Curlers and a field trip...

 Last night, Alice agreed to let me put sponge curlers in her hair for Mother's Day. An hour later, she started furiously pulling them out. Here's the beginnings of how her hair COULD HAVE looked today!

 Last Sunday, Charlie turned 6 months old and we started him on rice cereal.

 He loved it immediately!

 Alice has really started liking to interact with Charlie. She reads him books, tickles him, talks to him in a high voice, etc.

 I never get sick of seeing my fat baby naked! (And who's that handsome man holding him?)

 I haven't spent time in Grace's classroom all year because Paul's been too busy for me to leave the kids home with him. On Wednesday, he insisted it was okay, so I spent the whole morning with Grace's class. She loved having me there, and lots of parents and teachers made sure to let me know how wonderful they think Grace is.

 We went on a field trip to the campus farm. It was a short walk from the school. Grace and Ellie were inseparable all the way there.

 Then everyone was split into groups. I went with Grace's group called the wildflowers. Grace is terrified of all animals, but did amazingly well on this field trip. She pet a chicken.

 She pet a baby chick.

 Prim and proper.

 Playing in the soil.

 Holding a worm!

 Nice view of the ocean from the farm.

 Planting a corn seed.

 Being baby birds.

 Listening to bees in the beehive through the plastic window.

 A velcro-like leaf became a badge to show they were great garden explorers!

 Then art class - Grace painted a gecko. I was impressed with the art teacher.

 Grace arranged all the chairs around Charlie:)

 Grace decided this week that she is strong.

 Strong enough to carry 23-pound Charlie! (just a few feet)

 How cute are they?

 Charlie grew out of his previous Sunday outfit, and is on to this little number.

 With shoes!!

 Inspired by Sarah, I got pictures with each of my children for Mother's Day.

 So, the end of the story about Alice's curlers is that she wanted them back in this morning. So I put them in her super dry hair, sprayed them with hairspray, and took them out an hour later. It looked awful, so I quickly tried to curl it with a super skinny curling iron. The result wasn't that great.

 Mother's Day flowers from Paul - so pretty!

 Grace's face barely cleared up in time to get this picture right as we were leaving for church. She cried for quite a while after we yelled at her for distracting Charlie during his picture time, so her face was all red and splotchy for a while.

Grace visited the pediatric GI doctor. We are optimistic that she is improving since then!

Expressive kids

 Alice and her scary eyes.

 Grace's class just got 7 fertilized chicken eggs. They put them in an incubator, will wait 21 days, and will keep them for a week after they hatch. They are learning a lot in kindergarten - Grace knows what an embryo is!

 Charlie loves putting everything in his mouth, especially any bare skin he can get his mouth around.

 Paul reading Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 to the girls.

 Cutie pie in the backyard.

 Oh, wait, there's another one!

 Shoulder ride - I love those feet!

 We watched my friend's kids one afternoon. Charlie loves his buddy Jarvis. In fact, even though Jarvis is 2 months older, Charlie caught up with him in weight - 23 pounds each!

 Everyone had fun and was good during our afternoon with Jarvis and Naomi. I told Grace to support Charlie for this picture so he wouldn't topple. Alice worried Naomi needed  support too.

 Charlie can almost sit up on his own without help - inspired by his buddy.

 Speaking of inspiration, we watched a special where Alton Brown shared his weight loss secrets. One thing he does is drink fruit smoothies for breakfast. We made some one morning - Paul may have a drinking problem.

 Cute kids ready for bed.

 We babysat another friend's kids another day. Apparently they don't get photographed as often as my kids - I couldn't get them to stop playing and pose!

 Photo shoot with Alice. Straight faced.

 Happy.

 Beauty.

 Silly.

 Full body shot.

 Sweet.

 Charlie loves tummy time and scoots backwards constantly.

  It was really hot a few days this week, so we let Charlie wear less clothing than usual.

I love my chubby baby!

 Expressive kids.

 Sister secrets.

 Charlie's first solid food - Baby Mum-Mum rice cracker.

 He gummed it up pretty good.

 Isn't he adorable?

 We bought our very first double stroller this week from someone on craigslist. By the end of the week, we were speeding through Target with all 3 kids in it! It makes mall trips a lot easier.

 Grace's book was displayed at the mall along with all her other classmates'. She was so proud of her book on hiking.

 It's turning into summer - we had corn on the cob for the first time this season. Grace wanted to learn to shuck corn. She did half of one in the time I did the other 5.

 Cowboy Charlie.

 Grace makes him smile so big!

 Alice LOVED dinner last night - she ate 2 whole cobs.

 Grace barely touched her corn, but went crazy on the salmon and couscous. She kept asking for more and more.

 But it was the grasshopper cookies afterwards that brought out the silliness.

 Chocolate teeth!

 Yuck, Grace!

 So, randomly on our way home from the mall, Alice threw up out of nowhere. She wasn't acting sick before or after, but she got puke all over herself, her carseat, and the bench. She wanted to be treated like a sick-y and rest on the couch.

 Grace spent the whole evening writing out a dance routine she choreographed. Then she memorized it, and performed it. Pretty impressive!

 For some reason, Alice thinks this makes her look like Catalina.

 Post-dance recital.

 All ready for church.

 Happy 6 months, Chubbo!

 Tripod couple picture.

Decent family picture with the tripod!

Polite Alice. "How do you do?" "Very well, thank you."

Impromptu song by Grace.