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Molly's last day at East Columbia Preschool was on Wednesday. Sniff, sniff. I can't believe she's heading off to Kindergarten in the Fall!

Sisterly love before heading off to school.

Molly had a fantastic year with Miss Kelly.

She's a preschool graduate!

We were all there to celebrate with her. If you want to feel like you were there too, watch the video of graduation here.

Molly and Jake have known each other since they were less than a year old, and here they stand together as preschool graduates.

Molly and her teachers for the year - Miss Jodi, Miss Kelly, and Miss Kathy.

A graduation isn't complete with a little advice from a great teacher.

So long for now ECP, but we'll be back in 2013!

What a booger.

Last weekend, we flew down to Alabama to meet our new nephew/cousin JJ. Molly and Leah got to meet the pilots thanks to the very nice Southwest flight crew, which the girls were very excited about.

As soon as we met JJ, Molly wanted to hold him.

The girls could not get enough of their new cousin!

Beginning that aunt/nephew bonding…

Sunday morning, many family members were present for JJ's service of Christian dedication.

Sweet snuggles with JJ.

A dapper little guy modeling the jon jon I made for his dedication.

Chad even got to hold JJ occasionally when Leah took a break :)

We also took a trip to the Birmingham Zoo while we were in town. Here are G'Mom and Grampa with all 4 of their grandkids. And an elephant.

The zoo also had a little splash pad, so the girls donned swimwear and had some fun. As always, Molly didn't want to get too wet. The jets didn't stay on all the time, so Molly figured out she could fill her bucket by setting it down when the jets were off and waiting for them to come on and fill it. She seems pleased with her scheme.

There are a lot more pictures from our trip here on Flickr.

My Mother's Day celebration was a tad early this year. First, I headed into Molly's preschool class yesterday for the Mother's Day celebration. This included a performance of "In the Meadow" with Molly the Duck (hence the duck hat).

I then came home to a celebration with both my girls. Leah knew exactly what I wanted for Mother's Day…a double boiler!

And the best part - big hugs for Mom.

In Molly's mind, a sunny day = water table play. However, the wind yesterday would have made that one cold activity. So, Chad took the girls outside for some fun with bubbles instead.

Leah preferred the automated nature of the bubble gun. Look at that face! She's gonna get you now!

Two little bubble girls.

Spring has definitely sprung. Saturday we headed out to the tennis court as a family for a little fun, then headed to Rita's after lunch for some cold treats. Leah's enjoying her black cherry italian ice.

Molly wanted Daddy to take her picture as well, so she started acting silly to attract the camera. It worked.

Leah then began to act silly like Molly. Nice silly face, Leah.

After finishing her strawberry italian ice, Molly decided to share what was left of Leah's. It looks like this shocked Leah.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so we spent a bunch of time in the yard. Of course, the girls went to their favorite activity - the water table.

Pouring...intently.

Leah's still improving in the potty training arena, so we have a prize box for when she successfully executes number 2. While playing outside, she had her first success in days and and got this fun tiger squeeze toy. It was perfect timing, as it was great for squirting water at the water table.

Molly's on the run, moving fast. Leah is trying to keep up, but just can't. So, she has to resort to yelling, "Sttoooooppppppppp!"

We almost hit 90 degrees on Monday, so Molly and Leah put on their swimsuits and headed outside for some fun. First up, playing with water at the water table.

Another fun water game is washing Mommy's car. Leah made sure this spot was very, very clean.

Hose it down.

Then pick another spot to wash with the fun sponge.

We were successful potty training Molly using The Potty Boot Camp method, so we decided to try it again with Leah. We did it over Spring Break since most activities were cancelled and I could be home with her for several days.

The idea is simple…set the child on the potty frequently to increase the chances that they are successful. If they are successful, reward them and allow a longer gap between potty times, increasing the time intervals over several days.

Leah happily went to the potty every time "Mr. Egg" dinged. She loved reading books and singing songs on the potty. We quickly learned that Leah has an amazing bladder and can hold it much longer than we expected. Unfortunately for her, that ability also meant having to succumb to a high fiber diet four days in to get her little body going.

Eight days into potty training, we gave Leah an ultimatum. If she could stay in the same underwear all day, then she could have a new pair of rain boots and an umbrella. She did it and was very excited to get her prize!

After two weeks of training, we've slowly figured out her schedule. We're still working on pooping on the potty, and she's not sleep trained yet, but we're on our way to a diaper free home! Hooray!

Easter morning, Molly and Leah awoke to baskets full of fun.

As usual, Leah had to run over to Chad with each thing in her basket to exclaim what she found. I'm guessing this is "Look Dad, jellybeans!"

The girls got to hunt for eggs again (thanks to Aunt Caroline and Charles) at Grams and Pop's house after Easter lunch.

After hunting for eggs, the girls broke out their bubble wands from their Easter baskets and had lots of fun as usual.

Once the bubbles have been created, it's important to go after them.

The bubbles need to fly higher than that to escape Molly.

After hunting for eggs, it's also important to check out your haul. These eggs were great as they had toys and stickers instead of more candy.

Leah immediately wanted to put stickers on herself. Mickey and Donald for her hands, then Goofy for her forehead.