Leah

Mommy Sewing Lessons, Week 2

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sewing on July 6th, 2015 by jen – Be the first to comment

In Week 2 of Mommy Sewing Lessons, we reviewed cutting techniques and I introduced sewing on fabric. I gave them each two pieces of scrap fabric and let them cut and be creative. (Note also that a smaller, pink sewing machine arrived for the girls!)

Finally sewing on fabric

Now that there are two sewing machine, Molly and Leah can work simultaneously.

Sewing simultaneously

Leah was proud of her sewn rectangles.

She made something

Molly made hats for herself, Molly doll, and Coconut. She even created “Made by Molly Sellers” tags, just like Mommy.

Hats for all

Showering Aunt Caroline

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on July 5th, 2015 by jen – Be the first to comment

Chad's youngest sister is getting married in August. So, the girls and I celebrated with Aunt Caroline at her bridal shower last weekend. Here's a lovely photo of the bride and her flower girls.

A bride and her flower girls

Like aunt, like nieces. Beautiful girls, just beautiful.

Like Aunt, like Nieces

Mommy Sewing Lessons, Week 1

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sewing on July 4th, 2015 by jen – Be the first to comment

The girls expressed interest learning to sew this summer. So, I have started “Mommy Sewing Lessons” with them. I created a seven week lesson plan, gathering ideas and printables from several blogs. Since the girls' new machine was still on the way, our first lesson was with my Bernina.

Mommy Sewing Lessons

To introduce the basics of the sewing machine, we started with sewing straight lines on paper.

Sewing on paper

Molly is doing a great job of keeping her eyes on her project.

Eyes on the machine

After the girls mastered the straight lines, they moved on to practicing turning corners and angles.

Corners and angles

The finale of their first lesson was completing a Connect the Dots, sewing version!

Connect the Dots

They then requested more Connect the Dots to practice with. Looks like they've caught the sewing bug!

Watermelons = summer!

Posted in Leah, Molly, Sewing on June 20th, 2015 by jen – 1 Comment

Leah recently requested a watermelon dress. So, in true Mommy form, I delivered. A Blue Ribbon dress for the win!

Ready for summer

Once Leah’s request was made, Molly echoed it too. I had just enough fabric to oblige and make her a Too Cute Tank dress.

A second watermelon dress

There is a lot of sisterly love for watermelons because who doesn’t love watermelon, right?! Oh yeah, Daddy, that’s who. (The girls love to show him anything watermelon to get a reaction!)

Sisterly love for watermelons

You may have also noticed that the girls' hair is shorter. The house rule was that we'd go get hair cuts after Molly's ballet recital (her hair had to be long enough for a bun!), so Thursday was the day. :)

Posing pretty

These dresses are perfect for the start of our summer!

Preschool party

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly, School on June 18th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

To celebrate the end of preschool, Jen organized a party at Leah’s friend Norah’s house. They have a creek in their backyard, so all the kids spent most of their time there.

Preschool party

Kids in a creek

Squirt guns brought smiles.

Squirt

Both Molly and Leah have this little boy in their crosshairs.

Attack

Playing in water can be such fun.

Joy of water

Towards the end, after many people had already left, the kids finally got out of the creek to play in a dry place.

Dry play

Thanks so much to our hosts for such a great time!

Chuck E. Cheese’s

Posted in Celebrations, Leah on June 17th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Last week, Leah attended a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s. As Jen is not a fan of the establishment, I went along as her parental supervisor. Leah loved playing all the games. She was especially good at this basketball game.

Chuck E. Cheese's

Not long ago, Leah would have been scared to death of Chuck E (as the birthday girl here was, which is why she’s not pictured). Now, Leah’s giving him a high five with a smile on her face. She’s come a long way.

Not scared

Jungle Book camp

Posted in Leah, School on June 16th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

The week after graduation, Leah attended camp at her preschool. It was a Jungle Book theme, and she had a great time. Here she is with her shirt, hat, and binoculars after the last day.

Jungle Book camp

The camp was lots of fun, educational, and served as a good way to delay the pain of goodbye.

Loose tooth

Posted in Leah on June 15th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Leah’s got a loose tooth! Not only that, but the permanent tooth under it is already coming in.

Loose tooth

It won’t be long before Leah has some cute holes in her smile.

Snap Circuits

Posted in Leah, Molly on June 14th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

For some time, I’ve wanted to get the girls some Snap Circuits. So, when we saw a deal on this set, I snapped it up. Snap Circuits are educational toys where kids can build circuits by snapping together resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, etc. The girls immediately started building some of the examples in the book. This one includes a speaker and a spinning fan, which you can see spinning right here.

Snap Circuits

Oh, and the fan spinner can also launch it into the air. Up it flies.

Whoah

The girls have built lots of different circuits. They love being able to build lots of different stuff, and I enjoy getting to explain a bit of the basics of electronics to them. Fun and learning for the win!

Outdoor movie

Posted in Family outings, Leah, School on June 11th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Molly’s school had an outdoor movie night a few days ago where they showed Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. In preparation for this night, we checked out the original Night at the Museum from the library for the girls to prep. They loved it, so we looked forward to seeing the sequel outside.

We arrived early to set up our seats and play a bit. As is commonly the case, the school mascot was there to join in the fun. Leah has long been scared of costumed characters with giant heads, but no more. She walked up to me and asked if I’d take her picture with the wildcat. She’s clearly not scared any more.

Milestone

We all enjoyed the movie, and the girls did great staying up super late to watch it.