Paul's last week of school

 Let's start with some random cell phone pictures. Paul was in San Francisco the first part of the week, so I sent him this picture to let him know things were going okay.

 He sent me a kiss! Aaaaw!

 Sleeping cutie.

 Happy Grace.

 I love baby yawns.

 Cute boy.

 Okay, so here's how our week went: On Sunday night, we bathed Charlie. He's getting big!

 On Monday, Paul left super early to go to San Francisco for the American Geophysical Union conference. He had to go to speakers and posters and write a blog post article. The morning was a little wild for me to get 3 kids ready all alone, so the neighbors took Grace to school. Then I took the other 2 kids to a birthday party for Alice's nursery friend.

 She loved dressing up as a princess and playing with all her friends.

 When Grace got home from school, she was a good girl cleaning the living room, doing a workbook, and playing with Alice. We had a simple dinner and read a bunch of books, then I put the girls to bed and dealt with fussy Charlie until Paul got home. It's so nice that he got to come home at night!

 On Tuesday, Paul left early for San Francisco again, and the neighbors took Grace to school again. Then they gave Grace a ride home from school, and kept her for a playdate. They are so nice. We got fun mail that afternoon: a letter from Dillon, Ashley's Christmas card, and a package from Sarah with her Christmas card, a candy advent calendar, and a CD of all our old favorites from the Christmas records. So fun! We had leftovers for dinner, wrote to Santa, and made cards for Mom's birthday. Then I put the girls to bed, and hung out with Charlie until Paul got home.

 Wednesday was Charlie's 1-month birthday. He weighed in at 10 lbs 14 oz. It was a rainy day, and the girls were happy to finally see their dad again! He was a big help with the school drop off/pick up, and with tending the kids, even though he was working on an article for the paper.

 Paul went into the newspaper office in the afternoon, and Alice played with the small ceramic Christmas decorations. She LOVED being allowed to play with them. I did a bunch of online Christmas shopping. When Grace got home, both girls wanted to play with the breakable decorations. I supervised them, and they had fun, until it was time to put them away. We had a large musical snowglobe, and Alice was trying to hand it to Grace to put it away. That's when it shattered into a million pieces. Both girls burst into tears. I didn't care about the snowglobe, so I was able to keep my cool while trying to clean up the mess and console the girls. Grace was so dramatic: "Nothing can ever replace it! That was our best, most perfect decoration! It had music, and sparkles, and a little bubble in it - we'll never have a decoration like that again!" Luckily, all but the globe part survived, so it's still a little scene that plays music.

 Paul got home and saved the day, finishing up the clean-up and dancing with the girls while I made dinner. That night, Paul did homework while I did more online Christmas shopping. You've got to be pretty creative with such a small budget!

Thursday was Paul's last day of school. I got Grace off to school, then quizzed Alice on body parts (I was surprised she knew "waist"), and had a blanket party with her. When Paul got home from school that afternoon, we went on a family outing. First we had to make a quick stop for Paul to get an interview for an article, then on to the dollar store for the girls to pick out gifts for each other. It was really fun! Then we went to KFC for dinner to celebrate Paul's last day. The girls love fried chicken as much as I do. There was a juke box there, and we had a little dance party afterward. When we got home, Grace gave a short FHE lesson on Christ's birth, and we put them to bed. Then Paul had to go to the church to set up tables.

 Friday was Mom's 60th birthday. Charlie had a rough night, waking up a lot with his runny nose. Alice has the same cold, and woke up super grouchy, and Grace woke up tired - we all were!

 Paul worked from home all morning, and went to the newspaper office in the afternoon. Alice read Tag books.

 Grace helped take care of Charlie after school.

 He's pretty easy to tend when he's asleep. When Paul got home from work, I made a potato casserole for the ward party.

 The ward party that night was very well attended - we didn't even get to try my potatoes! Good food and visiting, then Grace got to be a goat and sing in two songs during the program. (She's front and center.)

 Alice watched from the floor, and kept saying, "Mommy, Jesus is born!"

 She's a cute kid.

 Then Santa came, in sunglasses and sandals, since it is Santa Cruz after all. Grace liked him, Alice did not.

 We looked at Christmas lights on the way home.

 On Saturday, we slept in some, and Paul helped clean the church. Then we all cleaned the house together while listening to Christmas music. Grace and Charlie danced together.

 Cute siblings!

 They were pretty worn out after that, so they took a break on the floor.

 Then I took Grace 30 minutes away to her friend's birthday party at a bounce house place. Paul kept the other 2 sleeping kids and did homework. Grace loved the bounce houses.

 And the slides. I talked to a bunch of kindergarten parents.

 Then they had snacks and cake. Grace hung out with our Chilean neighbor Catalina most of the time. On the way home, Grace had a meltdown that the actual birthday girl never played with her at the party. Grace played with lots of different friends at the party, and there were like 30 guests, so the birthday girl had her hands full, but Grace wasn't appeased. Poor kid. That evening, we made a pizza and watched "Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas" at Grace's request. Painful. After the girls were in bed, Paul and I made mini cakes (our first time using a double boiler!), cut out paper snowflakes, danced to Christmas music, and watched a cheesy movie on Lifetime. It was a perfect date!

Today, Charlie and Alice are still sick with a cold, so I'm home with them. I was planning to go to church with Grace, but Paul had to go and do stuff for his calling. So here are some cute pictures of Charlie.

A look of wonder.

Isn't he precious? We sure like him!

Welcome to the family, Bronco

 We've been adoring our little Charlie all week.

 This is what he looks like while pooping. Yep, had to be documented for posterity.

 But usually, he's asleep, or just looking cute.

 Grace and Charlie time on Sunday.

 On Monday, Paul and Grace danced to Christmas music before he took her to school. He worked from home in the morning so he could also pick Grace up after school.

 We got a rocking horse from the free pile in the laundry room. Charlie can't quite use it yet.

 But Alice LOVES it! They named him Bronco, and he sings a song when you squeeze his ear, complete with moving mouth! We've had fun trying to figure out the words - the possibilities are endless!

 Alice has been wanting to eat dry cereal in the mornings so she can carry it around with her. It usually ends in a mess on the chair.

 She's so cute though, it's hard to get mad at her.

 Charlie slept a lot, so I was able to work on the Flake family yearbook.

 Yep, bowl on her head, cereal in her lap. Awesome.

 But, again, how do you get mad at that face?

 And she's so sweet with Charlie! I did a craft with Grace that afternoon during Alice's nap and while Paul was at the newspaper office. She also made a super cute book about the symbols of Christmas. When Alice woke up, she and Grace made pretend clubs, complete with clubhouses. I took the opportunity to work on the yearbook. Grace asked if I'd be in her club. "What do I have to do to be in your club?" "Work on the yearbook." "Okay, I'll be in your club!"

  For dinner, I turned leftover turkey into turkey salad wraps. To encourage Grace to eat, Paul said he would eat a green olive if she would eat her dinner. Grace loves green olives and Paul hates them. The following scene ensued:

 Grace is so pleased with herself.

Poor Paul. I wouldn't have done it. Yuck!

 Paul taught FHE on Jesus Christmas versus Santa Christmas, then we gave Charlie his very first bath in the baby bathtub. What a modest little fellow!

 Poor cold baby. That night I worked on the yearbook more while Paul did homework.

 On Tuesday, Paul had class, so I had to do the school run for the first time with 3 kids. It was hard. It's a long walk from the church  parking lot to the classroom, and Charlie is heavy to carry, and Alice doesn't like to hold hands. Grace's class LOVED Charlie, and of course Grace loves showing him off. Then I took Alice and Charlie to library story time. Again, it was hard. Charlie cried a lot on the car rides, I had to feed him as soon as we got to the library, he pooped as I fed him, and Alice screamed bloody murder when I went to change him, then she colored on the table. When we checked out, we had trouble with the computer system. Luckily, Paul got home in time to pick up Grace so I didn't have to deal with that whole fiasco again. And after all of her wickedness, look how cute Alice is!

 That afternoon, I fell asleep with Charlie in my arms. Nice nap! We made bacon bits pizza for dinner, then bathed the girls. They love their cute giraffe and hippo towels from Mom/Dad Gabe.

 Our 3 kids in brown footy pajamas.

 Father and son chillin' on the floor.

 Bedtime story.

 Mini tree in the girls' room.

 Paul read them a banana slug book that night. Ha! I worked on the yearbook while Paul did homework, then we did online Christmas shopping.

On Wednesday, Paul and Grace left early for the elementary school science club. Grace didn't want to join because it's so early, but Paul took her this one time so he could write an article on it. They learned all about squid, and touched a dead one - gross! Then Grace went on her field trip to Natural Bridges State Park. They were supposed to see the monarchs, but it was pouring rain and windy (like most of the week), so they just saw the museum. Paul went into work in the afternoon, and I worked on the yearbook during Alice's SHORT nap.

 My Moby wrap came in the mail that day!! We own 4 types of wearable baby carriers, but I bought this because I can put it on by myself, and get him in/out of it by myself. I LOVE IT! We heated up Dad Gabe's chili for dinner and made cornbread with it. Grace wanted the meal to be all about monarch butterflies - we drank "milkweed" milk, and had cornbread with "monarch" butter and "nectar" honey.

 Then we had some family hang out time.

 Everybody Charlie Brown!

 Sweet, Grace, totally sweet.

 Paul likes the Moby too. It's so comfortable!

 It works up to 35 lbs!

 On Thursday, I took Grace to and from school again. Everyone is always so surprised to see me doing well and out and about. It's been almost 4 weeks, folks. It was cold and rainy again, and the girls were cute with Charlie. I did more yearbook work all day, then made potato soup from leftover mashed potatoes for dinner. That night, I went back to work on the yearbook, and IT WAS GONE. I burst into tears. I'd spent HOURS AND HOURS on it over the past few weeks. The photobook company doesn't have a phone number, so we emailed back and forth with a guy, and finally went to bed with the problem still unresolved. I emailed the family to pray for us, and we prayed hard too.

 The rain was intense on Friday. Paul and Alice did the school runs. I checked the computer a few times that morning, but no yearbook. We kept praying, and so did Grace and the family. Then, I refreshed the screen again, and it was there! Like magic! I said a prayer of thanks on the spot. What a relief and a blessing.

 Rainy day nymph.

 Sweet Alice warmed up under a Christmas blanket to watch a movie so I could finally finish the yearbook. I didn't get ready until 5 pm, but it's done!

 Charlie was happy for me. I did days worth of dishes to celebrate the end of neglecting all my other responsibilities. Then I made paper snowflakes with Grace. That evening, we watched Snow White (Faerie Tale Theatre) while eating pizza, then I went grocery shopping.

 It was rainy again on Saturday. We took the girls to Toys R Us, Target, and to see Santa at the mall. Alice was scared of him, but Grace and Charlie liked him. No pictures allowed unless you want to pay big bucks!

 Charlie was pretty good on our shopping trip.

 Paul took the kids to the playplace at the mall so I could Christmas shop.

 Check out that cool oyster! Paul said 3 other dads from the ward were there too, watching their kids so their wives could Christmas shop. Nice!

 When we got home, we did laundry, Paul did homework, and I wrapped presents. Grace was my little elf, in charge of the tags and bows. It may be a little hard to read the tags this year.

 I made turkey rolls for dinner, then we had family time in the living room. Can you see the light of the tree in Charlie's eye? He can't stop staring at it!

 Grace's interpretation of "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh".

These girls love their daddy! So do I! Paul and I had a date that night watching the rain and watching parts of about 5 different Netflix movies in the light of the tree. Romantic!