Strawberry picking

I took the girls to a local farm this week to let them pick their own strawberries. Charlotte took a little nap in my ergo carrier, so I didn't get a picture of her. Most of the strawberries were very small, but they were sweet, and I was able to make 5 jars of jam with them.

Little mover

Charlotte isn't satisfied with army-man crawling anymore, and is getting better on her hands and knees. She likes to go from crawling to sitting then back down again. She also has two bottom teeth and is working on one on top.

Shopping helper

I've grown accustomed to my crew of kids and don't pay much attention to the stares and smiles the girls get when we're out. Shopping this week, I noticed a women about 15 years older than me smile at us then look off and stick her bottom lip out. It occurred to me then just how many women tell me they miss their own children at this age, since it passes so quickly. I took this picture the next day of sweet Grace, who feels so grown up when she helps me. I'm very thankful for this time of my life with my children.

1st dental exam

At Grace's 6 month check-up, her dentist asked to check out Madeline's teeth. He just looked and counted them, to get her comfortable with it. She fully cooperated, but kept her eye on him during the process, fingering her bracelet like it was a rosary. She wasn't crazy about wearing the sunglasses like Grace was. They were both happy to pick out a toothbrush and the usual dentist trinket.

Horse Track

Grace and Madeline LOVE to go to the horse track (it's in their blood). Along with cheering for the horses they choose, they like to hang out around the paddock to watch the horses get saddled and see the jockeys get on. Grace was really picking the winners this weekend!

On the 6th day...

In the car today, Grace asked, "Mom, do you know what I feel right now?" "What?" "I feel God holding me."...as wonderful as that statement was, it wasn't quite a random conversation because "He's got the whole world" was just playing a few minutes earlier, which got her wheels turning, I'm sure. She then asked how God made her and I said that I don't know- that only God knows how He did it. She thought for a second and said, "I think He got flour, sugar, and broccoli and mixed it all up to make my skeleton, then I grew into a 4 year-old girl."

Zoo day

We were the first in line at the zoo this week so that we could see the new Museum of Living Art without the crowds. Their favorites were the giant tortoises, the poison dart frogs, and the komodo dragon, who spent a lot of time sticking it's tongue out in front of the girls.

Fire Station

Grace has been asking a lot of questions about fire fighters and what they do, so I took them to the fire station in our neighborhood for an education from the experts. They each got a hat and coloring pages with our tour. Grace was impressed that they had a big TV and 3 refrigerators. We caught them on a beautiful and slow day, so the nice fire fighters took a lot of time with us and even let Grace ride in the engine when they pulled it into the station (which they told me was a first!)

Happy Easter

We had beautiful weather this Easter weekend, so Grace and Madeline were able to dye and hunt for eggs outside this year. Charlotte had fun watching from her backyard swing. I had thought we could explain to Grace about the true meaning of Easter now, but decided to use the same reason for Easter we used last year..."because Jesus loves us."