Archive for March, 2015

The after party

Posted in Celebrations, Family visits, Molly on March 31st, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

The party was over, but the fun was not. Once the guests left, there was still more celebrating to do.

All of Molly’s guests signed this shirt for her. So, once they left she had to try it on.

Party shirt

As usual, we didn’t have time to open all the presents from her friends during the party. After the party, though, she dove into all the great gifts. This giant stuffed cat got a serious reaction.

Presents

Molly’s big birthday present is a new bike from Grams, G’Mom and Grampa, and us. This Trek MT 220 will be great for her for a long time.

New bike

Later that evening, it was time to open even more presents - this time from G’Mom and Grampa.

More presents

To go along with her new bike, G’Mom and Grampa got her this giant (and extremely loud) bell. It’s awesome.

Giant bell

G’Mom also made her this new pillowcase. It's a good thing she finished this before she came, as she might have a bit of trouble with sewing for a little while.

Pillowcase

Thus ended a very busy day. Happy birthday, Molly!

Lego party

Posted in Celebrations, Molly on March 30th, 2015 by c-had – 1 Comment

Today is Molly’s 8th birthday, but we’ve been celebrating for a week already. We’ve discovered that when her birthday falls over spring break, guests are often unavailable. So, we had the party a week early to ensure everyone could come.

Molly’s party this year was a Bricks 4 Girlz party - fun with Lego bricks and no boys allowed (though Grampa and I were not kicked out of the house). While the girls arrived, there was free play with a bunch of Lego bricks on the floor, as well as building your own minifig to take home.

Party time

Jen made the cake to resemble a Lego brick. The Lego man was made of chocolate, thanks to a friend loaning Jen the candy mold. Molly requested a chocolate and vanilla swirl cake which was a very tasty choice.

Lego cake

The birthday banner was also inspired by different sized Lego bricks.

Lego banner

Molly and Jen worked on creating the party door hanger. Molly had fun adding a bit (or 8 bits) of 8-year-old flare to it.

Lego door hanger

After free play, the girls colored and filled out a sheet on their newly created minifig.

Minifig sheet

Next, it was time for the main event - partnering up and building Mia’s Beach Buggy. This vehicle included a motor and battery pack, as well as a place for their minifies to go for a ride. Since we had an odd number of girls, Jen partnered with Leah.

The build

Molly and Jordan focus to make sure their gears and wheels are connected properly.

Molly and Jordan

After Molly and Jordan finished their buggy (which was the easier version), Molly helped Ms. Eva finish her buggy (the harder version).

More building

After completing her buggy, Leah spent most of the time with it switched on and running into me, but I managed to get her to stop it for a second to get a picture.

Leah's buggy

Here’s Molly’s second buggy after she finished it, ready to be switched on and race around the house.

Molly's second buggy

Then it was time for cake and ice cream. But first, one of Molly’s favorite parts - singing to the birthday girl.

After we finished eating cake and ice cream, it was time for some spin art and paper crinkling. These used the same motors that had been in the vehicles a few minutes before to power the Lego devices.

Spin art

Here are all the girls and their minifigs at the end of a very fun party.

All the girls

And before leaving with their goody bags filled with chocolate Lego bricks and minifigs, the girls all got their chance to pose in the Wylde Style cutout. Make sure to watch with the audio turned on, as the accompaniment is provided by Molly, Leah, and me.

It was a great party. We wholeheartedly recommend Bricks 4 Kidz for the Lego lovers out there. Thanks to them and to all who came and had fun with us.

Fun and fractures

Posted in Family outings, Family visits, Leah, Molly on March 29th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Saturday, the girls broke out Twister and insisted that G’Mom and Grampa join in the fun. Moments after this picture, Molly took a tumble.

Twister

That afternoon, we decided to head to the rink for a little roller skating. Molly’s an old pro at this point.

Skating

Leah’s doing pretty well skating as well. She especially loves skating holding both of our hands. She had such a good time, she lasted much longer than Molly.

With her parents

Not sure how long it’s been since Grampa was on skates, but he was happy to get out there and roll around.

Grampa too

G’Mom was doing great skating as well. Well, at least until she decided to go around one more time before we left…

G'Mom looking stable

On G’Mom’s final lap, a young girl darted in front of her, causing her to fall on her wrist. This led to an ER visit, revealing a very bad break. In order to line up the bones before putting on a cast, they hung her hand from this odd contraption.

Finger trap

They put her arm in a cast and a sling, as you can see here. This was just a temporary measure, though, as she had to head to the orthopedic surgeon when she got back home for surgery to insert a plate and screws to hold everything together.

Broken arm

She’s home recovering from surgery now. We hope you feel better soon!

Bingo night

Posted in Family outings, Leah, Molly, School on March 28th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Molly’s school held a Bingo night last week, and we took the whole family. Leah really wanted to win a round (spoiler - she did not, nor did anyone else in our family).

Bingo night

Our table included our family plus G’Mom and Grampa in town, as well as our neighbors/friends.

Our table

Molly abandoned us to sit with Jordan at the other end of the table.

Abandoning us

Preschool Family Fun Night

Posted in Leah, Molly, School on March 20th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Leah’s preschool held a Family Fun Night in one of the elementary schools, and we all attended. This was a pajama party, so we all donned our jammies and joined in the fun. The girls quickly found the cookie decorating table, which combined crafts and eating treats - two of their favorite activities.

Preschool Family Fun Night

Molly and Leah wore their Stompeez Slippers, and were excited to find that Nora and her little sister Emmie wore the exact same pairs (well, Emmie’s might be somewhat smaller than Molly’s). I like that all four girls posed differently. Nora was shocked that I wanted her picture. Leah struck a model pose. Molly went for the simple head tilt and slight smile. And Emmie showed off her classic poker face.

Matching slippers

There were even some fun performers who sang songs accompanied by their guitar and fiddle, told stories with puppets, and got the kids dancing and shaking shakers. It was hard to get a picture of Molly and Leah through the crowd since they were in the thick of it.

Entertainment

Thanks to all who made this night possible!

Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord and Day By Day

Posted in Church, Molly on March 16th, 2015 by c-had – 1 Comment

Molly’s choir sang a couple of fun songs in church in March - Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord and Day By Day. Apologies for not having Molly in the frame very much - she managed to unintentionally hide behind the girl in front of her for much of the song.

Penguin sliding

Posted in Leah on March 8th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

This morning, I didn’t have anything planned so I was happy to sleep in a bit. Leah, however, had other plans. She wanted to go sledding (Molly and Jen were headed to ballet). So, about 8:30, Leah attacked me in bed, including ripping off the covers, opening the windows, repeatedly jumping on me, and several wet willies. So, I got up, ate some breakfast, and headed out with her into the snow.

We sledded a bunch, but Leah also found she loved sledding on her belly without the sled, the same way a penguin slides on ice. Here’s an example of what I mean.

I’m impressed how well this works in deep snow. I guess it helps to have such steep hills. And she would sometimes use the tracks left by our sled runs, which meant she could get even more speed.

A lot of snow

Posted in Leah, Molly on March 7th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Thursday it snowed all day. In the end, we got 8-10 more inches, which left us with about 14 inches on the yard. After a lot of shoveling, the mounds of snow lining the driveway were almost as tall as the mailbox. The girls thought they were lots of fun. They called this one their palace, and enjoyed playing at the top. Molly of course feasted on the snow. And I have no idea what Leah is doing here. Perhaps singing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes through her teeth?

A lot of snow

The snow was great for building a snowman. So we built a big one - about the size of Leah. The snowball on the bottom was so heavy I could barely lift it. Of course, you have to name your snowman. After some thought, the girls picked the perfect name - Abraham Lincoln.

Big snowman

Looks just like him.

Abraham Lincoln

Thanks to this snow, there was no school Thursday or Friday. Thanks to a bit of snow and a lot of ice, there was no school Monday either. So, this was a 2 day school week. We’re not making any early summer plans.

Sewing with Knits

Posted in Sewing on March 5th, 2015 by jen – 2 Comments

In an effort to expand my sewing skills, I purchased an online course, Sewing with Knits, from Craftsy.com. The class explains different types of knit fabric, the basics of sewing with them, and walks you through five patterns to practice these new skills. I was excited to learn so I could broaden my skills and the types of garments I could make for myself and the girls.

I bought my fabrics and the necessary accouterments, and finished the first project: a hooded sweatshirt.

Photoshoot

Then life happened and I let the class sit for two years. Yes, I finished that first project in January 2013! And even though I've sewn several knit garments since then, one of my 2015 goals was to finish the course.

So, I'm happy to report that I did it! I took time over the last two weeks to complete the other four projects. A scoop neck t-shirt, v-neck t-shirt, Surplice dress, and yoga pants. (One of my other goals is to work through my stash of fabric. Good thing I had all this knit sitting around!)

Lots of Jen clothes

What? You didn't know I was a triplet? Just kidding. Chad had a bit of fun taking pictures of these items!

Sewing with Knits A scoop-neck too

There were some new techniques that I learned, and other techniques that I prefer my way of doing things. I can now confidently say that I'm no longer intimidated by knits, and am actually eager to sew with them more!

V-neck and yoga pants

Now, I'm off to finish another Craftsy.com course, Beginner Serging.

Exploring aquatic treasures

Posted in Field trips, Leah, School on March 1st, 2015 by jen – 1 Comment

Leah's class has been learning about the rainforest, so to reinforce their lessons we headed to the National Aquarium on Wednesday. Leah was super excited that I was coming along and riding on the bus to get there was an exciting start to the day!

Field trip fun

As the kids arrived, they examined a turtle shell up close. They were then tasked with the mission of counting how many turtles they could find at the aquarium.

Turtle shell

After seeing lots of little fish, this big guy was quite a surprise.

Big fish

Leah and Norah loved eating lunch together while being entertained by the dolphins and trainers.

Lunch buddies

Who knew dolphins love Jell-O? The trainers played a little Jell-O baseball to give the dolphins a treat.

Jell-O baseball

I was chaperone to three of the girls, so I paired up with the chaperone of the other three girls and we all explored the Aquarium together. Looks like these girls had a great day!

All the girls