Presidents' Day cake

Lincoln needed to drive Keller around in the Cozy Coupe...He has a doll he calls Baby Keller.

Thank you for praying for my dad. He is currently in the Ogden hospital recovering/being watched. They put in (is that the right term?) two stints last night and will insert another in about a month when he gains some strength back. I guess he’s been having pains for a few days, but since he’s often sick they weren’t sure if it was just more of the normal. He went to a USU basketball game the night before, taught Sunday school, and told my mom he was fine. She finally convinced him to go to the ER. The cardiologist says she saved his life, or: “One more hour and she would have been a widow.” He didn’t think it could be two serious as he’s had worse pain. Leave it to my dad to think a heart attack isn’t that big of a deal, even in the midst of it.

So. We’re all relieved, amazed, and grateful. Levi had tons of intuitive and perspicacious questions I wasn’t ready for. Regardless of what happens though, the plan of salvation is real. Death isn’t the end. As Wesley says, it’s like graduation. This is all additionally weird as one of the sisters I visit taught in Walnut Creek ward had a heart attack on Thursday; she didn’t live, even though she’s been doing very well over the last year and is only in her 50s. Sometimes I wonder if we all have an hour glass on us and if I’ll be satisfied when mine declares that time’s up.

The week went, crazily as ever. The boys joined me cleaning the home of a family who moved out of the ward. Bless my good boys. We made a flag cake to celebrate President’s Day since some friends joined us for FHE that night. We even blew out candles and sang (to Lincoln’s delight). Levi ended the night by asking, “Why did Dad marry you?” which I couldn’t answer well enough. Lincoln chimed in with, “I LOVE YOU!” which smoothed everything out.

On Tuesday Keller and Lincoln had well checks. Keller is down to the 50^th percentile as he’s only 15.5 pounds. Lincoln is up to the 10^th percentile from the 5^th. Ah, progress.

Keller rolls and squawks and doesn’t want a binky anymore. He’s discovering the use of his hands. He particularly loves his rattle and silky textures. He bats at the big brothers which they love. And he’s so patient and tolerant. Lincoln sat on him while he was in his swing. He just looked at Lincoln, then me, with an expression of: “As far as I know, I chose this…” He loves outside and sunshine. The doctor says he should be sleeping at least 8 hours in a row at night. Now that he doesn’t have a cold and isn’t dehydrated, etc. etc. etc., I’ve had to pretend bravery and listen to him cry at night. It could be much much worse. He might not be our little bug. I tell myself this while he screams. He used to stop if he heard my voice, but now he knows I won’t immediately pick him up—so he starts screaming harder. Smart kids can be a pain. I love them.

Lincoln’s newest phrase is “Lincoln HAPPY!” This began after conking his head on something (not unusual) then finding his blanket. He took off all my C.S. Lewis books from the shelf, rearranged them, and put them on the shelf again—only backwards. All the while he told himself how Mom was “SO HAPPY!” that he put them on the shelf instead of throwing them across the room (also, not unusual). He was right. He climbed up a tricky playground ladder on his own and often repeats, “By self! By self!” He’s suddenly full of longer sentences like, “What is that up there? Why is that so high?” On Saturday, we cleaned out the gutters and planted our garden. In the compost pile, Wesley found a pecan that had sprouted into a full out darling tree. I called it happy birthday and we planted it in a 5-gallon bucket. Just as I was daydreaming about bringing my little nutty bundle of Texas with us wherever we move, Lincoln pulled off all of the leaves and sat on it. Maybe it will survive anyway.

Levi continues to baffle us with his sense of order and the endless stream of circular “why?” questioning. He loves the word of the day. He thought “interdigitate” was quite entertaining. He rides his bike to the park, fast, wearing my bright red helmet. It doesn’t fit him; he’s concerned about safety and doing what Dad does. (They watched Wes wear his helmet and bike to work every day in Colorado.) After one of our really bad days of the week, I asked what his least favorite part of the day was—we had already listed all the good things—and he responded, “I liked all of today!” Tender forgiving spirit. On the first night that we let Keller cry for 8 hours, he finally settled down around 3:15 a.m. I woke from my doze to soft little voices discussing basketball. I walked in their room to find Levi and Lincoln in matching shorts and shirts. Levi had obviously dressed Lincoln. They played “basketball” with an imaginary ball and try to whisper so we wouldn’t disturb them. I decided to laugh instead of being mad; it seemed more productive. We told stories and sang songs and eventually brought them back to sleep at 5:30. They woke at 6:15. Silly boys. Thankfully, we spent most of Saturday outside in the cool sun.

What an amazing life!

 At the Military History Museum a few weeks ago

 You can't tell, but his eyes look like sapphires.

 Levi likes to play in the mud, but he needs a rag to wash his hands off...

GO!

Levi: “Hey, Lincoln, do you want to give Peter the Holy Ghost? He will sit in a chair and we will put our hands on his head and refirm him.”

Lincoln: “No.”

Levi: “We can refirm him when you have your white shirt, black pants, and your tie on. I can help you!” (As he pulls off Lincoln’s pajamas and Lincoln screams…)

Levi has also decided that he must have a witness to baptize Peter. Standing at the corner of the font. In other Levi news, he learned how to tie a square knot. As a result he’s been tying knots all week and giving them away.

One of my fears about this house happened today: Levi tripped on our wood stairs at the top and toppled all the way down to the tile floor waiting below. Thankfully, only his lip is hurt; I think he bit it? It swelled up quite nicely, but he’ll be okay. Strong little dude.

Levi and Lincoln belted “Choose the Right” all through the grocery store

The music leader in nursery loves Lincoln (of course); he’s suddenly become an active participant—especially where music is involved. The music leader told me that she came to class with a list of birthdays that they missed. When she told the kids about her list, Lincoln lit up, pointed to his face with both hands and said, “Me! Me!” Then he proudly stood before the class as they sang. He loves “Happy Birthday to You” and often sings it to himself. On Tuesday we brought cake to someone I visit teach and they all sang cheerfully, “Happy birthday, dear MARY!” She melted. She isn’t around kids much yet would like to be. We were happy with our little gift to her.

Lincoln experiments with his voice. He’s been growling, “LEVI!” then reverts to his sweet sound, “Levi is?”He builds “guns” and “airplanes” with Legos. He carries his drill and hammer everywhere he goes. I’m impressed at all of their concentration and determination when they decide to do something.

Keller is a sick little drool face. Wes caught a cold, Lincoln always has something, then Keller and I wanted to share. He sniffles and blows bubbles from his nose. He seems mostly entertained aside from interrupted sleep. He can almost roll from back to front.  His favorite thing is still one-on-one conversation. When anyone comes close to him and talks, Keller kicks his legs, coos, and eventually joins in will full out squawks. He has a lot to say, given the opportunity.

We’ve been making a lot of mud in the backyard. And doing a lot of laundry. We finally bought a rug for the all-tile toy room. Wesley jumped into his Young Men duties; we’re all very excited about the new boys in our lives. Last night we hosted part of a ward dinner group thing—but only one of the couples came, so we have a ton of food left. This is fine since we went to the temple all day yesterday and the week has worn on us. Wesley’s professor was appointed to a new energy position and asked Wes to team teach one of his classes in the fall. I’ve been working with Aunt Jeannine on Mary Wright’s journals (everyone should get an electronic copy of 1978 to peruse soon—send your revisions!) I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret and recommend it for the cool experience. And I started reading The Highly Sensitive Child—which pretty much reverberates with me and a little with our kids. Wes said, “We didn’t need a book to tell us that you were highly sensitive…”and he’s right! My goodness. What an awesome life we live!

 Bonfire with Grandpa Cole

 In Daisy's cow shed

 Lincoln and Mo

Katai!

While we stayed at my parents’ house, my friend Katai came to visit. Katai lives in Thailand; we haven’t seen each other for eight years! She lived with my family as an exchange student. Wesley took her to Prom (which she teased me about). Her little sister and aunt and uncle live in Vegas and they all decided to make the trip to see us. Lincoln flirted shamelessly. He loved Katai’s sister, Mo. Before we knew it, Mo brought him extra gifts and candy. He responded sweetly, “Mo is? Mo is? Lincoln come to hotel? Lincoln come with Mo?” Katai and her family adored the boys. Her aunt and uncle were unable to have children and they clung to Keller. The group wanted to bring them all back to Thailand. I don’t blame them! Levi informed them that he and his brothers needed to stay with Mom and Dad, though. We’re so glad we could see Katai again. She went to culinary school, opened a bakery by a university in Bangkok, and uses my mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe! Amazing how relationships change us and shape our lives.

Thank you to everyone who travelled for Keller’s blessing. We were grateful to be with family (and we assume our future children won’t have the luxury of family in the circle. But the Priesthood power is the same! What a gift!). The language of the blessing emphasized his many opportunities—including mission, marriage, etc.—and it struck me how essential agency is. We must each choose to use it well.

We flew out of SLC to Vegas to Austin on Tuesday (arriving home around 10 p.m.). Lincoln had a dry diaper in Vegas. Since we’ve been slowly potty training, Wes just sat him on the potty. Unfortunately, Levi stepped directly in front of Lincoln: Lincoln did not point down! Ha! So, scrub as we(s) might, the big boys smelled delightful from Vegas to Austin. On that flight, Levi determined to kick the seat in front of him and Lincoln shrieked for a half hour on and off, quite joyfully. The man in front of them did not appreciate their friendship. But we made it home! Now we’re trying to jump back into real life. Can you slow dive into a schedule? I feel like we’ve been moving in a haze as we try to regroup and catch up on sleep. We love being with our family; we love being home. Take a vacation. Come visit!

Wesley participates in a group called IGERT. This week, their industrial, academic, nad national lab sponsors all got together from across the county to review the students’ research. Wesley returned home pretty buzzed. Wesley uses chemical engineering principles to research things that are traditionally in mechanical or civil engineering (like buildings, homes, traffic, etc.).  One of the guys from New Mexico told him that it would be a definite possibility for him to research in the civil engineering department while teaching ChemE classes. So many options! We wonder what will happen. Until then, we’re grateful for the possibilities.

Following January tradition, we updated our 72-hour kits. We seem to have a lot of food and not enough of other stuff. How do you organize yours? What do you keep it in? How do you keep it practical? We’re trying to grab the stuff that we wouldn’t think to grab (toothpaste, can openers, etc.). Nothing quite like year-old granola bars, candy bars, and jerky to celebrate a new year!

I spoke in church today on the Holy Ghost as our teacher. Usually I type out my talk word for word and memorize it. That just wasn’t possible this time, so I had a lot of notes. I prepared by visualizing the congregation and Christ and prayed about what they needed to hear. I felt jumbled at the pulpit (particularly when Keller started screaming half-way through and Wes toted all three boys out to the hall), but I hope I said something that someone needed to hear. I hope they felt the Spirit.

Keller sings along with us. It’s darling. I love it. We’ve been singing a lot as a result. The nursery leader told me that Lincoln is the best, most enthusiastic singer. Levi loves Sunbeams and singing time. Our song preference finally expands beyond, “I Am a Child of God” and “Abide with Me”! Hurrah!

Lincoln’s potty training would be done if he had a consistent mom. He’s totally ready and controls his bladder. OBeware another weapon he knows how to use!) I’ll get in the swing soon.

Levi jumped off a coffee table on Monday and has been limping. He says his whole foot hurts. We’ve been giving it a week to see if anything improves, but he can’t walk much beyond 100 feet before whimpering. Pray for him. Hopefully it is just a sprain!

 I'm a totally awesome Mom. You unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper? Okay, fine, take it to the toy room and rip it up, but I'm not cleaning it. You are!

This morning we celebrated Joseph Smith’s birthday by singing and blowing out candles (in bran muffins). We celebrated the Sunday before Christmas by opening our books. The boys are particularly excited about the Big Machines books; Wesley and I enjoy our BYU Studies journals addressed to James E. Faust. We love this tradition. Although we miss the anticipatory time with family, we enjoy this time to form our own little traditions with devotionals, singing, stockings, gifts, and way more food than we need.

Zilker Park revived “The Trail of Lights” this year. Zilker is one of the biggest parks in downtown Austin, famous for a huge tree made of lights. They solicit businesses and (select) families to make light displays, then the public can walk through it for free. Light tunnels, trains, cutouts, all of that. A fire truck. Concessions. Even live music. All for free. We thought a Monday night would not be too crowded—wrong! We left our house at 5:30. The supposedly 20 minute drive turned into almost two and a half hours due to traffic all going to the same place! We arrived back home a little after 10:00 with tired boys. It was fun, but so crowded the boys couldn’t see very well. We did park at a mall then shuttle over in a school bus. This was the highlight of the week.

We invited friends to join us for our holiday dinner on Friday—you just can’t beat ham with fresh crescent rolls, sweet potatoes, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes, green salad, fresh fruit, and pumpkin pie. Yum. We’re eating (then freezing) leftovers until we leave Tuesday evening. The boys slid into performance mode for our friends, to their great entertainment. Our friends were also impressed by the enthusiastic versions of the alphabet song linked with athletic prowess. These boys know how to throw and run and climb. I moved the piano bench after Lincoln embraced the nativity on the mantle, but they turned over the car seat belonging to our friends and tramped across the keys. Ah, life with boys. Then again, when the Primary sang for the Christmas program a little girl (maybe 5?) resisted going up. When her mom finally convinced her to join the group, she dramatically rolled her eyes and mumbled the song. Ah…life with boys! Levi chucked one of his trucks across the aisle shortly after that. I’ll take it.

Levi tells knock-knock jokes. We don’t know where he found this ability; we don’t tell knock-knock jokes (or didn’t before this). He has one joke in a fast language stream: “Knockknockwho’sthere. Anyone. Anyone who. Anyone no one. Goodbye.” He made books out of index cards all week to help him (somehow) in his missionary work. He rediscovered snuggling during rest time. For some reason, he’s wanted us to hold and carry him all of a sudden. This is to the point that he cries at the top of the stairs when I can’t or won’t carry him, usually due to feeding Keller. He waited through an entire feeding before I came up. When his brothers nap, we read stories and have quiet time. He just directed Wes, “This is how we snuggle.” He also informs me that he wants “small kisses” from me. I guess this is opposed to horse kisses? Sweet boy. When Keller started crying in the car, Levi told me that he “will talk to the baby so he will not be sad.” Levi fell asleep on our way home from the temple and woke up when we stopped, wailing, “I want to be at the temple!”

One morning around three a.m. Lincoln sauntered wide awake into our room. We said, “The sun is not awake yet. It’s still time for sleep.” To our astonishment, he turned around, went to his room, and shut the door tight. He didn’t come out again until 7. Wow. Even when he’s exhausted he acts pretty much the same, but the late nights have been wearing on him. He’s fighting a cold again and is wired as he runs laps around the house saying, “Football player!” When we went to the temple yesterday, he dashed straight to the grass, “Football player!” He spent hours this week throwing, chasing, and falling (in place of tackling, phew!). All this exercise is essential since he adores sweets. Peanut butter cups, cookies, pie, candy canes, he wants it all. He also sings impressively well. I love “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” so the boys have heard it a lot. Lincoln sings, “Rejoice! Rejoice!” on the right notes. “Frosty the Snowman” and “Jingle Bells” are his favorites. He dances all over, singing along.

Keller had his two-month well check on Wednesday and weighed in at almost13 pounds. He may barf, but it doesn’t seem to impact his growth! He’s in the 75^th percentile for weight and 85^th for length. He’s showing signs of being able to extend his night time sleep and has done quite well at night (despite some crazy scheduling). He loves, loves his brothers. Lincoln likes to kiss him on his tummy and back. Keller stares at him like he’s crazy. But if Lincoln just looks at him and talks, Keller kicks and wiggles and coos emphatically. I wonder if the big boys have helped him practice the pouty lip, because Keller can giggle and smile then swoop into the most pathetic little sad face. Darling. I shouldn’t love it, but I do. I love seeing his personality come through; he’s amazingly tolerant. I’m grateful. He’s excited to be cuddled by you!

Other stuff happened. Here’s a review: I read an interesting YA biography of Charles and Emma Darwin, The Darwins’ Leap of Faith. Interesting and worthwhile. Wesley has been problem solving and discovering new things for his models. Our home teacher is from Mexico and agreed to speak Spanish with us—in fact, he taught the lesson in Spanish (Levi kept looking at us like, “What the--?”) We basked in a few 80 degree days and now we’re down to the 50s. And somehow most of the gifts have not been demolished. Merry Christmas to all and we’ll see you that night!