Archive for September, 2012

New Auburn dresses

Posted in Sewing on September 26th, 2012 by jen – 3 Comments

Pinterest has been fantastic for finding sewing inspiration. I saw this dress sold on Etsy and knew I wanted to replicate it for the girls.

I started on them Saturday morning, finished Leah's by the start of the Auburn-LSU game, and wrapped up Molly's before heading to bed. They wore them to church on Sunday. Chad was impressed with my mad sewing skills!

New Auburn dresses

I intentionally made them a little long so they'll get to wear them for two football seasons. War Eagle!

Sisterly hugs

Football means family time

Posted in Leah, Molly on September 25th, 2012 by jen – 1 Comment

We gathered at Grams and Pop's house on Saturday for the Auburn-LSU game. Leah was not as entertained by the football game, so she decided to show me her love - upclose and personal.

Up close

Even closer

Aunt EA is an LSU grad so she and her boyfriend, Scott, joined us as well. We all of course came in full Auburn spirit, and the girls were definitely into cheering. Scott then started playing Angry Birds on his iPad with Leah, and told EA that he was distracting part of our cheering section.

Distraction

Grammy visited as well, but would have preferred to watch the Georgia game as she's a Georgia alum. So, Scott handed her his iPad with the WatchESPN app so she could watch a bit of her team. Fun to see an octogenarian finding today's technology useful.

Technology for everyone

After Scott tired of Leah constantly shooting the angry birds backwards, they moved onto some light reading.

Reading with Scott

Aunt EA makes a nice place to rest your head.

Totem pole

Despite all this school spirit, Auburn came up short, losing 12-10. That said, after a horrible start to the season, coming that close against the #2 team in the nation was a huge improvement. So, War Eagle!

Nice hair

Sampling cool treats

Posted in Field trips, Leah on September 24th, 2012 by jen – 1 Comment

I set up a tour of Rita's Italian Ice on Friday morning for some friends. Miss Dora taught the kids all about how the ice and custard are made.

Touring Rita's

After learning how to make the cool treats, the kids played a "Guess the Flavor" game with samples of the Italian ice. They tried banana, mango, oatmeal raisin cookie, and Sour Patch Kids.

Sampling the flavors

Leah was kind enough to share her samples with me. "Want some, Mommy?"

Want some Mommy?

More fun with family

Posted in Family visits, Leah, Molly on September 21st, 2012 by jen – Be the first to comment

We had a bunch of family up our way to celebrate Leah's 3rd birthday. For the first time, JJ got to join the fun at our house.

Thanks, sis

The girls had to show off their dance moves. Well, Molly and Emmie did. Leah sometimes danced, but sometimes told the other two that they were being silly.

Dance party

Since Emmie was sleeping over, I made the girls matching nightgowns that coordinated perfectly with the party weekend.

Nightgowns for the occasion

JJ, sporting his snazzy Strawberry Shortcake glasses.

Nice glasses, JJ

We don't have any babies on Chad's side of the family right now, but JJ was happy to serve as a surrogate grandbaby for Grams for a few minutes.

Surrogate baby

Aunt Caroline is hilarious.

Funny Aunt Caroline

Leah was kind enough to show JJ the fun of playing with Minnie Mouse. He got the idea pretty quickly.

Fun toy

JJ said hi to me, but seemed to be more interested in the camera and the uncle behind it.

Hi Aunt Jen

Three cute cousins, ready for church, all wearing dresses made by G'Mom.

Ready for church

Molly showed off her reading skills several times to our visitors.

Reading

There are a lot more pictures from the weekend on Flickr. Go check them out!

Three is a magic number

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on September 20th, 2012 by jen – Be the first to comment

Leah had lots of presents and a yummy cupcake at her party on Saturday, but her actual birthday was Sunday. So, we kept on celebrating!

I made Leah a super hero cape. I think that face means she likes it?

Super Leah

She couldn't wait to see what's in this box from Grandaddy and Betty.

The anticipation!

It's an Uglydoll. Looks pretty funny to me too.

An Uglydoll

Despite all the great presents, the thing she couldn't stop playing with all day was this card from Aunt EA. It has a pop up cake inside and sings "IIIIIt's aaaaaaa paper cake. A really big paper cakeā€¦"

The hit of the day

If you didn't get the idea from the video, Leah loves the whole candles/singing part of her birthday.

She loves this part

So excited

Since I did all the baking on Saturday, I picked up cupcakes and pastries from Linda's Bakery for dessert. They did not disappoint! Molly inhaled her cupcake, but some large portions of it missed her mouth and ended up on her face.

You're a mess

A berry sweet birthday

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on September 19th, 2012 by jen – 2 Comments

We celebrated Leah's 3rd birthday this weekend with a Strawberry Shortcake party. I made the girls new outfits for the birthday party. The birthday girl as Strawberry Shortcake, and big sister as Lemon Meringue.

Party clothes

As the kids arrived, many took a turn at the bean bag toss. Chad and I worked together to make this - I drew it, he cut, I painted.

Bean bag toss

There were also coloring pages of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends.

Coloring

After completing the coloring, everyone gathered in the den for some fun activities. First, I read the kids a Strawberry Shortcake book.

Storytelling

Next, they played a game of pin the stem on the strawberry. Leah didn't want her eyes covered, so we told her she had to shut them. She did a great job until she opened them a couple feet from the wall.

Pin the stem

Next up - making chocolate dipped strawberries with sprinkles. The hardest part was resisting eating them immediately and waiting an hour for them to dry.

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Emmie, is there a little bit of strawberry inside that chocolate?

A lot of chocolate

Lunch was inspired by Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. The menu included Strawberry Shortcake kabobs, blueberry muffins, lemonade chex mix, orange jell-o slices, and raspberries & cream yogurt.

Lunch inspired by Strawberry's friends

After eating, it was time to open presents. First, the kids had to clean up the toys they'd been playing with. Rather than helping, Leah thought her job was to tell everyone to clean up. Here she is saying "clean up, guys" with a stern face.

Clean up, guys

There were a couple themes to this year's gifts - Minnie Mouse and Strawberry Shortcake. This was a Minnie Mouse purse and pair of glasses.

Minnie Mouse

She loved this Strawberry Shortcake dress. She had to put it on immediately and was not happy when she had to take it off. Later in the day when Molly and Emmie were playing outside, Leah declined to join them because she knew it would mean taking off her new outfit.

Strawberry Shortcake dress

Then on to dessert - strawberry cupcakes with strawberry decorations. What could be better?

Mmm, cupcakes!

Time to dig into the yummy cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries.

Chomp

The birthday girl, all dressed up! She loved every bit of her party.

Forgot the glasses

Happy 3rd birthday Leah

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Video on September 16th, 2012 by c-had – 1 Comment

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Believe it or not, Leah is now 3. There will be more here regarding the festivities celebrating the occasion, but for now here's the critical candle moment filled with pure joy.

It’s Leah’s turn now

Posted in Leah, School on September 11th, 2012 by jen – 1 Comment

Leah's been watching Molly head off to school for years now, so she was more than excited to start school too! Yesterday was her first day at My First School. It's two hours twice a week through Recreation and Parks and is the perfect way to ease her in to school since she won't start Kindergarten for three years given her mid-September birthday.

First day of preschool

Before we even entered the classroom, Leah was asking if I could leave. Ha! She ran right in and immediately sat down to start working with the playdough.

Getting to work

She definitely had a fun first day at preschool!

A fun day

Molly and I had a birthday party to attend last night, so Chad and Leah decided to head out for a sweet treat after dinner to celebrate the day!

Treat with Daddy