I finished my puzzle today and there was one piece missing. Ethan noticed right away “I had OCD so bad I almost got on the floor and looked for it.”

“You should have! I would have been so happy!”, I said.

*****

What the boys have been up to:

Well, Jacob went and got engaged yesterday. More on that tomorrow (maybe). He spent the weekend visiting Brittnee and Grace. He was able to eat lunch with my brother and his fiancé, too.

Ethan has been helping his Dad coach wrestling. States were this weekend and his Dad came home and said, “I couldn’t have done it without Ethan. He’s very good, I just need to get him to talk louder so we can hear him.”

David is still getting over the Worse Cold Ever. He can’t hear very well and has a cough. He went to States and lost two matches and was out. He is now done for the year and I dare say he’s relieved about it. He did so well, and it was a shame he ended on such a low note. In private messages, he admitted “I can’t wait for this nightmare to be over.” Wrestling is brutal, and when you’re sick it’s really a test of character (which he passes every time). I was downstairs doing laundry earlier when I heard him call out, “I know you’re around here somewhere!” And when I yelled from the basement “Who are you looking for?”, he came to the top of the stairs and said, “Oh, there you are. Do you know what time it is?”

“Um. 8? 7:30?”

“Nope, it’s beard growing time.”

He found the right combination of vitamins to take to encourage hair growth. He’s done this before. He gets very involved in it, and I asked him to take daily notes on his progress this time. “Don’t do it on your phone though, because then I won’t have the joy of coming across it in the years to come.”

“You want me to write in my special spiral notebook?”

“YES”.

(The last time he “grew a beard” he even bought himself Rogaine)

Caleb has been busy with wrestling, too, but he didn’t make states. He went to them anyway, to help his partner, Sabrina. Today he was home and was able to rest. He even tested me to see if I would let him skip school tomorrow to rest some more. (no). Consequently, he stayed in the basement almost all day playing video games. He came up to eat now and then and every time he did, he would walk with his feet in loud rhythm on the wooden floor. He’s always drumming. My heart smiles.

Seth wrestled in states today and came in 7th out of 14th. He wasn’t very thrilled with the outcome but the 2 matches he won looked really really good. He fell asleep on the way home and is pretty low-key tonight which is AWESOME. Because of Jacob’s art influence, he is currently in the living room watching Jazza Youtube videos.

Let me take a picture of you before you go.

These are my sons; Caleb James, Ethan Gregory, Seth William, David Lloyd, and Jacob Richard

To see them all together like this makes me kinda awed. So many boys. Each one the dearest and the best.

We were watching TV.

He got closer and closer and then took my arm and held it.

PS, our kitchen toilet won’t flush down anything but fluid so only the boys can use it.

And that’s what the boys have been up to.