We celebrated Jen’s birthday on her birthday (yes, more than a month ago, I’m still catching up on posts). Many of us get smaller and smaller presents as we get older, but not Jen. It took both girls and me to carry all of them down for Jen to open on her birthday.
It was a kitchen-themed birthday.
Jen chose to go to Stella Notte, a delicious Italian restaurant, for her birthday dinner. The dinner was very good, but the desserts were the best.
Mother’s Day was a busy one. It started with going to the 9:30 service at church where the girls choirs were singing.
Leah sang with the Cherub Choir for the last time on Mother's Day. When choirs resume in the fall, she'll be moving up to join Molly and the other big kids. Apologies for losing her in the shot for much of the video. It’s tough to get a good angle on these.
Next up was Molly’s choir.
Then I led kid’s worship at 11:00 before heading to East Moon Asian Bistro for a fancy sushi lunch (the girls had Salmon Teriyaki) with the four of us and Grams.
Eventually, we made it home so Jen could open her presents.
We made sure to get back home from our trip down south in time for Holy Week activities. Grams was singing with the choir in the Good Friday service, and we all got to go (Aunt EA joined us as well). And then, of course, there was Easter.
Like last year, I led music at the sunrise service at church. The weather was much nicer this year, though still just as early. And my family again passed on joining me that early.
After a lovely service, I got home as the rest of my family was getting up - just in time to check if the Easter Bunny had struck again.
Leah likes to do Sudoku puzzles with me, but now she’s got her own book of them.
The girls each got two pairs of tall fun socks. Leah especially loves them, and wants to wear them as much as she can.
There wasn’t time to sit around with these fun treats, though. In addition to leading music at the sunrise service, I also led music at the 11:00 service. So, I needed to be at the church at 9:30 to rehearse for that service. And I wasn’t alone.
We decided to turn the solo that each girl had done in the past month into a duet for the both of them. They did a fantastic job. And yes, that's me singing without a guitar in front of me (feels really weird).
After church, we headed back to Grams’s house for some lunch and family time. We were all excited to see everyone, though I think Charlie was most excited to see Beau.
Here we all are.
The girls then got to change out of their dresses and play. They were excited to play with the new bubble wands the Easter Bunny brought them. Charlie seemed less sure about the bubbles.
The birthday celebrations continued at Cheeburger Cheeburger, where we got together with Grams, Uncle Scott, Aunt EA, and Charlie. Uncle Scott and Aunt EA included a fun musical card that was a hit.
A couple days after her real birthday, the celebrations continued. Molly opened presents from G’Mom and Grampa, including a couple of games. The first was Otrio, a strategy game that is kind of a multidimensional tic-tac-toe. It’s lots of fun, and we play it a lot.
The other game G’Mom and Grampa gave Molly was Telestrations. It’s a cross between Pictionary and telephone, where you pass a word around the circle by alternating between writing it and drawing it. The results can be quite hilarious, as you’ll see from these few pictures of us playing it.
It’s important to stick out your tongue when you draw.
As I said, this game can lead to hilarity.
Jen’s lost it.
Here are a couple of examples of why Jen can’t keep it together. In the first example, I got the word “microscope” and passed that to Leah to draw.
Leah confused microscope and stethoscope, and drew this.
Which was interpreted to be “legs”.
A second example - Jen got the word “frog”.
Leah drew this, a frog on a lily pad.
I thought the frog on a lily pad looked like a cat on a surfboard. So, I wrote “surf cat” (the obvious answer, I know ;).
Molly’s actual birthday was a school day with evening activities for both girls, but we still managed to do a little bit more celebrating. Before opening presents, I tried to get a picture of the birthday girl, but Leah was too quick for me. Sometimes you have to move quickly to photobomb a picture.
Ah, there she is. Lovely, Molly.
Leah got Molly a bunch of pairs of Shopkins earrings.
Molly is a big Harry Potter fan. She’s read all the books, and taken the Sorting Hat quiz (she’s a Gryffindor). So, we got her a Gryffindor robe.
Molly’s also a huge Percy Jackson fan, having read the entire Olympians series, Heroes of Olympus series, and Kane Chronicles. So I came up with the idea of getting her a Camp Half-Blood shirt (what all the demigods there wear). Jen did some research and made one. Molly was ecstatic.
Cupcakes were had once again (this time full size ones).
Molly had a slumber party for her 10th birthday, and she decorated for it herself. Here’s a tour of the event as the party gets started.
When the girls arrived, they got to decorate a pillow case with fabric markers (Jen had made the pillow cases ahead of time for them to use).
Jen played Spoons with the girls while I ran to Ledo Pizza to pick up dinner. Everyone had pizza for dinner (well, 2 of the girls didn’t like pizza so they chose to have cereal instead). Then we opened presents.
The girls played a version of Spin the Bottle with nail polish. Each round, they each spun the spinner and then painted one of their nails with the color it landed on. They all ended up with a rainbow of colors on each hand.
Next we did cupcakes, which was both a craft and a treat. Jen baked a bunch of mini cupcakes, made some icing, and put a bunch of toppings on the table. The girls then got to decorate 4 mini cupcakes each. It was tough holding them back from eating them until we sang to Molly.
The final activity of the night was to watch a movie (Trolls).
The girls didn’t exactly go to sleep right away, and there was some trouble when some were trying to go to sleep while others were trying to prevent that, but they at least all got to sleep around 11:00.
The next morning we had Krispy Kreme donuts for them. They were from the grocery store and convenience store, sadly, as we have no Krispy Kreme near us any more. They were still delicious. Then two of the girls went home, while the other two and Molly all went to karate together.
Ready to celebrate Dr. Seuss! Jen made the girls Dr. Seuss themed shirts for Dr. Seuss spirit week. The decals are just vinyl stickers so she could put something more permanent on the shirts later - unicorns.
It was no Mardi Gras parade, but we had a nice time exploring many newly reopened shops while hunting for masks and collecting beads during Mardi Gras on Main St. the Saturday before Mardi Gras. Sadly, the promise of beignets was a bust. :( Chocolate treats had to substitute.
You may have noticed Jen’s snazzy shirt. Jen may be a Marylander now, but she still hangs on to some of her Louisiana roots! She made a new shirt for Mardi Gras before baking four king cakes and making jambalaya.
