Quinn

Matt sent me this cute picture of Quinn last week which she was playing in her ball pit that Derrick and I got her for Christmas!



Sleepover!

Last Sunday night we had Miles over for a sleepover to give Kaylan and TJ a night off.  We had tons of fun playing, singing, and dancing with only a little bit of snuggling in there, but don't tell Miles I told you!

Sometimes his toys aren't good enough, so he was wearing our gym membership passes around :)

And he definitely has a bit of a shoe fetish!

He was so excited when Derrick go thome from work.  They had a clapping war at dinner :)

(I can't ever get YouTube to work for me on here, so I hope this video works!)
Did you see the little dance with Rafie in the middle and the fast feet at the end? :)

Then they played until bath time.

With some hugs! :)

And of course we had to add some danger with this death-defying stunt!!

We were all wore out by bedtime.  I think Miles might have still been a little tired the next morning too!

We had fun having the little guy stay with us!  And I think Kaylan and TJ loved it too, so it just might be happening more often, which is fine with us!!

Finished Pillows

Here is the final product sitting on my couch!! :) 

I love them.  I think I'm going to make a more summery pattern too, so I can change them out during the summer.  I'll let you know when I get around to making those. :)

Jen and Curt's November Visit

Jen just posted some pictures of when they came in November, which you can read about here.  And I just wanted to share a few of them.

We're so happy they came for a visit, and we're pretty pumped about the vacation we're planning for next year! :)

Pics for your Pleasure

 Miles loves to look for treasures under the couch, and I just think it's the cutest thing ever!

He's also recently found boogers in his nose?!  I'm not sure, but he at least found the holes in his noes!

Reuniting with my Sewing Machine

And, Boy, does it feel great!  I finished a project that I started over a year ago, and I started another one. 

Here are the cute zipper pouches that I finished.  They were actually pretty easy, but it was the first time I had ever sewn a zipper. 

 Next up I wanted to make these pillows!  I saw them on Pinterest and I've had these pillow forms forever, so I decided to whip some up.  The real kicker is that she followed a tutorial out of a book, and I couldn't find that book anywhere!!  I finally made up my own tutorial, so I feel like geometry might have paid off a little for me. 

I still need to sew the back on, but I didn't calculate how much I needed for the back.  So hopefully they'll get finished soon and be on my couch!

Miles Playdate

Saturday afternoon Kaylan and TJ wanted to have a date day, so I came over and watched Miles.  We played a TON.  He is so busy these days and so funny.  He picks up on everything and repeats a lot of what you say.  Basically his favorite thing to do all day was get into trouble...  He climbs up here a lot just to check out the scenery, but he can't exactly get down very well.

And he also is very into throwing all his balls down the stairs, over the baby gate.  So to get him to stop doing that, we started a new game called bounce, bounce.  He had a few balls in the kitchen, and we just bounce them. :) Sounds tricky, huh?

Iowa Trip

Since we weren't able to go back to Iowa for Christmas, we took a big weekend trip to have all of our Christmases in January.  Derrick and I were able to ride home with the McCords since they were going home for Christmas too.  While driving home, I was able to knock out this little project for Madalynn.

I'm sad I forgot to take a picture of it after I got it all stitched onto the pillow, which actually was a taupe-colored pillow. 

Once we made it back to Iowa, Derrick and I went to Haverhill Social Club with Tom and Lisa for pizza, and it was delicious.  We went up to the newly-renovated Cadillac Jacks to meet up with some friends. 

Thursday we did a little wedding planning/preparation.  Derrick and I had to meet with Pastor Jeff for our first marriage counseling session.  All went well, and then we met with our flower lady, which also went well.  We then ate at B-Bops, which is sad to admit that of all things Indiana doesn't have, that's what we were craving.  Thursday night we had Christmas with my dad's family. 

Friday we headed to Dayton with Dylan and Julia to have Christmas with Derrick's dad's family.  When we got there, we ended up taking some family pictures.  Here are a few previews.

Then we had dinner and watched some home videos from when Derrick and Dylan were little.  It was fun to see Derrick when he was a little boy, and it just so happened that I actually was in one home video :)  It was from an elementary school Christmas concert.  We were watching Derrick dance in the front row, and I noticed a girl in a bright red dress with a giant bow on her head...and it was me.  Derrick and my grades apparently sang together that year, so that was funny to see that.  We drove back to Baxter and met up with some friends. 

This is the only picture I took.

Saturday we had Christmas with my mom's side.  Matt and Becky came out with Quinn, and we had a good afternoon catching up and playing.  Saturday night we had Christmas with Derrick's family, and we got some poker in.  I was able to meet up with a couple more friends Saturday night. 
Here's a picture of Lisa with her boys :)

There were only a few people we weren't able to catch up with.  We sure cashed in this Christmas, and we're so grateful for such great family and friends.  Hopefully we'll be able to make a trip back in March and see everyone again!

Office Addition

I added a little gem to my office for some more organization.  This picture is from right after it was put together, and sadly it still looks like that.  Hopefully I'll get around to "organizing" soon. :)

Christmas Happenings

Derrick and I didn't make it back to Iowa for "real" Christmas, so we spent the day with the McCords.  We went over to their house early in the morning and opened our stockings and presents.  It was fun to be able to watch Miles open and play with all his new toys. 

I got Derrick an American Eagle gift card and the NCAA '12 football game for Xbox, and trust me it's gotten a lot of use!  He also got a Shoe Carnival gift card.

Derrick got me some new boots that he picked out all by himself!  I love them.  He thought it was funny to trick me by wrapping my old golf shoes that have been hiding out in his car for a year in my new boot box...I thought it was a mean trick until he brought them out! :)  Kaylan and TJ also got me a lia sophia ring and a new purse and wallet.  Derrick and I got some other goodies too.

I don't have any pictures from that day, but Kaylan took some.  You can see a few of them at her blog here.

We spent the rest of the day lounging and playing with our new things.  Kaylan and I put a puzzle together while Miles napped and TJ and Derrick played the football game.

Long Time, No Blog

Goodness!  I just can't get the hang of this consistency thing.  We have been so busy since the last time I blogged with Christmas, going back to Iowa, and new craft projects.  I'll try to get you all caught up in the next couple days. 

First of all, I wanted to share some of my silhouette projects that I wasn't able to share before all of our Christmases for risk of spoiling some surprises. 

The first project that I made was this Chrismas sign for Lisa. 

I saw it on pinterest here and made my own with the Silhouette.
I also made myself and Carmen a different Christmas sign too.
This is what it looks like once the vinyl is cut and placed on the wood.  Now you just have to paint each section however you want it and peel the vinyl off.

I also found this inspiration on Pinterest here, but I changed a few of the words.

Then I decided to make another Christmas present.  This one was for the McWhirter family.  I didn't keep track of where I found my inspiration, so sorry for that!  (Update:  Here is where I got my inspriation!)

It may just look like a bunch of numbers, but the numbers are meaningful to the family.  It's their wedding date with each member's birthdate. 
That's the extent of my Silhouetting so far, but stay tuned for more soon! :)