Here’s the fuzzy rundown: We rearranged the boys’ bedrooms a little and put up some pictures. They wanted Helaman’s army and the Sacred Grove. They enjoy memorizing so we bought one of the huge Articles of Faith posters for their room as well. They love it. They spent countless minutes and minutes staring at a superhero book from the library. We met some friends, the Wyeths and Klewenos, at the park. They have little boys, also. All of the little boys except for the babies piled down the slide together, on top of each other, in a mangled mess. Over and over and over. We hosted preschool and talked about maps and water. We pretended the bathtub was an ocean and we built islands with buckets, then made lakes, rivers, and streams. We made dinner for a family. Yesterday we went to the temple. I attended a session—which means we left around 9:45 a.m. and returned about 6 p.m. The boys made up songs in the back seat primarily revolving around the number 20. Pretty hilarious. Then Levi decided that Lincoln should only sing about 26. Lincoln grinned until his face almost popped and loudly sang out, “TWENTTTTTTYYY!” Goofballs.

Friday night we hosted our annual pumpkin carving party with Wesley’s research groupies. We only ended up with five people, so I had to bring some of our homemade doughnuts and carrot bread to the neighbors. The boys loved stabbing the pumpkin with the tiny, child-friendly, pumpkin carving kit. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Two of them had never carved a pumpkin before. Amazingly, our pumpkin isn’t even molding yet! We may make it past the 48 hour threshold. Happy October!

Today was Levi’s first Primary Program. He proudly walked to his seat, repeated his part without any help, and reverently walked back to our pew. My favorite part was his expression that said, in essence, “I already know what to do. Man, I’m cool!” And he is. He diligently practices his tennis skills—he hit a ball from the end of our yard across to our neighbor’s car. Impressive. He might give David a challenge in a few years. We re-discovered our alphabet foam pads; Levi runs in a specific pattern (unknown to the rest of us) back and forth back and forth. We’ve had a great time playing games with the alphabet on the floor (“Save Keller! He’s taking the S!”). I missed my morning workout on Wednesday, so I biked in the evening. The next morning I just wore the same clothes (nasty, I know) to exercise. When Levi saw me biking he looked at my shirt and said, “Mom! You biked all night? You must be so tired!” Haha! We have more handprints across the van windshield. How do you convince a child—or anyone—to obey? Or how to properly fall? Levi crashed on the ramp at the temple yesterday and conked his forehead. He and Lincoln have both crashed recently without catching themselves with their hands. Do we really need to practice this? I guess so. Oh, the things I take for granted…

After the late pumpkin carving night we heard Lincoln yelling in the middle of the night. I was worried until I woke up enough to hear what he was shouting: “MOM! I NEED NEW SHORTS! I NEED NEW SHORTS!” It took some convincing that the pajama shorts he wore were sufficient. During rest time he has built trains, airplanes, and other vehicles out of pillows and blankets. He informs me he’s going to Grandma’s house. “I’m eating dinner there.” Be prepared, Grandma! Here’s a little guy with expectations. We found a book on screws at the library. Screws = joy. Need I say more? At nursery he found a toy wrench and screwdriver at the bottom of the bin. His eyes sparkled, his sweet voice choked up, “A wrench! A screwdriver!” He wants a tool belt for Christmas. Until then, he uses his shorts, his underpants, his hands. Tools rain off of him. “I can fix it!”

Wesley takes Keller on walks around the house while sing-saying, “Da-da-Da-da-da-Da…” Keller often climbs up my legs and repeats the sounds. He wants Dad and he wants to run. I helped him hold on to his little walker (it’s a lion). Did he take a tentative step forward? No. He ran across the kitchen until he face planted. Why walk when running is an option? He did take three steps on his own and he spends a lot of time balancing on the walls. We’re hoping he’ll take to walking (simply standing may never be an option) when we go camping in two weeks. He dances, giggles, and communicates—loudly—nonstop. He sang, loudly!, along with the primary kids today. He’s thankful for a prophet! He knows he’s a child of God! I don’t worry about him raising his voice to say what needs to be said, ever. It’s a gift.

Wesley is giving a presentation (webinar—seminar over the web) to the BYU graduate students and search committee (i.e., the faculty hiring committee) on Thursday. A few months ago, his collaborator-friend asked him to give just a small webinar. He e-mailed this week to expand it since BYU has open positions and Wesley has applied. So this will be like a pre-screening. Texas Tech (in Lubbock) also expressed interest this week; one of their representatives will be at Wesley’s talk at AIChE in a couple of weeks. Wesley spent a couple days going to a water/energy workshop, and trying to figure out his concluding research project for his dissertation. It’s weird to think that in a year we probably won’t be here anymore. In January we set goals for 2013 as our “preparation year”—gearing up for this exciting process. Here we are—a little blurry and breathless, but excited—in the final stages of preparation.

I love the current visiting teaching focus on the mission of the Savior. After I visited one of my sisters this week I left thinking, “This is what visiting teaching is supposed to be!” We talked of the reality of Christ, of His love for us, and of the Plan of Salvation. We discussed our gratitude for His creations—including our bodies (and trials associated with them—like being tired), our families. We bore testimony of His role and of the way He mentors us to be creators now and in the eternities. I don’t know this sister very well, but we shared such a special spirit and unity. Truly, “we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

October 20? Really? That sounds like the end of the month. Happy birthday Grandpa Keller! Happy birthday Hiram! We often talk about first meeting you on a hike in Idaho Falls. What a great addition to the family. We’re glad to have you!

Wesley has officially finished the bulk of his applications and happily anticipates a week of normal work: research, writing, teaching, meetings, research. A few new positions will pop up (like yesterday we applied to Purdue and Notre Dame), but the main chunk is complete. Hurrah for Wesley!

The days pass. When I reflect on what happened in the evening, I sometimes wonder if I even saw my kids and heard them in the midst of pray, feed, run, potty, run, scrub, run, read, run, rest, run, dinner, runrunrunrun, jump, scriptures, pray, runjump, bed! As a result we tried a new experiment this week, “Personal Time with Mom.” This means that I have 12 minutes with each of them one-on-one. If I was really cool, I’d do what the parenting books recommend about having them direct play—but that’s part of our outside time. So when we have our personal time, we work on the scripture we’re memorizing, talk, and go over some pre-k workbook stuff. It gives me a chance to cuddle and touch base. I know 12 minutes is nothing; yet, the other two have to sacrifice when one receives those direct 12 minutes. As of today, they think the sacrifice is worth it. Levi and Lincoln have been very good at playing with Keller so each can have personal time. Keller wakes up at 6, so we have personal time in the morning. D&C 64:32-34. Small things really do make the difference.

All week I’ve been thinking, a year ago, I was pregnant. A year ago I went into labor in the middle of the night and didn’t believe it. A year ago we didn’t know Keller. And here he is! Standing, clapping at his accomplishments. Grinning. Throwing his spoon at Lincoln. Holding liquid in his cheeks then spewing it everywhere. Signing for “tickle.” Waiting at the bottom of the stairs until we come to catch him going up. Imitating music, playing sound games. Grunting. Reaching for shoes so we can go outside. Climbing right on to Levi’s big wheel tricycle and joyously pushing backwards in circles (even after he crashed off of it).Turning his cream cheese frosted cupcake over to wipe the frosting off (he didn’t like the texture) before eating gingerly, avoiding the frosting as much as possible. Screaming. In ecstasy or frustration. He doesn’t distract easily. He likes milk from a certain cup lid. He likes to stuff a cracker or bread in his mouth while I spoon feed him soupy stuff. He does not like naps; particularly in the morning. I tell him to wait until he’s 16—perhaps he’ll change his mind! He’s had a little stomach bug. We finally took him to the doctor who reported he’s fine, returning to our probiotic should help. Phew! I watch him hustle around, pushing toys around so he can climb on them, then to the couch, then to the wall, then to…I watch him learn to communicate his loves: tools, slides, swings, motion, brothers. He loves Levi and Lincoln. I always hoped for adventure, I just didn’t realize it would be so fun and so different each day.

Lincoln jabbers with purpose. He chose to come with me to deliver a meal this week and talked the entire way. On our way back he asked, “Who made you, Mom?”

            “Grandpa Corrie, Grandma Stacy, and Heavenly Father. Who made you, Lincoln?”

            “I made me! With a hammer and a saw!”

            “You don’t have a mom and a dad?”

            “I don’t have parents! I have tools!”

It’s settled then. This was before Grandma Cole’s Northern Tool catalog arrived. It has been cherished, slept with, and carried everywhere. When we did our yard clean up yesterday, Lincoln unloaded Wesley’s wrenches and hammers to “cut down” dead branches off of a small tree while Wes did the large oak. So cute. One morning I found him staring at our FHE chart. “Where’s Chad?” I told him that the Longmores live in Idaho now. “Chad should come here. He is my friend.” We’ve had Chad stories almost every day since then. On Friday we went to visiting teaching conferences at the Relief Society president’s house. The boys went to play with toys. Lincoln soon returned with a huge plastic sword and a stick. He poked my arm. “I cut your arm off. I’m going to kill you with my sword.”

            “We don’t kill people, Lincoln. We love them and protect them.”

            “I’m going to kill you with my sword like Ammon!”

            “Ammon was protecting the sheep and his friends.”
            “I am protecting my family. And now I will kill you with my sword!” Oh, good grief. I couldn’t keep a straight face. I laughed. I don’t want to take the hero out of the boy, I just want him to be civilized and loving!

Levi has mastered 2 Nephi 2:25 and his sentence for the Primary Program. I didn’t help him at all with the latter. In fact, he took his little sheet and put it neatly in one of his folders. He’s tried very hard to obey this week. We’ve had a miracle in the last month that he understands the power of language and asking nicely (thank you, speech therapy!). Generally, he asks directly and politely for his needs and wants. It has also helped his self confidence and self-sufficiency; he knows that some things he can do better than trying to direct us in the way he has it envisioned. What a huge relief. With confidence and brotherly encouragement come more adventures. Our neighbor came over to talk outside for a minute. Levi and Lincoln disappeared in the garage. I heard clattering, then found them on top of the van with sticks. Levi had bonked his head and cut his ear a little on the garage door. Lincoln was reaching to “fix” the motor for the garage door opener—electricians in the making? How many angels were sweating over that one! When any of them decide to concentrate on something, there’s little I can do: pray and try to intervene. He wants to be a good student like Daddy. He spent a half hour focused on tracing shapes, letters, and numbers one day. Another day they played with play dough the whole time I made dinner. Miracles happen every day.

Clothing options remain an issue. It took three hours for Levi to dress on Monday. We decided that we all had to be ready for the day before breakfast to prevent that from happening. Saturday he just skipped breakfast as he searched through all of the long sleeved clothes (it dropped to 50 degrees one morning! Not a big deal for you, nearing an ice age for acclimatized Cassie). Lincoln prefers to sleep in his clothes, then changes six times night, day, and in between. Monday I gave up trying to help Levi with his clothes. Keller had screamed much of the night and day and finally fallen asleep. So I showered. As I stepped in, Levi yelled that he’d locked the other bathroom door. A few minutes later, he’s yelling a huge story. I rush out in my robe (great example on getting dressed). Lincoln had needed to use the potty. The bathroom was locked. They ran downstairs, not to use the bathroom there, but to find the screwdriver to unlock the upstairs door. The screwdriver is usually on top of the door frame, so they planned to stand on the Cozy Coupe to reach it. Unfortunately, Lincoln didn’t have time and flooded the dining room. Levi instructed him to not move. Lincoln obediently stood in the middle of his draining lake. As I tried to contain it and clean him, a huge cockroach saunters through. So I swatted bugs and scrubbed kids and none wore much. Levi nodded in approval, “Way to not scream, Mom.” If only the doorbell would have rung. That would have been a great story. 

Our friend’s baby arrived early. My sweet, tolerant boys helped me prepare our box for her. They’re not LDS and don’t have family close by. I figure if I coordinate at least three meals for other new babies, I should for her. Levi, Lincoln, and Keller stayed strapped in the van while we drove there, hit traffic, and I ran a few meals in, then went back. They didn’t whine (Keller took at least a 15 minute nap that day. Whoohoo!) and they talked to me about how much we love Laurie, Eli, and the new baby. These moments when little angels speak to me, I understand how many prophets simply write that the words which the children spoke cannot be written. The Spirit they have cannot be feigned. I am so honored that Heavenly Father allows us to raise these little boys. I’ve joked that my goal in life is to clone Wesley. All four of them show me that there’s a much better way: we grow together with our own strengths. The gospel is about individuals within families—not labels or generalities. It is about loving people, loving our Savior, and trusting Him to show us the best way forward as we reach out one foot at a time.

Since Conference we have been praying more fervently to be filled with love, see others as God’s children, and share the gospel as encouraged by Elder Ballard. He promised that if we did so we would have missionary experiences that would be natural and normal. As a testimony to this promise, we shared the gospel in some form every day this week. All naturally and normally. Monday we reviewed Conference with the boys and testified of living prophets. Tuesday, a colleague gave Wesley a ride home from work and he testified of families. We met with friends that day and shared thoughts on why we have difficulties. On Wednesday another work friend turned to Wes and said, “I need to talk to you, but not about work.” In the duration of their conversation, Wes expressed the importance of prayer and counseled his friend to try it. Then Wesley went to mutual. Thursday we invited Wesley’s friend (from Tuesday) over for dinner. Friday we took a boy from the ward to a football game; he got to see how a family can work together. Saturday we attended a ward baptism. Wow! Missionary work is developing relationships and loving people. We’ve realized how differently we would act if we truly see others as our brothers and sisters. We’re still working on it; miracles happen as we try.

Last week we(s) had applied to two academic openings. As of last night, we’ve applied to 22. We’ll apply to a few more. Currently, we’re most interested in Colorado University—Boulder, BYU, University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign, and University of Maryland (8 miles from D.C.) Granted, we apply to so many schools because we don’t know where we should go. We’ve determined to put our best effort forth and we pray for inspiration and discernment. This has happened as we’ve decided where not to apply. Over the next few months our discernment and faith will be refined. We may not be interviewed. We may not hear anything for months. We may be interviewed and receive offers before others have responded. What an exciting time! An interview lasts 3 days. If Wesley interviews at 12 schools (which is a lot), he’d be gone 36 days. We’ll see what happens! And what a good opportunity to serve and develop relationships!

Keller has been fully functioning and weaned for two weeks! My body seems to struggle with this process more than our children. Thankfully, when my pump died on Monday a friend loaned hers to me. (Another miracle! I was really nervous about repeating mastitis.) One of the entertaining perks of my hormones shifting and settling is that I’m even more clumsy than usual. Noticeably. We have more to joke about, which I need sometimes. I run into stuff. I drop stuff (not our children! Due to angels, no doubt!). I’ve broken dishes. When I reached for a plate this week, I crashed it on the counter, it spun like a coin, then shot through the canisters like a Frisbee—all without breaking! Lincoln watched in wonder, “Do it again, Mom!”

In the world of pretend, The boys have been apostles and prophets. “I’m Uchtdorf. You be Monson. Dad’s Eyring…” They’re glad to have Wes around, often requesting “boy time.” (I’m very happy to open a book!) We went to a puppet show of Jack and the Beanstalk, which they loved. Technically, the library puppet shows are for over 4 years of age, but they make a model audience. Levi even wore his bow tie and suspenders. They’ve all been giants and dragons and chickens laying golden eggs. Keller’s roar impresses me. Last night was a ward party/trunk-or-treat. Levi wore his crocodile costume, Lincoln Superman. They acted out the crocodile attacking Keller and Superman saving him. They all roared.

On Friday, as mentioned, we went to a Hendrickson High School football game to watch some of the youth in band. Apparently, they’re really good—sixth in the nation? We chose poor seats right behind the student section, but we all enjoyed it. In Texas, half time is 30 minutes long: 15 minutes for the visiting team performance and 15 for the home team. We saw two very dynamic marching bands with accompanying baton twirlers and color guard as well as two dance teams. Band is cool here; they’re athletes, too! Good grief! They moved all over the field fast while blowing in huge instruments. No wonder they have 6 a.m. daily practice! We’d been there, sweating with a “nice breeze, for over two hours when we left after halftime. The boys didn’t want to leave. They were still upset about leaving the next morning.

We shifted Levi into a booster car seat. Oh, the freedoms of escaping a 5-point harness. “You don’t have to look back, Mom. I’m watching for ya!” Keller moved into Levi’s seat (backward facing). Lincoln just wants to sit in the seat. “But I am big!” Then mournfully resigned, “I am little!” As long as he can hold a football or Frisbee, he’s satisfied.

While washing dishes one night, I glanced out the window to check on the boys playing. They had been digging benignly in the compost. But, no. They were whacking the tree. With a rusted ax. Where did they find it? Perhaps in the debris of our shed? Regardless, Levi wielded a weapon larger than himself with great joy while Lincoln miraculously didn’t get his head chopped off. I ran out as fast as I could: Wesley laughed. Levi hacked as fast as he could until I got to him. When I asked what he was doing he simply said, “Chopping down the tree.” Duh! WHY? Why not when you’re a four-year-old who discovered dangerous treasure in the backyard? The next day we went to a park. Before I could unload Keller, Levi scaled up the nose and windshield of the van to examine the luggage rack. We have handprints all over the vehicle. And this isn’t the first time we’ve addressed climbing cars, refrigerators, walls…In addition to managing axes and vans, Levi has figured out the art of negotiation and of the phrase, “But I didn’t know…” and “I didn’t realize…” He wants to make a deal with everything. Finally Wesley challenged him to go a day without check marks. He made it. What a glorious day for all of us! Isn’t the power of agency amazing?

Lincoln sees pictures of Evalyn, sees our many expectant friends, and requests, “I want a baby! I want a purple baby! A yellow baby! I like yellow!” I took him and Keller to a hardware/garden store during Levi’s preschool. We looked at all of the plants. He ran in the rocks. We walked inside, the parrot squawked at us. “It’s YELLOW! And ORANGE!” He felt some trepidation about the baby chicks, yet edged toward the parrot cage, “I want to stick my fingers in there…” He didn’t need the sign: “I do bite!” Then we went to the aisles and aisles of tools. Paradise! He spun in wonderment. With each phrase his voice increased in pitch and volume. “When I am big I will have all of these screwdrivers!” Then, “I need a saw now! You threw my saw away so I need a saw!” Then, reverently, “Wrenches!” He and Levi ran our entire walk today. He giggled, “Come Levi! Come Levi!” the entire way. Then they’d body-slam into a hug. Lincoln’s idea.

As the big boys wrestled out their affection, Keller reached for them. He doesn’t want to stand. He wants to move. Fast. He screamed through sacrament meeting and Sunday school. Then he found the pipe of the sink in the mother’s lounge. Once he calmed down we went to the hall, where he screamed again. We just went to nursery to help there. Overall, he is an extremely happy baby. That happiness seems to allow a full range of emotion—which he expresses freely. He loves the Bounce ‘Round. He sprawls in the middle of it while the big brothers bounce him high. (“Dangerous” is a new favorite word around here.) He loves the tub. He loves his blanket. I went in his room last night to find his blanket on the floor and him reaching and screaming for it. Super cute. He signed for milk, quivers and grunts for sweets (ice cream is a new hit) and seems to have a little bug. Lots of diarrhea makes the potty go round and round. I can’t believe he’s almost a year old! Simultaneously, how did we ever have life without our Keller?

All in all, I think we’ll start a circus. Or invite others to the party we already have!

We love General Conference! Inspired by Christine’s handout from Relief Society, I dug out our pictures of the apostles—from 1994. Elder Scott has dark hair, Elder Oaks has hair, President Eyring has stylin’ tortoise-shell glasses. We printed off Uchtdorf, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, and Anderson. Then we taped them in order on our windows going into the toy room. We also have a picture of Christ and the temple up there to enforce what the prophets and apostles teach, how they direct us, and our ultimate goal: returning to Heavenly Father. As they speak, I draw a picture/make notes to remind us of their topic. Tomorrow we’ll focus FHE on a review. We’ve enjoyed it. We’re trying to figure out ways to help the boys participate more actively in Conference. A 4, 2.5, and 1 (BOY) can only cut pictures, color, and sit for so long. They have done extremely well, though, and love comparing the person speaking with their picture on our window. “Those don’t match!” they laugh.

Wesley submitted his NREL fellowship application on Monday. After working on it all last week/end, he didn’t think it was competitive. He e-mailed his mentors with his recommendation to not submit it, but all three told him to do it anyway. It is nice to have people who believe in you and your work, even if nothing comes of it. Writing the proposal turned out extremely beneficial as he’s worked on his research statements and simply processed our plan for the future. Yesterday we submitted applications to Georgia Tech and University of Connecticut. Our goal is to submit the next 26 by October 15 (including one to BYU—their ChemE department is expanding). We won’t hear anything if we don’t get an interview. If he has quite a few people attend his talks at the November AICHE conference, we’ll be able to get a general feel for how his applications are faring. So exciting! My little heart flutters.

From Tuesday to Friday Wes was at Pecan Street project in San Diego. He didn’t really want to go as he’s worked with many of these people and knows their ideas well, but they asked him to share his research. So he did. After we bought plane tickets, they shortened the conference. But! This means that he was able to hop on a bus and go to the San Diego temple. Huge building with a two storey Celestial room, yet only nine people attended his session Thursday afternoon. We’re glad he could go. And we’re always so glad to have him back home close to us. I’m okay while he’s away, but I prefer to be with him as much as possible. I plan on spending eternity holding his hand.

Keller is screaming. He resists sleep (does this surprise anyone? We’re done being surprised with sleep stuff). Two days this week he actually napped in the morning! And he had an afternoon nap almost every day. So we’ll rejoice. We do our best to establish healthy habits, but after almost five years of this I’m tired of hearing myself whine. Change what you can, deal with the rest! Before we put him down to bed, Keller makes his noise for “drink” and reaches for a cup. He’s trying to lengthen out the bedtime ritual and he thinks he’s really funny; he giggles and spews and makes a face like “gotcha!” Watching him and Lincoln gives me a glimpse into the emergency room we should just put on permanent hold now: they have a mischievous understanding. They jump, play bite, wrestle, squeal, attack, dog pile—laughing through it all. The roof leaked in the toy room, Keller found the puddle. He became suddenly quiet and precise as he tried to splash in it as long as possible before discovery. (I then discovered an infestation of more fire ants around the puddle. Bugs!) Like Lincoln, Keller head bangs on the wall, the couch, the floor, his brothers, me. And he loves it. On Monday he smashed his finger in a door, then bashed his face on the tile climbing over his car seat (we were on our way to Lady Bird Lake for FHE). He bit his lip. Blood everywhere. He was mostly mad that he wasn’t rocking back and forth in the chair anymore. Good grief. He points viciously and garbles words, prominently, “DaDAdaDADADA!”  He combs his scant hair with anything resembling a brush. He folded his hands in prayer during dinner; all three boys beamed proudly. He figured out that shoes and outside connect, so he happily compiled with sandals so he could stand and clamber all over the playground. What a joyful (adventurous) life.

Lincoln grew into a new pair of shoes. Shoes, shorts, tools, and balls amplify his life. He put on his new duds and shot through the entire house, giving commentary. “I’m RUNNIN’! I’m RUNNIN’!” Crash. “Sometimes I fall! Then I get up. NOW I’M RUNNIN’!!!” When I asked if he was okay, he responded that his head was fine. I’m sure he’ll tell me the same thing in a few years after he breaks his arm. I found him with Keller in the crib one day, Keller shrieking. Lincoln held the toy broom (which I usually have to pry away from all of them). “Keller bonked his head.” Pause. “The broom bonked Keller’s head.” Pause. “I bonked Keller’s head with the broom?” Smile. While Levi was at preschool, Lincoln and I pulled out the screw drivers to look on the other side of a vent. (We found a lot of water dripping. Hopefully it’ll be fixed soon. We cleaned it up more yesterday, but it had already soaked into the garage!) Ah, screwdrivers! He loves them. We had a lot of 5 check mark days while the boys tested out how firm our reinstated rules are. I heard, “I need to choose my song! I need my song! I don’t like check marks! Let’s do something else!”

Levi slept in until 8:30 one morning! I don’t think this has ever, ever happened. He’s growing as well. As we drove home from preschool he informed me, “I am tired because I work so hard.” They proceeded to turn colored pencils into bows and arrows and shoot them through paper all over the house. “I am PREtecting you, Mom!” They went outside to play. The kiddie pool had water in it; I asked them to not get their clothes wet. Levi had the brilliant idea of stripping completely down. They shared their idea with me by splashing the windows. A few bug bites on the bum later…the fun ended because Lincoln wanted to hand wash Levi’s clothes! When Levi and I worked on school stuff, he told me that he’s decided to marry Cameron because he likes her more and she’s nicer than Hannah. He doesn’t believe that he doesn’t have to determine his future wife right now. On Tuesday we scoured the pantry (weevil infestation took out most of our food storage. GROSS!). “Tell me how I can help! Tell me what I can throw away for you, Mom!” So he loaded out bags and bags and bags from the kitchen to the front door and into the garbage can. We had some crazy runaround days in the van; Levi patiently followed the book/CD combo of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. At the end of our craziness he asked why we didn’t take someone to the storehouse, too. Sweet boy. Whenever he sees someone on the side of the road he yells (even louder than normal), “We need to help them!” He’s right.

I taught the mother’s preschool group with an extra 2-year-old. We worked on the sight word “is” and learned about our bodies. We found new things to add to the phrase, “My body is…” We built bodies out of food. Levi loved it, Lincoln ate it, the others didn’t care—call it success? I hosted book group; I love these good people. This was the first time I didn’t even open the book (I admit I haven’t finished a book for six weeks! Ahhh!). And yesterday, I proved that I’ve really lost it when I came home from a garage sale—we were looking for a scooter or a little training wheel bike!—with a small Bounce ‘Round. You know, those bouncy-house things that are at carnivals? This is one for two people, probably best for age 7 and under. I didn’t think about it and then it was in my van and inflated in the toy room. Seriously? Me! I debate about the fifty cent difference of strawberries and choose not to get them! We’ll bounce around in it for a while, see if it provides a good release and probably sell it soon. Come over and bounce with us. We may be nuts and loud, but we’re happy!

 At Lady Bird Lake

Yes, I really bought this thing.