We like to party

Greetings friends and family,

We are in the midst of a record breaking week of partying.  We hosted 4 parties in 3 days.  Could we have planned better to avoid this?  Yes, but hind sight is always 20/20.  We ponied up and took the challenge head on.  Our teamwork was top-notch because we had no choice. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you commit to doing something.  So here we are doing everything in excellence and to the best of our ability knowing that Monday is a holiday and we will certainly rest!

Party #1: The Valentines Gala event for the Young Adults.  The truth is that Valentines Day sucks for singles.  There is no way around this.  We are the young (single) adult leaders so I decided to plan for and host a Valentines Day Gala event.  I only take credit where it is due.  Believe me, I'm taking every bit of credit for pulling this off.  It took about two weeks of planning, phone calls, trips to the store, and an army of guys.  We (the guys) did 100% of the work with a single purpose in mind.  We wanted the ladies to be treated to a night of being loved the way God loves them.  I worked with the guys all week long and it took several discussions for them to really get it.  We helped the ladies feel WELL:  Welcomed, Enjoyed, Loved, and Led.  A completely self-LESS night of giving our best.  These is the team of well-dressed guys:

 and here are the lovely ladies we honored:

Two men were outside waiting for them to arrive.  They escorted each lady via the rose petal-covered walkway and entrance to the house.  We cooked and served a meal consisting of three different entrées and dessert.  Each lady had a (very expensive) rose she raised when she needed something.  The team of guys performed like a well-oiled machine and the ladies were incredibly impressed.  Here is the table.

The men made sure the ladies did absolutely no work, but instead just enjoyed their time together.  Kendra helped quite a bit before hand because when you stick 6 guys in an unfamiliar kitchen (or any kitchen for that matter) it is difficult to know where things are.  Everything worked out well and I was extremely happy with the results of our efforts.  I asked Kendra if she had any feedback or heard anything from the ladies that we could have done better.  Nothing!  whew...  that was worth it.

Everyone left around 10:00 PM and we started cleaning and preparing for Easton's birthday party scheduled for the next morning.  We stayed up late then hit the ground running to get everything ready.  Before Layla left to hang out with her friend I took a picture of the two of them in front of the TMNT themed backdrop, which Kendra made.

The table was set up with cupcakes for the friends and a big turtle faced cake for Easton.

The banner with his name and some TMNT pictures from Etsy were hung on the wall with care.

His good friend, Zander, was first through the doors.  Easton had enough masks and weapons for each of the four friends to join in the costume fun.

Kendra made Sewer punch from lime sherbet and ginger ale.  The boys got a real kick out of drinking sewer punch.  go figure....

 Lunch time went well as the boys were introduced to each other.  As expected, they could care less about the decorations and didn't consider the amount of effort Kendra went through.

We didn't wait 30 minutes after eating lunch before getting into the water.  We didn't even wait five minutes...  straight to the hot tub for turtle time.  

I asked the boys to give me their toughest turtle impression and this is what I got. Makes me laugh every time I see this picture.

Easton blew out his candles and dove face first into the delicious cake.  I had to drag it away from him half way through the enormous piece because of his eagerness in devouring the whole thing.

Easton is a big fan of opening presents in front of the guests.  We let him and I'm very proud of his responses and level of excitement for the gifts he received.  Here is his friend Will telling him how to play the Angry Birds game he just received.  

The party was wildly successful.  Easton was happy and all of his friends said they had a great time.  Kendra was right to guess that boys just want to play star wars and TMNT all over the house.  I'm happy we didn't go to Chuck E Cheese or a bounce house.   We may do that next year, but at age five the simplicity of just creating an atmosphere of playing is all Easton wanted.

Next up:  Layla's princess party!  and my mentoring group dinner (party #4).

See you soon!

The Gift of Photography

Greetings friends and family,

A basic premise I've come to accept is that you can't be anything you want.  You can only be more of who you already are.  With that in mind, I'll apply the same concept to my photography skills.  If I spend my life trying to improve my skills from a 2 to a 3 (out of 10) then I'm wasting my time working on all of the areas I lack just so I can be almost average.  I'm not being hard on myself, it's just a realist view of my strengths and talents.  I take about 5,000 pictures per year because I need enough shots to get a few good ones for the blog.  I don't think anyone would visit here if were just my written words.  I don't wield the English like a sword in the way my friend Ryan does so I do a combination of taking enough pictures to display the glory of the twins and add in commentary so it's not a slide show.  Hey, whatever works right!

Every now and then one of our friends who has the shutterbug talent comes along and gives a treasure trove of good pics.  One such occasion is when Kendra and the twins went with their friend Kayla and her mom Betty.  Since I was working during this adventure (somebody has to, right?) I don't have any comments for the pictures.  Here's a slide show of Easton and Layla's trip to the zoo!

Build and Grow

Greetings friends and family,

The 4 Webbs are gearing up to host 4 parties in 3 days.  Craziness abounds.  We still have time in the midst of the planning for quality time together though.  We made a picnic lunch and a blanket to enjoy the near-perfect weather.  Kendra and I even spent a few minutes lying next to each other in peace while the twins played tag around us in the greenbelt.  That moment was one of those "please, nothing change... ever" moments.  I wouldn't go so far as to describe life as perfect, but I couldn't write a movie scene any more desirable than that.  Layla danced around in her princess way.

Easton screamed and ran around like a warrior on a battlefield until I mentioned his new Batman watch.  He stopped in his tracks and describe the awesomeness of his first-ever watch.

We played Star Wars with large chunks of tree bark as guns.  Someone noticed the sticky tree sap on the weapons of bark destruction.  Like Sherlock and Watson and Princess Watson we traced the sap back to the tree it came from and investigated what happened.  Somebody cut off branches of a tree and we were privileged to see the hardened, crusty sap, newly gooey sap, and fresh sap still oozing out of tree.  We spent the next 20 minutes touching, smelling, seeing, (no sound or taste, thank God) the sap.  Such curious kids.

The balance we are trying find is how to encourage their curiosity and questions against "slow obedience".  Every time we give a directive like getting a cup, it turns into a big explanation session.  We're working to have them obey first, then ask questions second.  that's tougher than I thought.

The twins are still working to establish boundaries and learn how to respect each other's boundaries.  Layla occasionally hits, kicks, pushes, steps on, or slaps Easton.  Thank God he is a patient and kind-hearted.  He does really well to control his emotions and not retaliate.  I find that as long as he has a chance to express his side of the story and be validated, then I give him a hug and say, "Thank you for not reacting and coming to talk to me."  Then I give Layla a chance to explain what happened and why.  Next comes the discipline and forgiveness routine between them.  30 seconds later they are back to playing as best friends.

I took the twins to the Lowe's Build and Grow event, which is held every Saturday.  The pre-packaged project comes with nails, stickers, instructions, wood, and hammers.

I had to supervise one step at a time with each kid.  It would have been better with Kendra instead of going back and forth, but she made good use of the non-kid time.  Easton got the hang of hammering quickly, but Layla kept choking up on the handle and trying to muscle the hammer down instead of swinging it from the end and using the leverage to get the momentum.  They certainly are unique when it comes to what each one excels in.

The best part of the project is that we finished it!  There's a certain confidence that comes from never giving up and seeing something through to completion.  It's a "Wheel of Love".  Like a wheel of fortune device where the spinner has a window that shows something Easton and Layla can do to show love.  I woke up this morning with Easton in my face quietly holding up with Wheel of Love.  He whispered, "Dad, you get two spins today because I love you."  I landed on "give a compliment" and "draw a nice picture".  He said, "You're handsome even though your breath stinks."  Thanks, Big Time.

I had the twins the entire day Saturday while Kendra worked around the house, attended a baby shower, and went out for a birthday dinner.  One of my activities included a surprise with my friend Scott.  I won four tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters!  Our seats were not in a great location, but they were close enough to see the action and keep the twins' interest.

They put on a good show, but I they make everything look so easy that Easton and Layla didn't grasp one bit of the excellence and talent.

Layla's favorite highlight was the half-time show.  A flood of cheerleaders from a local dance school did a few routines.  Easton said, "this is borrrrring".  Layla said, "Dad I want to do that my whole life!  Can I do that and ice skating and soccer?"

They are so different and that makes life interesting.

See you soon!

The Big Five

Greetings friends and family,

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Easton and Layla!  And a hearty "congratulations" to my wife and mother of the birthday twins.  She deserves a celebration as much, if not more, than Easton and Layla.  She already cried out the tears yesterday as she absorbed the fact that the twins are growing up and growing independent.  Her role in their life will decrease as they head off to school in six months.  That's worth celebrating, but also has some grieving associated with it.

The first day of their life they depended on her for everything.  milk, comfort, warmth, protection, cleanliness, and every other minute aspect of life.  There is no magic wave of a wand that happened today on their fifth birthday, but in looking back over the mountain rage we climbed together as parents, the truth of how old they are sets in quickly.  Kendra is still the full-time stay-at-home mom, but they are increasingly interested in their own dreams and goals and interests more than just "Mom".

I'm very proud of the kids Kendra raised so far and the first five years are so critical that it's hard to even put into words the sense of urgency required to be good parents right out of the gate.  Some parents figure it out later in life when the kids are 12 years old or already moved out.  For them, it's usually too late.  My heart is content knowing we did our best so far and have few regrets over the time and money and effort spent to lay the foundation as solid as we did for Easton and Layla.

Their home schooling is coming along great.  Kendra acquired some curriculum as well as ideas online.  They seem to be getting the concepts well, but in their own individual learning style. Learning math is much easier when Layla uses fuzzy colored balls and Easton uses toy planes.

I took off work for the their birthday and we had a great hiking together.  We wandered around the hole-in-the-rock park so much they were completely worn out when we were done.

The hike up to the hole was quick.  We sat out on the edge and surveyed the whole city with the panoramic view.

We stopped by the two ponds to explain the difference between marsh and swamp.  They are so comfortable being right next to and showing love to one another.  Yes, Easton is wearing his TMNT shirt again...  for the third day in a row.  It wasn't dirty and he is so into the turtles.  he wouldn't be considered the "stinky kid" at school, but wearing the same shirt three days in a row is a bit much even for a home schooler.

We had a little history lesson about the former governer of Arizona, George W. P. Hunt.  He's dead... and buried in the pyramid tomb on top of the hill overlooking the city.  It was kind of creepy so I skipped over the mummy / zombie folklore.

Here is the best picture of the day in my opinion.  The 4 Webbs tackling a mountain together turned out to be the perfect birthday activity.  Free, adventurous, interactive, and outdoor.

We also had a birthday dinner at home where they ate Kendra's homemade Snicker Doodle cookies with strawberry ice cream in the middle.  Kendra and I sang the birthday song as a duet.  Although the day wasn't extraordinary in fanfare, it was a good celebration and family time together.

Next weekend we'll have Easton and Layla's separate parties with a few of their closest friends.  Kendra is in the planning, coordinating, purchasing phase of the party.  From what I've heard i'm sure they will enjoy their special birthday gatherings.

I'm excited for this year of their life.  The plans we already have in motion for the 4 Webbs will most certainly prove to be our most adventurous year yet!

See you soon!