Picnic

Since they started talking about Spring in preschool, Isabelle has been asking to have a picnic. Yesterday, it was finally warm enough. We had beautiful weather, and the kids were able to spend much of the day outside.
In the morning, I left the curtains closed, so that Ian wouldn't be distracted from his schoolwork. Once that was done, the kids all headed outside. During the afternoon, we did our reading sitting outside. That is something you can't do in a traditional school setting.
Today is very nice as well. I plan to have the kids outside most of the day, so I better get off of the computer and get going.It's hard to get a good picture of someone when their mouth is full!

Kathleen was closing her eyes on purpose... because Isabelle did.

Last Awanas

Wednesday night was our last Awanas for the year. We had a closing program and awards ceremony. For the closing program all of the kids went up front and sang songs, lots and lots of songs!
Kathleen and Caleb were behind taller kids for most of the songs. They were enjoying themselves, though.

Yes, I know I'm adorable and admired.

Kathleen was a little nervous to do the motions, but she did sing along with the songs.

Ian is getting into the motions and having fun.

Are we done yet?

Back in the action for "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" one of Caleb's favorites. He was so cute doing all of the motions.

What you don't see in the pictures:
-Isabelle who was over tired, refused to go up with the other kids, and spent the time pouting in the front row.
-I managed to make two kids cry. (It's a special talent that I have.) One was a boy I moved after he repeatedly kicked Kathleen in the shin. He proceeded to melt down, and his dad had to come up and get him. I also made Isabelle cry by not doing exactly what she wanted.
-Stephen and I were sitting on opposite sides of the room, and after the first 10-15 minutes Caleb repeatedly ran back and forth across the front.
-For some reason Ian was crying and had to sit with Stephen, but he managed to recover and join back in for the last few songs.

After the closing program we went to our respective rooms so that the parents could see what we usually do each week. (Stephen and I work with the Cubbies- the preschool age. I love that age. They were such great kids; I will miss them when we move.) Then we went back to the auditorium to hand out awards, which was mercifully brief.

I have enjoyed Awanas, but I was ready for the year to come to an end. The driving back and forth, as well as the late nights were getting to me. There will be a summer Awanas starting in June, and I think just Stephen and Ian will be going to that one.

In other non-Awana news- We may be finished with the adoption mid-June. Stephen wrote about that on our other blog.
Our field trip to see the Harlequin ducks was snowed out, but we had a nice visit in Kalispell with the Orts. I took the camera, but never took any pictures.

Dancing in Cody

On Saturday evening, the girls dressed up in "princess dresses" and danced to some Disney music. They had lots of fun, and Caleb and Davis got in on the action as well.

Pictures from Cody

These pictures are from last Saturday in Cody. After the snow on Friday morning, it warmed up enough for the kids to go outside. (That made all the adults very happy!)
They had fun doing sidewalk paint and side walk chalk, and just running around being kids.
I have some more pictures that I will try to post tomorrow before we go on our next trip. We are going to take a field trip on Friday to West Glacier to look for the Harlequin Ducks. Then we will go to see the Orts in Kalispell for the rest of Friday and Saturday. We have to be back on Sunday for Children's Church.
We have been busy this week, catching up on things and unpacking from the trip. We are mostly back to our normal schedule, although the kids behavior is not quite back to normal. Someone (who will remain nameless) has already been to time out 4 times this morning, and has been told to expect an early nap time today. Someone else has been to timeout twice, and probably deserved it more than that. Someone else is grounded from Nintendo and computer games for the day, and has to earn the privileges back. On days like these, I feel very mean, but I know that the consistency and discipline will make everyone happy in the long run.
There is always some adjustment after being away from home for a week. However, I don't want all good behavior to go out the window. We will probably be traveling on many weekends in May and June, so I am trying to reinforce good habits and behavior now.

Winding down before bed

Pictures from Cody

The conference

We are finished with the conference now, which we enjoyed. I realized as we were packing to leave that I still hadn't taken any pictures. These are of the kids watching cartoons.
Our luggage seemed to explode all over the hotel room, so there was quite a bit of packing to do. It was nice to have the kids entertained and out of the way. (Except for Caleb-- He was determined to help.
The sessions that we went to were great. We met lots of people, and will hopefully be visiting some of the churches before we move this summer.