Leah was so excited to honor her mom at Jen’s last Mother’s Day Celebration at East Columbia Preschool. The kids performed “Over in the Meadow”, sang a number of songs, and showered their mom with gifts. Everyone was then treated to a royal treat of dirt (aka chocolate ice cream with crushed Oreos).
When Easter morning arrived, the girls were very excited to get downstairs (after the appointed time we set, of course) and see what the Easter Bunny had brought.
A big hit this year - Peep bunny stuffed toys.
Leah loves her new Peep bunny.
They received a bunch of books, so it wasn’t long before they sat down to read a bit.
We then got dressed and headed to church for Easter service. Then, on to Grams’s house for some family time.
While there, we took a photo of the four of us. We’ve never had a successful family picture taken so quickly. Uncle Scott must have been working some magic behind the camera to get nice smiles out of Molly and Leah so quickly.
I brought and set up a portable studio for the previous shot (just a simple 2 flash setup), so I asked if anyone else wanted their picture taken as well while it was set up. Aunt EA and Uncle Scott were happy to have their portrait taken as well.
Then it was time for some food and family fun. Happy Easter everyone!
By the time Molly’s actual birthday rolled around, most of the celebrations had ended. But she still had a couple presents to open from Leah, including the one she’d been hoping for - a stuffed Olaf.
For dinner on her birthday, Molly requested hot dogs. Afterward, we broke out the leftover cake and ice cream from a couple nights ago and sang to her one more time.
Molly is now officially 8 years old. Happy Birthday, Molly!
Our church had an Easter Egg-stravaganza the week before Easter, including lots of fun. There were a couple of moon bounces, face painting, a lot of crafts, cookie decorating, and more.
Upon arrival, the girls went straight to the face painting. Leah opted to have an egg painted on her arm rather than her face.
And Molly chose to have a bunny painted on her cheek.
And here are the results (for a bit).
Then Molly decided she wanted her other cheek done as well, so she headed back for another round. This time - a butterfly.
Of course, there was an Easter Egg Hunt. Leah was in the preschool area, while Molly went to the second/third grade area.
Full baskets and bunny ear crafts on their heads serve as evidence of a fun afternoon.
We got together for dinner with my side of the family to celebrate Molly’s birthday at a different restaurant this year. Usually, Molly wants to go to Red Robin since they sing. At the urging of some of the older attendees, she said she decided this year we’d go some place with tacos. Jen called around and found that they would sing on weekends at La Palapa, a local Mexican restaurant. It was awesome - good food and great singing (including the sombrero she was hoping for).
Here’s a taste of the birthday singing. I obviously had trouble recording this. I'm not sure I should even bother posting it, but it's short and gives you an idea of how great it was.
After dinner out, we headed back to our house for cake, ice cream, and of course presents.
This was a gift we hadn’t heard of, but the girls have really enjoyed it since opening it up and starting to build.
Happy birthday again, Molly!
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.
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.
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.
Later that evening, it was time to open even more presents - this time from G’Mom and Grampa.
To go along with her new bike, G’Mom and Grampa got her this giant (and extremely loud) bell. It’s awesome.
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.
Thus ended a very busy day. Happy birthday, Molly!
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.
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.
The birthday banner was also inspired by different sized Lego bricks.
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.
After free play, the girls colored and filled out a sheet on their newly created minifig.
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.
Molly and Jordan focus to make sure their gears and wheels are connected properly.
After Molly and Jordan finished their buggy (which was the easier version), Molly helped Ms. Eva finish her buggy (the harder version).
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.
Here’s Molly’s second buggy after she finished it, ready to be switched on and race around the house.
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.
Here are all the girls and their minifigs at the end of a very fun party.
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.
King cake, beads, and New Orleans jazz…all the goodies that Mardi Gras has!
I hosted our annual Mardi Gras party last Thursday. While I was in Louisiana last month, I picked up a new Mardi Gras book, so I read to our guests about the traditions of Mardi Gras and then the kids enjoyed making their own festive masks.
Who's behind that mask?
We also had a King Cake bake-off. I made two king cakes from two different recipes. The smaller cake is a recipe I've been using for many years. The larger cake is a new McKenzie’s King cake copycat recipe that a high school friend recently shared. The only difference was the dough; the cream cheese filling, icing and sugars were all the same. Many of the adults at the party tried both and voted. The larger cake was deemed the winner; the dough was more pastry-like and as Chad commented, "It's closer to what I think of when you say King Cake."
Leah loved having her preschool friends over to celebrate. Happy Mardi Gras!
Before our guests headed back to their home states, we had one more celebration. After ice skating and an early dinner, it was time to celebrate Grampa’s birthday (a couple days early).
Grampa is in shock. These slippers are just too much.
Happy birthday, Grampa!
Nine days after we started opening presents, we were still opening. This time with Emmie, JJ, Aunt ‘Chelle, and Uncle J. This plane is for the bath tub and sprays water.
Emmie got an American Girl doll for Christmas, and the girls were happy to give Emmie some clothes and accessories for her.
I think they’re telling us they want pancakes for breakfast by acting out a short stack.
The girls got some Perler beads, and they were quickly a favorite project of theirs (and Emmie as well).
Jen didn’t just make jammies for our girls. She made them for Emmie and JJ as well. She couldn’t find a shirt for JJ, though, so she had to make one to match the girls’.
But that’s still not the end of the family fun. Tune in next time for activities without pajamas.
