thesellers.net

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so we spent a bunch of time in the yard. Of course, the girls went to their favorite activity - the water table.

Pouring...intently.

Leah's still improving in the potty training arena, so we have a prize box for when she successfully executes number 2. While playing outside, she had her first success in days and and got this fun tiger squeeze toy. It was perfect timing, as it was great for squirting water at the water table.

Molly's on the run, moving fast. Leah is trying to keep up, but just can't. So, she has to resort to yelling, "Sttoooooppppppppp!"

We almost hit 90 degrees on Monday, so Molly and Leah put on their swimsuits and headed outside for some fun. First up, playing with water at the water table.

Another fun water game is washing Mommy's car. Leah made sure this spot was very, very clean.

Hose it down.

Then pick another spot to wash with the fun sponge.

We were successful potty training Molly using The Potty Boot Camp method, so we decided to try it again with Leah. We did it over Spring Break since most activities were cancelled and I could be home with her for several days.

The idea is simple…set the child on the potty frequently to increase the chances that they are successful. If they are successful, reward them and allow a longer gap between potty times, increasing the time intervals over several days.

Leah happily went to the potty every time "Mr. Egg" dinged. She loved reading books and singing songs on the potty. We quickly learned that Leah has an amazing bladder and can hold it much longer than we expected. Unfortunately for her, that ability also meant having to succumb to a high fiber diet four days in to get her little body going.

Eight days into potty training, we gave Leah an ultimatum. If she could stay in the same underwear all day, then she could have a new pair of rain boots and an umbrella. She did it and was very excited to get her prize!

After two weeks of training, we've slowly figured out her schedule. We're still working on pooping on the potty, and she's not sleep trained yet, but we're on our way to a diaper free home! Hooray!

Since Molly wore her new smocked dress for Easter, I decided to make Leah a new dress too. After my aunt made Leah's twin quilt, she gave me the remnant fabrics, so I used those. I was inspired by this knotty jumper, but slightly modified the Simplicity 2171 pattern to create the dress. And now, Leah has a dress that matches her room!

Easter morning, Molly and Leah awoke to baskets full of fun.

As usual, Leah had to run over to Chad with each thing in her basket to exclaim what she found. I'm guessing this is "Look Dad, jellybeans!"

The girls got to hunt for eggs again (thanks to Aunt Caroline and Charles) at Grams and Pop's house after Easter lunch.

After hunting for eggs, the girls broke out their bubble wands from their Easter baskets and had lots of fun as usual.

Once the bubbles have been created, it's important to go after them.

The bubbles need to fly higher than that to escape Molly.

After hunting for eggs, it's also important to check out your haul. These eggs were great as they had toys and stickers instead of more candy.

Leah immediately wanted to put stickers on herself. Mickey and Donald for her hands, then Goofy for her forehead.

Molly attended an Easter Egg Hunt with many of her playgroup friends. Here they all are posing with Mr. Bunny. (Leah was not there due to potty training, but had she actually been there, she would have been clinging to my leg! Big costumed people = not Leah's friend!)

Molly hunted eggs with all the 5-8 year olds and had a fun time running around looking for the eggs.

There were even eggs growing on trees. Molly like to call these "special" eggs because they were decorated too.

Molly, Keira, and Riley had just as much fun opening all their eggs and taking inventory of all the treats!

Friday was a big day for Molly in school. In addition to being the birthday girl, she was also the Top Dog. In her preschool, each kid gets a week to be the Top Dog during which they wear a special vest and get special treatment. At the end of the week, they have a special celebration and invite parents and siblings to join in.

Jen was already helping out in class that day. Leah and I joined them with an hour to go in the school day. The kids were still doing daily activities and Leah got to join in the fun by dying some eggs and decorating them with stickers.

Since I was going to be there anyway, I offered to bring my guitar and sing some songs with the kids as I've done a couple times already this year. So, after the kids finished their activities, we sang some songs (BINGO, Down By the Bay, If You're Happy and You Know It, and The Hokey Pokey). Then we had snack time, culminating in singing Happy Birthday and having cupcakes.

After cupcakes, it was time for Molly's Top Dog presentation. When she was selected as Top Dog, we were given a book to fill out with pictures of her and her family, what she likes to do, favorite toys, favorite foods, and what she wants to be when she grows up. Here she is presenting that book to the class. After presenting her book, she is presented with bones that each of the kids have written on saying nice things about her.

While Leah was supposed to sit and watch the presentation, she ended up standing up next to Molly for much of it.

Oh, and in case you missed what Molly wanted to be when she grew up - she said she wants to be an Auburn cheerleader. We haven't really asked this question until this book prompted us to, but she's consistently had the same answer every time.

Molly was the Top Dog at preschool on Friday in addition to being the birthday girl. Here she is presenting her Top Dog book to the class. Fair warning, the video is almost 8 minutes long and may take a bit to load on a slower connection.

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!