It seemed colder this morning. I was watching the lap swimmers (one of whom was 93) and I realized that I wasn't hot. It felt like summer was coming to its end. This evening I let the kids watch a movie and eat pizza in the living room because I realized it was the last night they would be allowed to stay up a little bit later before school started. I have always loved summer. The sun is one of my best friends. I'm dreading the cool months ahead. I know that there is beauty in the fall and winter, but I'm definitely happiest when I'm feeling the warmth of the sun and seeing the brightness even when my eyes are closed. My children are beautifully tanned and have sun streaked hair. I love it. But their white bottoms will cease to stand out as their skin returns to its normal color, and I will no longer have proof of summer. I am determined to spend as much time in the sun as I possibly can these next few weeks, before summer is just a memory.

Levi: I know the future.

Me: Oh really?

Levi: I know my future. I know that today I'm going to behave. I don't know what's going to happen, but I know that I'm going to be a good boy.

Me: dumbstruck with the profoundness of a six-year-old boy's wisdom.

This conversation might be the result of me often asking Levi, "Who do you want to be today? You get to decide if you want to be the awesome Levi that I love or the kid who acts in ways that aren't ok. It's up to you." Yesterday he decided to see his future. He was going to be Levi, and that meant behaving and being his amazing, wonderfully created self. I was incredibly challenged and encouraged by both his foresight and his faith. I definitely do not know what is going to happen this evening or tomorrow or next year. But I know that I am Sarah.

I know that I've already written a post about my amazing sister, but I'm about to write another one. She's great. She just is. She knows the perfect time to pull out a "kids incorporated" reference. And she also knows when I need someone just to listen and when I actually need advice. And she puzzles with me. Like 80-year-old women, we have a great time putting together jigsaw puzzles. As kids we used to gather around a huge Rescuers Down Under puzzle and always had the best time. To reignite our passion for puzzles, we tried to find a Twilight themed one, but had to settle for a photo-mosaic of Van Gogh's Starry Night. And it is so hard! After about two hours of intense puzzling we only got the border done. We were mildly distracted by Survivorman in the background and I'm blaming our lack of progress partly on that. But we rolled it up in our puzzle storage felt mat inflatable tube thing (that I'm sure has a real name, but I don't know what it is) and we're planning on working on it whenever we're together. Like nerds.

Yesterday, I found a puzzle piece on the floor of my bedroom. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. Ok, that's a bit of an overstatement. But still, I was worried that if there was a piece in my room there might be some in the car, under a seat, in the driveway, or in Puck's belly. Overcome with anxiety, I immediately unrolled our puzzle from the puzzle storage felt mat inflatable tube thing (I've just decided to call it a psfmitt. The p and f are silent). In my haste, I opened it on my bed. Bad idea. The border we'd worked so hard on was in segments. I moved it to the floor to reconstruct it. I did, and found that we were a two pieces short. By this point I was near tears, but luckily found the missing pieces on my bed. I replaced them and very carefully rolled it back up in the psfmitt. I carefully stored it and I am not moving it until Melody can work on it with me. I can't wait until she gets here so we can plug in our puzzle light and hunch over tiny interlocking pieces with a Mike's in one hand and the enlarged picture of the final product in the other. Good times.

Ok...so here's a conversation I had with Levi while trying to find all natural ranch dressing:

Me: Want to try this one? It's "Cowgirl Ranch."

Levi: (with his twinkly, mischievous eyes) Is it made from actual cowgirls?

Me: No.

Levi: Then yes. (with a silly half grin)

He definitely knows how to make me laugh.

The following is a conversation I had with Cora this evening at the dinner table:

Cora: I am going to beat Levi up.

Me: What?
Cora: I am eating way faster than he is.

Me: I think you mean you're going to beat Levi.

Cora: Oh. Yeah. I ate those noodles like a fish.

Me: I don't think fish eat noodles.

Cora: I meant like a Cora-fish.

Me: Oh.

She's pretty awesome.

Ummm...yea. So, I'm not so good at blogging. But I'm going to get better...hopefully. No, I am definitely going to remember. Probably.