For Memorial Day, we went to Aunt EA and Uncle Scott’s house for food and fun. It was delicious (especially the homemade sausages), and good family hangout time. That said, I didn’t really take many pictures. I did get one of Charlie, though, showing what a happy kid he is.
Who wouldn’t be happy with a Grams that loved you that much?
The kindergartners put on an end-of-the-year show for all the parents. This walked us through the entire year of kindergarten. Here’s Leah up on stage ready to go.
I recorded the whole thing, but it's 45 minutes long which might be a bit much for all of you. So, here are some highlights. Leah was very happy with the roles she was assigned, especially since she got one of the highly coveted reading roles.
I was amazed at the level of effort that went into this. Teaching all the songs and movements, creating all the props - it’s very impressive. Props to the teachers and the students for putting this together.
You may have noticed Leah wearing a new outfit in the performance. Leah requested for Jen to make her a high-low tunic to wear for the show. Leah’s favorite part were the butterfly buttons!
May is a month of celebrations around here. In addition to Mother’s Day, we also have birthdays for both Jen and myself. Birthday fun began with celebrating both of our birthdays (1 day early for me, 10 days early for Jen) with my family.
Jen requested a Smith Island Cake from SugarBakers (voted “Baltimore’s Best Cake”), with lots of layers of fudge icing and yellow cake, and some peanut butter cups as well. It was delicious.
Molly took the opportunity to hang out with Charlie.
The next day was my actual birthday. And what better way to celebrate than going to a Disney musical. For Christmas, Grammy gave us tickets to take the girls to the Hippodrome in Baltimore to see Beauty and the Beast. This was their first time going to a big fancy theater to see a play, and they loved it.
For dinner, I got to choose whatever restaurant I wanted for my birthday dinner. I decided to go fancy and head to BGR (wearing the new hat Leah gave me for my birthday).
And then nine days later, it was finally Jen’s birthday. Jen’s very excited about massive amounts of thread we gave her.
Happy birthday to us!
We celebrated Mother’s Day with Jen.
And with Grams.
Happy Mother’s Day!
10 days after beginning her birthday celebration (and 2 days after getting her braces), Molly’s actual birthday finally arrived. That meant she got to open even more presents.
Leah even got one present on Molly’s birthday as well.
Molly doesn’t have a clue what this is, but she knows it’s big.
It’s a giant remote-controlled car (well, monster truck). She seems excited.
After finishing opening, she had to try out her new vehicle.
She drove it straight up the steep hill in the backyard, and Jordan came to check it out.
That night, we had cupcakes and candles again. I think Molly’s excited to finally be 9.
Happy birthday, Molly!
After Easter morning, we headed back to Grams’s house for some family time. While there, I was asked to take some family portraits, and I was of course happy to oblige.
Charlie was of course a focal point of the pictures.
He even took a picture with his cousins.
And we got a portrait of everyone who was there (we miss you, Caroline and Charles).
You may have noticed Molly and Jen’s dresses and thought you hadn’t seen them before. That’s because Jen just made them.
Jen found this fabric at her local sewing shop last year and had the perfect dress in mind for Molly. Jen previously made herself a dress in a matching style, so Molly has now requested to wear hers at the same to match her mom!
Jen chose not to wear her dress that matches Molly, and instead made herself a new dress for Easter. This was created by taking inspiration from a dress that was sold at Target last year.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with family time. I didn’t take many pictures, but I did get one. I think Grams found Charlie’s ticklish spot.
Happy Easter!
This year, I was asked to lead music at the Easter sunrise service at church. I hear sunrises are beautiful, but they happen really early in the morning. Early mornings are not my thing, but I decided to give it a go. The service was at 6:30, and I needed to be there at 5:50 to set up and sound check. Yeah - early (and outside in the cold).
I asked the members of my family if they’d like to come with me. Jen was a clear no. Molly and Leah entertained the idea until I told them they’d have to ignore their Easter baskets until after we got home. That sounded too difficult, so they opted to pass. I was on my own (except for a friend or two).
The service was very nice. It was very cold, but I dressed the part and brought hand warmers for when I wasn’t playing (gloves don’t work so well for playing guitar). Sadly, it was cloudy and hazy, so we didn’t really get to see a sunrise.
When I got home, the girls were eagerly awaiting the opportunity to go downstairs and see what the Easter Bunny had brought. They woke Jen up and headed down. I think they were excited at what they found.
Easter baskets included candy (braces-safe varieties), books, Perler beads, and most exciting - Shopkins!
Then the ladies got dressed and we headed to church (again for me, a little over 5 hours after the first time).
6 days after Molly began celebrating her birthday, she got to celebrate with my side of the family. We went to Ledo Pizza, and then came back to our house for presents and cupcakes. Uncle Scott and Aunt EA lived up to their reputation of always delivering fun cards with sound.
If there was one theme to Molly’s presents, it was Shopkins. Our girls love them, and Molly was happy to receive them.
Molly requested Jen make red velvet cupcakes, and Jen of course delivered. It was her first time making them, and they were delicious.
Happy birthday, Molly! Again.
As in previous years, our church held an Easter Egg-stravaganza. It was scheduled for the same day as Molly’s party, so we were going to miss it. Fortunately for us, they postponed the fun due to weather to the day before Easter, which meant we could go.
We arrived and walked in with Leah’s twin friend, then the girls headed straight for the face painting station.
Molly got a butterfly on her cheek, and Leah opted for a bunny.
Leah’s friend’s parents also introduced us to a friend of theirs from Slidell (just like Jen and me). Turns out she lived one cul-de-sac away from me when I was in junior high and high school. Small world.
After face painting, we headed to the cupcake decorating station. Molly’s decoration style is quick and messy, while Leah takes a careful approach.
I managed to get a picture of their cupcakes before they ate them. Note that Leah carefully placed sprinkles around the edge, while Molly just dumped them on top.
As always, the egg hunt was a highlight. I went with Molly up on the hill with the big kids while Jen stayed with Leah and the kindergartners. When they blew the whistle, all the big kids rushed to the same area. Molly quickly realized there was an empty area off to the left, which earned her a few seconds searching by herself until they all noticed her treasure trove and joined her.
Me, Molly, and a basket full of eggs ready to be opened.
Both Molly and Leah ended up with full baskets of fun-filled eggs.
Lots of fun. We were glad we got to attend after all.
We opted not to open presents from her friends at the mall (that was just asking for getting stuff lost). But once we got home, Molly was quick to open them up. Leah was excited to see what was in this outstanding gift bag.
And a little while later, she opened presents from G'Mom and Grampa.
Among other things, they gave her some new Stompeez slippers, perfectly themed for Easter on the next weekend.
