Pajama Irony

Greetings friends and family,

The 4 Webbs are deep into the three-week-long Daniel fast, a Biblically-based diet where we eat only what comes from the ground for 21 days.  We do this each January with our church corporately to get the year started off right.  We are taking it a step further this year and trying out a full glutton-free diet to see if Easton or Layla get any benefits.  I hear going glutton-free takes 21 days before any change is noticed.  There isn't anything specific either of them are suffering from that would lead us to remove glutton from our diet.  it just seems like a good idea and good timing to give it a try.

We opened our house and invited a few friends over for Sunday lunch.  We had church Sunday morning, then people came over and stayed at our house until 11:00 PM.  So much for taking a Sabbath!  We were exhausted, but enjoyed reconnecting with our friends after being away for a month.  Chris blew Easton and Layla's minds with a tower of playing cards.  They kept saying, "How do you DO that!"

After dinner we gathered the troops and drove to Culver's for ice cream.  Most of us were in our pajamas (like my Space Angry Birds?) and went just the way were were.  Easton was not interested in wearing his pjs into public so we let him stay in his outfit.

 We had our last egregious sugar rush prior to the Daniel fast.  Easton had his chocolate scoop as expected and Layla ventured out to the flavor of the month with a vanilla, cherry, fudge scoop.    Kendra bakes so often that we rarely go out for dessert, but this was a special occasion with the crew.

The ironic part of the pajama ice cream story is how Easton refused to go into public with pajamas on, but just one day earlier he forgot to change his pajama top for our hike.

Yeah, that's Easton in his Cars 2 pajama top hiking the mountain with us.  He wasn't embarrassed and we didn't make a big deal about it.  I just think it's extra humorous how he was happily passing hikers for an hour on the trail, but couldn't bear the thought of going into public like this for ice cream.  to each his (or her) own!  We made it to the top of the first peak, but quickly ran out of steam.  They are always up for a hike, but they aren't interested in hiking new places.  We'll have to branch out soon and get some spontaneity back.

For Easton's Daddy dates he just wants to stay home and play.  I say, "What would you like to do for our Daddy date?"  He immediately responds with, "Play Star Wars!" so off we go flying the Jedi fighter, X-wing, and X-1.  He always makes me be the bad guy when we play because he prefers to be the good guys.  I'm happy with that.  I expect he will always represent good and not turn to the dark side.  My Darth Vader impersonation can use some serious work though.   We were sitting around the other day resting and I asked Easton what I can do to be a better Daddy for him.  He said, "Play more with me."  Seems like an easy enough request to me!

Layla usually wants to go somewhere for our Daddy dates.  We went for a slice of pizza and sat outside on the patio to enjoy the nice weather.  When I asked Layla what I can do to be a better Daddy she said, "more hugs and kisses".  No one besides Kendra has any idea how much I show affection to Layla.  She could be seen as a bottomless well of insatiable needs, but I know better than that.  When Layla is getting her needs met and able to receive it, then she is receptive to even more.  The opposite can occur too where if needs are not met, then a person develops negative expectations as a result of not getting the affection he or she desires.   As long as she is willing to receive my hugs and kisses I'll continue to give them!  She's a Daddy's girl, for sure.

The teacher (Kendra) is building Easton and Layla's reading skills daily.  Now that we have the fundamental skills in place it's time to learn how to use it.  Kendra went to Zumba class and I spent the evening with Uno and Dos.  After a few rounds of hide-n-seek and various play time activities we approached 7:00 PM.  Every night we have the hour-long ritual of preparing for bed time.  I wrote it out on paper as Easton and Layla participated (and agreed to) the list and the order.  Brush is the teeth brushing line item and water is the final sip of water they get since we don't leave them with a sippy cup by their bed any more.  Here's Layla reading the list:

Lists are and calendars are the beginning stages of creating a successful individual.  If you write down a list of what will be accomplished and have a calendar to think longer term than the next meal, then you're almost guaranteed to avoid poverty.  These are the basics and teaching them principles and guidelines is one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced.

See you soon!