Sewing Projects!

I've been doing a little sewing the last few weeks and thought I'd share some of my projects. I sewed a vest and a dress for a friend of mine. She just adopted a 3 year old son and a 2 year old daughter about a week ago. Her and her husband took their new little family to the Temple in Dallas today to be sealed together! She asked me to make these outfits for the kids so they could be sealed and blessed in them. They are made out of her wedding dress!! It was a little nerve racking to cut up someones wedding dress, but I think they turned out great. I can't wait to see the kids in them! (Their grandma did tell me that they fit!)

The bottom of the dress is the bottom of the wedding dress train.


I made this apron for my friend, Holly's birthday. It is actually made out of two dishtowels and then I added a ruffle on the bottom. I found the pattern on the Internet by typing in "free apron patterns" Not too bad!!

My sister found this pattern for me on a blog she was checking out. It was on http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com/my_weblog/ It's called a Twirly skirt and it does twirl great! This skirt is for Annie and I'm hoping to get another made soon for Kambree.

Annie Turned 5!!!!!

I have a few things I need to blog about. I'm going ahead with Annie's birthday even though it might be out of order. First of all I'd like to thank Erica for the pictures. My camera broke last week (Thanks for trying to fix it Matt) and I asked Erica to bring her camera for Annie's little party. She brought the camera, took the pictures, and even delivered a disk with the pictures on it for me. Thanks! Annie's birthday was on St. Patrick's Day. She had dance class that morning so she took some green chocolate shamrock suckers for all her friends. There was another girl in her class that was celebrating her birthday that day too, her name was Irelynn. I thought that was kind of cute. Anyway, that afternoon we took Annie to Build-a-bear where she built a bunny. She choose the bunny, the sound, and the outfit herself. She was pretty fun to watch choosing the clothes out. She named her bunny Lucy after Brad and I vetoed her first choice of Lucifer (we didn't think another name for the devil was very appropriate, plus, we explained it was a boys name.) That night we celebrated with all of our Tyler Hyland family. We had cake and ice cream and watched Annie open presents. Happy Birthday Annie!

Annie got a gift certificate to Build-A-Bear from Grandma and Grandpa Hyland

Annie is enjoying her cake and ice cream.

Annie is pulling her candles out and licking them!

The girls!

Annie's purse cake.

An outfit from Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma is helping Annie open her purse card.

Annie had a four clover hairdo for her birthday.

Annie and Lucy.

Hats!

Here are two hats that I crocheted. My friend got me started and has been teaching me different patterns. So far I have actually only finished two, but they are cute ones! We gave the pink one to Annie's friend for her birthday. We hope she liked it!

Homemade Gifts Giveaway!

I got this on my friend's blog. In order for me to receive a handmade gift from her, I have to post it on my blog as well. , If you want to play, leave a comment but read the whole post first, because there is a condition. The first five people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you.

There are some restrictions:

1. I make no guarantees you will like what I make.

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done sometime within the next couple months.

4. You have no clue what it will be, but it will be made with love.

The catch is you must post this on your blog and offer the same to the first five people who post it on their blog. The first five people to do so and leave a comment letting me know they did will receive a homemade gift from me. Don't be intimidated by having to make gifts for others. Remember that it can be anything!

12 Wonderful Years

Brad and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on Wednesday. We celebrated by taking the kids to Chuck e Cheese. It was very romantic! I thought I would continue the celebration by sharing 12 reasons I love being married to Brad.

#1. I love his sense of humor. Brad can make a joke about almost anything. And he does, for awhile there I was worried that he was going to be released from the Bishopric after telling me some of the comments he would make during his meetings. But, he didn't, instead they made him the bishop. HaHa!)

#2. Brad is very calm and laid back. Ok, sometimes this does drive me crazy and I wish he would get mad with me.

#3. I love that he is so helpful to others. He has helped move most the people in our ward that have moved in or out since we moved here.

#4. I love how self sufficient he is. Though he helped move lots of people the last 3 1/2 years, when it was our turn to move Brad and his dad did it themselves.

#5. Brad is a great Dad. He laughs and playes with the kids. My kids have always loved being with their dad. They usually want to be with him over me.

#6. I love that he helps me with taking care of the household. A few weeks ago I came home to a clean house (that Brad cleaned). On top of that Brad called about an hour later and told me to get a list together and he would do the grocery shopping for me. Who wouldn't love a man who did the grocery shopping?

#7. I love his Testimony. Brad has a very strong testimony of the gospel. I love that he shares it with me and our children.

#8. I love his sense of Family. Family is everything to Brad. I'm not talking just about our immediate family, but about his brothers and sisters. I love that he thinks its important to be at any family thing that we are able to attend.

#9. I love that he enjoys Sports. Brad loves playing soccer and basketball. I love that he enjoys these things and is still playing. Of course sometimes these games are not always convenient, but I truly do love that he gets to get out and do something that he loves.

#10. I love that he is supportive of me. Brad has always helped me with me callings. He has helped me prepare for baby showers, taken care of dinner when I'm really busy, cleaned, set up chairs and tables at the church. He is great at just doing things he knows that I need help with.

#11. Brad is a hard worker. I'm very proud of him with regards to his business. The business is growing and he has a reputation for being honest and doing a great job.

#12. I love that Brad loves my creative side. He loves that I crochet, quilt, and sew. He likes our home to look nice. He also has a good eye for what looks good. I like that I can ask his opinion on what goes better with what.

Just so you know, I thought this list might be hard to come up with, but it wasn't! Brad I love you, and like you said the other day "I hope with have at least another twelve good years together!" lol

A Fun Tag

I found this tag on a Friends Blog and thought the questions were fun. Plus, I need a new post, but I'm too lazy to download any pictures right now! So here come the questions....

What is your salad dressing of choice? Honey Mustard

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? With my kids, I love Jason's Deli. In general I like any place that serves me and then cleans my mess up!

What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? Chocolate

What are your pizza toppings of choice? pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives

What do you like to put on your toast? Butter and honey

How many televisions are in your house? 2

What color cell phone do you have? Pink

Are you right-handed or left-handed? right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? wisdom teeth, gall bladder, babies

What is the last heavy item you lifted? I helped Brad put a stump grinder in our van. It was really heavy, and I bet I only helped with 1/8 of the weight.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? yes, when I was 14 I feel off my bike and when I woke up I was being lifted into an ambulance.

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Maybe, If it was a long time from now and I would be really old.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I really don't think I would change it. I'm kind of partial to it!

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? you bet!

How many pairs of flip flops do you own? About 5

When was the last run in you had with the cops? I wouldn't really call it a run in. Brad was pulled over for speeding a few months ago, but was let off with a warning.

Who was Last person you talked to? Macey, she came to see what I was doing.

Favorite Season? Autumn, It's the beginning of all the fun holidays

Favorite Holiday? I love Halloween. I also love the Christmas season

Favorite day of the week? Usually Friday. Right now it's the only day of the week I don't have set things planned.

Favorite Month? December

First place you went this morning? The Bathroom

What's the last movie you saw? We rented and watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua yesterday

Do you smile often? I probably could more often

Do you always answer your phone? no

It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who would it be? I don't text messages. The only text I've ever gotten was from the dentist office reminding me of an appointment.

If you could change your eye color what would it be? I wouldn't change it. That's the one thing I like about my face!

What flavor drink do you get at 7-11? a Slurpee with mixed flavors

Have you ever had a pet fish? yes

What's on your wish list for your birthday? A chocolate cake

Can you do push ups? maybe 2

Can you do a chin up? Maybe a half one

Does the future make you nervous or excited? both

Ever been in a car wreck? no

Do you have an accent? My family says I getting a Texas accent, but really they have Canadian ones!

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? I've felt like I've been close

Name 3 things you bought yesterday? A birthday present, milk, cheese

Have you ever been given roses? yes, but I'd rather get Tulips

Current hate right now? That my house is always a mess. Most of the problem is there is not enough space for everything

Met someone who changed your life? yes

How did you bring in the New Years? At a big party with all of Brad's family. It was tones of fun!

Plans tonight? Clean, fold laundry, bath kids, put kids to bed

What song(s) represents you? I can't think of one

What were you doing 12 AM last night? Watching a DVR episode of Dancing with the Stars with Brad

What would your answers be??

I tag Holly, Melissa, and all my sister and sister in laws!

Good Luck TAKS Takers

So today is a big day for students in Texas, they take the TAKS test. It's a state wide assessment test. (Don't ask me what TAKS stands for, Texas...something...something...something!) Anyway, It's a big deal. The kids have studied hard and taken lots of practice tests leading up to this day. They have been coming home with notes telling parents to make sure their kids get plenty of rest, good meals, and a relaxing morning. In fact, I actually had to sign Nelson's note to prove that I read it. Last night we went to the store to buy a special TAKS snack for during the test. We got home in plenty of time to get a good nights rest. So this morning as day breaks, no alarms go off. I did wake up and look at the clock. I thought, wow the alarm should have gone off already. Oh well I thought, I just won't exercise this morning. (It was way too cold to get out of my warm bed anyway) Then I woke up again and realized that we were late. I jumped out of bed and woke the kids up. I was a little panicked, but tried to be calm and relaxing, because after all I did sign the note! We did make it to school only about 5 minutes late and as an added miracle I don't think I yelled at anyone. I think I fulfilled my assignments pretty well. I just think it is so ironic that the only day you really don't want to sleep in is the day you do!! Good Luck TEXAS students on your TAKS!