Winter's Coming

It snowed this morning! For the first time in weeks. We've been living in this bizarre bubble of warmth (50-60* highs) while the East coast is getting hammered. The kids were so excited that they insisted on "helping" Dan clear the sidewalks this morning. I think Andrew might have helped--the other two just took sleds down our little backyard hill.

This week has been kind of crazy, for a lot of reasons. My usual babysitter (i.e. Trisha) was out of town, so my parents came down for a visit--also to watch Oliver while I taught. It was lovely to have them here, though we didn't get to do anything terribly exciting.

But, of course, normal life things don't always go on hold, so while they were here I got to host book group (something I signed up to do 3 months ago): we talked about Kimberley Little's lovely historical YA romance, Forbidden, which takes place in the ancient Middle East, sort of late Biblical era. I also had my writer's group--I'm sure my parents had fun staying at the house while I was gone and Dan took Andrew to the basketball game . . . (I promise next time we'll have more adventures!).

Evelyn has begun to really enjoy her play practices (as we knew she would), though we'll see how the enthusiasm lasts when they get into near daily rehearsals next month.

Andrew and Evelyn went to a Tae Kwon Do celebration Wednesday night while I hosted my book group. I gather that they ate lots of food and posed for pictures. Can you spot Andrew?



And the other crazy thing for this week--if you're on Facebook, you already saw my announcement.

But if not, this happened:

I sold a book! (Three, actually). And the official notice came out in Publisher's Weekly this week, which means I can tell people about it.

The announcement went live Thursday night and it was fun to watch my twitter feed explode with congratulations (and facebook too, after I posted the announcement). The writing community can be really terrific sometimes, and this is one of them. I've certainly been on the other side, congratulating friends as their books sold and wishing it could be mine, so I know that sometimes the congratulations are mixed, but they're generally  no less sincere for all that.

Holding on

Sometimes writing this blog feels like one more chore to do each week--but most of the time, I'm grateful for this opportunity to look back on the week and just hold onto moments that otherwise whirl past too fast to really grasp.

The weather has been unseasonably lovely for the second or third week in a row--we hit the 60s several days this week, while the East coast is getting pounded. I've loved the weather--but I'm also nervous about what it means for our water level this summer. At this point, I wouldn't mind some snow! (Heresy, I know).

It's been an interesting week for the kids, too. After an audition where I thought Andrew had done reasonably well and Evelyn had bombed, we found out on Monday that Evelyn got cast (as a frogling) and Andrew didn't make the cut. I'm 85% sure that Evelyn got cast because she's little. And then we had to talk her into actually going to the first rehearsal, which is funny to me because if you've met Evelyn, she's a bit of a diva and she usually loves the attention she gets performing. When I picked her up from that rehearsal, she was in tears, but by the next day she was back to telling me how excited she was. What changed? Well, she told her first grade class that she was in a play and everyone thought that was *so* cool and wished they could be in it. (For grandparents, the play is the week of April 6th).

Luckily for the balance of powers in the household, Andrew made it into the school spelling bee, and Evelyn didn't. I'm on the PTA committee for the spelling bee, so I got to help grade the spelling tests we used to determine who made it in (I graded 2nd grade, so I didn't see Andrew's or Evelyn's scores until they'd already been graded). I don't think Evelyn has a very good sense of her spelling: she told me, I think I only missed like 4 words! (She missed 14. Out of 30. Which was better than most of the 1st graders, but still . . . ).

And Oliver's biggest accomplishment was discovering an entire packet of markers unattended in the kids room. Before someone found him, he'd managed to blacken his hands, color on Evelyn's sheet and blankets, and scribble all over the foot of the bunkbed. (At least that part washed off). I don't know what it is about coloring on oneself, but Oliver seems to find it deeply satisfying.

In other news: Dan made sugar cookies for his class because they had a Friday exam--some in conventional hearts for Valentine's Day, some in Star Wars shape. I don't think they were sufficiently appreciative, because the exam took longer than expected. But my class enjoyed the leftovers!

For Valentine's day itself we didn't have any big plans. The kids each got a small present from us, Dan got a packet of grits, I got some audio books (Georgette Heyer read by Richard Armitage!!). I took the older kids to a book signing downtown and they got waffle cones to eat on the way back. When Oliver woke up, we went swimming as a family and Evelyn discovered that she actually *likes* the big water slide.

More news coming this next week . . . stay tuned!

On trying hard things

This week has been a busy one--I think we had something going on every single night last week.

Monday night, Andrew and Evelyn went to a pre-rehearsal for a local children's theater group and learned some songs and the basics of an audition. Wednesday night, they both auditioned for Honk!, a musical based on the ugly duckling. While I'm not sure they'll get in, I was proud of them for trying something new.

The kids auditioned in groups--Andrew and Evelyn were right behind a trio of much older girls, all of whom clearly had experience with this kind of thing. Even though we'd practiced the songs, Evelyn was still a little uncertain, so she had her music with her. But I think she was either daunted or impressed by the girls who went before her (with the songs memorized), so she went up stage without her music: and froze. She missed her entrance a couple of times, and then she couldn't remember much beyond the first line of the song. The people orchestrating it were so kind to her--and she got up and tried without crying (something that wasn't entirely certain), so I was proud of her.

And Andrew . . . he got up and improvised his own choreography to the song while he sang. He wasn't always on tune, but he knew all his words and he put feeling behind them. So regardless of what happens, they tried something new. As a normally risk-averse person, I know how much guts it takes to risk failure at new things.

Tuesday night, Evelyn had her first tumbling class (she has them twice a week this month, which is already proving a challenge). The only problem? Andrew has scouts at 4, her tumbling class starts at 4:30, Andrew is done at 4:45, and she's done at 5:15. Those chunks of time are simply not enough to get anything done in between all the driving! Luckily, it's just one day a week.

Wednesday night, after the kids' audition, Dan had a big study session on campus--he made all kinds of cookies and scones which was great for his students, not so great for someone (like me) trying to eat less sugar.

Thursday was more tumbling, and Andrew had a play date with a friend. I also had my writer's group--which is always something I look forward to. We've been meeting twice a month for three and a half years now, and it's constantly amazing to me to see how far we've come. In that time, two of us have gotten agents, my friend has a two-book deal, and we're getting closer than ever to the writing dreams we have. Hard work and persistence do eventually pay off.

Friday Evelyn had a playdate with a little boy who lives in Bubby and Poppy's ward (in the last week, she's had notes from three of her classmates with their phone numbers and a plea for Evelyn to call them so they can play together. Clearly, she's just as popular at school as she is at home!).

And yesterday--I'd apologize for just listing the events of the week, which makes for boring reading, but since the real purpose of this blog is to have a record of our family's life during the year, I won't--we drove down to SG. I went to the temple (we'd initially planned for Dan and I to take shifts, but the first shift took longer than planned) and Dan and the kids went to breakfast with Bubby. Then they tackled our car. I came back to the condo to find everyone missing and all our stuff from the trunk sitting next to a wall. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened. They came back with the car vacuumed--and shampooed!--probably the first time the car's been that clean since we bought it. Thanks, Bubby! Then we went to Costco and came home--just in time to get the big kids off to two different birthday parties.

A fun week, but I'm hoping this next week is a little calmer. Then again, I have a phone interview on Tuesday, a department meeting at the same time as scouts and tumbling, and Dan has another study session . . . so, maybe not.

A disaster of epic proportions

Anyone who follows me on Facebook might have some inkling of the story that dominated my week. I offer fair warning: it's not for the faint of heart (or stomach).

Just a few days ago I read a friend's account of steam cleaning her couches after her toddler pooped on them, and I thought rather smugly that I haven't dealt with anything like that for a long time.

I should know better than thinking things like that.

Yesterday, Dan and Evelyn were out getting haircuts and Oliver was playing (I thought) with Andrew while I did a little work on the computer. I heard Andrew shout, "Mom, Oliver stinks!" so I went to investigate. But Oliver was not downstairs (though the pervading aroma gave witness to Andrew's claim).

So I went upstairs, my heart sinking a little with each step as the smell of poop increased. I wandered through the front room and spied a nice round turd sitting by itself on the floor.

But no Oliver.

My first reaction? Oh, crap. (Literally and figuratively).

By now seriously concerned, I proceeded to the bathroom, where I could hear water running. I opened the door and there was Oliver, stark naked, with poop all over his hand and all over one foot.

And crying.

He'd clearly tried unsuccessfully to clean himself up: poop was smeared all over his towel, all over the sink and the surrounding counter--even on the spray bottle we keep filled with water for hair. I ran the bathtub and plopped him in, then went to investigate while he soaked.

I cleaned up the poop in the front room--and then discovered a trail of poo leading from the bathroom to the kitchen and all the way downstairs. I knew he must have discarded his clothes somewhere--but where?

I found his shirt in the room where Andrew was playing the Wii. But no pants--or, more tellingly, diaper.

I found his pants and diaper (wet, not poopy) in the downstairs bathroom. And the downstairs still reeked of poop.

My heart now around the level of my ankles, I went back into the family room. Sometimes Oliver likes to poop in the privacy under my sewing table.

And yup, sure enough, there was the epicenter of the disaster: poop all over the carpet. Oliver had taken off his clothes *before* going potty (and the fact that his pants and diaper were in the bathroom means that he had some nascent sense that he was supposed to go potty there).

I asked Andrew: why didn't you tell me Oliver was naked and poopy?

But Andrew had been so engrossed in his game that he only noticed after the fact, and only from the smell. The naked, poop-smeared toddler entirely escaped his notice.

I got Oliver cleaned up and then set to work on the upstairs with Clorox wipes and then mopped the floor with bleach. The downstairs had to wait until Dan got home and I could go rent a carpet cleaner from Home Depot.

Our downstairs carpet has never been cleaner. (The only bright side of the whole thing).

But I sure hope we never have to do that again. With one fell swoop (er, poop), Oliver managed to surpass both of his siblings, leaving traces of his passing in 2/3 of the house.

****

Lest you think our week was entirely about poop (yesterday, it felt like it), Dan and Andrew had pack meeting on Wednesday with a magic theme. The meeting went well, though Dan managed to singe all the hair off his hand.

Evelyn got her hair chopped into a cute bob (I'll post pictures when I get some).

And last night at dinner, when Dan mentioned something about Santa Fe, I broke into "Santa Fe" from Newsies. I hadn't gotten past the first line when Evelyn levelled me with a look and said, "Really, mom?"

I think she's got the pre-teen look down pat.

Hopefully our readers had a less *ahem* crappy week than we did!