Archive for June, 2014

Swimming

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sports on June 30th, 2014 by c-had – 1 Comment

Outdoor swim season is fully here, and the girls are loving it. You'd never know that Molly was so afraid of putting her face in the water just last year.

Swimming

The girls are now taking swim lessons at our neighborhood pool. Since the girls are now comfortable in the water, these are focused on learning strokes now. Here's Leah swimming toward her teacher's arms.

Swim lessons

While Leah's in her lesson, Molly's practicing streamlining and kicking.

Streamline

We're looking forward to a summer filled with a lot more water fun and a lot less water fear.

Soccer camp

Posted in Leah, Sports on June 29th, 2014 by c-had – 1 Comment

This week, Leah tried out soccer for the first time by going to a UK Elite Petite soccer camp. The coach was fantastic and very creative. Here, he's given the kids pinnies to wear as super hero capes.

Soccer camp

Leah had a great time, and was an excellent listener.

Having fun

In this game, the kids were mice and the coach was a cat. They had to dribble around to collect "cheese" and then bring it back to their cone. Then they had to hide behind the ball so the cat wouldn't see them.

Hide!

In this game, the kids had to run into the "cuckoo's nest" and dribble a ball back to their team's base. Leah's got her ball and is moving quickly back to her team.

On the move

She's moving so fast she's a blur.

Big kick

Nice dribbling.

Dribbling

In this game, the kids had to steal balls from other teams. Leah's just collected this one and is hurrying back to her team's base.

Stolen

She had a great time at soccer camp, and now wants to do soccer again in the fall. Right now, she really wants to be on a team, but she may decide she'd rather do some more clinics before getting competitive.

Last day of school

Posted in Molly, School on June 28th, 2014 by c-had – 1 Comment

Finally, after a couple extra days due to all the snow, it was the last day of school for Molly. Here she is, ready to go finish out first grade.

Last day of school

For comparison, here she is on the first day of school this year. I'd say she's grown up a bit.

First day of first grade

After school, we got a picture of the neighborhood kids just like we did the first day of school. There are a few more kids here than there were then, plus a few extra friends.

Neighborhood ready for summer

Here's that first day of school picture.

Neighborhood kids

Haircuts

Posted in Leah, Molly on June 22nd, 2014 by c-had – 1 Comment

The girls have been asking to get their hair cut short for a while, but Jen told them they had to wait until after their dance recital. With the recital done, it was time for a haircut. Here's Leah before they left for Cartoon Cuts.

Leah before

And here's Molly before going to get her hair cut.

Molly before

Molly's hair was cut shorter than I think I've ever seen it. Note the new earrings Jen bought her after the haircut as well.

Very short

Leah's hair is quite short as well. She came home in a funk, though, because she didn't like that Molly's hair was shorter than hers. I eventually cheered her up enough to get a picture, but it took a while.

Short hair

Of course, it didn't take too long after I got her to cheer up before she started being silly.

Silly

And silliness leads to laughter.

Laughter

I think Molly's new haircut has given her some attitude.

Sassy

Recital time

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sports on June 21st, 2014 by c-had – 3 Comments

It’s dance recital time again, and this year it’s much more serious for Molly. She was in three different numbers - one ballet, one tap, and one jazz.

Dance recital

Molly’s jazz dance was to I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair from South Pacific. So, they had big tubs for doing just that.

Washing her hair

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Sewing surprises

Posted in Sewing on June 20th, 2014 by jen – Be the first to comment

I sent a box of "Happy Summer" surprises to Emmie and JJ last week. Emmie's dress matches the dresses I recently made for Molly and Leah. The girls are excited to all wear them when we get together next month.

RollerskateEmmie

The best part about JJ's new outfit? The pockets!

JJrocketoutfit

Rockets and pockets

Graduating again

Posted in Celebrations, Family outings on June 10th, 2014 by c-had – Be the first to comment

A year after Caroline graduated, she's at it again. This time with a Master's degree in teaching. We made the trip down to St. Mary's to see it happen.

Graduation

Not only was Caroline graduating, but she was selected as the student speaker at graduation.

Nice speech

She did a great job with her speech. She even threw in a shout out to a couple of little girls. Here it is in its entirety.

Here she is getting her degree from the college President.

Degree

She's a happy graduate.

Recessional

And here she is with her family.

The family

Strawberry buddies

Posted in Leah, Playdates on June 9th, 2014 by jen – Be the first to comment

Like last year, Stacie and I took the little sisters to pick strawberries at Gorman Farm. Here they are finding the perfect ones to pick.

Picking strawberries

You must taste them along the way, right?

Taste test

Leah and Matilda were proud of their loot, showing off the biggest strawberries in their bucket!

Biggest ones in the bucket

The strawberries were gone in 2 days! So, next week...strawberries at Larriland Farm?

Porch photoshoot

Posted in Leah, Molly on June 2nd, 2014 by c-had – 3 Comments

It’s been a while, so we decided to have a photoshoot of the girls out on our porch.

For the photo geeks out there, most of these pictures were taken with my brand new Speed Booster. The head shots were taken with it combined with my Canon FDn 100mm f/2 (making a 71mm f/1.4) and many of the later shots used it combined with my Canon FDn 50mm f/1.4 (making a 35mm f/1.0). That said, I stopped down a good bit on all these to ensure I had enough depth of field for the whole shot.

On to the pictures. First, a head and shoulders shot of Molly.

Photoshoot

Leah is still the queen of silly faces. This can be loads of fun when taking pictures, but sometimes challenging if you just want a simple smile.

Silly girl

Try again for a smile, get a different silly face.

Still silly

We did eventually get a smile.

A smile

Even better. A happy little girl.

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