The Week

My mother-in-law Sari was here last week and we had such a good time with her! I especially enjoyed learning to sew on my new machine! Sari helped me do a lot of research and I ended up getting a Brother machine for a good price on Amazon. So far I love it! It's simple enough for even me to use and I don't think I'll ever need to trade up because it can do so much. Sari said the real test would be if it could sew through a few layers of denim without too much trouble so we tried hemming a pair of Brandon's jeans that were getting frayed on the ends and it worked like a charm! We took several trips to Joann's while she was here and bought lots of scrap fabric for me to practice on. I successfully sewed two pieces of fabric together in a straight line and I was ecstatic! While she was here, Sari taught me all the basics of sewing as well as a few harder things like putting in cording around a pillow and sewing really thin fabrics. I had quite a bit of trouble with the cording and I will definitely be practicing that a lot more before I attempt to redecorate my living room but overall it wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. And I had no clue that the majority of a "sewing" project is actually cutting the fabric precisely and the pressing of the fabric that needs to be done at nearly every step along the way. Who'd have thought? Anyways, I'm hooked and I can't wait to try my first real sewing project. What should it be???


Brandon was on spring break this week so he didn't have to go to class at all! Another reason why having Sari here was so great was because Brandon and I got to go on dates nearly every night! We went to dinner/dessert a couple of times, went to see a movie and got to go on a couple of walks together. And Sari was practically shooing us out of the house so she could have her grandsons all to herself ;-) I'm not sure who had more fun- us, the boys or Grandma Sari!

We went to the National Geographic museum one day to see the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. Apparently one of the first emperors of China had thousands of clay figures built and placed around his tomb to help him in the afterlife. Brandon had been wanting to see them and couldn't believe I'd never heard of them so we all went one afternoon.

Cullen entertained himself in line by repeatedly hitting Daddy on the head.

Poor Cullen didn't quite make it through the exhibit, he was out like a light.

We hadn't been to the park since November but it was finally warm enough to go last week and those boys sure enjoyed themselves! I think the park will be a daily outing this summer. Here's Cullen going down the slide. They're not afraid of it anymore, quite the opposite actually, they can't get enough of it!

Jack running around like a big boy. He looks so funny though because he walks with his elbows up for balance so he looks like he's flapping his arms.

More sliding fun

Renee, I know you'll love this picture. Cullen climbing his first rock wall! Well, he didn't actually climb it, but he tried!

And our old favorite, the swings. They still love it and still fit into the same swing together. Perfect!

Now the weekend's over, Brandon's spring break is over and we'll be back to regular life this week. I've so enjoyed having my husband around more, too bad it can't last! But next week I'm going to California for my sister's baby shower and I'm pumped for it!! Oh and we sure could use some California sun too, do you see how white my kids are? They're actually glowing in most of these pictures!!! (I know it's partly the exposure on my camera and the fact that it's overcast weather and that I don't take the time to properly edit my photos, but really, we're all as pale as vampires.) Bring on the sunshine!!