Too quiet?

Happy weekend folks,

Kendra's big birthday week kicked off Thursday and will officially end a week from tomorrow. Yeah, it's THAT big of birthday for her.

Every person has a "love language", which is another way to say, "what makes you feel loved?" One of the down falls of many people including myself is I try to show love to Kendra in ways that are MY love language, not hers. To be more specific, my love language is acts of service and sacrifice, but Kendra's is words of affirmation. The practical explanation is: Let's say I swim to Africa and dig up the most beautiful diamond in the world with my bare hands and gave it to Kendra. She'll be grateful, but she'd rather I just hold her face in my hands and tell her she is beautiful. Even though I have that bit of insight, I still mixed a little of my own style into her birthday week.

At work when I put in extra effort or do something above and beyond the call of duty, I get internal awards for 20 or 30 bucks. Over the past 6 months I've saved all my awards and gave Kendra the total amount to use towards gift certificates on whatever she wants. clothes, food, massages, movies, and a bunch of other ways to spend the money are available for her. I also picked out a dozen roses for her and brought them home on Friday. Friday night we went to our friends' house for an evening of dinner, swimming, and fellowship. There were 4 married-with-children couples all in the same stage of life and we always have exceptionally great times with them.


Kendra's cake was tasty and they decided 3 candles was better than covering the cake with 30 for fire hazard reasons.

Easton loves to wear hats as well as the various bunny ears and these Winnie the Pooh ears. He looks very GQ even in a diaper and T-shirt, doesn't he?


I just have to throw in this random picture from tonight of Easton and Layla in their bubble bath. They seem to always be right next to each other and I have to spread them out and convince them there's more space in the tub than they are using.


And now for my attempt to tell a story without giving away too much detail...


This is the large rug from our living room area where the babies play and we watch TV. You might be asking yourself, "Why is it in the backyard?" That is a very good question indeed. I gave Kendra the day off from taking care of the babies today as a part of her birthday gifts. She went to the nail salon to get her fingers and toes painted. I hung out with Easton and Layla at home while she was gone. I left the twins in the living room for a couple of minutes while I went into the bedroom to change clothes.

As I was digging around in my sock drawer I could hear the usual "moo" and "oink" and "ball". Then it became eerily quiet. I lunged towards the door, clearing our king size bed, and flung open the door to find Layla made of mess. I can't even finish the story without dry heaving so there's no need to subject you to the gross, yet humorous, details. Feel free to call me if you need a good laugh and I'll gladly explain the events leading up to throwing our rug outside. I still haven't figured out what to do with the rug.

Needless to say, now I understand EXACTLY what parents mean when they say, "it was TOO quiet"! I knew something was up. The only valuable thing to come from the experience is proof I have the daddy sixth sense to know when it's too quiet.

Kendra is out to dinner and dancing with some girlfriends so I'm sure she'll have her own stories from the day.

See you soon.

Turning Thirty and Toy Town

Hello hello,

Call Kendra and wish her a happy 30th birthday!


I can hardly believe it myself, but the day has finally arrived for Kendra to join the "adult" category since she is not in her 20's anymore. This is a picture from back in 2002 before we were married, but luckily she hasn't changed at all. Oh wait... I'll get in BIG trouble for saying that. Ahem... What I meant to say is: Kendra has "matured" gracefully over the years since we met. She truly has grown so much in her social and intellectual capacity, but I am SO glad she keeps the child-like silliness and fun factor. I hope she never loses that or my life will be b-o-r-i-n-g.

Many of her friends are a few years older so I know she's been looking forward to this day for a long time. For some reason she feels like she's "one of the crew" since she can be lumped in with the 30 something crowd. We are celebrating somehow every single day for the next week and I hope the events and gifts and gatherings are everything she hoped for.

For her birthday I gave her... two beautiful babies. Just kidding. Not about our twins being beautiful, but about them being her birthday gift.

Anyway, on to the non-stop exciting of raising twins. Apparently there is a business called, "Toy Town Playcenter" within a few miles of our house. They cram every toy known to man into a little warehouse. You pay a fee to get in and then let your kids run around like a bunch of Tasmanian devils. Not only do the kids get to play with tons of toys they don't normally see, but Mommy doesn't have to clean up the aftermath of destruction.

Here are some highlights: Layla and Easton's first car!


Easton is excited to have a one-seater so Layla isn't all up in his business.


You know how one of the common security questions they ask is, "what was your first car?" Well, Layla and Easton's response will have to be "Little Tikes"!

Here is Layla with her new friend, Emily. They are playing in the kitchen area and I can imagine Layla is trying to figure out how to get the microwave to heat her cup of soup faster. go, Go, GO!


Talk about going nowhere fast...


Sure seems like a good business model though. Maybe I should mention the idea to Danielle? She can charge neighbor kids to come over and play in their house, which is equally filled with fun toys!

Have a great weekend.

Family time weekend

Hi friends and family,

With Aunt Mary out of town we were completely without family here in Phoenix. At least we had Skype to have some video phone conversations with my family and Kendra's. We had invitations to hang out with a few friends, but ended up just spending time with just the 4 Webbs.

We ventured out to the public pool where there was a "zero entry" area. That means you can walk right into the water like at the beach instead of having to walk down stairs.



Easton and Layla drank a few gallons of pool water as they worked on their balance skills in the shallow section. The time there was worth the $3 total entry fee for the 4 Webbs even though we have our own pool. :)

As we were out shopping and running errands, Layla decided we weren't moving fast enough so she drove the rest of the afternoon.



The twins hit a few milestones this weekend. I held up the flashcard with the word "kick" on it and Easton said, "kick ball" as he pretended to kick a ball with his leg! Not only can he read and recognize the word kick, he was able to put it together with the word ball AND make the accompanying motion with his leg. Kendra and I looked at each other impressed by his accomplishment. Seems pretty good for a 14 month old, but I'm no child developmental expert.

Also Easton and Layla learned how to climb UP onto the couch. Unfortunately, this doesn't automatically mean they know how to get DOWN from the couch. We have to be very careful between now and the time they figure out the DOWN part. The concept of gravity has yet to be grasped by either of them...

After dealing with the twins arguing over a ball we resolved it with "Mitigation through duplication". This concept is very simple. two kids = two of everything. This way we don't end up walking around saying "share" more than a thousand times a day. We resolved the ball issue by buying 250 of them.



Kendra had the great idea of filling the little turtle pool with plastic balls. Now Easton and Layla can't get enough of rolling around in there.

This morning I woke up at 5 AM to go for a mountain bike ride with Judson and that turned out to be the non-family related highlight of the weekend for me.


Daddy needs to stay in shape and have some "man time" occasionally. Luckily Kendra is very supportive of my hobbies as I am for her.

Time to get back to work tomorrow, but at least it is only a 4 day work week! Kendra's parents will be here in 9 days, but who's counting?

See you soon.

Mall playground

Happy Memorial Day weekend,

The 4 Webbs are staying close to home and hanging out together throughout the long weekend. For some reason I woke up at 4:00 AM this morning. I was already planning to wake up with the twins and give Kendra a chance to sleep in. Maybe I was preparing mentally for the early wake up and baby coverage that I over did it. Oddly enough, Easton and Layla woke up earlier than normal so I packed them into the jogger and we went garage sale shopping (one of my favorite things to do for fun). If only it didn't require waking up so early to get the good stuff? We found one garage sale, nothing of interest, and burned a good hour so Kendra could sleep in.

Anyway, I caught several very expressive pictures over the past couple of days so I'll share the dining experience from the babies point of view:


Easton: I thought I ordered Chicago style pizza?


Layla: Ewwww, you're right brother. this crust is way too thick.


Easton: Excuse me, Waitress? Will you take this pizza back? I ordered Chicago style.


Layla: Waitress, you didn't just say, "no" to MY brother did you? Don't make me use the secret weapon...


Layla: That's it, I'm gonna have to resort to... My cute face! You try it too, Easton.


Easton: Is this how I make a cute face? Seems like it affects Mom and Dad MUCH more than the waitress.


Easton: Drats, the double cute face didn't work, Layla. Guess we'll have to live with deep dish.

After dinner we wondered around the mall and Kendra convinced me to play in the "Little Tot Area" of the mall. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it is germ-infested mad-house in the middle of the mall where parents sit along the edge while 50 kids run around like they have ants in their pants. I'm not a mysophobe (someone who suffers from the fear of contact with germs), but I've always had the creepy, crawly feeling every time I walk past the kids play area in a mall.

After Kendra convinced me to join in the contamination-fest I witnessed Easton and Layla interacting with lots of strange kids and playing their hearts out. Layla climbed all over everything and everyone.


and they still wound up standing close to each other occasionally.


This is how I spent my Friday evening of Memorial Day weekend:


Seems like a far cry from the crazy Memorial Day weekend adventures I experienced back in my "single days" before Kendra and the twins. Although I would gladly trade 100 of those fun-n-sun weekends with friends for just one fulfilling evening with my wife and kids. There is something magical about raising kids. At the end of every day with them my energy is completely empty, but my heart is full of contentment and satisfaction that I never felt with anything else prior to kids.

A perfect example is how I truly love Easton no matter if he feels like this:


or like this:


He's still my boy and always will be. :) Easton is becoming such a fun guy to be around.

WFMW and movies

Howdy friends,

Welcome to the wacky Webbs Wednesday wildness. I'll try to summarize the last couple of days by describing the highlights with what I call, "boo - hooray".

1. Today I skipped out of work for 30 minutes - BOO (bad employee)
So I could go across the street to the local library and spend time with Kendra and the twins at "story time" - HOORAY! I had as much fun watching them bounce around as they did bouncing.

2. Today Easton stole a nutrigrain bar from the grocery store - BOO
It wasn't really stealing, but he was SO hungry we opened the box while shopping and then paid for it along with the other $400 worth of groceries. HOORAY!


He devoured the entire nutrigrain bar followed by multiple requests for "more" both verbally and through sign language. Then I heard the word "apple" about 30 times. (no exaggeration) as we passed the fruit. just "apple, apple, apple, apple..." The boy really knows what he likes.

3. Layla had to wear a blue shirt to bed because her pajamas were covered in strawberry smoothie from breakfast - BOO
We are grateful she has clothes to wear and none of us (including Layla) care when she's a fashion train wreck. She sleeps just as soundly and is just as beautiful no matter what clothes she wears. HOORAY!

4. We live next to the railroad tracks, which have increased the number and frequency of trains - BOO
Easton absolutely loves trains and wakes up every morning emphatically saying "choo choo!" as we rush out the back door to see the train chug by. A conductor even waved at us. HOORAY!

5. Hundreds of people in our town are being laid off this week from my company - BOO
I'm not one of them, so my job is safe. - HOORAY!

WFMW (Works For Me Wednesday) - Give your kid a Nunu. Easton and Layla have slept with their Nunu every single night since the day they were born. For Kendra's baby shower Brenda Walker (DeAnna's mother) gave Easton and Layla matching Nunus. I was so happy to see she gave us one pink and one blue! Yes, I know it's lame and I should just get over it, but I'm a HUGE fan of everything for Layla in pink and Easton in blue. When they turn 18 they can pick their own colors. Until then it's pink and blue. OK, until they can ask for a different color by name, i'm going to push for pink and blue. There. that's compromise for you.

Anyway, the Nunu is a little blankie with a rabbit head stuffed animal thingy in the middle. It feels like a lamb on one side and smooth satin on the other. Here is a picture of Layla completely covered by her Nunu on the first night she and Easton arrived home from the hospital after their birth.


I can't believe she was so tiny! If you look up earlier in the post at the fashion train wreck you'll see she is carrying the exact same Nunu. Awe, that's sweet isn't it... And here is Easton strutting around with his Nunu earlier this evening.


And one other picture of Easton and Layla soaking in one last book reading with mommy before bedtime. Notice what is in each of their hands? Yep, their Nunu.


I have no idea what the day of reckoning will be like when we have to ditch the Nunu, but between now and then they get a huge amount of comfort from sleeping with the little blankies. If you choose to do something similar with your kid, please do everyone a favor and wash it once in a while. I've seen some other kid's blankies and they are disGUSTing! Caked with boogers and food and slobber, yuk. Don't worry, your kid will not abandon a freshly washed Nunu. I promise.

And now for my movie reviews. First of all let me say how excited I am to have the TIME to watch a movie or two with Kendra! Don't worry, this'll be short because I'm a "bottom line" kind of guy. In honor of Easton's affection for apples, I'll use those as the rating.

Taken - I give it 4 out of 5 apples. After seeing this awesome action/adventure, Layla is not allowed to leave the house until she is 12 years old. She can't leave my sight until she is 16, and she's never going to Europe... EVER. If you have a daughter, please be forewarned because you'll become an over protective worry wart (as if you aren't already). Apple, apple, apple, apple. Go see it.

Fireproof - I give it 3 out of 5 apples. acting deserves a 1. motivation and conviction to be a better husband deserves a 5. I only cried for the last 8 minutes of the movie and was able to blame it on allergies so Kendra wouldn't think I was mushy. Apple, apple, apple. Make your husband watch it. You'll thank me later.

Never back down - I give it 2 out of 5 apples. I'm really into martial arts, but even for me it was tough to watch all the way to the closing credits. I recognized a few fighting techniques, but don't waste your time. I can't believe it was rated PG-13? Seemed like a definite R in my book. I'd never let Layla or Easton watch that at age 13. Apple, apple. This one is rotten to the core!

One last picture I just can't help but post. Easton figured out how to put the bunny ears on all by himself! When I told Layla to put her bib on (knowing she hasn't figured out how to do it yet) she put it on top of her head. Nice try!


I love our crazy household and can barely remember what life was like back when Layla fit under her Nunu...

Have an awesome Thursday and we'll see you again soon.

Only one nap

Hello friends and family,

Easton and Layla recently made the switch from two forced, partial naps per day to one loooong nap. Kendra grew wiery of there second nap turning into a battle where the twins rolled around in their cribs laughing and talking for an hour. The result of missing the second nap would always be grumpy babies who could barely keep their eyes open close to bed time at night. The downside to compressing the nap schedule from two to one is Kendra has one break during the day instead of two... So much for Kendra's union rights!

Anyway, the twins are healthy and happy so far this week. I had some quality alone with my babies while mommy went to the gym last night. We did the usual routine of dinner, riding in the Chariot jogger to get the mail, bath, books, and bed. In between all of that I caught a picture of what happens when you don't have a big play structure in the middle of your living room:


Easton and Layla frequently play under the bar stools in lieu of a play structure. Each has a ball, each has a bar stool to play under, each has tan shorts and no shirt... You'd think they are twins or something!

On Sunday we went to our friends house for a pool party to celebrate their daughter's 4th birthday. Several youg couples with babies showed up and we all had an excellent time in the middle of the controlled chaos. Swimming in the pool turned out to be fun for everyone including the dog, Nelly! Easton and Layla were baffled by the merging of "dog" and "pool". Two concepts they had to combine in their minds to grasp what they saw.


Kendra is very creative when it comes to ways of having fun with the babies. I never would have thought to use sticky notes like that, but Easton giggled the whole time.


While I was sitting at my computer Layla came over to see what was I was up to. She usually just runs up to the keyboard and starts mashing keys. I was listening to music in my headphones so thought I'd show her how it works. I put the headphones on her head and she just stood there frozen, trying to figure out what was happening. She loves music so it wasn't hard to get her to stand still long enough to take a picture.


She is starting to to sing along with the "twinkle, twinkle little star" song and anyone who's been around her knows how strong her lungs are (that a polite way to say she is really, really loud). Combine that together and I think she may be on track for American Idol in the year 2024!

See you soon.

Lovely Layla

First disclaimer: I'm obviously not a woman nor do I have any advanced degree is psychology. As a matter of fact, I don't pretend to understand women at all. However, I've done my best to listen and learn so I can hear what Kendra and Layla need.

Second disclaimer: I'm not perfect. This post and the contents are not meant to be boastful or prideful. I have a long way to go when it comes to being the best husband and father I can be. This is just my attempt to capture my feelings and share them.

Am I lovely?

That is the question all girls ask throughout their life. Maybe not verbally, but deep down they have this burning question.

Who answers when a woman asks, "Am I lovely?" The father and eventually the husband do every day. Sadly, the answer is not always "yes, you are lovely". None the less girls DO get an answer... Loudly. There is no soft, half-hearted, sheepish response either. Even saying nothing at all is interpreted as a "NO!". All responses are thundering in volume and as bright as the sun for the girl who receives them. The question and response are unavoidable. They are life changing. They are by God's design.

Today I answer that question for the two women in my life, Layla and Kendra. I am accountable to do everything in my power for their emotional well being. Their self esteem is partially a result of my response.

Kendra and I are always working on our relationship and as this topic pertains to her, I'll leave that for another time. This post is dedicated to Layla and my fatherly responsibility to her. Among the many components of fatherhood, helping her realize the truth of her loveliness is always right in the front of my brain and on the tip of my tongue. She'll carry the question throughout life and at some point in the not-so-distant future her question will be directed at her husband.

When a father gives away a bride at a wedding the minister says, "Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?" Why does the father answer by saying, "her mother and I"? There is probably some historical, biblical, rational reason behind the way it is done, but I have my own theory. Now that I have a daughter it all makes sense. At that moment in the ceremony the father is "giving" the responsibility of answering the question, "am I lovely?" The transition of responsibility happens there at the alter. From then on the girl looks to the husband to answer the question.

BUT, between now and the time Layla gets married the responsibility is mine. She can't even say the word lovely yet, but I see her ask me every day, "am I lovely?" by the way she acts and looks to me for the answer.

Every single day since she was born I tell her she is lovely. I instinctively call her "lovely Layla" during the day and I hope that never changes. Even the first words of my home-made, ultra-cheesy bed time song for her begins with, "Lovely Layla, lovely Layla, yes you are..." And more importantly, I do my best to show her. Words without actions are more harmful than no words at all. I give her my full attention, my best hugs and kisses and cuddles, and look for ways to fill her heart to overflowing with a resounding tsunami answer of, "yes! Yes, you are lovely".

Several weeks ago my sister said something that really struck me. She said some of the things she cherishes most from her childhood are pictures of her with dad. She encouraged me to take more of those and I took it to heart. Last week I woke up one night
with one of those "Aha!" moments and I finally figured out what song to use as the background for the creation I had in mind. Then I sifted through 4,152 pictures (yes, i've taken 4,152 pictures in the past 14 months) to find the best pictures of Layla and I together.

Here is Loudon Wainwright III singing his song titled, "Daughter" as the background to my picture slideshow video. I want to make sure Layla is absolutely certain of daddy's answer... Yes, you are lovely, Layla.



See you soon.

hats and the south paw

Howdy folks,

It is, in fact, summer and here in AZ that means it is 10:00 PM and 90 degrees still. Luckily we have a pool and an air conditioner. The A/C only comes on once per day though. Turns on at 8:00 AM and then shuts off around 4:00 AM the next morning. Things are quite that bad, but then again it is only May.

Kendra and I decided to attend a local marriage conference called "A weekend to remember" coming up in June. There are several couples we know who are going and I can't think of a better way to "invest" in our marriage than spending a few days learning about how we can make it better. The timing of the conference just happens to fall in line with the start of Oma and Opa's summer break from their school jobs. How convenient? So they will spend a week here with us and a few of those days will be full-time baby sitters for Easton and Layla while we attend the conference. We are always glad to have them around.

The last couple of days were fairly uneventful. Kendra met some new friends at the Tuesday lap sit at the local library and they met today for a play date. She said the other mom's took pictures so i'll wait to get those in email before I add much detail. In short though, I'm glad she is making new friends and forming really strong bonds with the ones she already has.

Kendra brought out one of the new born hats the hospital gave us when they were born. Easton and Layla used to be so tiny these hats fit them!


You can barely see the little wispy hairs sticking out of the hat. We're happy her hair is finally growing in... slowly... Easton thinks he is extremely cool wearing a hat. He gets a big grin and giggles as he waits patiently for us to clap and cheer for him.



Layla is probably left handed. Kendra is... that much we know for sure. We suspected Layla is also for a long time because her left hand is always the messiest from eating and she grabs everything with that hand first.


As you can see from the picture Layla is THROWING left handed, which is becoming very consistent. Guess I should go purchase the left handed golf clubs and baseball glove now, huh?

We did a recount of Layla's teeth and she has TEN, not eight. Her molars are poking through so she'll be able to enjoy a big T-bone steak with dad soon. I'm just kidding. Maybe in a year or two...

Easton's vocabulary is officially too large to keep track of. I knew this day would come, but didn't realize how soon he would have such a long list of words he uses.


He doesn't like to hear the word "no", but at least he still looks up to me. :) Now, if we can just get him to stop biting???

Thanks for the comments and suggestions for how to get him to stop biting. It happens almost daily so we'll get a chance to try some of those out shortly.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend. See you again soon.

scorpion, snake, WFMW

Greetings friends and family,

The 4 Webbs have had some interesting experiences over the past few days. Some good, some bad, and some ugly.

The good: Easton and Layla both have new teeth poking through, which means they are that much closer to stop teething. Won't that be a marvelous day... Layla has 8 and Easton has 7. Plenty of teeth to chew larger pieces of cheese sticks and bananas. Another good thing lately is the addition of signing and saying Daddy more regularly. Here's a short clip of Easton and Layla showing their skills.



It does wonders for my day to walk in the door from work hearing them say Dada in stereo. The other good thing is Layla’s newfound joy of finding trash and throwing it in the trashcan. She finds the tiniest speck of crumb and will run over to one of us indicating she needs assistance with the foot pedal on the trash can. So we wonder over to the trashcan and she throws whatever she found into the trash. The only potential problem I see is that she doesn’t discern what is trash and what isn’t so we may find valuable things (non-trash) disappear randomly and we’ll have to check the trash can...

The bad: On mother’s day while exiting the church parking lot I rear ended the car in front of me as we were leaving. :( No big deal though because there was no damage to either vehicle since I basically rolled into her. THEN the next day (Monday) Kendra was running some errands and this big metal rod

came flying off a vehicle into her lane and destroyed some mechanical parts of the transmission. Fortunately no one was injured and everything will be covered under insurance, but it’s unfortunate for Kendra’s mommy-mobile to be out of commission for a few weeks.

The ugly: I went mountain bike riding with Judson and in one ride we managed to see the largest wild scorpion I’ve ever seen and the longest wild rattle snake I’ve ever seen. By wild I mean not in captivity… Anyway, the scorpion was hugely plump and hairy. Luckily he was also squished so he didn’t pose any real threat.


Still really creepy though. Then a little further down the trail Judson passed within a few inches of a rattle snake who was just trying to cross the trail. He screamed in a familiar way, which I’ve heard before, indicating he must have seen a snake. Yes, it happens often enough I was able to assume he had just seen a snake. We jumped off our bikes and took a few minutes watching him mosey across the trail. Here’s a video clip and you can hear his rattle twitch a few times.



And for those of you without video, here’s a picture:


WFMW: Now on to WFMW (Works For Me Wednesdays) where I normally do some product review or parenting technique that has proven to be valuable. Not today though… Today I need to know what works for YOU! The problem is very simple and the solution is very complicated. Easton is a biter. I’m not talking about a little nibble here and there. I mean he digs in takes a big bite. Fingers, legs, elbows, and anything in front of him gets bitten. When I asked the guru of all things related to children (my sister, Joanie) she didn’t have an answer either. If SHE doesn’t have a scientifically calculated and proven method of curing a situation, then I know I’m in big trouble.

My options are:
- Say “No!” when he does it or is about to do it (we tried this and it doesn’t work)
- Spank him, which is illegal in some states and I don’t want to argue with anyone about the virtues of spanking
- Bite him back. Kendra tried this once, but that didn’t work. Doing this over and over will only reinforce Easton’s behavior because it falls under the ridiculous mantra of “do as I say, not as I do”, which doesn’t work.

Can you help me out? What worked for you? I need options, folks! That's it for today so have a great hump day and come back again soon.

Mother's day

A big "Happy Mother's Day" to all the moms including my wife. I can't help but think of a picture I created when the twins were only a few weeks old. I knew even back then Kendra was a SuperMOM. That's why I took the time to photo-shop this thing together:


I even filled in her "red eyes" with blue to match the blue on Easton's side (it's all about the details). Most days feel like there are TWO of mommy because she does such a great job of keeping the house and the twins running like a well oiled machine.

We had a full day today of swimming in the pool, church, and talking with our families. While on the phone with Kendra's parents and GG we were able to do a simulated peek-a-boo by sitting the twins in the swivel chair and spinning them around. When they spun full circle and faced the computer monitor her parents would say, "peek-a-boo" and hold their face up to the camera. Easton and Layla giggled heartily even after the 10th time.


They are such a handful and lots of work, but without them Mothers Day wouldn't be as special around our house. This is one of those days where we feel like time is going by so fast. This is Kendra's second year as a mom and that seems so hard to believe how quickly it goes by.

See you soon and have a great week!

already gone

Greetings friends and family,

I took the week off from work and vacation time always goes by twice as fast as a normal work week. I spent the days off with my brother and his family who visited from Missouri. For one of our outings we ate lunch at Joe's Farm Grill and then wondered around their grassy outdoor area for a bit.


They left yesterday and the even though it seemed short, we loved having them stay with us. I can't believe they are already gone! Other than temperatures around 100 degrees everything else went really smooth and it was an exceptional use of the time. Easton and Layla quickly adapted to sharing between the THREE of them.


Lexi is extremely sweet and even more laid back than Easton. Kendra and I were amazed to see her playing quietly by herself on the floor while the twins napped. She didn't require constant attention or monitoring to ensure she wasn't getting into trouble and running all over the house.
Debbie and Lexi went to Kendra's mommy group and from what I heard they all had a great time.


Lexi loves the water and pools as much as our twins. My brother and I accompanied Easton and Layla (Lexi was napping) into our pool at home. The temperature was 81 degrees in the water and 100 degrees outside. Amazingly, we were all a little chilly, but that didn't stop Layla from getting a running start and bailing off the edge of the pool into my brother's arms. No fear whatsoever from that girl...

Anyway, B.J. and Debbie were able to see what life would be like with multiple kids. They did very well accommodating the organized chaos that comes from having multiple kids.


One of the fun things we did during their visit was petting the animals at Marley Farms. Although the petting zoo stable is quite small they have a huge variety of animals. I was more impressed than Easton at the amazing zonkey, which is a cross between a zebra and a donkey.


Did you know that was even possible? I sure didn't... Layla and Lexi giggled and stared at the enormous camel.


I'm happy the babies were able to see and touch these animals in real life because the animal books are much more fun when they can visualize the actual animals to go along with the pictures.

Having my brother around proved to be more emotionally stirring than I expected. Our time together running errands and hanging out was very special. Being around someone who has known you your whole life is relaxing and comforting. We have a history together and share the same blood line so there is a familiarity there, which doesn't exist between anyone else besides family.


The excellent time we had brought to light how much I've been missing out by living in another state. Now he has Lexi and we have even more in common than just a few years ago. The 4 Webbs are already anticipating our trip to Missouri to see my family in September.

See you soon!