How to Tell if Your Kids are Having a Great Summer

This is how I can tell if my kids have had a great summer day: They leave a huge bathtub ring! The bigger the ring, the better the day.



Natalie is obviously REALLY enjoying herself this summer. Our little Dirt Bag likes nothing better than to be surrounded by piles of soil and mud.

Truly the Queen of the Dirt Ball.

We've seen her look like this a lot this summer--a pretty typical kind of day, in fact.


Well, maybe these hands are a little grubbier than usual (at least I HOPE they are!). Tonight I was seriously considering spraying her off in the driveway. Then I decided against it and took the hose away from her.

I don't think she was very happy about that. Apparently she was opting for the outdoor hygiene option.

Indoor or outdoor, no bathtub ring tonight. Natalie has discovered the shower! I'm good with that since it is easier to clean dirty little footprints off the shower floor than to get that darned soapy brown ring off the tub.

Also, for those of you who have been campaigning for us to get a pet, a final reminder of why we don't really need one.


Child number five apparently already thinks she is a dog. Getting another pet would somehow feel redundant.


P.S. Someday I will get caught up on this blog. Yes, someday. As of right now, I'm thinking about getting those spring break photos posted.

Why Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Just Might Be the End of Me

I love Harry Potter and always have. I'm not a crazed fan--just a little geeky maybe. I've read the books only about a quarter as many times as my kids have, but I've loved them, too. The movies have had their highs and lows, but they all reference back to the books for me.

So, like the poster says, It All Ends. We have tickets for the midnight premiere tomorrow night. So what's the problem, you say?

Well, its certainly not this scene, which features one of my favorite actresses as possibly my favorite Harry Potter character showing off her awesomeness.

It definitely isn't this image, which makes me want to stand up and cheer without even having seen the movie. (We all know what is happening here, don't we?!) Neville finally gets to channel his inner Gryffindor!

It might just start with this poster, in which you get a glimpse of the cataclysmic destruction of what is probably one of the coolest and most beloved movie sets of all time. Yes, it was never real, but there is that little part of us that somehow hoped it was and, even knowing better, loved it anyway.

This is definitely one of the reasons. Can't even stand looking at this poster.

But, I can live with all those things, joyous or bittersweet. (I am, after all, not THAT crazy about this story.) My real dilemma is the fact that I am old and sleep is precious and often far too fleeting. And I am sacrificing it---loads of it--in honor of this darned movie.

We started our Harry Potter rewatch last week. It sounded like a good idea at the time (and still does), but I think we all went into it not realizing what a huge time commitment it was. Seven movies, some more than 2.5 hours long! I'm not the only one that is sleepy these days.

And tomorrow night, somehow I'm going to keep myself up until after midnight just to START watching another movie? And not make it home until 3am? And still manage to wake up at the somewhat normal time and still be a somewhat functional mom? And,did I mention that I'm old?

So, why am I doing this?

Because, even with all that, it is completely and utterly worth it. I don't think the movie will disappoint those who love the story. For my own sake, I would be perfectly happy to wait a few days and enjoy it at a reasonable hour of the day or night. But I'm doing this to make a memory for Max and Camille. My kids will never forget sharing this experience with Mom. They will never forget how excited they were waiting for that screen to light up. They won't forget doing something kind of crazy with their friends and their friends' moms.

So, you might not want to depend on me for much on Friday or Saturday or maybe even Sunday? I might not be coherent, but I'll have a smile on my face.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Anderton

My wonderful niece, Nicole Green, married the equally wonderful Will Anderton in the Salt Lake temple on April 24th. I was fortunate enough to get to fly down for the wedding and join in the celebration.

It was cold and snowed like crazy, but that just made for more interesting pictures.

Nicole was the most relaxed, easy-going bride I've ever seen. While all the surrounding events were elegant and beautiful, the focus was on the importance of the ordinance. I think that is what made the day so special, in spite of the inclement weather. The bride and groom and their families really knew why they were there.

Father-of-the-Bride, Dave Green, keeps the bench dry for his daughter.

My cute niece, Michelle Green, still smiling in the cold and snow.

Great-Grandma Borders holds cutie-pie Kemry, daughter of Vandy and Tyrel Murri.

Windermere Half Marathon 2011

Brett ran his third consecutive Windermere Half-Marathon in May. He did a great job running and I was very proud of him. Keeping in shape to run this distance is time consuming and difficult, both mentally and physically. Added to that is the fact that he was running injured prior to his knee surgery in December, followed by a six week recovery period with no running at all. I'm not sure I could have come back from that, especially in that amount of time. Then again, I'm pretty much a wuss.


Two other fun things:

A bunch of other people I knew were running and I got to take pictures of them as well. Among them were my friends Emily and Shannan, who carpooleed with us for the race. Great photography lesson from Shannan's bright shirt: she was always easy to find in the huge crowds of runners. Next year, Brett won't be wearing a black shirt.

Fun thing number two: The reaction my BYU ball cap got while I was taking pictures on the sidelines. Lots and lots of "Go Cougars" "Yeah, BYU" and "Rise and Shout" comments from total strangers running the race. One was from a stringy old guy with a bare chest and hair (a wig?) halfway down his back. It made me wonder just how many other LDS runners were entered in this one.

Happy Birthday, Cam!

Hip, Hip Hurray! Cameron turned six on May 4th and wore the birthday hat to prove it.

(Deep Breath) Ahhh . . . ahhh . . . pwwwwttt! There go the candles!



We'd already had a really busy week and Cam's birthday was more of the same. (Can I remember now what even made that week so busy? Nope. Either it wasn't important or I'm senile or maybe even both.) No time for a fancy cake.

How do you make a little kid happy with a fairly plain birthday cake?

I have the answer: You put it in a bundt pan, frost it chocolate and tell them it is a doughnut cake! He was thrilled, bless his heart. He even called it a doughnut cake before I could tell him what it was.

Too bad I didn't have sprinkles! (I did, but the kids ate them. Welcome to my life.)


As it turns out, he opted for just the ice cream anyway. And who can argue--ice cream always trumps cake.


Isn't that right, Cam? Cam? Guess he's busy.


Without a doubt, the favorite present of the day was the blue triceratops Pillow Pet from Grandma Borders. Two months later and he still hauls it everywhere with him.

Now, that is birthday love! That would be a home run, Grandma. Good work, as always, though we still need to talk a bit about the hatchet that you got Max this year!

Turns out Cameron wasn't the only one celebrating his Birthday. Apparently in honor of the holiday, Natalie decided to hang around the backyard in her Birthday Suit.


How very . . . appropriate?


A big thanks to Natalie, who's celebratory nudity forced me to finally use the copy of Photoshop Elements that I've had for more than two years and haven't touched. Yeah for the blur tool!

Tidbits

A few tidbits from the last months:

No Ground Squirrel for Us. We're Happy to Eat the Goose.
(Borders family joke.)

This is what 15 pounds of goose made into sausage looks like. Max, a connoisseur of peppered beef sticks, Slim Jims and all things like unto them, is in his happy place.


Now Dash Away, Dash Away, Dash Away All

Natalie wishing for Christmas in April. Except her sled is a doll bed and her 'reindeer' a stuffed puppy and a blue teddy bear.


A Favorite Activity

If you ever need to keep kids happy, give them a bucket of water, an old paintbrush and send them out to the driveway.


Kindergarten Mother's Day Program

Cameron's Kindergarten class had a party for Mother's Day. I knew there would probably be a program, but didn't expect much participation from Cameron. Just sitting still with that many people in the room would be a success for him.

The program started off teary as his general ed teacher, Mrs. Kennedy read this truly horribly, devastating picture book that I probably will always hate even more than "I'll Love You Forever." It is called "Let Me Hold You Longer"and is about celebrating all the 'firsts' and 'lasts' you have with your child. The firsts are great, the lasts are killer. I don't know how she could read it out loud since all the mom's in the room and even the Aides were bawling by the time she hit the last page.

Then came the program, all about the seas and the creatures that live there. Cameron sang along with his classmates on some of the songs, did the actions on a few and generally stayed where he was supposed to be, which for him, is a huge success. Mixed in with the music, the individual children stood up and read a sentence they had written to describe their mom. I was so shocked when Cameron stood up. His teacher gave him a small paper, but he didn't look at it. His eyes found mine and locked onto them. He stared at me with such intensity and said very slowly and distinctly "My Mom is Good."

I cried. His aides cried. Some of the other moms cried. It was obvious how hard he worked to get that one sentence out--the one he had actually written himself. It was a crying kind of day, I guess.

I am so proud of all Cameron's hard work. We've seen so much progress lately and know how hard he's had to work to get there. Heavenly Father has great things in store for Cam and we are very blessed to be a part of his journey.