Ian's last day of school

Ian and Mrs. Coleman at the end of the last day of school

Ian had a good last day of school. I realized (after I took the picture) that taking a picture of a teacher at the end of the last day of school is probably not very nice. Next year, I will have to get his teacher toward the beginning of the year, before all of the kids wear her down.

Ian's Awards

Ian and Mr. PillingThis is Ian with his principal, Mr. Pilling, after his awards program in the gym yesterday. For the awards program they had all of the children seated in chairs in the gym facing the bleachers. The program opened with a traditional Blackfeet song by three of the students from the highschool. It was in honor of the first graders completing their year.
Then, Mr. Pilling called each students name to come forward and receive their awards. Ian got six awards. They were as follows:
Principal Award (reading 60 sight words in one minute)
Super Award (reading 100 super high frequency words)
Independent Reader Award
Fluency Award (for reading 122 words/minute)
Blackfeet Language (for participation)
Blackfeet Numbers (for participation)

Today is his last day of school. They are going to help the teacher clean the room and then do exploration stations. Ian was looking forward to that (not the cleaning part!)

The Little Monkeys in Our Tree

Our tree has some leaves now, and Ian and Isabelle think that it is great fun to "hide" in the tree. After Ian was out of school yesterday, I had to force them to go outside. But once they were out playing, they forgot that they didn't want to be out there.
Ian had his second field trip at school yesterday. They went to Cut Bank and watched Charlotte's Web and then played in the playground. A highlight for Ian was that he got to drink Pepsi for the first time. He suggested that we should get some for him to drink at home. Great idea, right?

Later today (or maybe tomorrow) I am going to try to answer some of the questions from the comments. Do you have anything else that you would like to know?

Happy Memorial Day

This is what our Memorial Day looks like so far. Isabelle had her boots and jacket on ready to go outside when it started raining. She was pretty disappointed. Now all three children are grumpy.

This is Isabelle pouting because I put on a CD for Caleb. She said, "I don't like music." She is laying on top of the blankets and pillows that Ian had piled up before he went to time-out. She has to stake her claim.

Caleb has a cold, which explains why he is grumpy, but he is happy for a few minutes while he attacks Ian. He is usually very happy if he is hitting or otherwise irritating Ian and Isabelle. I hear, "Mommy, can you get Caleb?" or other variations many times throughout the day.
Now Stephen is home from work building an indoor tent for Ian and Isabelle. Caleb is down for a nap. Everyone's dispositions should improve.

What a difference a day can make

This morning was still rainy and cold, but by late afternoon the sun came out. The temp. was in the mid-50's. We went for a walk in our neighborhood to cheer up Caleb.

SNOW!!!

I went outside to take this picture when I saw that it was snowing. The sky was really gray. I don't know why it turned out pink. I wanted to be sure that I got a picture before it stopped. (Two hours later, it is still snowing. Guess I didn't need to rush.)

Isabelle and Caleb begged to go outside in the snow. At first I wouldn't let them, but then I gave in to them. It is really not that cold. So far none of the snow has stuck. Hopefully, that will continue.

Isabelle's last day of preschool

Isabelle and Mrs. Olson
Yesterday was Isabelle's last day of preschool. They had an indoor picnic (due to cold weather.) She has had a great year and is signed up next year for the 4 yr old class.

Where are we going

Anna has written a lot about our beautiful kids, but not a lot about our future. Well, that's because we don't know a lot. However, I guess we know more than most people reading our blogs so I thought I might fill in a few gaps while she is away at "Craft Night"

Our ultimate goal has long been to be involved in some medical mission work overseas. Currently we are looking at mission organizations to facilitate this. The first is Global Outreach Mission. Their website is www.missiongo.org The second is the chrisian and missionary alliance and their website is cmalliance.org. The timing with which we go depends on which misison organization picks us and us them.
The two country options are Guinea and The Republic of Congo. The former is the map at the top right hand portion of this blog. It is a Christian and Missionary Alliance site for a surgical hosptial. The plans are currently delayed secondary to some minor inconviences such as strikes and political unrest. The latter is shown on the bottom with the town we will be working in would be Impfondo at 2 o'clock on the map. This is where our friends Joe and Becky Harvey are working to establish a mission hospital out of a former communist youth camp. Their website is www.congoharveys.org

I hope this helps a little, we will post more in the future.

Driving Lessons for Caleb

We went to St Mary yesterday for bike riding. It was so cold (low 40's) that we didn't do much riding as a group. Ian really enjoyed it, but he was getting too cold. I waited with the kids so that Stephen could do a little bit more. Caleb enjoyed pretending to drive the car.

Bike Riding

We went for a bike ride in Glacier National Park today. We started at the parking lot at Two Medicine, rode up the rode, around the picnic area, and on to the trail head at scenic point. We stopped there and walked around a little bit. Caleb needed to get out and stretch his legs.

Isabelle and Caleb rode in a bike trailer behind Stephen.

Ian did great going uphill, but was a little scared to go downhill. Once he got the hang of it, he was excited to go fast. (or at least faster than before)

While we were riding around the Two Medicine Picnic area we saw this Bighorn Sheep. This is the closest we have been to one. (other than the zoo)

Running Eagle Falls

After our hike to Paradise Point, we went to Running Eagle Falls. We mostly just sat beside the water while the kids threw rocks (in the water.) I think Caleb could do that all day long.

Two Medicine- Paradise Point

After Ian finished school today, we went to Two Medicine and hiked to Paradise Point. Isabelle was not very happy for the first 1/3 of the hike, but then she cheered up. Caleb walked some of the way, and really enjoyed himself. Ian was busy checking things out. I told him he would make a good Park Ranger one day. There was still snow on the ground in a few places that were shaded.

A Summer Preview

Yesterday was very warm. The kids were able to spend alot of time outside, which is always good. We also had various kids from across the street, some of whom joined us for supper. Other than the fact that they required a little too much adult supervision, it was fun. I think this is a sample of what our summer will be like. Only a few weeks left of school!

Playground

Yesterday after preschool, we went to a plalyground in Cut Bank with some friends. Caleb and Isabelle had a great time playing on the swing and slides, and running around with the other kids.
Ian had a fieldtrip to St Mary for school. I didn' t get any pictures since I wasn't there, but he enjoyed himself. They had a talk from a park ranger and went for a hike. I'm sure it was quite exciting for the teachers-- trying to keep all of those kids together!
Today we are planning on heading to Two Medicine after Stephen gets off work, so I hope to have some fun pictures.

Out for a Ride

Today we went out for a ride/walk after supper, just up and down the street in our neighborhood. It's nice that the days have been getting longer, and warmer. This is the first time Caleb rode in the little car, and he really enjoyed it. I think that we will be doing this many mornings (and afternoons and evenings) this summer.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! These are pictures we took before church this morning. We planned to go hiking this afternoon, but the weather was too rainy and cold.

Wildlife & Kalispell

Last night we went to St Mary to the Going to the Sun Road to look for wildlife. We left after the kids were in their pj's ready for bed. We saw a black bear, many elk, a rabbit, and big mosquitoes. It was hard to get good picture, because we were far away with little light.

Today we went to Kalispell to do some shopping. And of course visit the Orts. What trip to Kalispell would be complete without seeing them? These pictures are in their backyard. Somehow this is the only picture I got of Kara.

Ian and Jacob playing with their sandman toys. Notice Ian's short hair. He wanted to be bald, like a bald eagle, but settled for 1/4".

Keith and Jacob twisting Ian in the "net"

Isabelle showing off on the slide

Caleb was getting brave, climbing and going down the slide.

Stop and Read, aka the Library Police

Today we went to the library after Ian was done with school. Ian was telling me an elaborate story involving us as the peace keepers of the library. When someone was being noisy, our job would be to go to them and hold up the "Stop and Read" sign.
Can you imagine who the only loud people in the library at the time were? That's right-- us!