The girls have started a new activity - karate. Here they are ready to head to their first class, which they enjoyed a lot. And even better, we found an all-female dojo for them to join - no boys allowed. In case you’re wondering about their faces here, they’re showing off their kiai!
We needed to print some pictures for Leah’s preschool, so I asked Leah if she would sit for a quick photo shoot. I thought I’d share a few of the shots here (OK, more than a few).
Leah didn’t want to be photographed until I told her we’d take some pictures with toys. Then she was excited to join in.
Such a cutie.
Despite what it looks like here, she’s not actually saying cheese.
Things started to get funny.
And Leah started cracking up.
It can be hard to stop laughing.
Eventually, Rose managed to calm Leah down.
But then she started laughing again.
I don’t think she’s going to stop laughing, so this is the end.
First, the prelude:
Molly’s school lets the kids come the Friday before school starts for a sneak-a-peek at their classroom and teacher. So, of course Jen and Molly weren’t going to miss the chance. Here’s Molly giving a sweet treat to her new second grade teacher, Ms. Diop, last Friday.
Then this morning, the big day arrived. Molly was excited as always. Here she is ready to go to her first day of second grade in a new dress made by Jen. She’s also got some new earrings that Jen surprised her with last night.
Here she is on the way. We still love being able to walk to school.
Molly had a lot of fun playing with the twins this summer (they live behind us off to the side). She was excited to find out Jordan was once again in her class.
Per tradition, a bunch of the kids from the neighborhood gathered for a picture on the first day of school.
Molly and Jordan walked hand in hand most of the way to school. Clearly that didn’t stop Molly talking with her other hand, though.
The Wildcat was on hand for the first day of school, and Molly was excited to take a picture with him.
And then she was off. We’re looking forward to a great year.
Happy birthday Uncle Scott (or Ankle Scott, if you prefer)! It was great to celebrate with you a day early (especially given that salted caramel cake!). I hope your actual birthday is as much fun, though you won’t have these two cuties to help you blow out your candles.
Thursday was the girls' last swimming lesson of the year. It's amazing how far they've come, particularly Molly. At the beginning of this year, we were worried about her being too scared to put her face in the water. Now, she's underwater all the time and spends her lessons working on technique rather than fear.
Leah's come a long way as well, and is becoming a great little swimmer. She still has some trouble coming up for air (she prefers to just hold her breath for the entire length that she is swimming), but she's getting better at it.
Here are a couple of shots of Molly swimming during her last lesson.
And here she is showing me her underwater handstands while Leah is having her swim lesson.
Hard to believe she didn't like to put her face in the water just a short time ago.
Now, to really give you an idea of how they're doing swimming, here's a short video of both of them from their last swimming lesson. Enjoy!
Our playgroup has been a constant in our week for the last 6.5 years. Some friends have gone, and others have joined in, but there has been a core group of us watching our kids grow up together. Two years ago when we were considering whether to move locally or back to the South, this playgroup was one of the reasons why I wanted to stay. I loved that Molly, Leah and I have made such great friends through this group.
With three of the younger sisters heading off to Kindergarten this year, and Leah's preschool schedule changing, we got together for one last "official" playgroup on Thursday. I reassured my girls that just because we will no longer have playgroup every week, it does not mean that we will not see our friends. Playdates and sleep overs here we come!
May 2008. Shortly after it all began.
March 2009. Molly's 2nd birthday
October 2009. Trick-or-treating together
April 2010. Simon and his girls
Summer 2010
October 2010. Trunk-or-treat at Glen Mar
December 2010. Brookside Gardens train display
June 2011. Strawberries at Larriland Farm
September 2011. Leah's 2nd birthday
December 2012. Garden of Lights
March 2013. Molly's 6th birthday
September 2013. At The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
April 2014. Road trip to Philly
We love you guys!
This week, Molly went to Space Design Camp at the nearby Robinson Nature Center which houses our local planetarium. She had a great time and packed in a ton of stuff during the three days of camp, including:
Here’s a close up of Molly’s car. You blow up the balloon, then let go and the air pushes out the straw to power the car.
Figure 53 (the company I work for part-time) had a picnic at a Baltimore park. We don’t go into Baltimore as a family very much, so this was a bit of a change of pace. Molly was really happy that there was a girl a year older than her to hang out with in a tree. They spent a good amount of time up there.
After the picnic, we checked out the playground nearby. These ropes were fun to climb on.
Ropes are fun, but swings are these girls favorite. Especially now that they’ve figured out how to double up on them.
Molly went to a LEGO camp this week, but it wasn’t just any LEGO camp. It was Bricks 4 Girlz, and no boys were allowed. Here’s Molly and Riley with some of the things they built.
They divided the camp up into groups that did all the activities together. Molly was in the Friends of Emma group with a bunch of her friends.
If you've seen The LEGO Movie, you understand this. Molly hopes one day soon to be a Master Builder.
Molly assisted our guest preacher in church on Sunday by reading (along with another girl) an I Believe essay written by a 6 year old a few years ago for an NPR program. The girls did a great job.
