Losing a Legend

Janet Marshall Julian, loving wife, mother, grandmother, teacher and friend, passed away suddenly this morning. We are all in shock right now, but dealing well. God is good and comforting always. It helps to know that Janet is now with her Lord Jesus and partying with Him and her parents (and mine). That made my kids smile.

In this age of technology, word of her passing spread very quickly. The outpouring of love from friends and family all over the world via email, Facebook, etc has been tremendous. Thank you all for your kind words and prayers. Having taught for 30 years in this area, it's hard to find someone who DOESN'T know Janet and who HASN'T been touched by her. Just last night, while I was working at Gwinnett Stadium, I met a man whose son just graduated and had Janet as a teacher. I also have friends from my job at Perimeter Church who know her or have married people that were her students. (We always say the Julians are the center of the universe. Just about everyone knows them!) What a blessing to hear how Janet has touched so many lives.

For me, she was a mom. Having lost my mom to cancer 8 years ago, Janet was the only mother figure I had left. I am one of 4 daughters-in-law, but she always made me feel special. Not a visit went by that she didn't tell me that she knew she couldn't replace my mom, but wanted to be a mom to me. I appreciated that. It helped me through a lot of difficult times.

To my kids, she was Grammy. Giver of money for good report cards and player of Sorry Sliders or Mr. Mouth or Dominoes. They loved going to her house. They cried when I told them the news. Zach, my 5 (soon to be 6) year old was the most hurt. After many tears, he turned to me and said, "Now I only have one grandparent left." (Amazing how smart kids are!) Joshua has been concerned about Grandaddy, wanting to make sure he is ok. (He is so compassionate!) And Elijah, noticing my tears, asked me what was wrong. When I told him I was sad, he came over and hugged my leg and said, "I so sorry, Mommy. I so sorry." Their energy and joy have helped today.

Steven is with his dad working out details. There is always so much to do when a loved one dies. It's almost like your body turns on the auto pilot and you go into "get things done" mode. (I've been there twice.) The problem with it is....what happens after all the services are over, everyone has said their goodbyes and friends and family go back to their daily lives? I love my husband dearly and am saddened for him at the loss of his mother. But I hurt more for Dave and the loss of his life companion. They would have celebrated 50 years of marriage in August. After being with someone day in and day out for so long, how do you go on without them? I thought the same thing when my mom died. I just can't imagine. Losing a parent is VERY hard. But losing a spouse has got to be 100 times harder, at least. I tear up and get a knot in my throat just typing this out now. Please keep the entire Julian family in your prayers, but especially Dave.

Janet, we love you. We will miss you. We are glad that we know where you are and who you are with. We look forward to seeing you again someday soon. Thank you for raising 3 great sons and 1 great daughter. Thank you for being a fantastic grammy to my kids (and the 9 others). You will always hold a special place in our hearts!

Pool Day!

No pictures, sorry. But what a fun day we had at the pool! The boys have been waiting anxiously since school got out. But, with all the rain and stuff, it hasn't been warm enough. Today was the PERFECT day to head out to the pool. Steven played in the water with Joshua and Zach while I played with Elijah on the side. He STILL does NOT like getting in the water. Plus, it was a bit cold for him anyway. His job was to throw back into the water whatever the other boys threw out. He loved it! Before we knew it, we had been there almost 3 hours!

Joshua has started his All-Star practices, 5 days/week. They had a scrimmage game on Saturday. He was the only pitcher on his to that DID NOT give up 5 runs! He gave up one and struck out the others. Way to go! He has to go back to the orthodontist this week to remove his spacers and get an expander. Then, in 2 weeks, braces. But only on his top 4 front teeth. Nothing major, at least not yet. We'll see when this is over.

Zach is still as happy-go-lucky as ever. He's pretty easy going. He likes to play with Joshua and Elijah and will pretty much take whichever one is available. If neither, he'll ask to go to the neighbor's house. That's cool with me. They have 3 little boys too, just the ages of Zach and Elijah. He actually misses school, but is enjoying being home.

Elijah has really become quite the Gwinnett Braves fan. (Hmm...I wonder why? :) He got a pack of their baseball cards and now, after going thru them MANY times, knows just about every one by heart. He COULD be their next announcer. He's quite good at it. This past week Steven and the boys got to come to their first G-Braves game. They loved it! So much so that they didn't want to leave their seats to come see Mommy at work or get a tour of the stadium! I guess I'll have to do that some other time BEFORE the game starts. I'm just glad they enjoyed it. Now they've done something I haven't yet...sat and watched a game! Maybe one day.

School Field Day

The kids had Field Day at school recently. MUCH different from what I remember Field Day as, but they enjoyed it. Zach helped out a bunch in the tug-of-war.

And he loves to play Castle Ball. He's a pretty good shot too.

Joshua enjoyed playing on the inflatables.

They got to move around to different stations. Tug-of-war, inflatables, relay races, water balloon toss. It was a lot of fun!



And Elijah got to come with me and enjoy it too!

Zach - the next Pele???

We had Zach try soccer this year because Tball, as much as he enjoys baseball, just wasn't holding his interest. He really seemed to enjoy soccer. He played their last game of the season this past week. He got a hat trick and ended up scoring about 9 goals this season. 4 in one game once. He says he can't wait to play again, this time with goalies! They recently had a party and got trophies. He was so excited! What a cutie!

Zach with some of his teammates at the party.

Look at Zach kicking that ball. He's a natural. Well....maybe not. But he sure had fun!

Joshua Julian - All Star and next pitching great!

JOSHUA MADE THE ALL STAR TEAM THIS YEAR. WOO HOO!

Joshua plays a lot of 1st and 3rd base. He's not a great runner, but loves getting on base. And, this year, he had a 13 game hitting streak!

But his FAVORITE thing is pitching. He could be the next Jonathan Papelbon! Right now his team is in the middle of a tournament. They won on Wednesday. They play on Sunday for a chance to get into the Championship game.

The Next Greg Maddux???

I am trying NOT to be the bragging mother, but I'm having a VERY hard time! Joshua (very nonchalantly) entered a Pitch, Hit, Run competition at the park. It was put on by the Athletic Assoc that runs his baseball league and headed up by his coach, Mike. Steven took him on Sunday to the competition. No one really thought anything of it.

He had to pitch 5 times and try to hit a certain target. Then he hit a ball off a tee to see how far he could hit it in the air. Then he was timed as to how fast he could run the bases. I know he can't run very fast. He can hit pretty well. But I know that (at least I think) he is a great pitcher. I didn't make a big deal out of it. When he and Steven came home, he told me that he tied for 1st place in his age group for the pitching part of the competition. I was floored! Wow! But, truthfully, as good as I think he is, I thought for sure someone would come up after him and would do better. NOPE! We were notified yesterday that he stayed tied for 1st place. That means that he gets to move up to the next level! He will compete on May 17 in Gainesville in all 3 categories again. He is so pumped! And so are we! IF (big IF) he wins that, he will go to another competition at Turner Field AND IF he wins that, he will go to St. Louis for the All-Star Game. Wow! I really don't expect him to get that far, but he certainly could! I can't even imagine! Could I have the next Greg Maddux on my hands?

I was listening to Don Sutton on the radio last night doing the Braves game. He said he started playing baseball at the age of 11 (Joshua started at 4 and loved it before then. He was just too young to play.) Don started as a shortstop. He said he couldn't run, hit or field. So the next year, at 12, he became a pitcher. He hasn't played another position since. And he played in the majors. If Joshua is good now, at 8, what will HE be like at 12? Could he REALLY be a major leaguer? Wow! I can't wrap my brain around that one. But wouldn't it be great!

Busy, busy, busy!

I know this page looks better with pictures on it. But, honestly, I just haven't had the time to take any. Let alone upload them to the computer. So words will have to do for now.

The Julians are all alive and well and ready for summer! I started my new job with the Gwinnett Braves on Friday. It was crazy! And great! Working in baseball is like a dream come true. But I am learning that working and running a household can be quite exhausting. The Braves are on a 10 game homestand right now and I work EVERY game. I haven't seen much of the kids, or Steven, for the last few days. But that will change some in the summer when the kids are out of school and we are together during the day. The biggest challenge so far is finding someone to watch the boys for a few hours between the time I have to be at work and Steven gets home. But it's going well and I am enjoying it!

Joshua finally got to start playing baseball again this week. After all the rain, they are starting to play games and make ups of games. He had one Friday, Sat AND Sunday. They lost the first two, but won on Sunday. (I was able to make it to that one since the Braves had an afternoon game.) Joshua did great! He caught a pop up at first base, got a hit, drove in a run, scored a run. It was like old times! School is going well for him. He is very bright! His grade is doing testing this week, ugh! But only 1 more month of school left. Hard to believe he'll be in 3rd grade next year!

Zach is a delight, as always. He started playing soccer again this week. He gets better and better with every game! He had an assist on Sat and Sun and has started taking the ball away from the other team. (I told him it was ok to take it from them in sports. You are supposed to!) And he seems to be enjoying it. He went to a birthday party on Saturday at a roller skating rink. He's never been skating before. He started off a bit rocky, but ended up doing great. And, better yet, he LOVED it! He was determined to figure it out, and he did! In just 2 hours, he was almost an expert. "Mommy, can I have MY birthday party here?" I always enjoyed skating. Now we can go together. Maybe we can even teach his brothers...and his dad!

Elijah has only 2 weeks of school left. He is finally on letter Z (for Zach). (They have been doing 1 letter each week.) His favorite pasttimes are playing 5 monkeys jumping on the bed and helping me shop for groceries. Oh, and throwing his baseball cards all over whatever room they are in. His speech has improved dramatically. Even Steven can understand him now. And he's even been invited to his first friend birthday party. How sweet! He has stopped carrying around his "stuff" (or at least seems to) and will start potty training on May 1. I am determined to get that kid out of diapers. 9 years of non-stop diapers is long enough!

Steven's business is doing well, in spite of this economy. He keeps plugging away, doing what he knows needs to be done. God has been good to him in business and us as a family. We are very blessed. He has recently taken on the roll of Mr. Mom, at least in the evenings. With me working, he is doing a lot of dinners, baths, and bedtimes. I am grateful for his willingness to help in this way.

How are you? We would love to hear from you! Our email is julianfamily5@gmail.com. Drop us a note and keep in touch!