Fraternal Intelligence

Happy New Year friends and family,

I am more excited about 2013 than any year since Easton and Layla were born.  In 2013:

- I get my 10 week paid vacation from work
- we will take a driving tour of the mid-west
- we're going to Disneyland after 3 years of talking about it
- the twins will be five years old

- the twins start Kindergarten

During the drive home from Sacramento we were conversing and Easton answered a question with a profound answer.  I complimented him about how smart he is.  Layla was upset because she really, really likes to win... at everything.  She should have encouraged Easton along with me, but because he came up with the correct answer before she did, she said, "Easton is smart and I'm not."  I know she doesn't believe that, but she said it because she was mad about not winning and having the answer before him.  Anyway, we attacked the lie and I reassured her she IS smart.

A few days prior to the incident I found this interesting validation of measuring twin's intelligence.  The average difference in IQ for our twins is 8.4 points because they are fraternal.  This reinforces my limited personal experience with only one set of twins.  They are very close in IQ, but very different in areas of interest and comprehension.  Typical boy and girl differences apply, but that's what makes raising boy/girl twins so much fun.

I pulled together all of the Christmas 2012 odd-ball pictures that I overlooked from the past few weeks because I had so many devices to keep track of:  iphone, canon point-n-shoot, DSLR, Flip video, and Ouma's camera.  Here are the gems from our trip:

Kendra enjoyed several kid-free outings including girls night out for dinner.  These are three of Kendra's best friends from high school. They all lead very different lives and are spread out across the country, but remain friends after many years out of school.  There is something refreshing and relaxing about spending time with friends who have known you for a long time.

We didn't have room for Easton and Layla's bikes, but Ouma and Oupa still have their tricycles.  The sloped driveway provided great downhill adrenaline rushes and the court was safe for street riding.

These next two pictures describe what traveling is like with the twins.  Easton sleeps anywhere in any position as long as he has a blankie or stuffed animal to cuddle with.  He stares thoughtfully out the window observing the mountains and cars and sky between naps.

Layla never sleeps.  She just goes full speed ahead until she gets so worn out that she crashes.  She is a chatterbox with a vocabulary twice the size of Webster's dictionary.  She makes up her own words...   The never ending songs in her head come out in humming and singing during the small gaps between conversations.

Both of them are well traveled and I'm very thankful for their happy hearts in the car.  This was the first trip with big boy and big girl undies.  no pull-ups!  We had a few side-of-the-road experiences, but no accidents.  I consider this to be a major measure of a successful trip.

Easton never wears pull-ups and Layla only wears them at night.  We are almost out of the "diaper stage"!  If someone would have told me before having the twins, "kids wear diapers until their 5 years old" then my expectations would have been properly set from the beginning.  unfortunately, I had no idea about the cost or hassle or timing of diapers and the stages of potty training.  Maybe someone else will benefit from my post and have their expectations correct from the beginning.

Layla had her own friends and fun.  Her friends are as princess-like as she is.  Not sure how she learned to pose like that, but I'm happy for her friendly personality and ability to make friends.

Oupa opened up the gym for us to have our 5th annual basketball and indoor playtime.  The twins finally are big enough to play by themselves on the scooters.  That was easily an hour worth of fun.

We pushed them, they pushed us, and we even rode together a few times!  and no one was injured.  The core muscle workout was perfect for their developing bodies.

One of the highlights for Easton and Layla was Inga's house.  She is a retired Kindergarten teacher with strong German roots and a very kind heart.  She invited Kendra and the twins over for playtime and they arrived not knowing what to expect.

Inga told Kendra, Ouma, and June to rest comfortably in the living room.  Inga had appetizers and drinks all set up for the adults so they could rest and stay out of the way as she interacted with the twins.

Kendra described the playtime and it's obvious Inga really knows what she's doing.  The had a blast.  

She has a separate room full of miniature, intricately designed food and kitchen supplies.  It's difficult to see the scale, but you can see Easton's hand in the lower corner of the picture.  

They went "shopping" in the mini store and then made some real-life treats in the miniature kitchen.  Layla's love of cooking/baking just took a cosmic leap.  Easton just wants to figure out how the scale works...

Inga's collection of child-friendly equipment and ability to work with children is impressive.  I hope her untapped talents don't get wasted in retirement.

Kendra doesn't like me to go grocery shopping because I buy basket-loads of useless junk and snack foods including stuff nobody in the house likes besides me.  For example black olives, sweet white garlic, V8 juice, and pickled okra.  I convinced Layla to give the hairy, juicy okra a try and she likes it!  Easton wasn't the least bit interested, but they are both very adventurous when it comes to trying new food.  Aunt Patty gave a name to what we already implemented when the twins were just old enough to eat.  It's called the "no thank you bite".  That means the child must take at least one bite of everything served before they can say "no thank you".  They get a lesson in manners and trying new things at the same time.

I'm not making light of the mass shooting in Connecticut, but I'm a firm believer in the right to bear arms.  I believe in gun safety.  I will teach Easton how to shoot guns and more importantly to respect them.  For Christmas he was given a semi-automatic, 7 battery powered Nerf gun with a high capacity magazine with glow-in-the-dark bullets.

He learned how to load the magazine, fix it when it jams, and strategies for when to take cover and when to attack with guns blazing.  This boy has great aim and accuracy!

I spent 13 days in a row away from work!  My success criteria was met when I forgot what day of the week it is.  Is it Thursday or Friday?  I don't know and it doesn't matter.  That's when I know I'm truly on vacation.    This picture sums up my vacation time pretty well.

Lots of time with the twins playing inside during the rainy days.  I made the most of the sunny days as well with two golf outings in two weeks.  This time my brother Casey, Dad, and I sloshed through the soaked course together.  I scored par and beat Dad on the first hole.  My competitive goals were met and the rest of the round was icing on the cake.  The grass and trees and hills and sunshine provided a great setting to spend quality time with "the boys".  One day soon Easton will be able to join us.  He's already professed his love of golf and desire to play it.

We certainly packed in the adventures this trip and made the most of our time with Kendra's extended family.  We even made some advances on the continued bridge building efforts between myself and the in-laws.  2013 is starting off well and optimism abounds.

See you soon!

Snow and Vision

Greetings friends and family,

Christmas is over, but that hasn't stopped the twins from saying good-bye to everyone with a, "Merry Christmas!"  People still respond politely, but we had to have a talk with them today with the new bit of guidance so they say Happy New Year.  They embraced the Christmas spirit whole heartedly and it shows in their enthusiasm to keep it going even after the day has past.

Kendra and I are reaching some decisions for 2013 as we work through our common and separate goals for the year.  I had to start back at square one to answer the question, "Who am I?" before I could even begin to develop a vision for work, family, or ministry.  Here's what I came up with...  This is the prioritized list of who I am according to the roles I have.  If something of lower priority conflicts with something higher, then the higher one wins.  Period.

I am:

1. A follower of Christ
2. Husband
3. Father
4. American
5. Employee
6. Friend
7. Outdoor enthusiast

I'm not providing advice for how you prioritize your roles and characters in life, but this is me.  If my employer asks me to do something that is contrary to my belief as an American, then I'll find a new job.  If my country enforces something that is contrary to my belief as a follower of Christ, then I'll suffer the consequences of staying true to my relationship with God.  If I have to choose between Layla and Kendra, Kendra will prevail.

I've never seen another father with such a defined order and list of what's important to them so I had no template to work from.  It's a work in progress and I'm coachable, but you have to put some stakes in the ground sometime so it may as well be now.

The other nagging question I need to answer is:  What values do I (we) want to pass on to the twins?  I know they will see our lives as examples and get some clues, but as they come of age to understand deeper concepts I will be very clear on what matters most and what we value as a family.  A couple of baseline ideas are:

1. We are blessed to be a blessing to others
2. We lead by example and through serving
3. We do not have a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
4. Control your thoughts

there are many things in life which are out of our control, but each of us absolutely must take every thought captive or else our thoughts will control us.  These are just some fundamental pillars of what I'm working on.

Anyway, back to the daily life...  I'm still on vacation from work and this long reprieve from the office is incredibly refreshing.  I'm spending the days with the kids playing, alone time with Kendra, shopping, conversing with family, and many other highlights that I don't normally get in such a great quantity in a single day.  Little things like overseeing snack time is a real treat for me since I'm usually not around for it.  The twins are big fans of crackers with cream cheese and crackers with peanut butter.  They very specifically ask for three cream cheese and two peanut butter.  I respond with my common answer of "Why not?" and give them the exact order.

Ouma and Oupa took the twins for a special treat to tour the Jelly Belly factory.   The long ride there was enough to put Easton into a contemplative trance staring out the window.  Ouma commented on how mature he looks with his legs crossed, chin resting on his hand, and thoughtfully observing the world around him.

Put a Jelly Belly hat on them and they turn into jelly bean lovers.  pictures are not allowed inside during the tour, but Ouma stealthily took one so I could see what it was like in there.  The factory equipment wasn't running, but the educational aspect alone was worth the trip.

The 4 Webbs took an adventure trip to the snow in Tahoe.  We met our friends up there and spent a couple of hours tobogganing.  Easton and Layla were well outfitted for the nine degree weather and Isabella was a good friend for the twins.

We ate snow right off the side of the mountain, slid down the speedy slopes on our tube, and leisurely rode the tow rope up to the top for all eight runs.  that's all we had time for...

Megan and Kendra are making the most of our trip to Sacramento by hanging out as often as possible.  Megan and her family joined us for the snow adventure, which turned out to be a good experience.  The two snow bunnies were good mommies who kept the kids (and husbands) in order.

Easton learned how to make a snow ball for the first time and we had a memorable day together.

The toboggan was only designed for one adult and one child, but I have twins so we just took a picture like this while we waited in line for our turn down the hill.

By the end of the two hour window Easton was cold and done.  He was adamant about riding down all by himself like a big boy, but by the time he waited in line and finally rode the toboggan down he was so tired and done with the day.  He just laid there the whole way down.  

We left the twins in their head-to-toe pajamas the entire day.  The spiderman and Hello Kitty hats were gifts for Christmas and worked like a charm to keep their melons warm.  They both dozed off about 5 minutes before we arrived home, which is typical.

Layla had a special evening after the snow.  She and Kendra stayed the night at Megan's house for a sleep over.  Layla and Isabella are close of friends just like Kendra and Megan.  Two peas on a pod.  The evening was filled with riding Isa's scooter around the house, watching Tinkerbell, and going through princess wardrobe changes like it was a fashion show.  Pretty typical night for both of them, but together it was especially fun.

Easton asked me today if we can go home now.  I asked him why and he said, "I miss our house.  I miss my bed.  and Hootie the Owl misses me."  We'll be home soon enough, but when we get there I know he's going to say, "I miss Ouma and Oupa".  Such is life.

See you soon!

Extended Family Times

Greetings friends and family,

Christmas morning was a huge success!  Easton and Layla are highly blessed and very grateful.  Seeing their happy demeanor and hearing excited thank you's for everyone made the efforts worthwhile.  The anticipation leading up to the big day and experience of it turned into the best Christmas I've had in many years.  Especially considering I didn't open a single gift.  Disneyland is about four months away and we're going into full financial lock-down starting January 6.  Forgoing gifts for adults was a sacrifice towards making Disneyland a reality.  So back to the kid's...

Layla took a big step towards royalty with her new tiara.

Easton spent the afternoon convincing me he was ready to begin ninja training now that he has an official turtle mask and staff.

Easton's favorite gift is measured by what he played with the most on Christmas day:  The Jedi fighter.  It separates into two aircraft (one for Luke Skywalker and one for R2D2).

Layla's favorite gift is measured by the volume and pitch of her voice when reacting to unwrapping it.  The Easy Bake Oven is something she's wanted for months now.  Where did she discover her love for the oven? TV commercials...  congratulations, Easy Bake Oven's marketing team.  You successfully convinced my sweet girl that life will not be complete until she has one of these.

2013 will be the year of commercial-free TV viewing as a result of our commercialized kids.  Statistics say we are bombarded with 3,000 commercials or "marketing impressions" per day.  I want to do what I can to reduce that without putting horse blinders on the twins or keeping them in a cave.  When we are done with our DirecTV contract, the TV bill will go to zero and we will shift to 100% internet streaming solution.  The technology is here and Kendra and I are done with network TV.

Christmas morning we went to Aunt Susie's house for the annual tradition.  Easton received a new sweater as a gift this year.  He wanted to wear to the family function and guess who else had the same idea?  Brodie was dressed in the same exact sweater!  Owen (the photobomber) is Easton's favorite cousin because although Owen is older, he plays with Easton like a pal.

The 4 Webb's annual Christmas photo turned out well.  This shows what's important and how much of a blessed man I am to have a great wife and two healthy, happy kids.

Here's a way-back-when picture from the first year we brought the twins to Sacramento for the holiday season.  One of my all-time favorites:

We ditched the holiday outfits because they are all grown up now.  Same house, same tree, four years later...

We also captured a family picture of Ouma and Oupa's legacy.  Uncle Casey worked this day and was unable to make it for the festivities.  Uncle Logan and his fiance, Bree, round out the family nicely.

Kendra and Ouma joined Bree for a bridesmaid's fitting event (or whatever that's called) where the ladies gets together and figure out what dresses to wear for the wedding.  Layla was still sick so she didn't join them, but her dress was determined even without her there.

Here are most of Kendra and Easton's cousins from Ouma's side of the family.  Alexa and a few others are missing, but you get the idea.  Most are older than the twins, but there are a few youngsters coming up quickly.

Family get togethers are so much more enjoyable now that Easton and Layla can roam around the house without us having to constantly take care of them like when they were babies.  somewhere around age three life got a whole lot easier and more fun as a father.  Situations like this highlight how independent the kids are becoming and I'm glad to help them grow in this way.  

Happy Birthday Jesus

Merry Christmas friends and family,

The birthday celebration is in full swing this Christmas Eve.  I talked with my family back in Missouri and had a dinner gathering of Kendra's immediate family.  We even heard Oupa share the Christmas story straight from the Bible.

The twins helped cut out homemade cookies and frost them.  Of course, they tasted the final products.

We talked them into doing their "I don't have a present" routine, which was loved by all.  Layla gladly jumps at the opportunity to perform, but I'm glad to see Easton was willing to step up to the plate as well this time.

Ouma joined the twins in a gingerbread house making adventure.  The result looks awesome in my opinion.  She claims they did most of the placement of the dots and she just laid down the icing as a guide.  Way to go!

We are happy to have GG spend time with us during the past few days.  She and Layla did some water color painting together.  I love it when the twins get to share these kind of moments with her.

My boss asked me to join him for a round of golf.  We talked about golfing during my recent trip with him to Mexico so he extended the invitation since we both have the vacation time off from work.  I asked Dad if he wanted to join us and just as I expected he said yes.  The past four days were cold, windy, rainy, and treacherous.  This morning we woke up to mostly clear skies and relatively warm temps.  We picked the perfect day to hit the links.  We sloshed our way through the muddy, squishy course and I had to avoid casual water many times, but it sure was better than working!  

I captured the moment the best I could with the cheesy iphone front-facing camera.  at least you get the idea.    

A few days ago Layla wanted to perform for the guests in Ouma's house.  She wore her Ariel princess bridal costume and shared her rendition of Away in a Manger, which she learned from school. We were all blown away by how well this four-year-old can hold the notes and keep pitch through the A Capella effort.    I'm a proud dad for sure.


I thought I posted these pics from Easton and Layla's play practice a few weeks ago, but can't find them.  Layla portrayed Mary and did a wonderful job based on what Kendra said.

She was all smiles and vibrant.  I doubt Mary was so happy to be in such a difficult situation, but Layla is a joyful girl who never be able to play such a sad, dramatic role in full character.

Easton was a shepherd who doesn't know how to pretend smile, but I'm OK with that.  When he smiles and laughs for real, it is very genuine.

The classmate is supposedly pointing at the star as the shepherds search for the baby Jesus.

Easton's acting skills came into play during this scene where they are searching for the baby.

I was working when the play practice was going on, but I'm glad Kendra was there to represent and witness the hard work they put into the play.

That's all for today, but I'm caught up and ready for the big day of presents and extended family time.

See you soon!

Space Museum with Space

Merry Christmas friends and family,

Easton and Layla are counting down the days and marking off the calendar each morning.  Each day that passes leads to a doubling of the number of times we discuss how many days until Christmas.  I'm more excited for Christmas this year than any year in the past 20 years.  The twins comprehend enough about what's going on to make this season enjoyable for all of us.  

Oupa took Easton to the driving range for golf practice.  Easton did great according to the coach.  Afterwards, the two of them arrived home and Easton crashed out on the couch cuddled under a blanket.  Layla wasn't home to harass him out of a nap so he made the most of it.  

Ouma gives Easton regular back rubs and that's her secret weapon to get cuddles.  He snuggles with her and rests peacefully like a kitten getting a chin scratching.

There are two water color painting sets and somewhere Layla got the idea to paint her own face.  Permission was granted by the women of the house and there you have it.  Not exactly sure what Layla claimed the mask represented, but we cheered her on none the less.

Not all adventures turn out perfectly, but we keep going on new ones without hesitation.  The Science and Space Museum turned out to be one of those events.  I didn't tell Easton and Layla exactly what we were doing because I didn't want to set the expectations too high.  The twins and I, along with Oupa and uncle Casey, arrived soon after the doors opened into a building where it seemed like a great start to a scientific adventure.  Real hissing cockroaches, a screech owl, and a tarantula.  We checked out the bat skeletons and squeezed the life-sized foam human brain.

After 25 minutes of interacting as much as possible with the mostly encased-in-glass displays we decided to look for the next section.  Then we realized...  there was no next section.   that was it.  Easton and Layla began wandering the halls loudly exclaiming "is that IT?  what else can we see?"  It was a let-down to say the least.  we paid $36 for 25 minutes worth of exploration inside a small museum.  and by the way, there were zero space-related exhibits.  It's called the Science and SPACE museum, right?  That's what I thought.  Anyway, I asked to speak with the manager and expressed my dissatisfaction about bringing my astronomy-loving boy to a space museum with no space exhibits.  They promptly returned my $36 and I felt like a heel for not giving them at least a few bucks for the value of our trip there.

You can't adventures unless you go adventuring.

Easton and Layla continue their artistic training and here are two such works of art.  Easton drew himself as the red balloon between Kendra and I.  The sun is out, everyone is smiling, and I have a beard.  His name is spelled correctly with an upper case "E" and lower case for the rest of the letters.  I know it's not like a common 4-year-old in France where the artisitic expectations are much higher, but I'm proud of him for the effort.

Layla started drawing first and that's where Easton got his idea from.  She added two sugar rush towers from the movie Wreck It Ralph.  The day before I drew a painting for Layla of a few balloons held by a girl.  Just goes to show you how much kids take what you give them and build their own world based on it.

We didn't go to church Sunday.  That's right...  we slept in until 9:45, which was glorious, and then we had a pot-luck soup lunch with Neill and Jenny's fellowship.  We are spiritually drained for 2012.  This reprieve from the church world is rejuvenating and relaxing.  Exactly what the doctor ordered.  The rain and wind is a welcomed change from our dry, desert life in Phoenix.  Easton was slightly disgruntled as we discussed the previous night's sleep over breakfast.  He said the rain woke him up, but the continual downpour was music to my mid-west ears.

See you soon!