4th of July

Right before the Orange Stake 5K. Eddie met us there to run. It was super hot and humid, but we did it!
We went to the Orange Stake's annual 4th breakfast at the Hart Park. So GOOD! Then Grandpa Tony showed us where the really big slides were so we took a walk out to see them. It was great! The kids had fun on them. We all took a turn, too.

Blake's first attempt on the slide with Joel.

You can see how big they are! Some kids brought old potato sacks and cardboard boxes to make the slide go faster.

Briana on the slide! Hope you don't mind me putting this picture up!

Briana and her fiance, Eddie.

Our family on the bridge at Hart Park.

Grandma Shaw (Julianna calls her "Grannie" now) and Grandpa Tony.

Relaxing on the swing before some water balloon fun and a barbecue! We all got drenched, and the food was great.

At Balboa Beach the day after the 4th. Blake found a flag and was waving it around everywhere we went.

We had a lot of fun on the 4th of July weekend visiting Joel's family, and especially meeting her fiance, Eddie! We are so happy for them. It was a fun little trip. And we had fun meeting up with my sister Cindel and cousin Megan at the beach--guess we didn't get any pictures! It was a great weekend. The kids really liked the fireworks, too. We watched the ones from Woodbridge lake and they loved it! I love the 4th of July!

The reading bug

Reading books in the backyard after their sprinkler trampoline jumping.

This summer has been so relaxed and nice so far. The kids are getting along great, for the most part. I am keeping them busy with all the free or cheap things around town ($1.00 movies, free school lunches at the park, library reading program) and we also do something really fun every weekday that I call "school time." I went through all our workbooks and found kindergarten reading and math workbooks from when Julianna was in kindergarten that weren't all used--many pages left over (I'm not sure what she did in kindergarten...). So Blake is doing those, plus a handwriting practice one. Julianna got her 1st grade books sent home that aren't all filled in, either, so we're finishing those, plus some other workbooks I had. At the beginning of school time, I read them 2 or 3 easy readers--Julianna has TONS from school that have piled up over the years. I chose 3 the first two weeks to read every day. This past Friday on the 2-week mark I decided to see if Blake could read the book by himself. I was SO surprised when he read every word without help from me! Of course it's mostly from memory, but this is the beginning stage of reading! I tried uploading a video of him reading this book, but it didn't work:( Julianna of course zooms through these easy books, but she still loves the practice. At the end of school time, we do kindergarten sight words--so far Blake knows 8 of them. My goal is for him to memorize the sight words before kindergarten.

Something else that is cute--at night sometimes I catch Julianna and Blake whispering. When I come up, I find them reading a book together. Julianna was reading a book to Blake last night (Big Dog, Little Dog), and Blake said, "I wanted to help her read better." I can tell he's secretly jealous of her reading abilities. But he will catch up soon--in two weeks he has made TONS of progress. He can even spell simple words if I ask him--he will think about the sounds in his head and then spell the word. I'm glad I'm taking a little time each day for "school time," because it will certainly pay off when school starts again! I've even caught the reading bug--I've already read 3 books this summer and well into my 4th!

We're looking forward to seeing Joel's family this weekend for the 4th, running in the Orange Stake 5K, and seeing the newly engaged Briana (and maybe meeting her fiance?)

Fathers and Sons/Preschool Graduation

The preschool graduates (minus one). I have LOVED doing this co-op preschool for two years. I know Blake is totally ready for kindergarten!
They went for a boat ride.

Fishing for the first time.

They camped right in front of Lake Hemet.

Yes, it's been a month. And what a month it has been. Finally getting something up here!

Recent things

We went to Calicinto Ranch with our little preschool. It was such a fun day. I will miss that place--I've been there four years in a row now!
Here's the whole group. (Some are younger siblings.)

Riding the horse--wow doesn't he look excited. I've noticed sometimes he hides his excitement on purpose--he really was excited about it.

Julianna was in a school play with her mainstream 1st grade class. They did 3 plays, hers was "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." She was a sheep. She didn't have any lines, but she was supposed to read together with some other kids in the class. I'm so proud of her for walking up there by herself and being with the group. By the way, her teacher said she can read 45 words a minute now. She's made so much progress this year!

There she is again, a little nervous, but she did it!

Blake with his coach tonight at the awards ceremony/pizza party. We really liked his coach and hope to have him again next year. He has a real trophy now! The ball spins around--Blake actually wanted to sleep with it tonight, he liked it so much.

Blake at his last game while he was sitting out. When I told him to smile, he said, "SOCCER!"

With his team getting their snack at the last game. Blake ALMOST scored a goal in this game. Actually, he thought he did. He kicked the ball toward the net (miraculously) and watched as it slowly went toward the goalie. The goalie picked it up and then the ref blew the whistle. Blake looked at me and said, "I got a goal!" I smiled and said, "Almost!" He then gave a confused look. So I had to tell him that he needs to get the ball into the net, not just to the other goalie. It was really cute. But for being his first time, he did a great job--the coach had him play a lot and would pull him aside to talk to him about how to play and improve. It was a fun soccer season!

Here's a little video of him playing, a few weeks ago.

The end!

Easter fun

At Nana Foote's house for her 86th birthday celebration.
Our Easter picture using the timer.

The mess after they opened their baskets. While I was getting ready for church, the kids decided to put EVERY Easter sticker they got on the coffee table. I heard them whispering, "Mommy's coming, say surprise," so I came in, and they said, "Surprise, Mommy! We made the table pretty!" They were pretty proud of themselves.

Excited to get their fun Easter baskets from Grandma Shaw, plus their little Easter egg hunt in our house.

Our Easter was good--we went to the temple the day before and a had a good experience. Then Easter Sunday we had our own family dinner after church and just relaxed.

Thanks for all your comments about my previous post--they were so nice to read!

Best news in a long time

On April 21st, we had the biggest blessing come to our family in a very long time. Julianna was evaluated by the Inland Regional Center and finally qualified for services. We have been fighting them since she was 3, but year after year they did not qualify her for this reason or that. Two years ago after her evaulation and denial, we thought we were done trying with them and decided to move on. But 6 months ago, I felt strongly that I needed to try one more time. My persistence paid off, not to mention the MANY prayers being said for her to get this help. So now that she's a client, she will get services IN THE HOME--something we have needed for a long time. It's great that she can go to school and get help there, but she comes home and we struggle with how to help her in daily living skills, behaviors, the list goes on and on. Very soon there will be trained people coming here to help Julianna in the home, plus we might get respite care as well. The best part is the regional center will be there for her when she is an adult, so we don't need to worry about that anymore.

Since getting this long-awaited yes (almost a week ago) it is amazing how much my spirits have been lifted. I feel like a brand new mom, like I can do anything now. Just knowing that I have more support coming has seriously brightened my whole attitude toward life! A huge burden has been lifted for sure, and now I don't have that little nagging feeling inside saying, "She needs more help," because she has it now.

The big shocker from this evaluation--the psychologist feels strongly that Julianna does NOT have autism, but global delays, anxiety and sensory issues, and perhaps motor tics--they said she is a "unique girl." We are getting closer to figuring her out. Regardless, she is still our Julianna, and we love her just the way she is! We are so lucky to have such a smart, funny, beautiful little girl.

Thanks to all of you who were praying and thinking of us!

Autism video

My mom shared this video, and I wanted to post it here, in honor of autism awareness month. Julianna isn't nearly this severe, and she talks a LOT, but she has her own issues, many related to sensory and anxiety/OCD. I hope you can learn from this video to see what it's like for kids with autism.