Time

So these past couple of weeks I have had some time to use my sewing machine!

I have been wanting to make Ollie and his cousin, Jake, matching ties...

I finally figured out something for an Easter basket for Ollie. I had the basket and just sewed a liner in it.Made this fun flower that I'm not sure what I'm going to dowith. I'm thinking clothing accessory or maybe put it on a headband... it might be kinda big and fancy for that? I found the tutorial here .

I also made a pillow for our living room couch. I finally found a yellow linen like fabric that I liked and went with it. I think I might add some more flowers...

I finally got around to painting the frame a got a couple of months ago. I added some wire and put it in our breakfast nook where we eat. The wall wa

s blank and I thought it would be a good place to hang prayer reminders of our missionary friends.

Last, but not least, I decided to make a temporary valence with the left over fabric from the pillow. I still haven't decided/ found the perfect material I want. Decisions decisions...

It was a SURPRISE!

My sister, Nichole, turned 30 on March 21st. She loves surprises so we planned a surprise party for her. She is very observant so we knew it was going to be hard to pull off. We told her that we were celebrating her birthday at Dad and Mom's on the Saturday after her birthday (the 26th), because we were busy the Saturday before. (We did take a shopping trip the day before her birthday. Mom watched the kids while Aaron, Nichole, Andrew, and I went shopping in Williamsburg.)

Anyways, Nichole and Aaron, and Andrew and I were at Dad and Mom's on Friday night for a MOPS event so Andrew, Ollie, and I just stayed overnight. Aaron convinced Nichole that they needed to go home, so we could decorate the gym (at my parents house) on Saturday morning.

So Saturday we got up and going to get the food made and the gym ready. Aaron, Nichole, and the kids got there for dinner, we took pictures, and sang Happy Birthday, and opened gifts. Then we told her that her last gift was too big so we had to leave it in the gym, so she would have to go out and get it :

)

Now up to this point I thought for sure she knew what was going on because of all the little hints she accidentally got. Well, we all went out to the gym with her and SUPRISE, most of her friends and family that lived close were there to celebrate with her! And she was SURPRISED! I was so excited! She said she thought something might be going on but had no clue it would be that! Yay!

With all of Aaron's great ideas, Mom helping me get stuff and making a sweet video of Nichole over the years, me getting to do invites and decorate, and my families help setting up.... we pulled it off! We did a candy theme and asked guests to bring a bag of candy instead of a gift. We had a table with empty glass jars and when the guests arrived put their candy it them. It turned out perfect and she LOVED it :) We had a fun evening just hanging out, eating, and watching the guys play basketball.

We love you so much, Nichole, and are so blessed to call you our sister! You are beautiful inside and out :) Thanks so much to everyone who made Nichole's party so great!

9 Month Pictures

In attempt to save some money... we decided to take Ollie's 9 month pictures ourselves. Andrew's pictures always turn out better than mine so he took them, and I edited them. Thought I would share some of the better ones...

Ollie's first tooth finally popped through last week. He didn't do too bad, maybe a little extra fussy and a runny nose but I can't complain. Now I am just waiting for that first bite.... I guess I just have to be thankful it took this long to get his first one. One of these days I'll get a picture of it :)