The morning after Bingo, Molly again participated in the countywide Solo and Ensemble Festival.
Unfortunately, the judge asked her to start playing before I had even sat down, so I didn't get a recording of the whole thing. But here's a small taste.
She did great!
A few weeks after Leah sang with the band in church, we did the same song again. The girls decided it was Molly’s turn to lead with me, so she took the solo that week.
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).
Happy birthday, Molly!
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.
We thought we wouldn’t get any real snow this year, but we finally got a small snow storm. It was a very icy, but the girls said that meant the sledding was faster and more fun. Here is Molly headed down.
Leah wanted me to take a video of her, and she kindly showed off a bit.
The girls still love penguin sliding in the tracks created by their sleds. The icy snow meant they could slide even faster.
The girls made a cute little snowman by the front door.
Leah and Molly both sang with their choirs again in March. This time, Leah got the earlier service while Molly was in the later one.
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.
Both the girls’ choirs sang on the same day in February (Molly at the 9:30 service, Leah at the 11:00 service).
Molly played her viola in the school talent show, and did a great job. She was the only violist, and showed everyone how awesome she is.
The girls had Decades Day at school, where they dressed in attire from their favorite decade (or decades). Looking good, girls.
