Blake turns 6 on November 16th

 

 

At school on his birthday. I brought his class some mini cupcakes. He's wearing the birthday crown.

 

Julianna got to join his class at school, too.

 

They had some extra time before the bell rang at the end of the day, so what does he go do? Play tetherball, of course!

 

 

So Blake was so excited to turn 6, mostly because now he needs two hands to show his age. This is a big deal to him. It was his turn for a birthday party this year, so he invited some friends over and they played video games and with the new tetherball Joel made for his birthday. He is OBSESSED with tetherball! Even after playing at school, he comes home and wants to play tetherball right away. I'm too scared to play with him (well, too pregnant!) and Julianna isn't into it much, but Joel will play with him when he can. He sure had fun playing with his friends at his party! (My friend took pictures for me because that day I couldn't find my camera!) Blake is such a fun, strong-willed, smart, energetic, crazy, funny kid. The best thing is seeing him become friends with Julianna now, more than ever before! They love playing together now, and it makes me so happy to see them get along.

 

 

Next post will be about our new baby! Before the end of this week, we should have a new addition to the family.

Halloween and pumpkin patch

 

 These are pictures from the pumpkin patch in town. Blake has a laffy taffy in his teeth! Sorry some of the pics are sideways.

 

 

It took Julianna a good 10 minutes to get up the courage to climb that ladder and go down, but she did it! And she liked it!

 

Blake went over and over.

 

3-week old baby cows!

 

Petting the donkey.

 

About to go trick or treating on our neighborhood. This year they went up to every door by themselves and said trick or treat. We stood on the sidewalk. The kids are growing up!

 

Had to put this one in...Blake won student of the quarter along with 5 other kids from his class! His award was specifically in reading. His teacher said he is reading 97 words a minute, able to decode new words, and reads with fluency. He also got an award for perfect attendance!

 

Ready for the trunk or treat at the church. Julianna is a Hello Kitty Fairy. We drew whiskers, and Lisa, her respite worker was over, and said we should put cornstarch on the eyeliner to make it set. We did this, and then put cornstarch on her entire face to make her white like Hello Kitty! It was cute.

 

Joel wanted to be a skater zombie, hence the green paint and fake teeth. He hasn't dressed up in years, and neither have I! He certainly got some funny looks at the trunk or treat! When he came downstairs, Julianna started to cry because he looked so different. She got over it in a few minutes, though. And Blake was really excited to be Spiderman.

 

The IEP of all IEPs

Well, the biggest battle I have had to fight for Julianna just ended today, and I could not be happier! Over the years it has not been easy to get Julianna what she needs, but I have never given up. Today I attended a meeting to decide whether Julianna will get a 1:1 aide in the classroom all day, something that is not easy to get, as it is the most costly placement for a special needs child, but I knew this was the only way Julianna could succeed in school, so I went for it.

I had been homeschooling her since January, and that was going okay, but once I got pregnant, and the more homeschooling went on, I just knew she needed to go back to school. I knew she would have more opportunities to grow socially and academically than being at home, plus we were starting to butt heads every day and it was a struggle. The only problem was, how do I put her back in when I was literally forced to pull her out? The school district dissolved the small RSP classes, so I knew she would either be placed in a moderate/severe SDC class, or a regular class with a 1:1 aide. Julianna made it clear she wanted to be in a regular class. So we held a meeting the Friday before school started, and I requested this placement. I found out that the district by law has 60 days to evaluate and collect data to determine whether she needed a 1:1, since it is an added service. So in the meantime she had to be placed in the moderate/severe class, which both she and I were not happy about. The only thing that made it okay...her amazing teacher! She was like an advocate during those 60 days, and I could talk to her about anything. She was totally on my side and wanted to help Julianna get the 1:1. When she finally received another aide for her very large SDC class, instead of keeping that aide in her classroom, she used her to send with Julianna to the regular class. What a sacrifice on her part! So since the 3rd week of school, she's had the placement I wanted all along. And when the district finally came around to evaluate, they could clearly see this placement was working.

But just in case, I got letters and reports from her neurologist, ABA therapist, and anyone I could think of! I asked my IRC case worker to be there, I called supervisors at IRC to be ready to step in if we didn't get it, I did everything I could to make sure this 1:1 would happen. And in the end, I really didn't have to fight that hard at all. When we got to the meeting today, the district rep. starting saying how Julianna did need a 1:1 for completing many tasks. I already knew all the teachers were in agreement with me, it was the district people I was worried about. So amazingly, I got to sit around a table where I actually agreed with everything they were saying! Everyone agreed that Julianna needed the 1:1 in the classroom! So now it's officially in her IEP and I can move on, knowing that she has the right help in school and at home. It's taken me almost 9 years to get to this point, but things will only get better from here. Even after a month in this placement, Julianna comes home from school happy, not anxious or stressed anymore. It's amazing! So for now, I am done fighting battles for Julianna, but I know I'll be ready if another one comes along! We feel so blessed and happy.

More recent things

 

Blake sitting in his desk on the first day of 1st grade, August 13th. He is doing so well and still impressing us with his intelligence.

 

After the first week of school, we headed back to Santa Ana to visit Briana who was in town at Nana's house. How did we not get pictures with you, Briana? It was VERY hot so the kids enjoyed a slip n slide, thanks to Grandma Shaw and Grandpa Tony. And did you know slip n slides come with little blow up rafts to slide on? I didn't have those!

 

Blake on the first day of school.

 

Julianna on the first day. This school year has already been an adventure. I have an IEP coming up on Oct. 3rd, so I will be sure to post all that we have been through after the IEP. But for right now, things are good, thanks to her amazing teacher. Much more to tell, but another story for another day.

 

On August 22nd, our city had a very special dinner to honor all the scoutmasters in the valley. Our family was invited, along with many distinguished people from the city, to the Minor's house (a family in our stake with a HUGE property) where we listened to a Hollywood writer speak about boy scouts, and others give their praises to scoutmasters, and enjoyed a VERY fancy dinner and dessert. It was quite an experience!

 

The kids just had to see the giant baseball by the field (on the property--yes, it's huge), which happens to be a little snack bar, maybe?

 

At the end of the evening, many important people from the city and county came up to present awards for each of the scoutmasters. Let me tell you...Joel went home with a huge pile of awards and plaques, all for doing his calling in the church! It has been almost 2 years, and being a scoutmaster is NOT easy, but this event really made everything seem worth it. The boy scouts even helped serve food to everyone! We are glad we got to be there, and that the kids survived 3 hours and ate some of the fancy food.

 

This is a new activity that they came up with..."living on the trampoline." They bring stuff from the house on the trampoline and say they are "moving outside" and play together. It's really cute! On the net you can see their address posted up for their "house."

And last but not least, Jack our cat is back! I've been posting on facebook about it, but I'll put it here, too. He went missing the last day we were in Utah and was gone for 6 weeks, until a week ago today, when he randomly showed up at our backyard door. I could NOT believe my eyes! He had a red tattered collar on and seemed very happy to be back. So that day, we got him a new collar and nametag, and only let him outside for a few minutes, and he disappeared, again. Then this past Tuesday afternoon, when one of Julianna's therapists was about to leave, Julianna said, can you help us find our cat? And he said, well, you can put up the sign I made. Then he opens the door, and he says, isn't that Jack? And Jack comes walking in again! We don't know where he's been going, but when he came back this time, he was missing his nametag, so we think someone else believes they own Jack, too. So he will be staying inside and sleeping in the garage for now until we can trust he'll stick around. So far he seems happy inside. That's the story of Jack!

I am in my 3rd trimester now and getting excited for the baby to come. We will be naming her Molly Jean. It's getting closer now!  Other than that, Joel is busy with work and studying for the GRE so he can apply to some PhD in English/creative writing programs in a few months. This is going to be a crazy time for our family but we will survive!

Our anniversary getaway

To celebrate our 10 year anniversary (it's not until the 24th, but we have to do it before Joel goes back to work), we first did a session in the San Diego temple together. Then we went to where we had our honeymoon--Coronado Island. This time we wanted to stay in Hotel Del Coronado. It was so beautiful! Our room was so perfect, and we enjoyed room service, eating at their restaurant, relaxing in the pool, and just being away from the kids for a while! We also got to go to their amazing spa where I got my first facial and Joel got a massage! And we rented a "surrey" bike to ride around the island. A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Shaw for watching our kids! It was also extra special because we went on Joel's 35th birthday, too! A great getaway before work and school starts! I wish we could go every year.

Balboa Beach

Last Monday we took the kids to Balboa Beach. Blake had lots of fun in the water with Joel--he was going all the way in and jumping the waves. Julianna and I hung out under our umbrella and found shells--she didn't want to go anywhere near the water. Then Joel and Blake went on the ferris wheel together, and that ride lasted at least 20 minutes! I think the ride operator forgot to let them off. It was a fun day!

Utah Trip!

We had such a fun trip to Utah this summer! I didn't take that many pictures because we were having so much fun. Here are a few:

We had a fun cousins party (my cousins) at my sister Callie's house in Salt Lake since so many live in Utah now. Only a couple were able to come, but it was still fun! These are the kids with my sister Callie's kids, Will and Lily. They all LOVED playing together.

Something I need to record about Blake eating watermelon: he called the watermelon juice "watermelon blood."

My brother, Cliff, who lives in Arizona right now with his wife, Tess, surprised me by coming for the weekend! My sister Callie went to pick him up from the airport right before the party started. I'm so glad he was able to come! My cousin Megan is in the middle.

My niece August.

Will and Lily hugging. How cute.

My sisters, Karina, Callie, and Cindel, and cousin Megan. So fun to all be together!

Best buddies!

New best buddies who love to color together!

At the end of the night, we camped in Callie's backyard. The kids loved it! They watched a movie in the tent.

Cliff challenged Blake to a game of chess.

My nephew Bradley playing with Blake. I wish I got a picture of Olive and Milo, Cindel's kids!

We decided to visit Mr. Fredrickson before we left Utah. We didn't see Russell, but we think we saw Kevin the bird. (This is a real house not too far from my parent's house built just like the house from "Up." Someone lives in it now, and it's furnished just like the "Up" house, too.)

Other fun things...the first day, the kids got to jump on the neighbor's trampoline and eat popsicles (my dad even joined in the fun); the sisters/inlaws went swimming at the local rec center without kids!; we saw "Brave;" went to my parent's ward; we took the kids to the rec center and Blake went down the big waterslide twice before someone asked his age and said he was too young; and on the last day we were planning to go to Salt Lake and see the new City Creek shopping center on Temple Square, but we woke up to an almost shattered passenger window on our van, so we had to spend most of the day getting that fixed. All in all, it was a very fun trip and so fun to be all together again! The kids keep saying they want to live there. We'll see what the future holds!