Another Levi-ism

Sitting at the dinner table tonight, we were talking about the yard work we would finish following dinner, including trimming a dense row of prickly bushes that would require a lot of contact with its scratchy branches.

"We'll start in a few minutes," Jason said. "I'm going to be climbing in those bushes, so I'm going to wear Levi's."

Levi got a confused look on his face and pondered that for a minute. Then he looked at Jason.

"You're going to wear Levi's what?!"

We all busted out laughing at Levi trying to figure what article of his clothing Jason would wear in those bushes. (For the record, Jason wore his own jeans.)

Two Levi-isms

Levi has always had an entertaining view of the world. His age (five years old), his personality, his expressions, and his enthusiasm for saying what he’s feeling add up to some interesting insights. We call those Levi-isms. Here are two recent ones:

Levi-ism #1
Levi was looking pretty glum the other day, so Yvonne asked him what was wrong. He said, “I never got to play tee-ball.”

Yvonne assured him that he was going to get to play tee-ball. In fact, we’ve already signed him up and we’re just waiting for spring weather to melt the snow. Levi was relieved.

“You’ll be playing baseball in a month,” Yvonne said.

Levi’s face suddenly got serious as he realized how soon tee-ball will start.

“Oh crud,” he said. “I’ve got to get training!”


Levi-ism #2
At church yesterday, Levi was sitting on Jason’s lap quietly playing a game of dots.

Levi’s concentration on the dots game was broken by the opening chords of a piano solo. Upon hearing the notes, Levi bolted upright, smiled broadly, and said, “Sweet! This is from Wayne ’s World!”

That’s right. After hearing a few chords, he thought the musical number was going to be a rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. That would have been a sacrament meeting to remember.

Levi’s prayers

A regular treat for us is listening to Levi pray with the family. His prayers are plainspoken, unpolished, heartfelt, and true reflections of his perspective on the world as a five year old.

He prays for his parents and his brothers and sister. He prays for our family and friends (if you’re reading this, he’s probably prayed for you at some point). Sometimes he prays for people we don’t know. He prays for hopes and dreams and everyday problems. And while his prayers generally touch our hearts, there are times we have to try not to laugh because his five-year-old perspective puts a humorous twist on things.

Just this week, he offered a prayer that was true Levi:

• After Colin, who has been fighting a cold, asked him to pray for those who aren’t feeling well, Levi prayed for Levi and dad to feel better (they had been sick together). After the prayer, he sighed and said he meant Colin, too.
• For some dear friends who are going through a rough time, Levi asked, “please bless them that they will feel better…and that they’ll have a good Christmas.” His logic: if you have a good Christmas, everything else is ok.
• And before concluding, Levi threw in this gem: “Please bless Melissa that she can shave every day.” 'Nuf said.

We often call him " little man," but in our house he is a giant.

Just following directions

Today, while getting ready for stake conference, Levi asked if he could take some toy cars. Considering the two-hour meeting ahead, we agreed that he could take one in each pocket.

So we were sitting in church, and Levi showed us car #1. Then car #2.

And then cars 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

We quickly realized we couldn't get mad at him for bringing so many cars.

He was wearing cargo pants -- 8 pockets.

Levi's head vs. Levi's heart

We're doing a lot of work trying to turn our new house into a home. 

Saturday was a long, busy day. After a productive morning, the afternoon found us all spread out. 

Jason was upstairs with Colin and Dylan, painting bedrooms. Yvonne and Melissa were in the garage unloading boxes. Carson was mowing the lawn.

And Levi? Evidently playing with his toys. Somewhere. Unnoticed.  

But after a while he showed up in the garage and asked Yvonne to tie his shoes. Yvonne asked where he was going.  

"I heard in my head that I should help my mom and dad and brothers," he explained.

After a pause, Levi gave us full disclosure, as he tends to do: "My heart told me not to...but I listened to my head."

Yvonne laughed and gave Levi some work  and he helped for several minutes, at which point his heart won out and he returned to the house.