The REAL Graduation

I have to laugh a little bit when I see so many posts on Facebook and blogs about Junior High/Middle School Graduation, Elementary School Graduation, Kindergarten Graduation and yes, even Pre-school Graduation. I of course participated in these wonderful events with my children just like everyone else, but this year I get to boast being the mother of a High School Graduate! I'm not sure where he came from, I'm certainly not old enough to have a child going to college in 3 months, but I'll take him.

This is the first time I've participated in an outdoor graduation ceremony. We were warned to get there early and to sit on the side of the football stadium that was in the shade (it was 97 degrees at 6:30 pm) but being genetically incapable of punctuality, getting there 20 minutes ahead of time was up there with parting the Red Sea in my mind. It was still not early enough and after wasting time looking forlornly at all the people on the west side of the bleachers, smugly sitting there packed shoulder to shoulder in the shade, we gave up and headed around the track to join the steaming hot losers on the east bleachers. It was also packed. With 10 minutes to go before the ceremony started, we felt a little miffed that people were saving seats, and Ren good naturedly pointed this out to a man who responded, "Well, we got here EARLY sir." Luckily, I spotted some kids who were lounging on more than their two cheek-sized section of bleachers in the highest, farthest corner of the stands and we were able to squeeze in. I'm so glad we left the three little ones at home, they would have hated the heat and the hard seats. Their whining would definitely NOT have improved things.

Squinting into the setting sun we gazed at the stage set up in the distance and realized it didn't matter if the sun was in our eyes, we couldn't see the little ant sized people down there anyway. I managed to get a very far distant shot of Zach walking in after taking several pictures in a row and them digitally zooming my camera until I found him. (It took me a while to locate him in the shots).

After a while though, as the sun was setting, I realized that we were witnessing a spectacular sunset that the uppity west side completely missed, so I comforted myself by taking no less than 40 pictures of the sunset. (I'll only subject you to a few of those -- it just kept changing and getting better and I couldn't put my camera down lest I missed something!)

The ceremony was mildly entertaining, though a little heavy on speeches (five I think) and loaded with propaganda about how amazing High School was and how prepared they are for their futures. It seemed a little insipid and shallow to me, but we all went with it because it's part of the ceremony. Then they called names for a long time and we strained to see our son down there on the 5 yard line on the other side of the field. He seemed perky as he crossed the stage. =)

We snapped some pictures afterward and basked in the glow of finally being done with High School. I'm very proud of Zach for working hard to get good grades, really improving in his musical abilities and in battling his natural shyness to become a funny, sweet, tall kid who still lets me hug him. He finished number 8 in his class which is something to be very proud of!

We had to get a few pictures of Zach with his little brothers too. They all took turns wearing his cap and Gid adopted his gown as his own.

Gid just kept wrapping himself up in all that blue, silky fabric, until I finally had to hide the gown so he wouldn't mess it up.

We had a big family party afterward and showered Zach with presents and cards from Grandparents (thanks Grandparents for your generous checks!) It made a pretty big impression on the twins who said they might have to go back to public high school, just so they get to graduate.

I'm sure that when Zach graduates from College, we'll realize how insignificant this graduation is too; but it won't matter, we'll just enjoy where we're at just like we did when he was one and wore his first graduation cap and gown at his parents' graduation from BYU.

My Scouts

Well, I sent the boys off to scout camp this morning. True to form,
only one neckerchief and slide could be found between my twins, so
they'll have to share. Ren is going for two days...I hope he survives
all that male bonding. As they left we waved from the porch and
called, "Return with stinkiness!"

Prom 2010!

I'm sure I can't possibly be old enough...but two of my babies are at prom tonight! AAAAAAAH!!!:D Hannah and a gaggle of girls spent several hours packed into her bathroom to paint nails, curl hair and apply make-up. By the way, Hannah is wearing the dress I wore as a bridesmaid in my sister Sherrie's wedding. Good job Sher picking a dress that was so beautiful we could alter it a little and it's Cinderella perfect for Hannah's first prom. Seriously, being the mother of teenagers is a blast. I adore my BIGS!

Zach's friend Jessica flew down from Oregon to be his date. How much more fun can you get?

Here's the exchanging of flowers...

Sometimes you need a little help from your...Dad?

Hannah showing a little attitude with her date Justin looking on.

This is my favorite!

Hannah and Justin kindly pretending to exchange flowers (they had already done it and I missed it!

Aren't they cute?

Justin was truly a trooper not complaining at all about me posing them.

Zach and Jessica looking smashing as well.

Here's a group shot.

It's darn near impossible to get 12 couples to jump at the same time at the end of a 30 minute photo session in 98 degree heat!

My Bigs! Where did the time go?

The happy prom kids. (Smiling while they think, "Enough already!")

Hannah showing off the manicure her friend Jeline gave her.

And the flower her friend Raquel made her. What great friends!

My asian daughter Kathy and my sweet daughter Hannah. (I adopt daughters whenever I can, being so deprived of girls as I am.)

Life is FUN!!!!

Candidate for the New Justice League?

Most days I load my little guy in the car to go to the store just like everybody else. Little did I know this wasn't most days. Today I was accompanied by Super Ducky Man! Sent to protect me from produce riots or squabbles over two-for-one boxes of Captain Crunch, this little known super hero was my personal bodyguard for the last hour. And we didn't take the car, oh no! We took the Super Ducky Rocket!! It's a good thing I don't have a boring life. ;D

(sidenote: This ducky costume was Gid's first Halloween costume. He begs me to put it on every time he discovers it in a box in my closet. Finally he wore me down and I put it on him just to show him it didn't fit. Well, he showed me. The full-size ducky costume became the superducky wedgie shorts and he's worn it for three days straight. Lesson: 3 year-olds always win.)

The Glorious Parking Job

My only daughter has dubbed this "The glorious parking job." Hannah
can get her license in 29 days...I'm thinking she might want a little
more practice parking the big car!

Pool Weather?

It's March 16th and 80 degrees, does that make the pool swimmable? Gid
seems to think so, even if the water temp is probably around 60
degrees! Brrrrr! As long as he's entertained I'm happy to sit here by
the pool and relax. Sometimes being a mom is a pretty good gig. Now
what shall I have the cook prepare for my dinner? ;-)

The Puppy Post

It has come to my attention that certain parties feel I am remiss in posting playful puppy pictures (and other tidbits of canine cuteness). I wouldn't want to seem neglectful of my blog or anything...wait, too late for that. Anyway, here goes...

Henry is a fully integrated part of the family now. Of course, I am still his favorite (through no apparent effort on my part, he finds me endlessly appealing), but he also loves to cuddle with the little boys, do tricks for Ren and beg food off of anybody and everybody. It never fails that as the children emerge from their beds in the morning, they walk out and answer my "Good Morning" with a high pitched, sickly sweet, "Hi Henry!" So the dog follows me everywhere and I'm invisible to the children.

He will pretty much do ANYTHING for a treat and often runs through his whole repertoire of tricks spontaneously if he thinks you have some tasty morsel hidden in your palm. It's pretty entertaining to watch him sit then lay then roll over then lift his paw to shake ending with a soulful look all in less than 5 seconds!

Maybe the reason he likes me so much is because, like me, he has the Bolton family tongue! We Bolton women are known for having very long tongues...I'll leave it to you decide if Henry takes after my side or not. (There will not be a picture of me sticking out my tongue though, sorry.)

(this was a yawn -- Ren is NOT pulling on that tongue.)

He is pretty reliable in his potty training, so we finally gave him access to the whole upstairs. When I can't find him at night, he's usually cuddled in with the boys, who insist on sleeping on the floor. That's perfect for the puppy, he just picks the least wiggly one and settles in.

As you can see from the pictures, our puppy was getting pretty scruffy. His hair just grows and grows and grows. I felt bad when I realized he couldn't see and that his mustache was so long it was in his mouth, so I took him to the groomers. The kids begged me not have his hair cut, but I think the result was pretty cute. It's amazing how in the before pictures he looks like a scruffy, old dog and in the after pictures, he looks puppy-like than ever. When the groomer brought him out, we didn't even recognize him! The boys reaction was, "They made him look like a girl!" Maybe that's why I think he's so darling. ;D

He's a born model, I didn't make him pose like that, he just did it and gave me his best look of innocent sweetness. Then I'm sure he grabbed someone's undies and hightailed it out of there!

We find ourselves wondering what the big fuss was about getting a puppy. We debated and debated, agonizing over how much work and trouble one would be. It turns out, this little guy was the perfect addition to the family. We even forgive him for stealing our socks when he turns that angelic face up at us. Like Gideon and Eli are always saying to me when he crawls in their laps, "Aw, look Mom, I have a puppy!" We all do and he's a keeper.