Leah has wanted a sleepover birthday party for several years, but we’d told her she had to wait until she was 10. This year was finally the year! The party began with a little painting.

The girls picked their designs ahead of the party so that Jen could have the canvases prepped and ready for the party night.

While the paint projects dried, Leah opened her presents. She was very excited about a new fuzzy unicorn squishie.

The girls returned to the table to remove the vinyl and reveal their painted designs.

They all did a great job creating one-of-a-kind designs!

Leah decided she wanted her friends to decorate their own cupcakes at the party. So Jen made the cupcakes and frostings, then set them out with all the toppings.

Leah had fun showing her friends how to use a piping bag to frost the cupcakes.

There was some very original decorating on these cupcakes!

After making them, it was time to sing to Leah and eat them.

Then Molly left to sleep over with some of her friends, leaving just the 4th graders. But there was still more to do. Next up - a fun take on the classic game of Spin the Bottle. The girls ended up with rainbow painted finger nails.

The girls then watched a movie (the new Dumbo) and then finally went to bed. They chatted for a while and fought going to sleep, but the last of them was asleep by midnight.

Donuts for breakfast has become a tradition on our house for sleepovers, but not just any donuts - Krispy Kreme donuts!

Happy birthday, Leah!

As always in our family, birthday celebrations go on and on. This year was no different, as Leah’s birthday celebrations spanned two weekends. The first weekend (detailed here) included most of the family stuff, while the second weekend was her big friend party (next post).

As usual, we let Leah pick a restaurant for celebrating with family. She chose Uncle Julio’s, a Mexican restaurant at the mall. The reason Leah chose Uncle Julio’s was the chance to get a chocolate piñata for dessert. When we went there for Mother’s Day, the girls wanted to get this extravagant dessert, but we of course said no. “Maybe if we came for your birthday.” Leah remembered that months later, and finally got her wish.

Cracked open, there’s a lot of deliciousness spilling out, including lots of fruit and tiny churro bites.

We also opened presents. These rainbow unicorn Toms from Aunt Caroline were a big hit.

G’Mom and Grampa flew up for the weekend. So, in addition to special events, there was time for hanging out. Leah and G’Mom had fun playing Speed. I think Leah’s especially happy here, since she has no cards left in her hands.

And there were more presents on her actual birthday.

Leah asked Jen to fix chocolate lava cake for her birthday. She remembered when Jen made them almost 3 years ago for Grampa, and wanted to have them again (yes, she remembers desserts well). They were delicious again.

Thanks to G’Mom and Grampa for joining us.

A month ago, Molly and Leah started school! 7th grade and 4th grade. And of course they had to wear their new jackets.

3 years ago, Jen and I went to see Pentatonix in concert. When we saw that they were coming back to Merriweather, we decided to take the girls for their first big concert. This time rather than getting seats, we decided to try lawn tickets (which were great!).

Leah’s friend Anna (and her mom and sister, unpictured) came too.

The crowd at Merriweather was light, which was great as we got a spot up at the front of the lawn.

Rachel Platten opened, and did a great job.

Then we had a bit of a break before Pentatonix came out.

They did a chill encore song.

It was a great concert, and everyone enjoyed it a lot. It’s amazing what these folks can do with their voices alone.

Both of our girls have enjoyed having long hair for some time. Jen would suggest they cut it, and both would vehemently refuse. Towards the end of last school year, that changed for Leah. She started talking about cutting her hair, and she wanted it to be long enough to donate. In August she finally reached that goal and Jen made an appointment with her stylist, Crystal.

Here’s what Leah’s hair looked like before heading to the hair salon.

Her hair, prepped for donation.

Leah was all smiles while Crystal did her thing.

Leah had 10 inches cut and donated to Locks of Love. We all love her new ‘do!

Thanks Crystal!

Jen also got her hair cut and as they finished up, a huge thunder storm rolled in. Crystal offered them shower caps to protect their fresh hair cuts from getting soaked.

And here’s Leah’s hair after her trip to the salon.

While Chad and Molly were off on their NYC adventure, Leah and I took a few of her friends to Six Flags America.

Rides are more fun when you are getting squished by your friends!

No surprise, Roar was the favorite coaster of the day!

The girls decided to have a mid-afternoon treat together. We did get more than one, but this one was definitely snacked on by everyone.

It was the first visit for both of Leah's friends, and everyone declared it a GREAT day!

by Leah Sellers

This year I had a really fun year at Manidokan and I want to tell you all about it!

On Sunday all we really did was go to chapel. If you don’t know what chapel is, it is where the whole camp goes up to campfire hill and we learn about something, but with a theme! This year’s theme was The Magic School Bus.

On Monday we figured out that we had to wake up at 7:00 in the morning, and all of us don’t like waking up early. Boo! After we had breakfast we went to the flying squirrel! If you don’t know what the flying squirrel is, it is when people pull you up into the air like a human swing and slowly bring you down.

Then we had lunch and next we went to a place called Sawmill. First we saw the old pool that Manidokan used to have.

Then we saw the creek and caught crayfish.

Finally, we got to the water hole and got to jump off the rock there (you had to wear a life jacket)! Then it was pool and store time. Next we had dinner. Finally we went back to our lodge and went to bed.

On Tuesday we had breakfast and then went rafting! First we got placed in groups to go on rafts. We had to push the rafts down to the river and then set sail! Halfway through we got to get out of the rafts so we could swim around for a little bit. Then we got back on the rafts and played a game called bumper boats! I think you can guess what that is, but if you haven’t guessed it is basically bumper cars with boats! Then we got to a lunch spot and ate. Finally we had to go back to camp. We had to go through some small rapids and then paddle the rest of the way back to camp. Then it was pool time and then store time. Finally it was dinner time. After dinner we found out about this year’s Mission Manidokan. Mission Manidokan is when Manidokan uses the extra money from store time at the end of the week and donates it to a place that needs help. This year Manidokan donated to an orphanage that didn’t have enough shoes, and if they got shoes, the kids would out grow them! So Manidokan is going to use the money to get these shoes that grow 5 sizes! Then we did activities so we could know and feel what it is like without shoes. Finally we went back to our lodge and went to bed.

On Wednesday we had breakfast and then packed our lunches and went to Harper’s Ferry! It was a long walk there, but we made it eventually. We also saw a river and an advertisement on the mountain we passed by!

Then we got to spend five dollars there on whatever we wanted! Finally, when everybody was done spending money, we walked back and my friends and I were shouting “A/C!” Even though it was a long walk there, it was still really fun to go there. When we got back we had pool and store time and then dinner. After dinner we had a lot more time to play Gaga ball, nine square, and carpet ball. Then we went back to our lodge and went to bed.

On Thursday we ate breakfast and there was also a sign up sheet for the talent show. Then we went to the zip line. It was my first time there! It was a pretty long walk to get there, but not as long as Harpers Ferry. My friends and I had to wait about 15 minutes before we got to go on the zip line.

After we walked back, it was lunch time. Then we went back to our lodge and got some time to pack our stuff because there was only one more day until we had to leave! Then it was dinner time. After dinner was the talent show! There were lots of people participating including Abby and Molly! Abby was doing card magic and Molly was singing My Lighthouse!

After the talent show we went back to the lodge and went to bed.

On Friday we ate breakfast, and then had Bible study. Then we went to archery! It wasn’t a long walk there, and when we got there we went over rules. Then half of our group did archery and the other half sat in the shade and waited until their turn to do archery. I was in the sit in the shade group. When it was finally my group’s turn, we were told how to shoot an arrow and then the helpers helped us shoot our first arrow. Then we could shoot three more! Next we got to sit in the hammocks while the people who wanted second turns got to go. When we got back it was lunch time! After lunch half the kids in our group went to arts and crafts while the others did the climbing wall! I did arts and crafts where you got to basically make anything you wanted with the materials they had there. I made some bracelets with braids. When the rock climbing people came back we had a little more time to pack and then we did pool and store time. Next, we had dinner and finally it was time to leave.

THE END!!!

Today is the day Leah’s been dreading all summer. It’s the day she gets braces and a palate expander. Before heading to the orthodontist, I got a before picture of Leah’s smile.

And here she is with her braces! She’ll likely end up with some braces on the bottom as well, but first the braces and palate expander need to make some room on the top.

I’ve been getting more and more into woodworking over the past couple years (as you may have seen when I made wands for Molly’s Harry Potter party). So, when Leah planned to move into her new room last summer, she asked me to build her some shelves. We planned them out together. She helped a bit with building in the early days, but it eventually just became my project to build.

It took way longer that I ever thought it would have thought. In all, it was about a year. Of course, there was lots of stopping and starting along the way as I got busy with other things. Also, there was a lot of learning how to do things and trial and error. And of course there are lots of tools, jigs, and other helpful things to buy and make to help out along the way. But as things warmed up this Spring I was determined to finally finish them.

Here are the completed shelves (well, mostly) in Leah’s room, loaded up with stuff.

I said mostly completed. Immediately after loading up her shelves, it became apparent that the bin at the bottom needed a latch. The idea of the bin was to load it up with stuffed animals, but when they were stuffed in there, they would push the door open. So, I made a little latch to hold the door shut. I think I can now finally call the shelves done.

I’ll also show you one in-progress picture toward the end. This is the first time I’ve finished with an HVLP sprayer instead of a brush. I’m glad I did - it’s a much smoother finish and brushing on these giant shelves would have taken forever.

10 months after she moved in, Leah finally has her room set up. All the stuff that’s been on the floor waiting for shelves to store it is put away. All the things waiting to be hung on the wall are finally hung. I think it’s a pretty nice room.

And one more picture of just the shelves. Thanks to Lumberjocks user grimejr for the idea of putting a bin at the bottom.

We are a tennis-loving family. Well, at least half of the family is. Leah and I both play regularly and really enjoy it. This Spring, they started a Junior Team Tennis league, and Leah was happy to join a team.

Between lessons on Friday, team tennis on Saturday, and match play on Sunday, Leah was playing a lot of tennis this Spring. I’ve been playing a lot too, but I have no pictures to share with you.