Archive for October, 2019

Halloween 2019

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on October 31st, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

For Halloween this year, Molly decided to be Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles series. So, she’s a sci-fi take on Cinderella, where Cinderella is a cyborg mechanic with a robotic hand and foot. Leah is a ghoul, and even got red bands on her braces this week to look bloody.

Cinder and a ghoul

Cinder and a ghoul

Cinder

Halloween with friends

Halloween with friends

Pink hair

Posted in Molly on October 31st, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Molly’s been asking to dye the ends of her hair pink for a while. Aunt Caroline has experience with this sort of thing, and told Molly she’d be happy to do it for her if it was OK with her parents. We agreed, and Aunt Caroline came up to treat Molly.

Pink hair

Here’s how it came out. Molly loves it.

Pink hair

Pink hair

Pink hair

Pink hair

Practice Night

Posted in Leah, Music, School on October 31st, 2019 by c-had – 1 Comment

The orchestra/band director at Leah’s school held a practice night for parents to come and learn how to help their students practice. He asked a few students to come demonstrate their instrument for the parents to show proper technique. Leah was selected to be the example cello, and was very happy to help out.

Practice night

Kindness Week ensemble

Posted in Leah, Music, School on October 22nd, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

This week is Kindness Week at Leah’s school. Leah was asked to be part of a small ensemble to play as folks arrived at school to kick off the week.

Kindness Week ensemble

Kindness Week ensemble

One of the songs they played was a rock medley, including part of We Will Rock You. For part, the violins stopped playing to stomp, stomp, clap while the cellos took the lead. Then later the cellos stopped playing to stomp, stomp, clap while the violins took the lead.

You can also see here that the cellos and basses struggled with the morning sun in their eyes, some resorting to trying to hide behind their stands to block it.

We Will Rock You

Kindness Week ensemble

They had quite a large crowd gather to listen before school. The crowd only dispersed when the Assistant Principal came to tell them they all needed to get to class as the bell was about to ring. Nice job, Leah!

Sadie and Eric’s wedding weekend

Posted in Celebrations, Family visits, Trip on October 21st, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

This weekend, we went to Alabama for the wedding of Jen’s cousin Sadie. We flew into Atlanta Friday, rented a car, and drove to Pursell Farms in Sylacauga, Alabama. We got in at 6:10, changed clothes, and were only a few minutes late to the “cowboy chic” rehearsal dinner.

Rehearsal dinner

We don’t really have anything close to “cowboy chic”, but the girls found some things at a second hand store that were close enough. And that’s as close to cowboy as I get.

Cowboy chic

On Saturday, we opted to just hang out at the farmhouse we were staying in. There were lots of activities going on, but they weren’t really our style (golf, skeet shooting). Plus, the Auburn football game was at 11:00, and we didn’t want to miss it. It was nice having a quiet morning and afternoon, and we had several visitors come hang out with us.

JJ was away with his dad, but the girls had a great time playing outside with Emmie. They threw a football, played hide-and-seek, and played this game where one closed their eyes while the others told them where to walk.

Blind trust

The person directing didn’t always have the best interests of the blind walker in mind, but they all had fun.

Fun

Blind trust

Before heading to the wedding, we had a bit of a photoshoot in our formalwear before the wedding. Here are some of those pictures.

Formal photoshoot

Formal photoshoot

Formal photoshoot

Formal photoshoot

Formal photoshoot

The wedding was lovely. They had to move it under a tent due to some light rain, but it didn’t suffer for it. Congratulations, Sadie and Eric!

Wedding

Uncle J was part of the wedding music.

Music

Here’s our part of the family at the wedding.

Batson family

The reception was very fancy. It included a sit-down meal complete with synchronized serving where servers all lined up behind the guests and then placed plates down in front of them simultaneously. Great band and dancing. And probably the highlight for the kids - cake. Molly was especially excited about the groom’s cake. I think Sadie was as well.

Cake eating

Good cake

We were so glad to be able to see so much family and be a part of this celebration. Congratulations, Sadie and Eric!

Molly’s mission testimony and more

Posted in Church, Molly, Music on October 8th, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Last week, Molly had a very busy Sunday morning at church. She played with the youth orchestra at both the 8:00 and 9:30 services, but that was just the start. She also gave part of the sermon at the 9:30 and 11:00 services. It was Missions weekend, and we had a few testimonies from folks who had been on mission trips in the place of the sermon. Most of these were adults, but they did include a couple of youth. Molly was the only middle schooler to speak.

You can see her testimony here:

And if you’re interested in seeing all the testimonies from all 4 services, you can watch them here (Molly’s is at the 48:55 mark):

And here she is playing with the youth orchestra:

We’re so proud of you, Molly!

Slumber party

Posted in Celebrations, Leah on October 7th, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

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.

10th birthday sleepover

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

Personalized projects

Same design, different colors

Painting

Chatting while creating

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

Excited for presents

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

Design reveal

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

Finished paintings

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.

Cupcake decorating

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

Future cake decorator?

There was some very original decorating on these cupcakes!

Completed 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.

Spin the (nail polish) bottle

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!

The best breakfast

Happy birthday, Leah!

Leah’s birthday weekend number 1

Posted in Celebrations, Family visits, Leah on October 6th, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

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.

Chocolate piñata

Wind-up

Hit it

Exploding

Chocolate piñata

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.

Toms

Rainbow unicorn Toms

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.

Speed

And there were more presents on her actual birthday.

Mini backpack

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.

Chocolate lava cake

Chocolate lava cake

Thanks to G’Mom and Grampa for joining us.

With grands

First day of 7th and 4th grade

Posted in Leah, Molly, School on October 6th, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

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

Molly first day of 7th grade

1st day of 7th grade

Leah first day of 4th grade

First day of 4th grade

Neighborhood picture

Touring Boston

Posted in Family outings, Trip on October 5th, 2019 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Our final destination on our road trip was Boston. After getting into Hamilton this summer, we’ve learned a lot about the American Revolution, so this was a great opportunity to explore it further. So, we drove into the city and headed straight for the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.

When we arrived for our experience, we were each given an identity of a Tea Party participant to play. We occasionally participated throughout the experience playing our roles. Our first opportunity to do this was in a meeting of the Sons of Liberty. Then we headed outside and boarded a replica of the Eleanor. We learned about the Boston Tea Party while reliving it.

Boston Tea Party ships

We got to throw tea in the harbor! (and then pull it back up by the attached rope so the next person could throw it in)

Throwing the tea

Throwing the tea

And steer the ship.

Driving the ship

We also got to go below deck and explore around. The ships are really not that big. It’s amazing that they sailed these across the ocean.

Once off the ship, they had a bunch of outdoor exhibits. This exhibit simulates pulling a crate of tea up onto the deck to dump it overboard (they had no stairs on the real ships). It’s also a physics lesson. Molly is pulling with the rope over a single pulley (and clearly struggling). The other girl has the rope over a system of two pulleys, halving the amount of force needed to lift the crate.

Pulling up the tea

The girls found their roles on this sign (though clearly Molly was more excited about it than Leah).

Our roles

After we finished, we ate some lunch in Abigail’s Tea Room (the restaurant in the museum). I went full Boston, including Clam Chowder and some Boston Cream Pie. Then we headed out. Once outside, the girls posed with this statue of Samuel Adams.

Samuel Adams

We then walked over to land (did I mention that the Tea Party museum is floating out in the channel) to Faneuil Hall. We bought tickets for a Freedom Trail walking tour, but had an hour to kill before it left. I saw a Uniqlo store and wanted to duck in. Leah found this jacket and had to have it. Jen was resistant, but I gave in. And then Molly got one too. And now they wear them practically constantly.

Uniqlo store

We did the Walk Into History Freedom Trail walking tour. We followed our fantastic tour guide all over Boston learning about its history leading up to the American Revolution.

Freedom Trail

Old South Meeting House

Our tour ended a bit early as there was a Straight Pride parade and counter-protest going on in Boston at the time. So, our tour guide pulled us aside at the statue of Ben Franklin next to the old Latin School (where Ben Franklin was educated), and told us about the remaining sites we would have seen and could now explore on our own if we wished.

With our tour guide

Since the tour was over, the girls did some jacket modeling.

Jacket model

Jacket model

After our tour, we did explore a bit more on our own. When we got to the Boston Common, there was a truck there called Cookie Monstah serving ice cream and cookies. Leah stayed on theme, getting the Green Monster flavor (mint chip).

Boston Common

We made sure to go see the Massachusetts State House and it’s re-gilded dome after our tour guide had described it so well.

Massachusetts State House

Then we walked back to our car to head out. It was a very interesting and educational day.

We stayed the night in our hotel again, then got in the car Sunday and drove all the way back home to Maryland. It was a whirlwind of a trip, and we were all glad to have Labor Day off for a little rest before school started.