Happy Mother’s Day! LDS.org showcased a Mormon Message on mothers today with the phrase, “Life didn’t come with a manual; it came with a mother.” (Of course I was bawling before the thing even began. I hate Mormon Messages. I always turn into a puddle.) I spent a large part of church going potty with the big boys, going to the mother’s lounge with Keller, and thinking about all the mothers, mother-friends, and mothering I have in my life. I thought about how Christ loves His mother and how He teaches us the best way to love, serve, and teach others—which is what parenting is all about. Strangely enough, the phrase, “Neither do I condemn ye” has been going through my head. Christ lifts us up and teaches us a better way. He never damns our progress. He helps us build bridges and use them. Isn’t that part of what we should do in all of our relationships? I’m grateful for mothers. I’m grateful for my Savior who allows me to have mothers and be a mother eternally. What a gift. Thank you.

Levi practiced “I Often Go Walking” all week (without prompting). He pointed on the “of you.” When the time came for him to actually sing it in sacrament meeting he walked up with the other kids shyly but confident. He pointed exactly right. And he’s extremely proud of himself. As he should be. I doubt the other Sunbeams could sing all the words right—but maybe they could. I don’t think I saw any of the other kids…Then Wesley played the piano for the Elders’ Quorum to sing “Love At Home.” He had also practiced all week. What a great way to celebrate. Lincoln gave me the paper he colored on in nursery, then kindly asked for it back. And this morning all three little boys greeted me with a kiss instead of screams. Oh the wonder!

We’re all a little sick with a new round of something. Allergies? Something else? Who knows? Lincoln had a follow-up doctor visit Friday. Dr. Holmes checked all of their ears. No infections, yet, but they’re all on the brink. Hopefully it will clear up with rest? Keller has so much eye drainage that he can’t open his eyes in the morning. Poor guy! Still, he smiles through it all.

Since it is officially summer term, Wesley can work from home as needed. He’s been coding, researching, and learning about Energy Institutes and what they do. We enjoyed having him around for lunch for two days. Going grocery shopping is a totally different experience with two adults involved! Welcome summer! Yesterday we organized an end of the semester gathering for Wesley’s research group. We met at a park, grilled hamburgers, chicken, and vegetables and talked away. I brought cookies. Obviously, I do not appreciate homemade food. Eating with them always makes me want them to come over so I can feed them. One girl had only eaten jam for three meals in a row! We had a great time and took notes on how to improve future gatherings—especially since we’ll organize more of these when Wesley becomes a professor. Such good people.

Wesley and I had a tender experience this week. Wesley and his good friend/colleague had a misunderstanding on Wednesday. This friend helped us find our house, has watched our kids, and is just a good, thoughtful, hard-working man. Wes felt sick about it (and spent about two hours composing two e-mails that were about a sentence each). We stayed up talking about how to repair the damage, understand our friend, and show increased love for him. Both of these guys are so solid and humble that they smoothed it out fairly easily the next day. The conversation we had was invaluable, though. Working through conflicts (however small) really can strengthen relationships. I wasn’t involved directly—yet I still benefited! I feel like the Spirit helped us all grow, individually and together. Isn’t it amazing how God uses even our mistakes to teach us and help us grow?

Also on Wednesday, we had some friends over for dinner. We met them at the park. The boys love Eli and Laurie and I just click. Lincoln let Eli sit in his chair. Levi let Lincoln sit in his chair. Keller waited patiently while I helped Eli with his soup. Then Keller gave up on me, grabbed his bowl of applesauce and lifted it to his mouth. Levi giggled, “Keller’s drinking his applesauce!” And so he was. When you need something, why yawp? Just figure it out. Wes went to mutual and our boys played. Laurie felt like Eli was all over the place; I thought it was one of our quieter, more civilized meals! They just bought a house so we won’t be in the same neighborhood. Thankfully, we can still be friends. I love friends.

We’re trying to figure out how to teach ourselves and our boys about interacting with others and sharing attention. Please share your ideas! Levi had some perfect behavior and then some perfect meltdowns. Lincoln ran away a few times. Keller screamed. And we all survived. At the library they all exploded a little: people were either running away from us or running toward us with stickers. Quite funny.

Keller moves. He rolls. He grabs. None of this is new, he’s simply better at it every day. Significantly better. Once he decides to get something, he figures out how to pick grab it—and expresses his frustration when we take the desired object away (for his safety). He picks up my water bottle. He holds Lincoln’s face (which is often close to his), he snuggles Peter. He loves to kick the gliding chairs back and forth. Today someone at church said that she’d never seen such a “sociable baby” since he just “lights up when you look at him!” It’s true. He loves to have personal conversations. Come over. He’ll grab you.

Lincoln cracks me up. With everything. Especially his sentences. Three times in the van this week he announced, “I’m tired. I need a nap.” Then he was out. Wow. He told us, “Lincoln can run fast because he has big toes!” And he often goes running around, “I need the potty!” or more laughing and running away, “I just pooped!!!” Such a goof.  He separated his toys into piles, “These are for Eli. These are for Levi. These are for Keller.” So sweet. He actually shares for a while, too! He tells me, “I’m so big big BIG!” and even if his little body is small for his age, he seems older to me. People used to comment that he looked like an “old soul”; within his little mischievous plots, he does have a great maturity and compassion.

Levi directed his brothers in moving all the toys out of the toy room and onto the living room rug, in a strict, orderly fashion. “We’re moving to Colorado.” When I asked him to clean it up when they were done, he agreed. “But it takes two days to drive to Colorado.” Good grief! I convinced them to pretend night had fallen, rest by their tool bench, and then drive their moving truck and its contents back to the toy room. We made a thrift store run yesterday. When we came home, Levi cut off all of the tags, separated them from the plastic, then stacked them all according to color. He also has determined that he’s old enough to vacuum and mop by himself. He’s determined to carry an old cell phone and wallet in his pocket, like Daddy. And he needs five pens in his shirt pocket, lined up based on how much ink they have left.

My boys keep me in line! What an adventurous life we lead. I had a breakthrough revelation at the beginning of the week when I realized that I don’t plan my day around what matters most to me and my real priorities. When I list what I need to do, I tend to focus on chores. I’ve wondered why I don’t feel a lot of zest and excitement for each day—really, vacuuming just doesn’t do it for me. Then my eyes were opened! I should be planning my day around my boys and what we can do and learn together. The other stuff will get done—it’s necessary, so we’ll get there. I know this is a huge duh moment, but it took Deuteronomy to point it out to me. And I’m so glad for the perspective.