My parents flew into Austin on Thursday night and flew out this morning. Sometimes I wonder what our pioneer ancestors think about how fast we can visit each other. We loved having them here. When we told Levi that they were going back home he started packing his suitcase and carrying it around—he didn’t want to miss them! They left about 4 a.m., though, so he slept through it. Lincoln must have had a premonition; he awoke at 4:30! Ha!

We love having visitors. It was nice to spend some time with my parents playing pinochle, seeing Austin (okay: me getting over excited and losing my sense of direction which really shouldn’t surprise anyone especially me!), and watching the boys. They didn’t want to go to bed because they wanted to play more. They snuggled right up. Lincoln has a soft spot for Pop Corrie. He has never sat on anyone’s lap that long without constraint! We played at the park, drove through the Mueller development (the houses that Wes has data on for modeling), and partied boy style—blowing bubbles, basketball, bikes, random candy, the works. I’m usually very content in our life even farther away from family, but then they come! And leave! And I remember that we can’t just zip up there if we feel like it. As my parents say, though, there is a lot of comfort knowing that you’re doing the right thing at the right time. Nothing can change that. So away we go. Plus, we’ll probably be closerish for the summer.

The boys crack me up. One day they spent over a half an hour pretending to be birds. They flapped, cawed, sang, and ran into each other full of glee. Birds—even with collisions—make dinner preparation much more efficient. I rubbed Levi’s tummy for a minute, then he said, “More rub! Both hands!” Silly billy goat. While working on lowercase letters, he realized that the Joseph in his name matches the Joseph in Wesley’s and that Pop Corrie and Lincoln share names too. “MATCH!” I think this word is pretty much equal with “EXALTATION!” Lincoln very clearly says, “MomMomMomMom!” now and then laughs. He likes bending his lips. He carries things all over. He prefers this little dog and horse figurine, but rocks fill in occasionally. He started a full on hide-and-seek chase game (multiple times) and has figured out how to stack the bread pans and cake pans. The boys actively “cook,” then climb up their creations. They do offer me “birthday cake” sometimes. Today they took turns being Santa Claus. We don’t even talk about Santa! Smart bugs.

That will sum it up for the week. They told Wesley he doesn’t need to come to mutual—what will we do with all this time? He feels like he’s in limbo. Our washer died and we’re trying to decide if it’s worth fixing it since it’s not ours and it has never been awesome. But, do we really buy one right before moving? Eh. I had another epiphany (that I’ve had before!) while reading Miss Rumphius with the boys. It’s one of my favorites; Levi claims it, too, now. Miss Rumphius tells her grandfather that she will grow up and travel the world then come back and live by the sea. He responds, “That is all very well, little Alice, but you must do one more thing….You must do something to make the world more beautiful.” I sat there acting out the book with my boys and saw that I am doing that “third most difficult thing of all.” Wesley and I have learned intimately (and infinitely) more about repenting and growing through parenting. Cool and humbling.

I thought we were doing okay (always a bad omen!) and the next morning the boys awoke with green mucus and coughs. Allergies? A cold? How do we know! We’ve all attended church together once in the last 7 weeks-ish. This morning we had a family prayer that we’d all be healthy enough to go to church and not infect people. When we got in the car to go, the mucus and coughing stopped. When we put the boys back in the car, the mucus and coughing started again. We count it as a big blessing. Three minutes before the meeting started we found out that Wes was being released. A new young men’s presidency has been called—hurray for them and the boys!—and Wesley will continue working with them at mutual until we move.

We celebrated spring break with Wesley this week by going on a light hike to McKinney Falls. The boys tasted their first hot dogs. They rejoiced in the tall, super green trees, the blue bonnets (and array of other flowers). They found sticks and “cut down” the trees. They “skipped” rocks in the creek. They loved looking at and touching the waterfalls. Lincoln conked out in the hiking backpack halfway through. He drooled on Wesley’s neck but blocked sunburn (Lincoln was well covered with a hat, too!). A gorgeous outing. We want to go again.

Tuesday our friends came over to teach us “Agricola.” I liked it more than anticipated and Wes is calculating when they can come again for a rematch. We got to bed after midnight; the boys woke up not too long after! Hehehe. We should expect these things by now.

Our other generous, generous friends gave us their piano. Yes! I’m serious! I’ve been so excited I think my skin fell off; Levi is even more excited (we put his skin back on, though). He can show you middle C. He sits at the keys, happily plunking away, singing at the top of his lungs. Lincoln contributes also—but still stretches to reach. Wesley plays. I tried to remember the instrument. Levi stopped me and said, “Mom wait. Dad can play.” Well. I guess I will have to renew my lessons when Levi begins!

Nina flew away today. We made cinnamon rolls for the people who helped pack up her truck yesterday. Wes helped coordinate the event.

In between times, Wesley worked. He visited a chiller plant and loved seeing the reality of the things he models. The chillers are longer than our house and about the height of a one story house. Cool. He caught up on a bunch of stuff that he hasn’t had a second for. He even studied his C++ for Dummies as a supplemental skill. He’s glad he could have a break to do necessary things without gaining more work—especially as he is now ready to jump back into the game tomorrow. This semester just plows forward! Wow. He also scheduled his preliminary defense with his committee. It will be May 3. At this meeting he will give an overview of his research, where he plans to go with it, and then defend his direction while gaining needed feedback/questions from his committee. Go Wes!

Levi and I finally finished sanding the chairs. I painted them last night. They need another coat to cover the splotchiness. They need a sealant thing to make them less sticky. But—for never spray painting anything before, I’m pretty pleased. But man, they are green! Outside they looked fine, inside it looks as if we want Wicked to be part of our daily lives. (Wes said ogres and orcs come to mind…) Hopefully they’ll look better when I make the seat covers. Will stripes and denim tone them down? Maybe not. A good adventure, regardless.

One of my primary kids was baptized yesterday. I love baptisms. She bore her testimony today in class about how the Spirit clarifies everything—even your vision! “Michael’s white shirt is just sooo bright. It almost hurts my eyes.” They’re cute.

Levi's "RedshirtredSHORTS!" that he wants
to live in.

Levi told us that he wants to go to a restaurant to get food. (I guess I need to up my wares!) One morning, he climbed into bed with Wesley (I was downstairs), and talked talked talked. I walked in on Wesley saying, “Why don’t you like Mom? I like Mom.” Then they both laughed. Oh dear. I take heart because Levi later climbed into bed when I was still there, turned my head, and basically sucked my face off. “BIG KISS!” Good luck to his future wife.

A normal stance for Lincoln

Lincoln discovered running. He only wants to run. He’ll hold on to us if we run, and keep running. He ran all the way to the mailbox and back clutching Wesley’s fingers. He ran to his diaper change. When he fully gains his balance I’ll have to learn how to hurdle, sprint, and long distance all over again. Already he climbs couches, beds, shelves, then tries to lounge and roll. Between his big brother and his normal approach to life he is constantly bruised and too often bloody. Thankfully resilient as well. You should see him bounce back. If we hug him too long, he pushes away like, “Okay, okay, get off already!” Then off he runs. You should also see him grab a tissue, hold it to his nose, and blow everything but his brains out. He’s refining the skill—we’re all very impressed. People always comment on his sounds: Levi tells us he’s singing. I think we all are in our own way.

Love you.

WCJL

P.S. One of my students wrote a booklet years ago called, “Your Parents Want You to Have Sex.” Of course I had to ask for a copy. Good stuff. I’m trying to convince her to publish it so I can hand it out at family reunions. Be(a)ware! It’s totally awesome!

McKinney Falls

Ah, tulips

PIANO!

Dear Family,

Rosey sent me a book called Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches. The author writes that there are some words we use to excuse ourselves; I use the word “tired.” But, hello! Who isn’t tired? People still maintain emotional control and do a lot of good. So pull it together, girl! Other realization of the week: I tend to verbalize (everything) my personal inadequacies and insecurity, particularly about motherhood. People can interpret this as criticizing our kids. I must stop. Back to the Lord’s definition of success and working on Wesley’s birthday present to stop criticizing myself. Glad to know I’m not working on this alone because I couldn’t do it.

In the midst of this, I received an e-mail from a well-meaning stranger chastising me about reserving temple names. Poor Wes and my crying. He always seems to find me praying in tears. (I do want to blame my over emotional self on sleep deprivation, but that’s still using a crutch, I’m afraid). It’s a long story and it turned out well thanks to the 24-hour rule I learned in graduate school (never respond to an unkind or hasty e-mail immediately; wait at least 24 hours to think it through and pray for compassion). During our exchange I wondered how I would feel praying with her in the temple. I realized that I would be very happy to do so and that I was actually grateful for her willingness to seek correction (see Captain Moroni and Pahoran—except I lack Pahoran’s level-headed, non-emotional grace). This made me review my life and my relationships. Is there anyone that I wouldn’t be comfortable praying for or with? What a sweet relief to see how the power of the atonement has changed me so many times and helped me develop a greater love for others.

We attended the temple on Saturday. I love it there. We both did sealings, separately, and spent time in the Celestial Room. I was the only one there. The cloudy light filtered through the blue and green stained glass. The shadows even had a twinkle about them. I looked around and prayed and thought, “This is wonderful, and peaceful, and I love it here (and it’s really nice to just sit for a minute!), but I need my family here for it to be truly Celestial!” Heavenly Father teaches us this so well since He wants us all to return to Him. When we drove away Levi called out, “Goodbye, Moroni! We come back soon! We come back soon!” (Levi also told me he’s going inside the temple to get married. He wants to marry Peter because he kisses him; married people kiss. I explained a few things. 1. Peter is a dog—boys don’t marry dogs. 2. Peter is a boy—Levi will marry a girl.)

Wesley gave a presentation at TWCCC (Texas Wisconsin California Control Consortia) on Tuesday. He showed some of his work, “Analysis of Thermal Storage System in a Smart Grid Environment,” (now doesn’t that sound exciting!) and how he’s connecting a bunch of energy things like thermal energy storage with turbine inlet cooling and solar among other stuff. He did well. This conference is mostly for the students to give industrial people a glance into their research so they can connect. A guy from Praxair (in Buffalo, NY) asked if Wesley might be interested in interning. He sent a resume. We’ll see what happens, if anything—there or in Golden.

Later in the week, Wesley gave an abbreviated version of his presentation to a man who taught them how to give top quality presentations. He came home pretty buzzed and enlightened. Now Wesley has a lot of specific things to work on to become a better presenter. Anyone who has had to sit through boring PowerPoint presentations would benefit from and appreciate this workshop, according to my husband.

Nina and boys

Nina is moving next Saturday. She gave us her twin trundle beds (much to the boys’ delight—not to mention ours!). She has come over to our house every week for over a year. We visited her the night before Lincoln was born. We’ve watched her independent humility and gratitude as she progresses on with Parkinson’s, difficult family situations, and the wears and tears of age (she’s in her mid-eighties). Levi is still convinced that even though she’s moving far away, she’ll come to our house and that when we move, we’ll be right next to her. He’ll be heartbroken. I discovered this week when we went over there to find everything boxed up and stacked in her garage and car that we’ll all be heartbroken. Even Lincoln dashes up to her and hugs her legs. Good thing she has a cane.

Busy busy boys, scuffs and bruises among the toys, dance and sing and do their thing, until a happy insanity they bring. Levi loves singing. He sings the hymns with us and repeats the notes as well as the words. He sings the musical scale forwards and backwards and notices when I mess up (often). He and Lincoln adore the “Latter-day Prophet” song—my favorite is when he says, “John TAY!” and “David HOME McKay!” On Saturday he awoke at 5:30 singing. Loud. Lincoln soon joined him. They sang for a half an hour until Levi needed the potty. Then he went back and they sang for another half hour. Cute. And 5:30 is so much better than 2:15. Granted, the 2:15 morning he really tried to be quiet and go back to sleep until 4:45—which is really impressive for a two-year-old.  

Lincoln teases. He ran to Wes every time he came in the door, arms outreached and eager, saying, “Dad! Dad! Dad!” Then just as he reaches Wesley, he swerves and giggles. He eats all of his food, then finishes Levi’s. He had a doctor check-up from his ear infection/RSV, waving to everyone and practically turning his head for them to look into his ears. I don’t think I needed to hold him. He loves puzzles now; figuring out how to put the pieces in the holes is such a challenge! I often walk in on him reading books, flipping pages, finding animals, kissing the animals. During Sacrament meeting today, he kissed pictures of Jesus. Later he “patted” Levi’s head and we redirected him to kiss. So funny. (It reminded me of seeing one of my primary boys walk out of Sharing Time with his brother, their arms around each others’ shoulders, comparing pictures, etc. They’re 14 months apart and don’t even look related. Much like our boys.) Wesley calls Lincoln The Wandering Man because all day he laps the house, climbs the chairs, moves the stool, climbs it to reach door knobs and lights, moves toys, throws balls, and wander wander wanders. He resists the off button for as long as he can. Wesley missed Sunday School to wander the halls due to our restless boy.

We love you. Come stay in our new beds and see our tulips blooming away.

Cole 4

I've decided to post our weekly family letters here for history, pictures, and because I'll never post here again otherwise. I open my computer to grade and to write family letters. So there you have it. Ta da.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Dear Family,

The boys keep me running and praying and panting. We realized this week that in the last six weeks or so Levi has gone from sleeping 14 hours a day to 9 hours a day. I’m learning to channel the destructive energy; usually I’m at a loss, though.

I turned my back for about two seconds to change the crib sheet and Levi pulled out all of the dresser drawers and tipped it over. Only with the help of angels did I spin in time to catch the dresser, drawers, glass lamp, basket, and humidifier and shift their direction from completely smashing Lincoln and Levi. They’re both unscathed. It scared me so bad I had to go in the other room and bawl. I think I shook for about 45 minutes. Levi followed me around, “Mom sad. Mom cry. It’s okay, Mom. No sad.” Later Levi took my face in his hands, kissed me on both cheeks and my chin, then announced, “BIG KISS!” Goofball. He seems to know when I’m at breaking point and can help me pull together. My dad tells me to just love him, be patient, and remember that this is not a power struggle. I guess he has distinct memories of being between 4 and 6 of watching his mom hand scrub the floors. He would go outside, stomp in the mud, then calculate: “I bet I can run through there before she catches me”—and then he would proceed to do so. Oh my.

The boys were finally healthy enough that we could leave the house (gasp!). Not to the doctor’s office! (although we do have frequent flyer miles there—they said we had a charge to our account last time, so we didn’t pay. I half wonder if that was just pity.) We went visiting teaching to a sister who has a young daughter, two mastiffs, a little puppy, a cat, and six donkeys. I think the mastiffs are the same size as the donkeys. Lincoln was transported into paradise. Levi squealed. We fed carrots to the donkeys. Levi even rode one. “Lucy donkey! Lucy donkey!” He loved her. Lincoln grabbed her ears and kissed her. Levi has been pretending to ride donkeys all week. Lincoln has often been the creature of choice. Poor kid. I finally convinced them to let Levi be the donkey. This has worked out much better. Lincoln can’t figure out why Levi keeps body slamming and sitting on him.

Lincoln did all of the motions to “Popcorn Popping” this week. He flicks his little fingers and shakes his head. He bounces in the chair. He also bounces all through singing time. He sings, but mostly he dances. And wanders. Levi took one nap this week (then didn’t go to bed until after 11); during that time I tried to play with Lincoln. He looked at me like, “Don’t you have something else to do? I’m busy.” So I left and talked to him from a distance and he talked back. He loves to sit by himself and flip through pages of books. So darling. He also explores everything: I heard a splish splash, ran, and found him happily playing in an unflushed potty earlier this week. He even pulled toilet paper off the roll, blew his nose (as taught by Levi), and twirled it in the water. Gag. No wonder we’re sick.

We moved the crib into Levi’s room. Now it is “THE BOY ROOM!” They’re excited. Lincoln cried the first night, disoriented, until I shifted him to have a better view of Levi. He calmed down and conked out. Hooray! While I moved stuff around, the boys found the baby monitor. Levi put one his shoulder, “Hi! Adoyadoyadoyadoy…ummmm…let’s see…..blablabla…come to our house soon! We live far away! Love you! Goodbye!” He called Gram Cole, Gram Stacy, Bodie, Spence, Morgan, and all of his “friends” whoever they are. He repeated the same message. Obviously, I say pretty much the same thing to everyone. We live out here—but come visit!

No one ever told me the satisfaction that comes from a power drill. Wow. I love it. I dismantled the crib and put it back together since it wouldn’t fit through the door. (Of course I’m smart enough to start this project while Wes leaves for a campout!). But we did it. Levi wanted to help. There were a bunch of big black screws and a few tiny nut pieces. Levi found those while I moved Lincoln. We couldn’t find them anywhere. Then we prayed together, searched all over, and prayed some more. They were stuck in a tiny hole. Another miracle. So amazing.

Then again, it’s a miracle we survive as happily and as well as we do each day.

I also started sanding our kitchen chairs. We bought a sherbet green paint and I’m sewing new seat covers since Lincoln eats the current wicker. They might not look good in the end—I’ve never done anything like this before!—but they really can’t look worse, so why not try. Both the boys helped sand and clean. Good helpers.

Wes gave a presentation on Monday to his group members. Tomorrow and Tuesday he presents at the TWCCC conference. Basically, a bunch of industrial leaders come, interact, learn about the students’ research, put their feelers out for potential employees, and make connections. Wesley will do great. He taught two lectures this week; the students responded very positively. Unfortunately, they have a test this week and the professor has not written the test or shown up for the last week—so even Wesley could offer little guidance. Good luck to everyone on that. On Friday, he stayed home to work. When I came down in the morning he had birthday presents set out. He gave me a Nook Color! I’m so spoiled! And excited. He played with the boys while I played with my new toy. I’m so spoiled. But very happy about it. The boys helped him pack up his camping gear, all the young men’s food, bikes, and other stuff and we waved goodbye. He camped with eight boys and three leaders at Georgetown Lake. The next morning they woke up and biked fifteen miles. They had a great time and even slept a little bit. That night it dipped into the low thirties—quite the change from low eighties. One of the boys brought the clothes he wore and his bike; not enough to keep you warm. But they lived and can now tell the tell. Male bonding makes me appreciate even more that I’m female.

After Wesley returned, we took our boys to our friends’ house. We went to dinner. They played with trains and blocks and pianos. Levi even learned to strum a guitar. They had a great time. It’s amazing how fast you fill up when you’re only feeding yourself! I forgot. I love spending time with my Wesley and then being able to come back to our sweet boys. Awesome awesome birthday. Thanks for all the calls, texts, cards, and fun. It made my day very special.

One last note: I’m really not one to push products, but here’s an update on my Sketchers ShapeUps. There were two days we ran around outside of the homefront and I wore other shoes. My feet and back ached terribly. Before these shoes I couldn’t sleep or sit or stand because my feet and back hurt so much—and now I’m pretty much pain free. They’re worth trying. Especially for moms. Wow. That’s all.

Much love.

WCJL

                     

Peanut Butter Cups (Here you are Tressia! I posted this on the food blog)

Filling

Mix together:

2 c. peanut butter

2 cubes butter, softened (margarine works, though)

1 lb. powdered sugar

Roll this mixture into little balls and flatten them slightly.

Melt milk or dark chocolate. (In the West, we just bought bulk chocolate from Winco, but we haven’t found it here so we just use chocolate chips. Not quite the same, still yummy). Do not use metal utensils on the chocolate! It disintegrates into a grainy lump. Plastic or wood.



Line a cookie sheet with small baking cups. Coat cup with chocolate. You can brush this on, but I usually just put a little spoonful in because I’m lazy and less aesthetic than I should be.  Place a PB ball in each cup, coat with chocolate. Let them set up in a cool place (not necessarily a fridge unless you must). Enjoy! And share: people will know if you don’t!



Levi in a huge puddle



Pop Cole and Lincoln

The backhoe we built

Lucy donkey and friends

How our walks usually occur

The boys' kitchen cupboard

Levi's firetruck