First Camping of the Year

 Highland has a "Work and Play" weekend where they invite people to come and volunteer their time and energy in order to get the camp ready for the summer.

 So we decided to camp out there on Friday night and work on Saturday.  The kids had a great time as always with the camping.  Glen loved learning about fire and Grace loved exploring the different kinds of wood and the things that she could build with the logs.

 Grace even wanted to help us make breakfast early in the morning.  I am proud of her for wanting to make breakfast even if she did not eat it.  She much rather had a bagel, but she cooked over a fire.

 Glen however, did love the breakfast.  It was a good start to a busy day.

 We hiked till the work groups got ready.

 When they were ready, the kids and I were put on the group to clean up the flower beds.

 So Grace braided old daffodil plants while Glen played with sticks and rocks.

 They both helped fill the wheelbarrows and delivered mulch for the flower beds.

 Here they are on mulch mountain.  Ready to push some more mulch down into the wheelbarrows.

 Grace looking important with her pitch fork.

We left right after lunch.  But between camping and working, the kids had enough and enjoyed a long nap on the way home.

Mother's Day with Glen

Mother's day is always a special time where I feel so important, but this time I felt esepcially loved upon by Glen.

 The kindergarten classes always have a singing program and a tea for the mothers who are able to come.  You can see Glen right in the middle of this picture.

 Then during the tea he gave me a flower that eventually flowered on my birthday in June.

 He gave me a sheet that told me about myself.  My favorite was that my job is to keep him safe.  Why, yes it is my job!

Then on Sunday the kindergarten Sunday School class had a tea so he once again got to share some good food and drink with me.  It was a nice Mother's Day.

Grace's First Paint Night

 My school had a paint night that raised money for the PTO.  It was open to all ages.  So I signed up Grace after being assured by the teacher that Grace would be able to do it.  There were six people in the class.  Grace was BY FAR the youngest (I think the next youngest was about 30).

 But Grace listened to Ms. Kincaid very well and had in her mind what she wanted.  I was hesitant about some of her choices, but they all turned out really well.

I love the painting she did, She did so well with it and was just such a natural.  Mrs. Kincaid said that it was great having her in the class because she just got and idea and ran with it while the other students were very hesitant to put paint to canvas.  We are hoping to enter this into the county fair.  I hope they love it as much as I do.

After School clubs

This year on Tuesdays Grace and Glen were able to stay at school for some enrichment camps.  Glen had a camp all about the solar system.  He loved it.  However, I have no pictures of that.

Grace had a camp where she learned about Latin Dance.  They had three performances during the school year.

 She performed at the international festival at Bluestone Elementary, at La Fiestia at Smithland Elementary, and at June Jam at the end of the year.

She loved learning the dances, and I think that she really loved dressing up for it in her costume.  I love that my kids are learning so much about other cultures.

Diva Derby 2018

Once again it was time to design the cars for Grace's diva derby with Girl Scouts.  I printed off a few ideas and Grace took the ideas and ran with them.

 With supervision we drew the design on the block of wood and Grace started to cut it out.

 Matt helped guide her trhough some of the trickier cuts.

 When the cars were finished Grace and some of her girl scout friends drew on the driveway till the others were also finished.

 A few weeks later we had the chance to race.  Grace did well, she came in second in almost all of her heats.  I was very proud.

 Grace did a good job with design and her rainbow paint job was quite nice too.

And here she is with her biggest fan.

Springtime

 Spring time is a great time for kite flying (and Grace learned that she loves flying kites)

It is also a good time to learn a new video game from your father (Spyro!)

Easter 2018

 As I usually do, I took some Palm Sunday pictures (in case the Easter pictures did not work out) and this was the best shot I got of the two in their beautiful Palm Sunday clothes.

Then a week later, we celebrated Easter.  It was full of a lot of family events and fun.
Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sue sent the kids an Easter box that included a cookie mix, and sprinkles to make our own Easter cookies.  We made them, decorated them, then shared some of them with the neighbors.

 We went to the Easter egg hunt at the local park and got our usual picture on the steps.  They both got quite a few Easter eggs, and one of Grace's friends even shared a golden egg with her which Grace was able to trade in to get a special prize (a stuffed bunny).

 Later that day we decided to dye a few eggs.  Grace got quite creative with the coloring.  Glen had a great time with coloring.

 Easter morning!  We managed to capture yet another nice picture.

 And we had to get a picture with the beautiful children and adorable bunnies.  Thank you Grandma Sue!

 Our new neighbor Miss Vicki joined us for church on Easter.  Miss Vicki and Grace have some sort of special bond, and what do you know...they even dressed alike for Easter!

It was a special time with friends, family and fun.  Happy Easter!