Snowball fight with Dad

Posted in Molly on April 3rd, 2013 by jen – Be the first to comment

The day after Molly's party, G'Mom and Grampa were planning to check out Molly's school. Their plans were thwarted by a Springtime snow day. We got very little snow during the winter, but apparently some of it was waiting for Spring to come down.

Snow day

The snow was very wet, which made it excellent for snowballs. Despite her expression here, Molly really enjoyed throwing them at Chad.

Snowball fight

Even better was when he could catch the snowball and throw it back at her. Direct hit!

Back at you

Molly took to hiding behind his car to dodge the snowballs. And what better hiding snack than a little fresh snow.

Hiding and snacking

Something’s missing!

Posted in Molly on April 2nd, 2013 by jen – Be the first to comment

Molly came home from school two weeks ago missing a front tooth. It had been loose for a while (the other 3 front teeth are loose as well). She was wiggling it before getting on the bus, and she just pulled it out. She got off the bus running to me with a purple box and a big smile!

Lost tooth

Last week, another tooth bit the dust. She was playing at her friend's house when it fell out on the bed. Her speech was fine missing one tooth, but missing both bottom teeth is a bit more noticeable.

Another tooth

Maybe the next one she'll actually lose at home!

Molly’s 6th birthday

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly on March 30th, 2013 by jen – Be the first to comment

There’s a birthday girl
that we all adore…
Who wants to get glamorous?
We’ll paint nails and more!

For the first time ever, we ventured out of our house for one of our kids' birthday parties. Molly had her 6th birthday party at our gym, which offers a number of different themed parties. Molly's choice - a Glamour Party. The first activity was to draw and decorate Molly.

Decorating

Then we moved on to becoming glamorous. Molly started by having her nails painted.

Nails

Leah started out at the makeup station. Nice eyeshadow.

Makeup

The girls also made picture frames, door hangers, and wands, covered with lots of glitter and stickers.

Frames

Molly's frame

Chad set up a small portrait studio to capture these glamorous girls, complete with a feather boa of course.

Glamour shots

Glamorous friends

Glamorous Molly

Becoming glamours must equal becoming silly too!

Silly girls

It was then time for pizza. Molly and many of the other girls ate their pizza like this, trying to avoid messing up their nails.

Pizza time

Finally, the girls gobbled up the cake. Note that Molly started using her spork (which is still in her hand), but ultimately decided that was too slow. So, she opted to just shove it into her face.

Cake time

The biggest reason for having the party outside our house was because we are prepping our house to put it on the market. That said, I couldn't resist being a little crafty and create a banner.

Crafty

I also made glamourous goodie bags, complete with brush/mirror compact, nail polish, rings, bracelets, and flower bobby pins for their hair.

Goodie bags

We didn't open presents at the party, but we opened them right after we got home. I think Molly's excited about this Barbie from Allison.

Opening presents

A nice thing this year is that Molly could read her own cards.

Reading cards

This disco ball from Kaylin was so funky we had to try it out immediately with an impromptu dance party to end a super fun day.

Groovy

Check out many more pictures from the party here.

Please Mom, can I have s’more?

Posted in Leah on March 11th, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

Leah and Molly have been asking for s'mores lately. They make a total mess, but the girls love them.

S'mores

Caution - may induce crazy! The s'mores seem to have driven her mad.

Caution - may induce crazy

She's gone so crazy, she forgot the tasty treat she had in her hand.

Surprising

She has a thousand faces.

Expressive child

The madness subsided, returning her to a sweet little princess.

Still a princess

Loving on Olive

Posted in Sewing on March 10th, 2013 by jen – 3 Comments

Our friends, Eric and Christy, welcomed a little cutie into their family in December. We were all set to meet Miss Olive the day after Christmas, but snow arrived and we had to cancel. When it snowed again this Wednesday, I was worried our plans would be thwarted again. Thankfully, the snow was gone the next morning and we finally got to meet Olive. Leah loves babies, so she was very excited to get to hold her.

Hello Olive

Leah also wanted to read to Olive. I'm not sure what part of Moo Baa La La La is so intense to warrant Leah's face, but I'm glad she's putting her all into it.

Thrilling book

We kept reminding Leah to be gentle with Olive. Using only one finger is as gentle as it gets.

Petting

I also brought Olive a little gift. Back in December, I was asked to pattern test these overalls, which I agreed to do even though I had no baby to be my model. It's hard to imagine sweet little Olive big enough to wear them, but she'll be super cute when she does!

Overalls for Olive

Wacky Wednesday

Posted in Molly, School on March 9th, 2013 by jen – Be the first to comment

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, the Kindergarteners at Molly's school had a Wacky Wednesday. Molly was so excited to participate. Not only did she wear mismatched socks and shoes, I gave her a wacky hairdo too. She's got two cupcakes on her head to match the cupcake on her shirt.

Wacky Wednesday

Off to school and ready for a wacky day.

Off to school

Itty Bitty Beauty and the Beast

Posted in Molly on February 28th, 2013 by jen – 2 Comments

When we asked Molly what extracurricular activities she wanted to do this winter, she decided she wanted to try drama. So, we signed her up for a production of The Itty Bitty Beauty and the Beast at the Drama Learning Center. After 8 weeks of rehearsals, they put on two shows.

Itty Bitty Beauty and the Beast

The kids were in kindergarten through second grade, so Molly was one of the youngest ones of the group.

Nice curtsey, Molly

Molly played Stanley, one of the villagers who tends to hang around with Gaston. There weren't many boys who signed up for this, so they had a large number of girls playing boy roles. When practicing her lines, Molly always scowled and spoke with a silly, almost angry voice as that's what she thinks a boy talks like.

Stanley

Nice singing, Molly.

Singing

Molly's part was small (which was good since she was younger and new to this), but she still had some lines all to herself - both spoken and sung.

Lines

The cast or most of them, at least.

The cast

Family game time

Posted in Leah, Molly, Trip on February 27th, 2013 by jen – Be the first to comment

While in Savannah, we had a lot of family time that included playing a bunch of games. Aunt EA, Molly, and Leah (and many of the rest of us) got into Where's My Water?.

Games

After the funeral, Uncle J, Aunt 'Chelle, and Emmie were happy to entertain Molly and Leah with a fun game of What's in the Cat's Hat?

What's in the Cat's Hat?

Grandaddy imparted some wisdom to Leah, of course.

Wisdom

But he didn't just teach the little ones, he learned from them too. Here's Molly showing him how to play Cut the Rope on her iPhone. (The huge black eye is courtesy of tripping and falling at 3am the night before the funeral, requiring a trip to the ER and 17 stitches around his eye!)

The young teaching the old

Another fun game was "Let's wear Aunt EA's shoes." Leah was surprisingly good at walking in them - so good in fact that Chad had trouble taking her picture before she had sped across the room to him.

Heels

Of course, Molly couldn't let Leah have all the fun, so she grabbed another pair of Aunt EA's heels. Apparently, wearing heels causes kids to make ridiculous looking smiles.

Molly too

Not a game, but something else Leah loves…Scott! We've been telling her that when he and Aunt EA get married in August, he'll become Uncle Scott, but she got confused at some point and started saying he'd be her Ankle Scott. Very cute. Sadly, Molly is too pedantic to let that slide, so she quickly taught Leah how to say it properly.

Ankle Scott

Goodbye Dad

Posted in Uncategorized on February 11th, 2013 by c-had – 5 Comments
Goodbye Dad

My Dad, Chuck Sellers, passed away February 4, 2013 after a year and a half battle with cancer. For more information on his battle with cancer, see his CaringBridge page. He was buried in Savannah, Georgia on Saturday.

I feel the need to write something here about this, but struggle with what to say. I miss him greatly. I am sad that I won't get to see him again. I am even sadder that my girls won’t get to have him around any more. His dad, my grandfather, died when I was a little kid as well, so I know what it's like to have a grandfather that everyone thinks the world of but you didn’t get to have around as you mature.

I am comforted that his struggle is over. The past year has been awful. He was amazingly strong as he endured both the onslaught of cancer and the effects of its treatment. By the end, he was ready to go. He could no longer live life and was in constant pain. While I never wanted to lose him, I’m glad his pain is gone.

I am also comforted knowing that he is now in Heaven. I don’t really understand what that means, and don’t believe any of us can understand it with our Earthly perspective. But I believe that Salvation is real and in Dad’s case, I believe he has indeed been saved. It’s hard to know what someone else holds in their hearts, but Dad made it clear what he held to through his words and his deeds.

It’s upsetting to lose such a great example of what we should be. I hope I can live up to the example he set. He was a model of consistency, unwavering in his devotion to his family, his country, and those around us who he took under his wing. I’ve tried through my life to be like that, and I want to be even more like Dad in the future.

So, goodbye Dad. I’m incredibly sad to see you go, and will do my best to emulate you as my little family grows up.

Fun at the mall

Posted in Family outings, Leah, Molly on January 22nd, 2013 by jen – 1 Comment

We spent some family time at the mall yesterday. After haircuts for both girls, we had some Chick-fil-a for lunch. The girls quickly scarfed down their chicken nuggets and wanted more. I went to get them some ice cream cones, but Leah couldn't wait for me to return so she had to eat Molly's face.

Mall snack

There's a little bit of something on your face, Leah.

Something on your face

Great new haircuts and ice cream cones - what else could a girl want?

Delicious treats

Her faces crack me up!

Mmmmmm

The fun at the mall wasn't over. We headed to Build-A-Bear with Christmas gift cards in hand. Here's Leah pressing the pedal to fill her first-ever Build-A-Bear.

Build-A-Bear

Once filled, it was time to put the bear's heart in.

Have a heart

All sewn up and ready to go.

All sewn up

Before looking for some clothes for the bear, Leah had to bathe her bear using the brushes and air blowers. Molly already has a Build-A-Bear, but decided to get a Hello Kitty Smallfry to keep it company in addition to some new clothes.

Bath time

The girls exclaimed our trip to be a super fun day! Molly's off of school today too, so we're headed to Pump It Up and an afternoon playdate for more fun with friends.