Archive for May, 2011

A little photo shoot

Posted in Leah, Molly on May 31st, 2011 by jen – 2 Comments

We had a brief photo shoot with the girls at Grams & Pop's house. Pop is an excellent gardner (a trait that Chad nor I inherited), and we thought we'd take advantage of their backdrop. Here's Molly looking very cute. Unfortunately, Leah was supposed to be in the shot as well, but was not cooperating.

Photo shoot

She was too interested in playing with the hydrangeas. They're just so much fun to poke.

Flower

Or running to attack Daddy!

Attack of the smile monster

But the favorite picture was this one. It may not show their faces well, but it's just so sweet.

My favorite shot

Zoo number 2

Posted in Family outings on May 24th, 2011 by c-had – 2 Comments

Molly and I had a great time with her class visiting the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore last month, but Jen and Leah missed out. So, when we tried to think of some family fun to do for Jen's birthday (which is actually today), the zoo was an easy choice. We're fortunate to have two great zoos within driving distance, so this time we went to the National Zoo down in Washington. It's a great zoo and, since it's part of the Smithsonian, admission is free (though you do have to pay for parking).

One of the highlights was the Giant Pacific Octopus. We made it to the Invertebrate Exhibit in time to see them feed it, and it was very cool. We lingered there for some time. I eventually started asking Molly if she was ready to move on, but every time I asked her, she said no. Eventually, we had to just tell her it was time to go, as Leah had been patient enough.

Giant Pacific Octopus

While Molly and Leah weren't really into the reptile house, they did enjoy these tortoises. The little turtles around weren't interesting to them, but the giant ones were lots of fun.

Aldabra tortoise

Of course, a zoo visit isn't complete without a morning snack break.

Snack break

Undoubtedly, Leah's favorite animal was the elephant. We got to see this one up close. Also, note the people in the background looking down toward this elephant. A few minutes later, we ended up at the top of the hill and got to see the elephants from a different angle.

Elephant up close

Leah kept pointing and saying "el-phant" over and over. She was not happy when it was time to move on from the elephants.

El-phant

Molly's favorite animal was the panda. We didn't get to see one in the outdoor habitat, as they were hiding themselves well, but this one had come inside to cool off. I think it has the right idea.

Panda chillaxing

Molly really enjoyed the trip. After several hours of walking around, she was still smiling. It's a big zoo. We moved pretty quickly and still didn't get to see everything.

Happy kid

We told Molly she could either get a toy or a treat at the end of our visit. She said she had a lot of toys, so she'd go for a treat. She selected some Dippin' Dots. Leah ate hers much more quickly than Molly, then of course wanted some more. Here's Molly being a very sweet big sister and sharing hers with Leah.

Dippin' Dots

One interesting attribute of the National Zoo is that you can enter at lots of points throughout the campus. There's no gate to go through (which only works because it's free). We entered at the bottom (there's more than 14 stories of elevation change from one end to the other), and found this to be an excellent plan. It meant that when it was time to leave, we weren't trudging uphill the entire way.

It was a great trip and we'd definitely do it again. The zoo is really well done. They seem to try very hard to ensure that you can get close to the animals to observe them, which really improves the experience. I commented to Jen at the prairie dog exhibit that we could easily have reached down and picked one up.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Jen!

All about cake

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on May 22nd, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

Chad requested a cake for his birthday, so I made my first double layer, decorated cake. Molly insisted that it be a yellow cake with yellow frosting, and have his age on top. She's even wearing a yellow apron and yellow shirt to match.

Bakers

Leah's ready for some cake!

Candles

And what do you do with leftover birthday cake? Make cake balls! Yum!

Cake balls

Sunday snapshots

Posted in Leah, Molly on May 21st, 2011 by jen – 1 Comment

Chad snapped a few pictures of the girls last Sunday before we headed to church. Molly insisted on everyone wearing yellow in honor of Daddy's birthday because his favorite color is yellow.

Sisters on a bench

Hello, there

Patience

Stillness

Soccer Picture Day

Posted in Molly, Sports on May 12th, 2011 by jen – 2 Comments

Saturday was picture day for soccer. We decided to get a very minimal set (just 1 team picture) of the official pictures, and just take some of our own. This was Chad's favorite.

Soccer picture day

This was Chad standing behind the photographer when Molly was having her official picture taken.

(Almost) official picture

Team Dynamo (minus 1)

Go Dynamo!

And then we had a game to play!

Action shot

Action shot 2

While we like to show Molly engaged in the action, the reality is that she spends a lot more time socializing/playing with other kids. We spend a lot of time telling her to go to the ball instead of talking. This game she spent a lot of time hanging out with Emily.

Reality

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted in Leah, Video on May 8th, 2011 by c-had – 3 Comments

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For Mommy, Grams, G'Mom, and all the other mothers out there - Happy Mother's Day!

We love our teachers!

Posted in Molly on May 5th, 2011 by jen – 3 Comments

"The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book." -Anonymous

This week is Teacher Appreciation week. As part of the class gift, I was asked to interview Molly about what she loves best about school, Miss Carol, and Miss Jodi and have her draw or paint a picture. The kids responses were then compiled into albums to present to the teachers today. Molly's responses were quite amusing, so I thought I'd share them with you.

What do you love most about school?
I love playing with Taryn

What do you love most about Miss Carol?
Drawing my foot with her

What do you love most about Miss Jodi?
Making a hat for Mommy on Mommy's Day

What are you thankful for about school, Miss Carol and Miss Jodi?
The stories

What's the funniest thing that ever happened at school?
Playing with Taryn

What do you think Miss Carol's favorite thing about school is?
Eating snacks

What do you think Miss Jodi's favorite thing is?
Eating snacks

What is your picture about?

MollyDrawing1

Miss Carol telling me, Jake, Jenna and Jeremiah not to bonk each other. We are in the classroom inside the school. Miss Carol is purple and Miss Jodi is blue.

MollyDrawing2

That's me and Jake inside his house. Jake is on stilts. I am reaching for his hand. That is a giraffe because it has spots. It's reaching for an apple.

Finally, a dress for Molly

Posted in Sewing on May 4th, 2011 by jen – 2 Comments

As I've mentioned, Molly and many of her friends are in a dress phase. Every time I made a dress for one of her friend's birthday, Molly always asked for one too. So finally, I made a new dress for her. She picked out the fabric (she loved the pink polks-dots and butterflies are her favorite bug!) and I made this cute halter dress again for her.

You might also notice Molly's different hairstyle. We're going to try growing out her bangs. It makes her look so much older pulled back. We'll see how it goes!

Finally a dress for Molly

Show and Tell Green

Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails

Posted in Sewing on May 2nd, 2011 by jen – 4 Comments

Making clothes for little boys is a bit tough when you don't have one in your house! I used this romper pattern again and made a jon jon for our friend Kathy's little boy. I had to ask a high school friend for measurements, and Leah was a good sport and tried it on for me since it was 18 months, but I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

Whale jon jon
Making Get Your Craft On Tuesday

Second soccer game

Posted in Molly, Sports, Video on May 1st, 2011 by c-had – 1 Comment

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As you may have seen, Molly's first soccer game did not go well. The second one went much better. Here's a highlight reel of some of the best moments. Molly did great. She went into the game every time the coach told her to, and participated the entire time. After spending much of the last game on the sideline, that was a huge improvement.