Just Janelle: june so soon?

Yes, believe it or not, it really IS June already! As quick as this month got here, Christmas should be here in the blink of an eye! In the meantime, here are some photos of our (busy) June so far....

We have lots of purple plants in bloom at the moment. Here is some veronica, down by the mailbox:

Spiderwort by the shed:

Lobelia in a hanging basket on the front porch:

Bellflower in the front yard:

And this barrel on the side of the house:

Our June started out with two summery things, baseball and swimming! Ben is quite the little slugger! (He did not get his athletic ability from his parents, LOL!) I didn't get any pictures of him actually hitting the ball, but that's just because I'm still trying to figure out my new camera. He hit it many, many times, and even knocked one over the fence, into our neighbor's yard! (Not a real baseball, though ~ it was a whiffle ball.) Here's Nick, pitching him a ball:

And then George and I pitched several for him. It's hard to see at this size, but Ben concentrates very hard, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth! :)

Then Emm and Nick decided to take a plunge into the pool. Brrrr. Nick had fun trying to spray his sister by blowing through one of our pool noodles:

I took this series of photos using the "sports" button on my camera, just holding it down and letting it shoot:

On the 2nd, I took Ben over to a McDonald's for a playdate with his buddy Ben from church... it was Benjamin x 2. :) They had a blast running around the play place for 3 hours!

Yesterday, the 3rd, George, Ben, and I went over to Emm's school in the afternoon (Nick was still at his own school) for the 8th grade Awards Ceremony. I brought a bunch of quiet activities for Ben to do while we were there, including this new toy car that he loved!:

A few students (including Emm's friend Carly) opened the ceremony by singing "The Climb" and "Don't Stop Believing" (with some different lyrics pertaining to middle school). They did an AWESOME job, and I wish I had thought to videotape them!

Then it was time for the awards. This is Emm (the blonde right in the middle) going up to receive her Choral Student Leadership Award from Mr. Hain:

Here she is, receiving an English award for excellence in writing:

Here she is standing (in the middle, looking at the camera) for receiving the President's Award for Educational Excellence:

Ben was so excited to see his preschool buddy Alexander at the ceremony (his big brother was also graduating from 8th grade). They had fun being silly together afterwards:

Emm, holding 2 of her awards:

After that, we went home for awhile. Emm did her hair, and then we had another photo shoot. :) Here she is, Miss Middle School Grad:

With her loving brothers:

With her wonderful parents ;) :

Then we went for an early supper at The Macaroni Grill. We arrived at 4:45, and were the only customers!! We normally don't eat till much later, but wanted to have plenty of time to get to the Recognition Ceremony. That turned out to be a good thing! Here are Emm and George at the restaurant:

Me and the boys:

When we'd finished our yummy dinner, we stopped at home quick to drop off our leftovers, then headed over to the high school. As soon as we parked and were getting out of the car, I realized that I had left my camera at the restaurant, ack! Luckily, there was enough time for George to go back and get it, then drive BACK to the ceremony before it started!

At 7, the 8th graders began proceeding into the gymnasium:
The 8th grade chorus sang "I Am the River". (Emm is on the top right.):

Sitting back down to listen to some speeches:
Emm's friend Carly was one of two student speakers:
Finally, it was time for each student to go up and get their certificate of graduation from middle school. Here is Emm receiving hers from her principal:
Emm's friend Tori receives hers:
The graduate:
Ben, dancing to the closing music, "Celebration":
Emm with her friend Jeremy: