School Pictures

Life goes on . . .

There's not a lot to say about this week--we didn't drive our van much, as we're still waiting to get it fixed. We did take it in for an estimate (nearly as much as the car's worth . . . but still worth it to get it fixed, as trying to find a new car would cost much more time and effort), and tomorrow it goes in to get fixed.

Dan spent the weekend on a fieldtrip with the university students, and came home this afternoon while we were at church. I'm not sure who was more excited to see him: me or the children.

Grandma came down to spend a couple of days with us, as our usual babysitter (Bubby) was gone visiting other grandchildren, and Dan was leaving. Courtesy of Grandma, I got to teach my class and we were able to go grocery shopping for the first time all week.

I also made her go with me to see Austenland, which is still hysterically funny (though I think the first time was the funniest).

On Friday, we played Apples to Apples. Evelyn still doesn't quite get the concept, but she laughs uproariously at everything. Once, when the category was "useless," she commented on her choice: "I love Prince Charming! He's so useless!"

Well, at least she got that right.

cousins, and roadtrips, and deer--oh my!

This was a busy, exciting week (in good and bad ways) for our family.

Evelyn's last soccer match was earlier this week. Here's a (rare) action shot of her. Usually she's skip/running after her teammates and a safe distance from the ball. But she seems to have enjoyed playing, even if the fine points of it elude her.

 Her coach brought pizza for their last game, which of course made Miss E very happy.

Evelyn and her teammates. Their team was pretty small, even for their age group, which I think also made it hard for Evelyn. She rarely got to sit out, and was usually tired by the end of the game. But she's cute.

This weekend, we had a long-awaited family reunion in Capital Reef (one of the perks of living in National Park country). Friday afternoon, Dan came home from work early and helped me load the car, and then we headed up north.

Things were pretty uneventful, until we hit highway 24 just outside of Koosharem. Dan saw the deer step onto the highway, so he started to slow down. Unfortunately, the deer chose that moment to speed up, and, well, this happened.

The deer catapulted off the car and flipped through the air before landing some distance off the side of the road. We were in shock--the kids were freaked out--but the engine seemed to be running fine so we kept going. We weren't sure what else to do (for the record, does anyone know what you're supposed to do? The deer wasn't on the road, so we didn't need to call anyone to remove it . . . we talked to our insurance, and the agent I spoke to didn't think there was anything we were supposed to do, but it feels so callous to just keep going . . .) After a mile or two, we heard this horrible grinding noise, so we pulled over to find our bumper was dragging on the road. Dan reattached it, and we finished our drive to the reunion site. We won't know until later this week, after the adjustor's come by and we take it in to the repair shop, if anything vital was damaged. But it got us to the reunion and home again.

Things were much calmer, and happier, at the reunion site. The kids puttered around for a while before we waited for dinner.

Cousins: Andrew, Katie, Lydia, and Evelyn, running off to who knows where.

We didn't get the kids to bed until nearly 9:00 (well past their usual bedtime)--and Oliver woke everyone up at 5:30 the next morning. That was exciting. At least we got to sleep in real beds. Dan took pity on me and arranged for a hotel room, so we didn't have to spend the night with Oliver in a tent (next time, though . . . ). We got back to the campsite in time for breakfast, and then spent the morning relaxing. Dan and Andrew were going to go on a long hike with some of the older cousins, but after hiking the initial distance to the river, Poppy thought the hike (which crosses the river at several points) and the river depth might be too much.

So instead, they joined the rest of the group (old folks, little kids, and most of the moms) for a shorter hike. We've done this hike in the past, and I think the kids' favorite part is the excuse to wade in the river (the trail follows the river most of the way, and at some points the trail *is* the river).

 At the end of the trail, we reached a pool and waterfall. The pool had several patches of slick mud and oozing sand, which, of course, the kids loved. Notice how dirty Evelyn is in the picture below. (Within a few minutes of this, she was completely soaked, having stepped into a part of the pool that was much too deep, and losing her bracelet in the process). Andrew nearly lost a shoe, when it got caught in the mud and he came out but the shoe didn't. Luckily, he found it again after a few minutes of searching.

 Oliver thought the mud was delightful.

 Me, not so much.

 The pool also happened to be the place where our hike intersected with the hike the older cousins took earlier that morning. So after waiting and playing for some time, we were incredibly relieved to see the rest of our gang come around the bend and appear above the waterfall. Then, of course, most of the big cousins (Andrew included) had to slide down the waterfall. This meant, among other things, that Andrew was soaked and cold for the entire hike back. He kept trying to hold my arm with both his arms to get warm.

 We had a late lunch after the hike and spent the late afternoon lazing around. After dinner, the kids had a short program where the girls performed a Polynesian dance that Trisha and Aunt Nellie taught them, and then Uncle Jim tried to teach the boys (who outnumbered the girl cousins almost two to one) the Haka. That was pretty entertaining--and more than made up for having to wrestle a tired baby into the car at the end of the night. We slept much better the second night: Dan had to wake us up at 6:45 so we could get back to camp in time for breakfast.

It was raining when we pulled in--we could see lightning above the bluffs as we drove from the hotel--but it cleared up beautifully later. Here's a view of the cliffs from the campsite.

 We had a short, mock "primary program," for all the cousins (three families, I think) who were missing their Primary Program that morning because of the family reunion. The kids gave their parts, and they sang a couple of primary songs. And I was more moved by that short program than I have been in some time.

 We took the long way home, taking the scenic highway past Boulder and Escalante. The scenery there is breathtaking, though we didn't stop too often. (This stop came courtesy of a stinky diaper for the youngest child.)

 We also used our shiny new National Parks pass to stop in Bryce Canyon for a little while, after lunch.

And then, coming over "The Mountain," we saw some lovely fall foilage, highlighted by the storm clouds. I'm not sure how impressed the kids were by our long drive, but I enjoyed it. The only downside is that we were out of cell range when Sarah called with news of a flat tire--and well out of helping range by the time we actually did connect with them.

And now, for some miscellaneous pictures--your reward for making it this far!

Last Sunday, we entertained ourselves for a while (okay, let's be honest, *I* entertained myself) by seeing which of our old costumes fit Oliver.

He makes a cute rhino.

 And a unicorn. (Both costumes worn by Evelyn for her first and second Halloween, respectively).

Andrew pestered me to make some frozen chocolate popsicles all week long--so we finally did. Oliver thought they were perfect.

One of Oliver's newest hobbies: shoe crawling.

 (The drooling isn't new).

 And then Andrew asks: why aren't there many pictures of me? (The short answer: Andrew is often at school when I take pictures of the baby. The other answer: Andrew doesn't like to sit still for pictures.)

 

 And Andrew, having done his own hair earlier this week. (I highly doubt that the hairstyle lasted much beyond his first recess. It was certainly absent by the time he got home).

Plague House

Some of you were asking about the picture of Dan in a mustache--here it is! Now you can see why he doesn't regularly sport one. :) (Although I have to say I do like the full beard look--which he shaved off before this picture.)

This hasn't exactly been our best week. In addition to non-stop rain (I think it's rained every day for almost two weeks now; definitely not normal), we've been plague-ridden. Or so it feels.

On Monday, we noticed Andrew had a cough. But since it wasn't persistent, we let him go to school (also, it was picture day, which may have weighed in that decision!). That night was the back-to-school Bash, which Andrew has been looking forward to since he first heard about it.

The Bash is not our favorite place: lots of people, lots of lines, lots of cheap prizes that Andrew insists on competing for (his criteria for choosing which booth to go to? Not: will I enjoy this, but, will I get a prize?). But we went, because it was a school fundraiser. Dan had never been before, because, knowing how much he hates these sorts of things, I took the older two myself. But this year we thought it would be good for everyone to go.

The event started with a race around the school. After a mis-start (the racers went the wrong way and ran an extremely short route), they were off on a block around the school. I worried about Evelyn, since neither Dan nor I were running, but she did great, coming in solidly in the middle of the pack. Andrew, on the other hand . . . Andrew was the one who insisted on running, but apparently the run only aggravated whatever he was coming down with. When I finally went to find him (after seeing most of the runners pass by), he was at the very end of the pack. I think there were only two kids behind him. And his throat hurt, he said.

So we went to find a snow cone. Andrew ate his, we waited in line for one event (Andrew did a bucket toss thing, Evelyn had her face painted), and then, as it was starting to rain, we decided maybe we should cut things short. Good thing, too--as we were on our way across the blacktop behind the school, Andrew started coughing again. Those of you who know Andrew's hair-trigger gag reflex might be able to predict what happened at this point.

That's right. He spewed. All over the blacktop (in a couple of places!)--and right in front of several of our friends and neighbors. At that point, you couldn't get us out of there fast enough. (We did try to clean up a little, but there's only so much you can do.)

Andrew stayed home the next day. Andrew a little bit sick is not a good patient. He was whiny, bored, and generally disagreeable. (To give you some idea of how bad he was, after Dan had been home only an hour, he said, "I can't handle this anymore.") That was a long day. Since Bubby was out of town, I called our scheduled baby-sitter to cancel (I couldn't expect her to watch a sick kid along with Oliver), and Dan and I traded off while I taught. I cut class short so I could come home while Dan had a dentist's appointment. 

At least we had a beautiful sunset that night, the light shining on the rain-wet pavement.

 

 Only then, of course, Andrew passed on his disease. Wednesday I was pretty worthless--I had a fever, chills, and a horrible sore throat and all I wanted to do was sleep. Of course, that didn't happen: it was early-out day from school, so when I tried to nap while Oliver did, the big kids started fighting and woke everyone up.

And then Oliver got sick. Wednesday night I heard him coughing a couple of times, but he seemed okay the next day, just a little bit of a runny nose. And then Thursday night hit. He woke up around 10:30, wheezing and struggling to breathe. I called the pediatric nurse who was on call at our doctor's office and she asked: is he retracting? yes, he was. Are his  nostrils flaring? I inspected Oliver's face. Yes, they were.

So I took him to the ER, where they diagnosed croup and put him on some steroids. (I was a little surprised--we're old hands at croup, having dealt with it at least once every winter since Andrew was little--and this hadn't sounded like croup to me.)

Friday wasn't much fun either, trying to survive on little sleep (midnight ER visits do that to you) and still recovering from a cold. But we got past the worst of it.

(I caught this picture of Andrew reading to Oliver just before Oliver slipped away).

And yesterday we actually *gasp* had fun. We started with donuts from a new local donut shop, and then all of us went to watch Evelyn play soccer. Thanks to this great article, I was prepared to just enjoy watching her play and not worry about the score. (Good thing, too, because they were outmatched). Evelyn's a funny little player. She's a great teammate and cheerleader, but her physical coordination is still developing. She has this funny run-hop after the ball--and Dan observed at the end that it was clear who the "weakest link" was on their team: after Evelyn sat out in the last quarter, her team scored four goals in a row, their first goals all game. Bubby and Poppy came to watch, too, so we enjoyed being out as a family.

Then we stole away south for some errands in the metropolis and had dinner at the Black Bear Diner. It was nice to get out of town, even if only for a few hours.

September Rains

It's been a little surreal how much rain we've had this summer. Dan and I figured yesterday that we haven't watered our garden for weeks--and yet the squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplant keep growing. Also Hungarian peppers. We have lots of those and have yet to figure out what to do with them.

Yesterday and today have been no exception, though we don't have it nearly as bad as areas up north. My parents' neighborhood has had some homes flooded, and there were several feet of standing water in downtown areas there yesterday. Crazy. When you live in a desert you don't expect floods.

Anyway. Our weekly recap:

Monday, we splurged and got an annual Parks pass, and used it for the first time to go on a short hike in Kolob before heading south. We'd hoped to stop at Costco, but apparently labor day is one of the few days it's closed. We still had fun: we took the kids to the splash pad and for once it wasn't unbearably hot. Oliver loved being able to crawl around in the water, rather than being dependent on someone else.

The middle of the week was busy with school and work. Andrew has been driving us (and probably his teacher) a little crazy with his reading. His teacher gives the students a sticker for each 20 minutes they read; when they've filled a chart, they get to choose a small reward. So Andrew, with his usual tendency to throw his whole competitive self at stuff, has been reading as much as he possibly can. Last week he turned in 680 minutes (or 34 stickers worth). He tells us, "I read more than anyone else in my class!" Somehow, we're not surprised. He's a little obsessive. (Okay, more than a little). I wonder where he gets that from . . .

Yesterday both the kids had soccer games--5 hours apart. At least the rain came between their games and not during it. Andrew played really well--he scored about half of his teams' goals--but he's still working on sportsmanship. When it was his turn to sit out and the other team scored, he told me, "If I'd been in, they wouldn't have scored!" (A fact that was patently untrue, as Andrew had been playing back-field earlier when the other team scored.)

Friday night, Dan and I went to see Peter and the Starcatchers--I thought it was very funny, Dan was just mildly amused (I think he has higher standards for humor). But it was nice to get out without the kids! Dan spent most of the week growing out his beard/mustache to take advantage of their "Stache" offer--50% off tickets with a mustache. The beard look is a good one for Dan; the mustache, not so much. Friday morning, Dan shaved off the beard. He took a razor with him to campus, and as soon as he'd purchased his tickets, he shaved off the mustache too.

And, for the last of our eventful items: last night Dan and I had a chat with Andrew about the "facts of life." This was precipitated by our neighbor's mentioning they'd had the same talk with their son, who's only a few months older than Andrew, and who walks to school with him on a regular basis (and who's the sort of kid who likes to share interesting/odd scientific tidbits). We figured that we'd rather have this discussion with Andrew now than have him hear it from someone else. On the whole, it was much less alarming than I'd expected. Andrew already knew most of it, except for the physical mechanics, and he was much more interested in how this applied to other animals than to himself. (Our conversation ended up covering bizarre side-topics like asexual reproduction and hermaphroditism in frogs). We ended the conversation by reminding Andrew that he shouldn't talk about this with other kids at school--they need to hear it from their parents, just like he did.

Kindergarten!

My sweet, sassy, funny little girl started kindergarten this week.

I don't remember being too emotional when Andrew started kindergarten--he was more than ready for it and we were both excited for him to go (also, I don't think I fully appreciated what it meant). But I have to admit that my eyes were suspiciously wet after I dropped her off and headed up to campus (just in time for my class to start).

Her skirt is courtesy of Bubby; the shirt is one my mom found. And the reason she's holding her hands funny in every picture is to show off her new sparkly  nail polish--just for kindergarten!

We're very excited for her. She has a great teacher (my visiting teacher from church, in fact--a lovely woman who has come into our home once a month for the past year or more). Her best friends from preschool are in her class, and she seems to be generally thriving.

Of course, it's only been a week.

Dan and I both started teaching this week, too, but that's not nearly as exciting. (I'm teaching one class, on TTh afternoons).

I got my hair cut--shorter than previously. My primary goal was to make it difficult for Oliver to grab a fistful of hair and put it in his mouth. And yes, I do make important fashion decisions on the basis of what my child will put in his mouth.

This week was unexpectedly busy for me, because a great opportunity opened up. Many of you know how much I loved working with the Writing Fellows at BYU. Well, we're piloting a similar program at my university this semester--and they've asked me to take charge of it. It's small enough now that it shouldn't be a huge time investment (three classes and five students), but I'm thrilled with the opportunity, even though it may mean sacrificing some of my writing time. (The only downside was how quickly it happened--I first heard of the possibility a week ago, and then it was a done deal. It's amazing how quickly things can happen in a university when the provost gets behind it . . .)

In other news:

Today is the one year anniversary of Oliver's due date. So he is now *officially* one year old (no need to adjust).

Andrew took a preliminary reading test this week (the DIBEL Next test, for the curious). I asked the reading specialist (also a member of our ward) to let me know what Andrew's scores were. But even I was surprised by the results. For a student beginning second grade, the ideal score (the one that says this child has a good chance of succeeding in that year's literacy goals) is 52 words per minute, with 90% accuracy (in reading the words), and a 16+ word summary of the reading after the fact. Andrew read 192 words per minute, with 100% accuracy--and then gave a 133 word summary.

Andrew reported after the test that the person administering the test told him he got the highest score of anyone they tested that day.

I realize it's not cool to brag about your kids--and I'm honestly not trying to brag; it just makes me so happy to see him growing into a confident reader.

Also, he really likes his baby brother.

 

And, because I forgot to post these last week, some videos.

Oliver on the verge of walking. 

This particular video cracks me up. Just as Andrew had his signature "captain hook" crawl (where he would crawl around our apartment with a small plastic stacking cup in hand), Oliver has a signature "bath" crawl. Basically, this is what he does as soon as he hears the sound of running water.