Scout cakes

Brenna's Junior Girl Scout troop worked on a fun cake decorating badge today. One of our school moms is a wonderful cook and she hosted us at her house. We only had a short time but the girls learned about baking and then praticed form frosting and piping techniques. We ended with them trying to re-create a famous painting by Wayne Thiebald. How'd they do?

Molly

Yes indeed, we cut her hair again. It's shorter than I wanted but she's completely in love with it. And based on the complements she's getting, I think folks like her in shorter hair. Although people are always commenting on Brenna's hair, Molly too has really nice shiny hair with great highlights. This little wedged bob really brings that out and I think it makes her happy when people notice her too instead of just commenting on Brenna's blonde hair.

Of course everyone also thinks she just got her ears pierced simply because you can really notice her earrings now. I'm having a hard time getting used to her without bangs. Personally I like them better on her but she wants to try it this way for a while.

US Botanic Garden

At the tail end of Christmas Break, I took the girls downtown to the Botanical Garden. With the girls so interested in the museums now, I hadn't realized how long it's been since we were there. It was the perfect day too - FREEZING and windy outside (witness the quick photo at the Capitol Christmas tree followed by the sprint into the warmth of the indoor gardens! We had a great afternoon checking out the wing which housed a huge display of model trains running though villages made from natural materials. There is also a permanent exhibit of the monuments of DC made entirely from plant matter.

So amazingly detailed!! Check out Abraham Lincoln super close up - he's only about 2 inches tall but look at that detail!