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Since my sister is 9 months pregnant, my parents offered to bring my niece up for Molly's party. Emmie and Molly loved having a sleepover three nights in a row! The girls had to test the air mattress out shortly after it was inflated.

Of course, a new bed requires a little bounce.

After a fun party, it's nice to relax and read with Grampa.

Molly was of course excited to open up all her new toys and play with them, but she wasn't the only one. Emmie and G'Mom had to try them out as well.

With no desire to fix a meal after a busy day, we decided to get Chinese take-out. When Chad started using chopsticks, the girls all wanted to join in. Molly's been using chopsticks (with the help of a chopsticks holder) for some time, but this was the first time for Emmie and Leah.

After church on Sunday, Molly opened more presents. This time, they were all from G'Mom and Grampa, including this dress G'Mom made.

While Molly opened her presents, she was watched by an onlooker (Leah) who is apparently worried about rain and a member of the paparrazi (Emmie) who took lots of pictures.

All smiles for a fun weekend!

Hear ye, Hear ye,
Calling all calling one…
Join us for some birthday fun!

Today, Molly turns 5! We celebrated on Saturday with a Princess & Prince Party. As the kids arrived (dressed in royal attire, of course), they each decorated their own princess or prince crown. Leah apparently thinks the more the merrier when it comes to crowns!

We then played three group games, each themed with a particular princess and preceded by a reading of that princess story. Here I am reading the story of Snow White before playing Pass the Poison Apple.

The second game was like Pin the Shoe on Cinderella. Instead of a blindfold, I used these lovely Peruvian hats given to us by Aunt Caroline.

It's so nice that these kids are old enough to sit and listen now. Here are all the big kids listening intently to the third story about Ariel.

The last game was Under the Sea Limbo. You may not be able to see it in this picture, but the limbo bar is covered in Ariel, her friend Flounder, and some crafty kelp.

Of course, opening presents was lots of fun. Molly's now old enough to read a card to see who a present is from (though she has very little interest in doing so). Also, she moves through the presents quickly without getting easily distracted.

Molly loved being sung to, especially the extra "cha cha cha's" added in by many of her friends. You can watch the video of her birthday song here.

Leah shows the only way for a kid to eat a cupcake - icing first.

I definitely had fun playing with my new Silhouette digital cutter for this party. Here are a few of the other party details.

Two of Molly's friends left the party saying this was the best party ever, and asking for a party just like Molly's. Clearly, the kids had a great time!

On the first day of Spring, Rita's gives away free Italian Ice. So, we all headed to Rita's to partake. When we got there, the line was hundreds of people long. So, we bailed and headed to Meadows instead.

Molly got Italian Ice, while the other 3 of us got frozen custard. Molly liked her lemon ice, but she didn't want to miss out on the custard.

Don't miss a drop…from the spoon or the chin.

Must.get.the.last.little.bit.

Just a little tickling on the couch. In case you can't understand it, the second magic words are "bippity boppity boo" (though the first set are funnier).

Leah's new favorite thing to do at the end of her bath is to pour water over her face.

Just a little taste of a normal evening before bed in our house. Lots of dancing, lots of silliness.

On Monday, I hosted my second Drop In & Decorate party. The idea is simple: decorate sugar cookies, then donate them to a local non-profit agency.

My sous-chefs helped me prep our sugar cookies. I had 5 other moms baking for me and in total we had 18 dozen cookies to decorate!

The moms and kids were invited to drop in during the day and decorate for as long as they liked.

Molly enjoyed using a rainbow of colors on all her cookies.

Leah and I worked together to decorate.

Adding sprinkles was a must. And even now that I have swept the floors three times, those sprinkles keep showing up!

It was fun to watch and see what each of the kids created.

Even the moms got into the decorating spirit.

Lots of giggles and laughter came from this table!

The kids were allowed to eat one cookie after they finished decorating. Apparently, the full plate of sprinkles were part of the deal too.

Here's a sample of the decorated cookies.

In the end, thirty moms and kids decorated approximately 200 cookies to donate to Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center.

Thank you to all of my cookie volunteers for making our party such a huge success!

I hosted our annual Mardi Gras party again this year, though it was a low-key celebration with just our playgroup. Leah clearly thought the icing was the best part of the King Cake.

The girls and I dressed for the occasion, sporting our Mardi Gras beads and necklaces.

We headed to 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore to see Disney on Ice, and were joined by Molly's friend Riley and her mom Heather. The girls are ready for the show.

The show has begun and Leah's excited to see it.

Despite all the princesses, Molly still said her favorite part was Mickey and Minnie. They mostly served as guides through the many stories that were told/skated.

Mickey and Minnie always bring a smile to Molly's face.

The finale.

This winter's been so warm. Days of 67 degrees at a time of year where we're usually not getting out of the 30s! So, we've had some additional outdoor play. Here's Molly giving Leah a little push on the tricycle after they finished throwing the frisbee, blowing bubbles, and drawing with chalk.

Leah, you're about to drive off the driveway. You might want to pull the crown up a bit to see where you're going.

Sprinting down the hill.

Runing down together, holding hands. Very sweet. I wonder if their speed difference will cause any problems?

Not surprisingly, Leah took a small tumble. Don't worry, she was fine.