Rachel's Graduation

Turns out graduating is pretty low key when you're a homeschooler.  

To be fair, I skipped my high school graduation...so I'm not really clear what all the fuss is about. And Rachel tends to be pretty laidback about these kinds of things. 

Seventeen years ago she was much less chill about wearing a robe and mortarboard and we could hardly imagine that she'd ever let go of that blanket and grow up. But she did! 

We took so many pictures of her on Monday—over 300. Andrew wouldn't even let me look at them all because he knows I have a hard time deleting any photos...so he sorted through things first and pared that list down to 140 and then asked me to come look through the photos. 

So prepare yourself for so many pictures of Rachel!

I got a cap and gown for her to wear (from the Buy Nothing Group my go-to shopping centre) and she looked so official—and was so official—that everyone in the park kept wishing her congratulations.

Does she look ready to take on the world, or what?

BYU sent her a package with this sign inside (along with a BYU toque and a BYU patch). At first I wasn't quite sure how useful a BYU scroll was—what does one even do with a scroll? But we figured it out! You take pictures with it! Obviously!

She did such a good job looking at the camera! 

We did take a few pictures of her looking dramatically to one side, however, because this was a huge problem when she was little. 

She'd smile with all of her might...while looking way off to the side. We had to practice looking at the camera quite a bit before she got the hang of it. It was a perpetual problem for a while there!

Here's a picture of Rachel with us:

I wanted to recreate this photo (the post for which is here, though the links to the pictures are all broken because I went through this phase where I linked to my Facebook albums...but that's not a "thing" anymore...so I'll have to find them and relink them):

In my head we were kissing her cheeks, so that's what we did in the gardens (much to Rachel's mortification) but as it turns out she could have just grinned between our grinning faces (she probably would have enjoyed that a lot more):

Phoebe got away with it a lot easier than we did:

It's a little bit painful for me to think about how these two are going to be separated. Phoebe's fully aware that Rachel's going away to "tollege" and there's even a Daniel Tiger episode where Prince Tuesday goes away to college, which was such a nice episode for them to make—because sometimes, you know, these preschoolers have to deal with things like their older siblings moving across the country to go to college. What I'm trying to say is that Phoebe is somewhat cognizant of what's happening. I don't think she's fully aware of how big of an adjustment it will be, but she's aware that it's coming up.

How will Miriam and Rachel handle the change? I really don't know. We're so lucky because these two have just been friends forever. They get annoyed and have little spats, sure, but they're just...such good friends...and they've been really lucky in that. And I...think it's going to be a tough adjustment.

We think it's funny to pick each other up (just FYI).

It's getting a little tougher for me to swing Rachel around these days. I'll have to start working out.

In all honesty, I've been pretty good about working out this year. I've been running three times a week (which is about as much as I could handle between work and school). And I added some light weights to my workout, as well as some calisthenics. And everything was going just great!

And then...the first week in April...when Andrew was in Chicago...I, like, strained a muscle in my back/neck. We'll say it was my trapezius.

I could hardly move that week. 

The poor man came home to a wreck of a house. I mean, we kept things decently clean downstairs where the kids have assigned chores but upstairs (where Rachel and Miriam very rarely go) was a disaster. 

He worked so hard those few days he was home, to get caught up on laundry and set things right...before leaving again to spend a week in Utah. 

And my back has been off and on good and then not good since then. 

I went through a really bad couple of days just before this photo shoot. I had to have Andrew help me get out of bed in the mornings because I simply could not move—it was so painful I'd be crying. But I also know that movement (gentle movements) are what's going to help things feel better...so I switched to a ridiculously gentle workout routine with, like, cat/cow pose, and some head tilts, and some shoulder movements. 

Some icy hot, some ibuprofen, some heating pads, and several massages that I made Miriam give me and...I'm just about feeling normal again.

I am turning 40 this year, so it's possible I'm just getting old...but...man, alive...that was an uncomfy time.

Perhaps the next time we do a photo shoot I'll be able to lift Rachel better. Or maybe I'll just have to sit down and hold her on my lap.

I remember my Auntie Colleen holding my cousin Craig on her lap when he was a young man, getting ready to head to college. I was kind of like, "But why though?" and she said, "He will always be my baby!" 

And I really didn't get it. 

But now I kind of do. 

Anyway...

There's this scene in Mulan where we see a picture of Chi Fu shaking the emperor's hand.

Rachel wanted to recreate it with her dad.

I suppose Benjamin, Zoë, and Alexander were a little neglected during this photoshoot, but rest assured that's only because they were such good explorers! While Miriam was helping direct the photoshoot and I was hovering around saying things like, "Don't forget to get a picture of..." and Phoebe was hovering around me because she can be a velcro-baby still...those other three were off looking at plant names and finding bugs and things.

(Note Phoebe checking her smile to see if her teeth are showing.)

Did Alexander get stung by a dozen ants? Perhaps.

But they were good little explorers!

They're all going to miss her so much (and are lucky to have spent so much more time with her in the house than Phoebe'll ever get). She's a good big sister—baking their birthday cakes, driving them to activities, being wonderful in general.

Tonight we made a stop on the way home from family game night at the church to pick up some Hufflepuff socks (from the Buy Nothing Group, of course) and they say "loyal" on them. Rachel's a Hufflepuff, so she'll fit right in at BYU with their loyal, strong & true pledge.

Here she is making her ubiquitous Y pose (she came up with it when we hiked the Y back in 2011):

She's been been hoping for BYU for a long time, apparently.

Andrew took several pictures of Rachel out of her robes as well—senior pictures, if you will. So many of them scream "Author!"

Rachel jokes that her aesthetic is Florence Owens Thompson.

She's not wrong. 

She tends to have "resting concerned face" (though I'd wager that Florence Owens Thompson had more pressing things on her mind than Rachel has ever had to worry about...no offense, Rachel).

We've also joked that she is the American Gothic girl (because of the serious expression and the side-glance):

But she also knows how to smile.

And she has a great sense of humour.

And she's clever and kind and beautiful.

And talented to boot!

Anyone who knows Rachel is lucky. 

Are you sick of seeing pictures of Rachel yet? Because I actually have *unfurls wallet album* a lot more of them...