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Molly and many of her school friends attended a Princess party and all came dressed for the occasion. Here's Molly at the top of the tower (which yes, is normally a climbing wall).

They played lots of princess-themed games. Here the girls are sweeping like Cinderella in a relay race.

They were read several princess stories throughout the party.

And finally, the girls went on a treasure hunt through tunnels and over balance beams...

which ended a top the castle with princess wands for all!

I made a chef's hat and apron for the birthday girl. Molly happily modeled it, then proceeded to indicate that she needs a hat to match her apron too!

After trunk-or-treating, we went over to Simon's house to trick-or-treat in his neighborhood. Simon, Molly, and Keira are ready to go.

Leah and Matilda are ready to go as well, electing to ride in the wagon instead of walk like their older siblings.

Best buds holding hands. So cute!

The big kids were pros at trick-or-treating since they had practice together last year.

Simon was generally 10 yards ahead of everyone, but Molly did take the lead briefly in order to get to knock on a door.

We made the kids pose for this picture before they were allowed to dig into their candy!

Halloween got started early with trick-or-treating at Grams and Pop's house.

Per Molly's request, Leah was a banana. So, here's our cute, little peeled banana.

Everyone posed for a quick pic before heading to our next Halloween destination.

We then headed to church where they had lots of Halloween games for kids. Molly showed off her basketball skills.

Leah got in on the playing as well.

Simon and Matilda came to the party too.

Molly picked all of our costumes. She first decided she wanted to be a monkey, then that Leah had to be a banana to accompany her. Then, she decided that Chad and I would be trees for her to climb on (banana trees, to be specific). We borrowed Molly's monkey costume, but I made the rest. We even took the prize for best family costume.

After the games, we went outside for trunk-or-treating.

This led to lots and lots of candy.

Leah is turning One,

Flutter by and join the fun!

We celebrated Leah's birthday with family and friends last weekend. Leah wore her Mommy-made party dress and a festive butterfly bow. Despite still being sick (we discovered later this was the roseola virus), Leah shared some smiles at her birthday party.

Upon arrival, each child at the party got a butterfly wand.

The bigger kids enjoyed playing with the butterfly shaped bubble wands.

Despite big sister's enthusiasm, Leah wasn't so sure about being sung to.

After a good nap and a snack, Leah was ready to open a few gifts.

There's our happy girl! Leah loves her new Dora ride-on toy, and often thinks it's cool to ride backward.

And for those interested, all the personalized party printables were bought from Bird Crafts.

Molly's friend, Owen, had his birthday party at Pump It Up. Here's the birthday boy having some fun.

Owen and Ethan enjoyed wrestling amongst the balls.

Molly's favorite part was this inflatable mountain.

You had to run up the mountain with this velcro tag and see how high you could stick the tag on before sliding back down.

Ethan joined Molly in the fun.

After all the bouncing and running, everyone sang to Owen as he sat in his giant birthday chair.

Molly got a bunch of stickers as party favors, and they were perfect for Aunt Caroline's face!

The main event, Leah's baptism, arrived Sunday morning.

Molly assisted in pouring the water.

Leah did great! No tears, and she even gave some good smiles and clapped for everyone.

Grampa and G'Mom finished the baptism with some bell playing.

We were grateful that so much of our family could be with us for this special day.

Mom and baby.

A close up of the pretty girl!

Leah with Grams, the dress maker. The dress was made for Aunt Caroline's baptism.

And if you missed it, you can watch the video of Leah's baptism here.

While trying to explain to Molly why we were having a party at Grams' house, she asked if it was a birthday party. I told her that it was America's birthday, and she then asked, "But who's America?"

Before heading over, we posed for a picture. Molly made sure that Leah was smiling.

Leah's doing a wonderful job modeling her new pillowcase dress. She's already learning to look just a little taller by standing on her tip-toes!

Some of Aunt Caroline's friends came to the party and played flashlight dance with Molly. Molly thought it was lots of fun, and didn't want to stop. This picture doesn't do it justice, though, so if you haven't already, make sure you check out the video.

I made red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries for the celebration. Molly liked them so much she even ate the stem! Guess we're doing a good job of convincing her that leafy vegetables are good.

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon at the pool celebrating Allison's 3rd birthday. Molly has been asking for weeks to go swimming with Allison, so it was nice of her to oblige and have her party at the pool!

The girls spent most of the party jumping at the side of the pool.

Run away! Don't let the water get you, nevermind that you are in a pool!

Sometimes peer pressure can be a wonderful thing. After one friend jumped into the pool, Molly decided to try. This was the one and only time she jumped in!

And this was the best shot of Molly with the birthday girl (who does not like pose for pictures!).

We went to Highlands, NC to visit Grammy (Chad's paternal grandmother) for her 80th birthday. Molly was very excited to get to see Grammy's house, though she was confused when we arrived and she discovered we actually weren't staying in her house but rather in a rented house nearby (there are a lot of us, now).

Leah was enamored with Will (and Stephen Colbert) throughout the trip. I'm not sure which one she's interested in here.

We had a bunch of family over to the house Saturday to celebrate. At times, Leah was of course the center of attention.

There were so many people there, Caroline and I decided to make more room by squishing Molly.

Molly was responsible for the card on our gift to Grammy.

And Grammy thought the bag I made for her was a great surprise.

The house was pretty cool much of the time, which meant blankets were in frequent use. Unfortunately, though, we had a blanket thief occasionally stealing them.

It was so nice out we decided to have dinner on the back porch one night. Yes, that's the dining room table and chairs.

Monday, we went out to lunch at Wild Thyme to celebrate Grammy's birthday again on her actual birthday. They brought Grammy a big piece of caramel cake for her birthday, but she didn't want dessert. So, Molly ate almost the entire piece for her.

Leah didn't get any cake, so she seemed a bit bored.

Though she perked up when we pulled out a toy phone for her.

The drive down and back both went really well. We only had to stop 5 times each way and managed to make the trip in 11.5 hours both times. To maximize efficiency, we packed a lunch and ate at a rest area in both directions. Here's Leah hanging out at the rest area.

Molly preferred to run around during her brief break from the car.

Molly's friend Sadie had her 3rd birthday party at AIRmania. Molly and Jillian had fun jumping together.

Molly was skeptical at first, but quickly realized that sliding was a lot of fun too!

Is it possible to get a group picture of twelve toddlers in a bounce castle? Not really, but here's our best try.

Happy birthday Sadie!