Ah, the day they emptied their entire dresser and all the folded clean clothes to make a swimming pool...

 Campout!

 Levi learned this from the young men passing the sacrament.

 This is last week's Edgar group party.

 Levi's first fish.

Wes took the boys to their first Fathers-and-Sons campout this weekend. They also brought three boys from the ward whose Dad lives elsewhere. We’ve been talking about it for weeks. Levi has almost forgotten about his birthday in the anticipation of the campout (he still wants a white tie with a loop and a black wallet that fits in his back pocket like Dad…). Levi and Lincoln each packed their backpacks on Friday. Levi started squealing and quivering, “I’m just so excited! I’m so excited!” He thought they should be gone for three days rather than one night, but that didn’t worry him too much. Once Lincoln was assured he could bring his blanket, he was ready to go and live in a tent. His only annoyance was not being able to wear shorts for that less-than-24-hours. When they returned home, he immediately changed into his athletic shorts. Despite the jeans, Levi is covered in bug bites that we’ll have to keep an eye on; he’s obviously sensitive to whatever bit him or the bug had some nastiness in its bite. They went on a little hike, borrowed a friend’s fishing pole and caught little fish, ate uncooked s’mores (burn ban), and slept all through the night. Once they got to sleep. Lincoln struggled calming down. I can’t blame him. Nothing but a mesh top covering the sky, an air mattress, and Dad. He woke up in the morning shouting, “It’s light! It’s LIGHT!” As they prepared to come home, they reminded Wes to use the bathroom. He continued talking with some of the men. Levi ran up to him, “Dad! You need to use the potty so you don’t pee in your garments!” Haha! Then—to extend the fun—Wes mowed the lawn and sprayed when they came home. Oh, the joys of manhood.

Keller and I enjoyed each other. I read and scribbled. After his morning rest, we went to the central library and just browsed poetry and music and the perimeter of the different levels. We had planned on going to an art museum—but decided to do that on a free day instead.

Levi and I went to a speech therapy assessment on Monday. He’ll be starting PALS (preschoolers acquiring language skills) in the fall: two hours, once a week. The SLPs noted that his vocabulary is extensive; we just need to work on articulation. He may not need speech therapy by the time he reaches kindergarten. He’s a ham and they were basically swooning before we left. He wanted to know why he can’t start now. We’re looking into swimming lessons for an outlet in the meantime.

Today in Primary, Levi had to use the potty. He didn’t ask for help wiping (we’re still practicing this skill)—he just did it by himself. When I picked him up, his teacher told me that they tried to clean the back of his shirt off as best they could. Levi was extremely proud of his independence. We’ll be proud with him and keep practicing. Poor teachers!

We went to a puppet show this week. All three boys sat quietly and attentively (maybe they should dim the lights during sacrament meeting?). After it was done, Lincoln wanted to pet the squirrel puppet. Levi had loads of questions he needed answered “right now.” The puppet show  featured a man chopping the trees down in their yard. Since then, the broom, golf clubs, and utensils have all become “axes” to “cut down the trees!” Timber-man Lincoln started it.  They pretend to have puppet shows from behind the couch. Usually they struggle determining if they want to be the puppets or the puppeteers.

Lincoln had a few weird nights. Generally he is out cold and then wide awake once morning comes. He moaned until 3 a.m. two nights in a row. Since the doctor told me to come right back if they acted weird or slept differently, we all hauled to the doctor’s office. Thankfully, his ears and everything else is just fine. Lincoln wants to live in a box. Left to his own devices, he played in it alone for over 30 minutes. He continues making up games and climbing everything. He’ll be very happy once he can learn the art of real rock climbing. If he hears a loud noise (or even a small noise) he pauses dramatically, wide eyed: “What was that?” Pause. “THUNDER.” He says this in a serious, slow monotone. During one of the eventful brother-biting battles, I put Levi in timeout. Lincoln ran to the door and unlocked it, “I need to play with Levi! I need Levi!” When he wants something he doesn’t think about asking, he just figures out how to move forward and get it. I’m trying not to panic about this and be grateful he’s assertive. Especially since he can reach the lock to the front door and he’s discovered how to move chairs all over the house for anything else he wants.

Keller’s first tooth is officially out! On the bottom middle. He’s wasting no time in gnawing everything. His second favorite thing is my chin and jaw—which he munched all through 3^rd hour today. I had my hair braided up the back and by the end of church he had pulled most of it out and slobbered all over it. I remembered why I’ve stopped trying to look cute or even put together. Like Lincoln, if he sees something he desires, he doesn’t say much about it. His squawking stops, then he grabs. He grabbed his spoon, filled it, and shoved it in his mouth this week. Why kick or make noise? Just do it. He found his toes and the goodness of pulling off his socks and sucking on them. He’s currently rolling all over the floor with a broom that is barely longer than he is. He grins at his brothers—even when he should be horrified. Lincoln screamed in his face over and over again while I tried to wrestle on shoes. “Keller likes it!” he insisted. I looked up to see Keller giggling. Good grief. Not another noise maker! Just kidding, I’ll take all of them the way they are. We’ve accepted that he’s not into naps longer than 20 minutes, but I’m trying to honor his rest times regardless. Thankfully, he’s one very happy boy.

Wesley is in full swing summer work. He had some inspiration on a project he thought would take a few months and it might take a few weeks now. His office is quieter since some of his group members have gone to internships. He’s trying to pull things together since fall will primarily be dedicated to applying for the next step (whatever it turns out to be) and teaching. He’ll do it.

And I’m still caught in the conundrum of learning to love people. This is why my calling is compassionate service. I took a sister I visit teach to the ER on Monday night, kept her kids (the ones we watched for three weeks), then picked her up at two a.m. We’ve been bringing meals to one lady for weeks every other day. She called to tell me everything that’s not working—like they don’t call beforehand. I brought her meal yesterday, called and texted five times with no response. Needless to say, she’s upset with me for not bringing food when she needed it, as I knew she would be. Alas. Moral of the week: I don’t know all that people need or all that they are dealing with. So I need to shape up, trust the Lord, and press on.

I’m only a third of the way through Wives and Daughters—but I’m happy to talk about it at any point! I recommend Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheiken. Well done. It’s YA, which is always interesting in nonfiction.