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I got to speak at STEAM Day (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to all the fifth graders about software and my job. I spoke last year to both of the girls’ grades (though it was just STEM last year), so I had to do something even better this year.

We did some live coding to give them a feel of coding.

We also programmed a scene in QLab (both audio and lights) live.

The kids seemed to really enjoy it. It can be tough to get kids excited about programming in a talk, but it helps when you’ve got a fun application (sound, video, and light effects).

Back in April, we had a lovely Easter. The girls put out baskets for the Easter Bunny. Leah decided she needed to leave a note for the Easter Bunny with a very specific request. I think it was too specific, as the Easter Bunny did not grant it.

Their Easter baskets may not have had a narwhal squishy, but they both did get squishes (and lots of other goodies).

Leah’s gotten into string tricks, and loved this book and string to learn more.

After church, we went over to Grams’s house for some family time. This included the whole Sellers side, as well as G’Mom and Grampa who had come in town for Molly’s birthday. It was a beautiful day, so the girls and I headed outside for a little fun on a flat road.

Leah has had her Heelys for months, but struggled to use them and stopped trying soon after getting them. However, now that Molly had some too, Leah was determined to master the skill. She got it in no time, and the two of them rolled all over the place.

Molly praised the Lord for her new Heelys when she got to use them on Easter. At the end of Grams’s street, there’s a quiet, flat circle that was perfect for rolling around.

Leah warmed up enough to take off her jacket.

The girls were excited to wear the new dresses that Jen made them for Easter.

Not only did we celebrate Easter, we celebrated Molly’s birthday again. This began with presents.

No birthday celebration would be complete with a cupcake and an evil grin.

Also, Grams got a new dog. Her name is Roxanne.

And here’s the Sellers family.

And the Batson family.

The past few months have been very busy, and I’ve failed to post anything to our blog. So, now I’m going to catch up. Over the next couple weeks I’ll catch you guys up on everything we’ve had going on with hopefully a couple of posts per day. So, let’s pretend it’s April, and pick up from Molly’s birthday party.

Molly’s actual birthday was the week after her party, and she was very excited to be 11 (and to receive a bunch of awesome presents).

Molly’s gotten very into drawing, and was happy to get a sketchbook and some nice colored pencils.

After her Harry Potter party, these Harry Potter earrings were a hit.

Leah got Heelys for her birthday back in September, and Molly’s wanted some ever since. Thanks to G’Mom and Grampa, she’s now got some too.

After presents, we went out for lunch to Eggspectation. She was excited about this delicious birthday dessert.

Molly had her second (and final) concert with the county-wide Elementary School GT Sinfonia on Saturday. They were outstanding. We're so glad she was picked to participate in this elite group.

Apologies for the video in the first song. I thought I'd have an angle to get a close-up on her, but other kids shifted as they were about to play.

Yeah Molly! We’re so proud of you.

In case you haven’t picked up on it, we’re huge Harry Potter fans in this house. This year Molly turned 11, which is a major milestone in the wizarding world as it is the age at which a witch or wizard goes off to school (Hogwarts). So, Molly was very excited to have a Hogwarts birthday party. Jen always puts on fantastic parties, but this year I joined in the creation to make the biggest party we’ve ever done.

In future posts I’ll go into some of the creation of this party, but this post will take you through all the fun from start to finish. It may be more than you have time to read/watch, but it was so awesome I can’t leave any of it out. I highly recommend watching the videos, as you’ll miss out on a lot if you don’t.

The guests arrived and were ushered into our dining room by the front door. Each of them had their mug shot taken. (All other mug shots available on Flickr.)

Jen created a Harry Potter themed Would You Rather? Jenga for the girls to play until everyone was there. We kept them there, shielded from the back of the house, so they wouldn't see anything until the proper time.

Once everyone arrived, they were ushered through a brick wall (more on that later) into Diagon Alley of Maryland (set up in our den). There they found my wand shop for the party. Jen made boxes from poster board with her Silhouette Cameo. I wrote the labels to make sure the girls knew what they were getting. The extra wand to the right was given to Aunt Caroline for her to use throughout the party (and keep).

Molly played her viola for the school talent show again. She decided to embrace her love of Star Wars this time around, which the crowd loved. Thanks to Margaret (her private instructor and also our Children's Minister at church) for accompanying her and having fun with it.

Aunt EA went with Jen to Bingo when Uncle Scott was out of town, so Molly, Leah, and I babysat Charlie at our house. It went great, and I took lots of pictures. Here are a bunch of them.

This almost-middle-schooler had fun with the toddler toys we got out for Charlie.

Doctor Leah needs to hear your heart, Charlie.

I don’t know what evil doctor Leah is injecting into Charlie.

These old matchbox cars captivated Charlie for much of his visit. Leah did a great job playing with him. Molly… nice face.

I’m taking a picture from one side, while Molly takes a picture from the other.

Charlie enjoyed watching Molly play a game on her phone.

Molly decided she could entertain Charlie with some viola music. He paid attention to her for a few seconds, then went back to the cars.

The girls were invited to an ice skating birthday party, and had a great time. It was during free skate at the rink nearby, which we get into free as part of our Columbia Association gym/tennis membership. So, I decided to go as well since we don’t go ice skating that much. A fun time was had by all.

The girls had a Time Travel Day at school, and decided to go with 80s looks again (they seem to love 80s looks).

The girls’ choir sang again in mid-December.