Pomp and Circumstance

After weeks (well, ok -- it's been months) of senioritis, Cameron can finally relax. He walked the walk, and has graduated with the Class of 2010!! We are so thrilled for him!!

We did our now-traditional photo of Mom putting on his mortarboard:
At least I didn't injure him in the process. Cameron graduates with his cousin, who is 3 weeks younger than him, but a couple inches taller:

The photo doesn't include their feet. On purpose.

Ok, since it's my blog, I'm putting forth my opinion. Can I just say that today's trend of graduates wearing shorts, flip-flops, grimy tennis shoes, etc. ..... really bothers me. I saw one girl get her diploma barefoot. I feel like it's disrespectful and cheapens the accomplishment. Todd and I discussed it a little, and I'm thinking that rather than put out rules and a commencement dress code, maybe these youths need to just learn a lesson on gratitude for how blessed and fortunate they are. I don't think they realize how bad they look. I feel that they need to see and make the change for themselves. I totally understand kids wanting to be individuals, but that should be expressed a little more conservatively at graduation time.

I am so glad Cameron dressed so nicely for this. This photo was supposed to be our graduate with Mom and Dad, but when we stood up to pose, Emma came over and stood right in front, like she was supposed to be in the picture, too!! Dad took pity on her and picked her up.

His old Scoutmaster is on the school board, and he made sure he was the one to hand Cameron his diploma cover and shake his hand. VERY cool!!

The whole family, minus our Jamaican missionary:

So afterward, we drove to the school for a couple of shots as well. Cameron is pretty excited to be done with high school:

Hey, Cameron, ........ You just graduated from high school! HOW DO YOU FEEL??

That pretty much sums it up!

Lesson Learned!

So we added a new member to the family. Isn't she cute?

She's actually almost as old as Darcie --shhhhh, she's a little sensitive about her age! Since she's somewhat "over the hill", she came cheap to us. Don't say anything in front of her, you might hurt her feelings.

We had a couple different reasons for getting a car -- running errands in the Suburban is pretty draining on the gas tank. Plus, since Alyssa starts Driver's Ed next month, we figured she'd need something to learn with that wasn't a behemoth, gas guzzling, .... well, you get the picture.

We (ok, *I*) am still learning my way around her, and all her little idiosyncrasies. Yesterday, I learned a lot in only a few minutes:

#1 - The horn on the Honda is actually louder than the horn on the Suburban. Or maybe it's just more obnoxious. I wish it was set up to beep when I hit the remote door lock on my "check for sure" second or third push of the button. No such luck.

#2 - If you lock the Honda with the remote lock, and then unlock the Honda with the key in the door, it will trigger the security horn alarm. If this happens in the middle of the day, in your own driveway, your first reaction is to try to quiet it right away.

#3 - Small toddlers (ok, it was Emma!) who are walking around the nose of the Honda when the security horn alarm goes off unexpectedly....... WILL RUN, screaming in terror.

It was one of those moments when you want to laugh at your kid, but you know it wouldn't be fair to them, but it was screaming funny all the same. Poor thing!

But I know some teenagers and adults who probably would have had the same reaction!!

Spring Fling

While Alyssa has been playing school softball for some time, Darcie's age level does not have a school softball program, and there's also no city program either, so for the next 2 years, she will only be playing travel ball.

Darcie's Sting team from last year dissolved and fell apart into a couple of different teams. Darcie was offered (and we took) a position on another team. This team is older girls that play down one year from Alyssa's age level. Every other year, they play at her level. This is the "down" year for them. But some of the girls on this team are in Alyssa's grade at school.

Darcie is the youngest girl on this new (to her) team, and I think she's felt a little quieter because of that. We think it's a real testament to her strong softball talent that this older team's coach asked for her. Last year she had been the #4 or "cleanup" batter on her team. We knew she wouldn't get that same place in the lineup for this team, but she's not at the bottom of the lineup, either. Darcie batted 6th during the first tournament, and did a good job in her at-bats. I'd be interested to see what her on-base percentage was, because she did well.

Alyssa took some of my photos for this tournament, and even though this shot is definitey through-the-fence, I love this photo of Darce -- it's classic!

The coach told us he would play Darcie in different positions, but was definitely looking for her to play catcher sometimes, since she's got experience in that position. I tell her that part of what makes a pitcher look good, is that she's got a good catcher. Darcie has the potential to really become a GREAT catcher, if she wants it.

Her bat may LOOK like Alyssa's, but this is her own Mikken "Rain" bat. Most of her hits this tournament were hard grounders that went up the middle & got her a base hit.

So we expected she'd be played in the outfield, since the established team members would probably be in the infield. And though she did play outfield, I was pleased to see her coach put her also in the infield. He wants her as a utility player, so she played third base........

..... and also first base......

And at the end of the tournament, her team took 2nd place. When presenting the trophy, I think the director gave it to the tall girl in the middle -- oh, wait, that's Darcie! She's got those tall genes, because she is the youngest girl on this team, and also the tallest!! Note to self: measure her again, because she just may have passed me up.

This coming weekend is their second tournament, which conflicts with Cameron's graduation.... but we're exploring our possibilities for doing both (since there's no way we'd miss graduation, but we still love softball!!)

It's for the Birds!

There's a life lesson somewhere in this post..... I'm trying to find it. You might think I'm majorly into birdwatching but that's not really the case.

So, at the Haven, we have two covered decks off the back of the house. In the springtime, it's pretty common for birds to pick out a place in the rafters as a likely nesting spot. Usually we get robins. This year, we had a pair of mourning doves: Momma Dove was pretty calm, and would stay right there, even as we walked around underneath her. Unfortunately for Mr. & Mrs. Dove, the big windstorm that wiped out the batting cage also took out their happy home.

And it actually happened a second time, too. To Mother Nature's credit, however, Mr. & Mrs. Dove are not talented nest-builders. They used mostly sticks and stiff material, and not very much of it. The second nest attempt didn't get very far before the wind took it out as well. We think they're nesting elsewhere in the shrubbery now, since we still hear them a lot. They're like the artistic or brainy people that have no clue about how to wire an outlet or change the oil in their car.

Well, apparently the Haven must have had a aviary "FOR RENT" sign up, and we also got robin tenants -- on the other deck. They picked a most inconvenient location -- the sprinkler control box. Todd removed two nest attempts there.

Undeterred, they started in the rafters. Todd removed another nest attempt there. He can be just as determined as the birds are. Mr. and Mrs. Robin are apparently most desperate for a home, though. Perhaps, as Jodi suggested on the Springs' Surprises post, Mrs. Robin simply could not wait any longer!! I know some preggo ladies who would totally identify with that, and would like to get on with things right now as well!!

This next photo shows how much the robins accomplished in ONLY a 24-hour period. Seriously. They continued after this for another 8 hours or so:

The downside for the human Haven residents, is this is located right over our stairs and furthermore, over the barbeques, and the Robins are MOST untidy tenants. Can you see all the crap that fell down, just in the construction process?

I never would have noticed this at all, if I hadn't be working on the computer during construction, and it was all happening right outside my window. What struck me as really funny, was how Mr. & Mrs. Dove were hanging around for the construction demonstration! Were they trying to get tips? Is this the avian version of HGTV?

They didn't seem to bother or hinder Mr. & Mrs. Robin at all -- they just hung around!

The Robins, who obviously subscribe to the Speedy Construction methods, didn't bring just one straw at a time, they brought whole mouthfuls. We recognized snow-in-summer foliage (light green in the photo) and walnut tree blossoms (the black stuff) amongst it all. On one trip, Mr./Mrs Robin could barely attain enough lift to bring the material, and flopped over backwards in midair in the process:

And all the while, Mrs. Dove is hanging out for the show:

Then, the doves would get really close for a GOOD VIEW:

Here's a rather fluffy-looking Robin, with a big old gob of building supplies:

Placing it on the nest......
And here come the Joneses, I mean the Doves....... checking it all out! Isn't it just like those nosy neighbors to hang around and watch while you're working on a home improvement project!! This is NOT their nest!!

Later, I stopped back by, and, wondering if Mrs. Robin was really all that desperate, I got the best shot I could manage.... checking for eggs. Mr. & Mrs. Robin were very skittish, and if they saw any movement in the window or near the doorway, they would fly away. Most of my photos came with the zoom lens, through the open door, and I was standing at least 6 feet inside the door. Any closer, and the Robins would be GONE.

Nope, no eggs. But, I have to admit, when the Master of the Haven returned home last night, he accidently on purpose removed the hard-won nest again. Whatever happened to birds nesting in trees and bushes??? What happened to "In the Leafy Treetops, the Birds sing Good Morning"?

(Not completely crushed in their efforts, the Robins are actually considering rebuilding on the same spot. However, the rigorous construction schedule is NOT there! Perhaps they're a little daunted now by all their hard work going to waste.)

It reminds me of those people who build a dream getaway home on the beach, then cry because their home got washed away in a hurricane -- you know, the home on a flood plain that they couldn't get hurricane insurance for -- weeping and wailing because they lost everything, and then decide to rebuild again on that same property, because they like the view so well. DUMB!!!

Maybe today's rain is casting a shadow on things, since we have almost no progress. Or maybe the Robins are simply putting their heads under their wings and have given up.

In Her Momma's Footsteps

Emma has a shoe fetish.

My shoes, in particular. Her favorites are my red patent ballet flats:

She's so funny as she scuffles carefully around, making sure that she doesn't lose them behind her!
If she's anything like her mother and sisters, she'll have really big feet, share shoes with the other women in the house, and have a large collection herself. For now, the shoes are still under control.........

Spring's Suprises

Every spring, we set up our batting cage in the back yard. It's really handy to have it right here at the Haven, and the girls get a lot of good swings in for softball practice.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a pretty big windstorm come through our valley. Trees down, power outages....... oh, and a batting cage that did not survive. The kids were a bit surprised to come home to this sight:

Of course, it was no surprise to me, since I was the one playing Captain Ahab, holding onto the lines, while on the cell phone with Todd, shouting, "What do you want me to do?" and his response: "Let it go!"

So I did. The whole cage turned onto its side, and then onto its top. Many of the poles were bent and need to be replaced. After we had mowed once, we finally got the net gathered up, and Todd sent Cameron out once more to mow the missed spot. It happened to be starting to rain again, hence the hood:

These next few shots are more recent, since I've been spending time out in the yard in good weather, which is a bit dodgy this spring -- we've had a lot of rain. So yesterday, on my way out, I stopped by the grapes..... and found the tiniest grapes in the entire world, just coming out:

Also in the back yard, are the spirea bushes, which have come out with blooms in force, with some fading peonies in front. So do you say, "Pee-OH-nee"? or do you say, "PEE-oh-nee"? Just wondering.
And lastly, while weeding the raspberries, look at the little surprise I found lying at the base of one of the supports!
I'm thinking it might be a quail, since I've seen a group of them out there in the nearby forsythia bushes. I don't know, do quail lay their eggs on the ground? We'll see if this little one survives.

Tetris, Anyone?

This is an example of something Cameron made in his Manufacturing class this year. (Todd says it used to be called, "I.C.A." -- Industrial Creative Arts.)
Cameron used a mirror tile, and with various colors, he recreated a Tetris game screen. He also made the wood frame for it as well.

My kids are so talented!

A Herd of Elephants

File this one under the "becoming my mother" heading.

I don't think I truly understood all my mother was telling me until years after I became a mother. Case in point:

Mom told us, on more than one occasion, that we sounded like a herd of elephants. Being the literal being that all children are, I just knew there was no possible way we could sound like a herd of elephants. We just didn't make that much noise.

Uh-huh.

So I was downstairs this morning, rocking the baby back to sleep. If she gets up too early in the morning, it will throw off our whole day. This was after the teenagers were up and moving. The rocker is in the family room, which is directly below the kitchen & dining room. And I could hear EVERYTHING down there.

Chairs scraping across the floor.
Footsteps to the fridge.
Thundering steps down the stairs to the storage room.
An echo of those same steps returning upstairs
Rattling of the frozen breakfast sandwich wrapper (they got their own breakfast this morning)
Footsteps across the floor, both directions
Water running
Microwave slamming closed
Microwave beeping and running
Microwave slamming closed again
More chairs scraping
More steps across the floor
Fridge again
Pantry door closing
Cold cereal hitting the bowl
Clanging silverware
Dishes landing in the sink
More steps across the floor

(There was more, but you get the picture.)

And as I sat belowstairs, I looked up at the ceiling and became my mother, as I thought, "They sound like a herd of elephants up there!"

A Formal Dance

In case any women out there have forgotten what it was like when they were young -- those formal school dances (proms, balls, whatever you called them!) -- those are every young woman's princess fantasy. Well, at least, the young woman who lives at my house!

Alyssa had Freshman Dance last week, and she and her friends turned the whole thing into quite the event. Alys started with hair, makeup & nails at her friend's house. Oh, by the way, the mom is required for that!

We'd had a practice hairstyle afternoon, so at least we knew what we were doing. The curls did not turn out quite the way we had envisioned, but it worked, and she is very pretty. (Maybe there's some mom bias there, but it's my blog so I can say it!!) The other girls in their group all came for a photo session before leaving for the dance. I was the designated driver -- which was just fine with me -- because our Suburban was big enough for them all, and because I was going to the dance anyway, since I was on the food committee. It was a great excuse to get the Suburban washed and detailed, too!!By the way, Alyssa is flat-footed in this dress, and still taller than every one of her friends, who had shoes of varying height.

Then, they danced the afternoon away (this is Freshman Dance, so it took place at 3:00 in the afternoon!)....

And when the dance was over, they wanted some more photos. After all, if you're going to put that much effort into a look, let's make the most of it! So we went down to a park by the river, where they played some impromptu soccer in their formal dresses.....


And we got some great photo shots as well........

They even went out to dinner together as a group, actually adding one more girl who did not attend the dance, and then they rounded out their evening with some "night games" with other kids.

As the mom, there were a few things that made me proud of my girl that day. First is the modest dress we found in Idaho Falls, and actually purchased in Boise -- during that softball trip. I'm so glad she found something she loved, that was very pretty, and didn't have the look of "I'm trying to cover up so I can be modest".

Second, I'm so glad she and her friends planned an evening together, without anyone feeling any pressure of being on a date with a BOY. Alyssa is not generally one to push limits, and she knows (& agrees with) our stand on waiting to date until age 16. In our town, Freshman Dance is not really considered a "date" dance, and the kids often go stag, or in a group of friends like Alyssa did. Going stag for this dance does not carry the stigma that you and I remember from our high school proms. It is a formal dance, though, and since it's their first formal, most of the kids go all-out for it.

But the thing that made me most proud was when she explained to me that one of the girls, who is kind of on the fringes of their "group" at school, was going to be included with the group's plans for that day. A couple of the girls had thought to avoid including her, but Alyssa stepped up and initiated the moment and decision to make sure this girl was invited to be with the group. We may not know what kind of effect that may have had on this girl, but I know it makes Alyssa & her friends better people by being warm and inviting, rather than cruel and stand-offish.

Good for you, Sys!!

Eighteen Years Ago....

So as hard as it may be to admit, I actually do have aNOTHER child who has reached that adult age of 18 years old!

For almost all his life, Cameron has had the unfortunate experience of being continually mixed up with his older brother. I feel bad that people confuse them, because Cameron is so much his own person, and always has been.

In fact, when he entered school, I spoke to his teacher about it. I said, "Remember Brandon? Well forget everything you know about Brandon, because this is Cameron, and Cameron is a totally different person." And I will also admit, that as a mom, for a while I had my own problems letting go of that vision. I had Brandon in mind and wanted Cameron to do everything he did and be the same boy. And it wasn't going to happen.

And the day I let that go was a true turning point for me, and for Cameron (although he may not realize it). Because that was when I was able to forge my own relationship with Cameron that was not based on anything but Cameron. We have gotten along so much better ever since then.

So when Cameron was born, once again in the same hospital as all the others, we had a couple of unique experiences. The first was actually a couple of months previous, when I had kidney stones while pregnant with him. The acute pain of kidney stones sent me to the hospital, but at the time, we didn't know the reason. I remember pointing with one finger to the source of the pain; the doctors wanted to reassure me that the pain I felt was not baby-related, and that he was fine. But I was completely sure that he was ok, because I knew that my pains were not where the baby was.

It was, however, a good thing that I'd been through labor once before, because they put me in the maternity wing, where, down the hall, I could hear a woman yelling. Had I not already been through childbirth, this could have potentially been pretty scary!!

When it did come time for Cameron to be born, we did not enter through the emergency entrance, nor did Todd push me up to maternity in a wheelchair. We walked in (pausing during contractions!!), and when we approached the counter, and the nurse asked, Todd said,

"She thinks she's in labor." This was in an offhand manner, almost skeptical sounding.

At that point, I PUNCHED him in the arm, and told him they weren't going to take us seriously.

Which, they didn't!

They put us in a labor room, where we were left alone for a good twenty minutes. I had no idea how far into labor I was, but with my last experience going quickly, I did want to find out. When I gave up on someone coming back to check on me, and was just sending Todd out to find a nurse, one came in. Still in no particular hurry, she gave me a gown and it took a little more time before she finally checked me. I'm sure the nurse was a bit dismayed to find out that I was in active labor (in addition to the other women already in the wing), and was going to need immediate attention!

Cameron came into the world with no real worries or problems, and has been a blessing to us ever since.

In addition to being the only springtime birthday we have, Cameron also has the distinction of being the most injured child of the family; for years it seemed as though he'd taken upon him all the injuries of the other children, since none had had so much as a broken bone. Here are some of his injury highlights (these are each a story in their own), but DISCLAIMER: this is not for the weak of stomach!! In roughly chronological order:

- At 7 months old, Cameron had surgery to have tubes put in his ears. He had a continuous ear infection from his first baby check, that never totally cleared up. Seeing my baby boy behind bars (Hello? Have you SEEN those hospital cribs??) & waiting for that surgery was really emotional for me. The tubes did help, and he was healthier after that.

- At age 15 months, he fell and his top four front teeth (well, the ONLY top teeth at the time!) were pushed up and backwards into his gums. Our dentist said just to watch them for discoloration after they came back down again, but he kept them all until the normal age to lose them. This instantly weaned him from pacifier and bottles.

- At age 5, he jumped/fell off the bouncer-horse and broke his arm. We went 3 days and a bowling trip before we found out it was broken.

- Cameron has extremely sensitive skin after a particularly bad sunburn at about age 7 or so. He developed some large blisters (walnut-in-shell size & shape!), couldn't wear a shirt for about 5 days, and has major freckles ever since then. Sunscreen is always an absolute requirement for him now.

- Playing at his cousin's house, he once impaled his hand on a rusty nail that was protruding from a short-handled shovel. Emergency doctor trip and stitches required for that one!

- Showing off a new trampoline trick (which involved toy light sabers in both hands -- it was a VERY cool trick!)), he flipped forward too far and hit his mouth on the metal frame of the tramp. This resulted in four broken teeth, and 41 stitches to re-attach his lower lip (inside) to his jaw. We spent a Sunday afternoon with our dentist, who has an extremely thick file on Cameron now, and I played dental assistant, while Todd (the blood-squeamish one) was sent to a pharmacy for some major painkillers. Cameron's teeth had be to re-built after that -- thank goodness for modern dental techniques.

I am so glad that Cameron IS his own person. As a senior now, he is just a couple of weeks away from graduation. His plan right now is to get a job (in addition to his once-a-week newspaper routes) and save up some money to go on a mission. He is smart, and focused (when he wants to be!), and my biggest wish for him is that he might live up to all of his potential, because -- as I keep telling him --- he is AMAZING.