whether to go to school, stay home or go to the doctor.

Layla had no fever so it was off to school for her!  She did fine today and came home after school happy hearted and ready to play.

And the adventures continue as the weekend arrives!

See you soon.

Home Alone 7

The title of this post is not a reference to a future Macaulay Culkin movie.  It is the number of days I will be without Kendra.  I'm a single parent while Kendra is in Sacramento on vacation.  This trip will be the longest number of days in Sacramento for her without the kids since before they were born.  I'm not worried or dramatic about the single parent role.  It's just an adjustment and different than what the 4 Webbs are used to.

Over time we take things and people for granted.  It's just human nature.  Even though I agree there should be no expectations (washing clothes, cleaning floors, wiping boogers, etc.) of a spouse, I still drift into complacency about Kendra's efforts.  These days as a single parent are a good slap on the forehead to bring me back to reality and the correct level of appreciation for her.

This year I gave her two things for Mother's Day:

1. Seven kid-less days with her friends and family in Sacramento
2. The Jawbone UP24 - sleep and movement tracker

Receiving gifts is not her top love language, but I'm hoping she sees these as deposits into her love bank, which had a low balance alert for the past few months.

The UP24 was my idea because she needs to see her sleep patterns to figure out if she is getting enough sleep or waking up frequently.  If she is waking up frequently, then it will explain part of her fatigue.  I'm not sure what she will do with the information, but at least we'll know adjustments are needed if there is a problem.

Anyway, the kindergarten year is wrapping up quickly for the twins.  I didn't know this, but every year in elementary school they put on a music performance.  That means I only get to see 7 more of these.  Layla's class was on the right half of the stage and Easton's was on the left.  Luckily, I had the front row seat on the middle isle with a great view of both.  Layla is the angel on the left side of the front row.  Her purple dress was hand-picked by Daddy at Kohl's when I took the twins shopping.  The clearance price made it irresistible!  Check out how she clasps her hands like a professional.

Easton chose to wear standard issue brown cargo shorts with his new bright yellow shirt (middle row, far left).  His shirt has a robot on it with a printing that looks like the robot arm is grabbing something from the pocket.  He doesn't dislike these on-stage events, but he wouldn't request to get up and sing if he knew it were optional.

I'm proud of him for singing and participating in the event more than most of the boys who just stood around with their arms folded and mouth closed.  I give him an A for effort!

Layla was by far the best performer on stage. Her enthusiasm and appropriately loud voice brought a smile to my face.  That's my girl.

The class sang a song called "Charlie over the ocean" or something like that.  From what I could tell it was a modern-day version of duck-duck-goose.  Layla takes every opportunity to cheer for her friends.

everyone is watching a crappy movie of something happening 10 feet in front of their face.

I split my time between taking video (next blog post) and taking pictures.  I spent about half of the time with my gadgets down and just watched with my own two eyes.  I smiled, I gave the thumbs up, and I clapped.  There is something extremely powerful about having a parent's full attention and visible approval in a public forum.

Maybe Jesus was just a needy overindulged child when he was baptized by John?  Was he so insecure that he needed his father to part the heavens, send a physical representative (the dove), and speak his voice of approval?  Of course not!  I hope everyone reading this post knows me well enough to know I'm being sarcastic.  If the savior of the world needed HIS father to do that, then how much more do our children need it from us as parents?  Just something to think about.

Their music teacher, Mr. Adams, is great at what he does.  The twins look forward to music class every day.  That's one measure of success as a teacher.  I had them pose and take a picture because when I think back through my childhood there are times when I wish I had written down the name and taken a picture of the teachers that had an impact on me.

I took Kendra to the airport for her vacation week.  She looks waaaaay too happy to be leaving me!  I don't blame her a bit.  It'll take her a few days to miss me and the twins.  I am really happy for her to be gone and free from the day to day mommy world she does for months on end without a break.

I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave.  >8)

I picked up the kids from school immediately afterwards.  We arrived home and they headed to the driveway without a word or order from me.  It's like they are on autopilot, which is fine by me!  They go to the edge of the driveway to empty the sand from their shoes.  The sand is from their playground.  Layla pulled her shoe off and it looked like she tried to smuggle a sandwich baggie full of sand from school.

I looked down and noticed a huge mound of sand from the months of shoe dumping.  I pretended to freak out about how much sand was there and they laughed hysterically.

Easton earned a plastic toy spider as a good consequence at school.  He asked how to make a spider web to hang it up in his room.  After a little Youtube magic I turned a kitchen trash bag into a big spider web.

Doing these simple crafts will easily fill the hour of free time we have each night.

4-5 is homework and clean up
5-6 is dinner and playtime
6-7 is the bedtime routine
7 is lights out.

Not much time to play, but the weekend is coming!

See you soon.

Doctors and Dentists

Greetings friends and family,

The last blog post contained a "before" picture of Layla's teeth.  She bravely strapped on a gas mask, received the shots, and allowed the dentist to yank out her two front teeth.

She was the happiest patient the dentist will see this week.  I'm sure of that because I've never heard of a person so excited to get their teeth pulled out.  She proudly showed me her two teeth in the tiny plastic container the dentist gave her.

She placed the container under her pillow and woke up to find 4 dollar bills.  She said, "I know the tooth fairy doesn't exist.  You'll be the one to put the money under my pillow.  Maybe you can wear one of my tutus and fairy wings?"  I didn't agree to that, but I confirmed I am the tooth fairy who will pay her dearly for the teeth.  She put the dollars in her money containers (1 in give, then 1 in save, then 2 in spend).  My favorite part of this experience was her happy heart as she put the dollars into the correct containers in the correct order.  It's amazing what a child considers normal when parents role model, teach, and expect.

Easton had strep throat.  His quick spike in fever, sore throat, and lack of appetite resulted in a trip to the pediatrician.  They quickly diagnosed his strep throat and we immediately put him on meds.  Kendra and Layla both were tested and came back negative (hooray).  Kendra cooked homemade chicken noodle soup to help Easton feel better quicker.  He was so down and out that he didn't even want me to take a picture of him.  poor little guy.  24 hours later he was back to normal and the band played on.

Kendra wanted the van to be cleaned so the 4 Webbs and Rebehka lined up our cars for an old fashioned car wash.  Kendra started in on the van and the twins asked "can i have a rag to help wash?"  Of course they can!  Just another example of whatever the parents do (take care of their vehicles) the kids are sure to follow.  I got that from my dad and gladly pass on the tradition of taking care of what we have.

Our weekend roommate, Rebehka, joined the 4 Webbs.  Her car was dirty so she joined the cleaning bonanza.  After a few swipes with the soapy cloth she said, "I've never washed a car.  how do you do this?"   I was surprised someone could be 22 years old without ever washing a car.  Even so, I gladly jumped in with an explanation of the basics on how to wash a car.  Easton and Layla jumped in with their rags and scrubbed it clean.

Not to be left out, they asked, "Can we clean our Y Bikes?"  "Yes! yes you can", I replied.  I smiled and proudly helped them scrub the dust off their vehicles.  I was proud to see the way they put into practice what we teach them.  Now, if only they'll do that with everything we role model...

Layla's love for ice skating is growing even though her chances of continuing through the summer are shrinking.  I drove the twins over to Gilbert for Layla's lesson where she is blooming into an ice dancer before my eyes.  After the lesson was over we stayed another hour because she kept on skating and begging for more ice time.

Her balance and strength are working to her advantage.  All it takes is a little practice!  Easton spent this time working on his photography skills.  I sat him on the wall separating the hockey team's bench from the ice.  He used my camera and we played with the settings to capture these pictures.  This one below was taken by Easton.  It was trickier than it may appear because the mob of people flowing past made it a real hole-in-one to take a clean picture as she passed by.

Saturdays are crowded with people.  It is the other end of the extreme spectrum from when we were virtually alone in the building at the Chandler facility.  We took a little break as the Zamboni machine cleaned up the mess.  Easton wants to drive one.  Big surprise there.

Another spontaneous thing we did was costume dinner night.  About once per month I declare costume night where we eat dinner together in character.  We scramble to find what princess or superhero we'd like to be for the evening.  Easton and I are both Spiderman.  Layla is princess Aurora.  Kendra didn't participate because she doesn't have any costumes.  Mother's Day and her birthday are coming!  I foresee costumes in her future...

We cranked up the music and danced the night away after dinner.

You'd be surprised how much happiness can be expressed by just dancing around and being silly in costumes.

Saturday was a Daddy day because Kendra had several social and ministry gatherings.  The twins and I were at home with an hour to kill so we did one of the things I've always wanted to do.  We made a volcano.  I used a paper plate, a shot glass, tin foil, and a big cooking sheet to catch the mess.  I didn't go the extra step to use food coloring so that the eruption is lava red.  I didn't know how big of a mess it would make.  We'll try the food dye next time.

Then we spent another 20 minutes or so debriefing about chemical reactions and hypothesizing about other experiments.  I've created science monsters!  Hopefully this will continue through their schooling.  Here's a video clip of the experiment.  More than anything it shows Easton's personality.  It's not all that thrilling, but to a six-year-old it was magnificent.

Kendra leaves on Tuesday for 7 days.  That's right.  The longest I've ever been alone with the kids and the house.  I'm not scared or worried.  It's just a lot of extra effort to juggle work and kids and house.  I always have a deeper appreciation for single parents after going through something like this.  The truth is, I'll miss her very much and don't want to be away from her for this long.  I'm looking forward to Daddy Week!

see you soon