Archive for March, 2011

More party pics

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on March 28th, 2011 by jen – Be the first to comment

More fun pictures from Molly's party...

Even Leah got in on the fishing action.

Fishing for Mickey

But Aunt Caroline, isn't this supposed to be a Mickey slipper, not a chef's hat?!

But Aunt Caroline...

Or maybe it's a hair net? Pop thinks so.

Or maybe it's a...

To minimize the gift opening chaos, I delayed opening family gifts until after the party. Do you think she's excited?

A great reaction

Leah had a fun time at the party too.

A happy little sister

Laughing with Mommy

Our family, plus a few mouse friends, at the end of a great party.

Our family

Come inside, it’s fun inside

Posted in Celebrations, Molly on March 27th, 2011 by jen – 10 Comments
It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Come inside, it's fun inside...

We celebrated Molly's 4th birthday yesterday with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. I made the cupcakes to resemble the man of the day - Mickey Mouse!

Clubhouse cupcakes

As each child arrived, they received Mickey ears, and were instructed about four stations to visit.

Bean Bag Toss: I got creative with cardboard and made a Mickey-shaped bean bag toss.

Bean bag toss

Quacky Hoopla: tossing rings around pictures of Mickey's best bud, Donald.

Quacky Hoopla

Fishing for Mickey: I made a magnetic fishing game using Disney paint samples from Home Depot.

Friends fishing

And it wouldn't be a "Jen" party without a craft! The kids all created their own Mickey goodie bag.

Goodie bag crafts

After finishing all four game stations, the kids were awarded with kazoos.

Kazoos for the kids

Aunt EA had fun playing tickle monster with several of the girls, who taunted her by playing their kazoos.

Tickle monster EA

We ate lunch, then sang to the birthday girl. Watch the video too.

Singing to the birthday girl

It can be a bit difficult to convince 3 and 4 year olds to sit when opening gifts, but at least they're now old enough to all pay attention.

Everyone's a helper

And as a party favor, everyone left with a Mickey-shaped cookie.

Mouse cookies

Happy 4th Birthday, Molly

Posted in Celebrations, Molly, Video on March 27th, 2011 by c-had – 1 Comment

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We celebrated Molly's 4th birthday today (which you'll hear more about shortly). For now, here's a very happy girl getting sung to and blowing out some candles. Enjoy.

Spring has sprung (well, not technically, but you know what I mean)

Posted in Leah, Molly on March 18th, 2011 by c-had – 2 Comments

This week, it's started to look like Spring. So, we took advantage of the better weather and headed down to the playground by our house after nap time.

Leah loves the slide, and went down as many times as she could squeeze into our visit. Each time she'd get to the bottom, she'd run around to the stairs to climb straight back up so that she could go down again.

Sliding at the playground

Jen started out catching Leah at the bottom, but then Molly asked if she could catch Leah. The catch turned out to be a very sweet hug.

Can I catch her?

Molly wanted to play in the sandbox, but she didn't want to get sand in her shoes. So, she stood on the side and built some sort of house.

Sandbox

I tried to get pictures of Leah before sliding down several times, but she was very focused on sliding down as quickly as possible. I did manage to get her to look at me this one time, though, before she quickly turned back around to slide down.

Oh, Leah

The slide may have been Leah's favorite, but she did swing for a short while. Looks like she's enjoying it.

Swinging with Mommy

Party dresses

Posted in Sewing on March 14th, 2011 by jen – 3 Comments

In preparation for Molly's 4th birthday, I made the girls Mickey and Minnie dresses. They were inspired by this dress. Molly's response when I showed her the dress, "Oh, it's lovely Mom."

Party dresses

We all scream for ice cream!

Posted in Leah, Molly on March 13th, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

For a fun family outing yesterday, we went to Baskin Robbins. Leah really enjoyed her vanilla frozen yogurt, and especially liked dragging a spoonful along her tongue. I guess it maximized the taste.

Ice cream!

Molly wanted rainbow ice cream, so it gave Chad a chance to introduce her to one of his favorites, Baskin Robbins rainbow sherbet. She loved it.

Rainbow sherbet

Happy Mardi Gras Day!

Posted in Celebrations, Food, Kid crafts, Leah, Molly, Playdates on March 8th, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

For the third year, I hosted a Mardi Gras celebration with my MOMS Club. I enjoy sharing this New Orleans tradition with my Maryland friends!

The party favors were made...

Mardi Gras cookies

And someone was very excited about eating king cake with her friends! I made a cream cheese filled, with cream cheese icing. Mmmm...

Mmmm, king cake

Molly welcomed everyone at the door saying, "Happy Mardi Gras Day!" The kids decorated their own king's crowns...

Decorating king's crowns\

then donned their hats and enjoyed a piece of cake.

Enjoying the cake

The more, the merrier

Each child left with Mardi Gras beads and a bag of cookies. I hope I lived up the the hype, as according to one friend, "It's the best event of the year!" I had to laugh when another friend said she'd been waiting years to come and was "starting to feel like [she] should camp out for tickets!"

Show and Tell Green

Spring means soccer

Posted in Leah, Molly on March 7th, 2011 by jen – Be the first to comment

Since it's warmed up a bit, we took the opportunity to get out of the house and play a little soccer. Leah hasn't grasped the "no hands" part of it yet.

Soccer

Molly scores!

Between the legs

Leah wanted to wear Chad's hat for much of the outing.

Hat

Molly figured out a new trick - balancing on the ball with her knees.

Balancing

In a dress phase

Posted in Sewing on March 3rd, 2011 by jen – 5 Comments

Many of Molly's friends are in a dress phase like Molly. So, I made this dress for her friend, Jenna, for her 4th birthday. (Please excuse the cheesy grin from my model!)

In a dress phase

It turned out super cute and Molly agreed. I'll be making one for her soon too.

A halter dress

Outside play

Posted in Leah, Molly on March 1st, 2011 by jen – 2 Comments

It may still have been February, but Sunday it warmed up enough to get outside. Molly and Leah were eager to take advantage of it.

Ready to play

Chad kept saying that Leah was ready to go back to the 70's with her snazzy dress.

Throwback dress

Playing outside

Warm weather also means... bubbles!

Bubbles!

Bubbles are great to stomp on,

Bubble stomping

and to pop by poking.

Poke