Big Day for Janessa

Phew! What a busy day we've had!

Janessa graduated from preschool this morning. They had a cute little program, and passed out their diplomas. They also had a cute graduation cake for refreshments. She had some really great teachers this year, and we'll miss them.

This is me with Janessa and Micah before her graduation ceremony.

Janessa Marie, preschool grad.

Then we went to her speech therapy, and Stephanie (her SLP) said that she was pretty much finished with speech. She said that in the 14 months that she has seen Janessa, she has witnessed tremendous improvements and she's a huge success story. So many people have mentioned to me that they've noticed that her speech has improved also, and that's the biggest proof that's she's ready to move on.

Stephanie has been super fabulous, she has made speech a lot of fun each week and we will miss her. I will be keeping in touch with her, she wants us to check in if Janessa starts "slipping" or if we notice any relapses in her speech. I don't see that happening though, because she has been doing so well. The changes she has made have been permanent so far, I doubt she will regress.

Any way.... here's our wonderful speech therapist, Stephanie.

We love you, Steph!! Thanks for everything!!

After speech, we rushed home for a quick lunch, and a quick nap for the little boys before we had to pick up the kids from school. Then I had piano lessons right after school (one of my students cancelled today, so that eased 30 minutes of my stress). After my last student left, I threw food at the kids and chased them out the door. (I'm only barely exaggerating here)

Janessa had her year end dance revue tonight, and she did really well! They danced to "Walkin' on Sunshine" and I could just kick myself right now. I thought I had recorded it, but I hadn't actually pushed the button on the camera! I pushed it, but not hard enough to start the recording. Duurrhhhhh..... So I don't have a vid of her dancing tonight. I'm hoping to be able to get a copy from one of the other moms.

Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Jamie came to see her dance. They brought her flowers from their rose bush. They smell sooooo yummy!

And tomorrow.... I get to do dance revue AGAIN with Cassidy.
Yes, they are on separate nights. Ugh.

Memorial Day

Well, the day started out as a normal day. Tom had to work, which totally sucked. I wish he was able to have the day off and hang out with us all day, but that's how it goes when you have your own business. Any way, we had a really nice evening together as a family, and I was able to relax and enjoy the time together. I needed that, and I felt rejuvinated afterwards. We need to do that more often.

We met the Sheriff Family at a park for a picnic and baseball game. The food was really yummy... always is. (That is one of the reasons Tom married me, ya know, we always have fantastic food at our get togethers!) The kids ran around and played on the awesome playground, then we played our own version of baseball. How many outs or foul balls can a four year old get? The answer is: an unlimited amount. ;) The kids were always up to bat, and James was the permanent pitcher (or the belly itcher, if you ask Ty). It was a lot of fun watching them hit the ball and run around the bases (or be dragged from base to base by mom or dad!).

Ashlynn and Jonah eating.

Grandma feeding Micah some lemon cake.

Cassidy and Morgan.

Andrew

Peek a boo! I see Andrew!

This is Micah's first time on a swing! He loved it!

Keep your eye on the ball!

Seth slams them every time.

My little lefty.

1 Week Down

I'm back to school after several years, and the first week has been great! I'm really excited and it has been very interesting. I'm taking Intro to Music and Elementary Astronomy. I'm a tad stressed about being able to balance it all: housework, the kids, Cub Scouts, piano lessons, plus reading a chapter a day from each book and completing the assignments and exams. But so far I'm surviving. I'm also proud to report that despite all these years thinking my brain has turned to mush, the old noggin is still functioning! :)

Family BBQ

Last Saturday, we went to Tom's Uncle Frank's for a BBQ. Tom's cousin Calvin and his wife Jen were in town, and it was great to see them. Cass wandered around his beautiful yard and snapped a ton of pictures of the flowers. Uncle Frank's yard is amazing, he says he putters around it all day long. He built a fun bridge that climbs up to the slide that comes off the huge tree in the back. The kids all had a fun time playing on that and the fun swings off to the side.

A couple of Cassidy's pictures....

Here's Cassidy at the top of the slide...

Janessa on the slide....

Micah on the slide...

Jonah on the slide....

Andrew on the slide....

Seth playing basketball...

Kids playing inside with their second cousin, Janni....

Cute pic of Janessa and Micah.

3 Blackham Boys: Uncle Frank, Micah, and Tom.

When we were saying goodbye, Andrew kept calling Frank "Grandpa". :)

Uncle Frank, Tom, Calvin, Janni, and Jen.

Earrings.... Again!

Janessa wanted to get her ears pierced again. She had them done about a year and a half ago, but had a hard time with them. After the 6 weeks were up, I let her ears have a break for one day, but I wasn't able to get the earrings back into her ears after that. I could have pushed them through, but she was freaking out and wouldn't let me any where near her ears at that point. So, we let them grow in. I told her when she was older, she could have them done again when she was ready. So, on a whim, she asked to have them pierced again. We went to the mall last Friday and found the nearest kiosk to get them redone. Luckily, she didn't have any scar tissue inside, so the gal was able to pierce in the same hole.

Here she is before...

Getting the first ear done...

Getting the second ear done.

She was so nervous because it hurt more than she remembered....

All done! Posing for the camera with Andrew and Aunt Jamie.