Miscellaneous Monday

Well, we've been busy and we've been sick. I guess that's my excuse for not posting for a bit.

My family took turns being sick. It all started with Austin a week ago Friday night. This is what happens when you throw up while you're a baby and in the kitchen:


The next night Tyler was throwing up, and in the middle of the night Shayla was throwing up. Sigh. Then Monday Zachary came home and he threw up Monday night -- and unfortunately didn't use the Heaving Helper we have, but tried running upstairs instead :(, then Tuesday Paul came home and he was throwing up. Becca went to bed early because she wasn't feeling well, but fortunately she skipped the throwing up, and I was blessed to avoid it altogether. Phew!

On to better news ...

Paul is only two weeks from starting school. He's giddy. I'm excited for him and nervous for me. Doesn't help that the night he had to take a "pre-test" the boys were goofing off and needed some discipline right as Shayla was crying about not wanting to go to bed and Austin was fussy and needed to be fed. It might just be a long three years ... :) But the good news is that they accepted all of his previous college credit and certifications, so he has nearly half of his credits met already. That'll definitely cut down the amount of time he has to go. We're also excited that between a pell grant, scholarship (hopefully!) and his work reimbursement, we won't have to pay a cent. I'm really happy about that part. I also quite like that he'll do most of it from home, so even if he is busy with school he'll be here.

I've been busy (addicted) to finding free digital scrapbooking goodies on blog trains. I even found one that is from LDS designers (ldsblogtrain.blogspot.com) and has an LDS focus. I found one (blogtrainblog.blogspot.com) with beautiful colors and an Orient theme this month. There were something like 97 designers who participated. Needless to say, it's time for a trip to the Orient so I can have pics to scrapbook! ;) My brother is trying to get a trip to Japan put together with students at his university (he teaches at Coastal Carolinas in beautiful Myrtle Beach), and the trip would be 100 percent free for students. Unfortunately he can't fill the spots! I guess the caveat is that they have to do research while they're there. I keep telling him to sign me up, but somehow I still haven't gotten on the list ... ;)

Becca had another date this weekend. It was Sadies, and she went with a huge group. (Now that she's done with it she realizes why I kept advising her that smaller groups are better -- the logistics of picking up 14 people for one van takes a long time!) She had fun, although I think she was more going on the date to meet our rule of going on two dates in between (meaning she has to go on two dates with other people before she can go on a date with her crush again :). The good news is she got a shirt out of it. She's always wanted this style of shirt and was thrilled to find it. We took it in so it had more of a "girl" cut to it, and she loves it:

Of course, I didn't get a picture of her and her date together since she was the one picking him up ...

Tyler has enjoyed reading this year tons. He read the entire Percy Jackson series (which I still am working on), and he is all of a sudden interested in reading. His teacher has a "100 club" that you get into if you read 100 hours during the school year. If you do so, he'll buy you ANY book on the face of the planet. (Last year he spent hundreds buying books for those who made it -- more than $100 on Star Wars books alone.) Tyler made it last night! I think he might even be the first one in his class, because he hasn't heard of anyone else making it. He was thrilled, and I was soooo happy that he's finally enjoying reading. Finding books for boys just isn't nearly as easy as it is for girls. It took us years to finally get Becca reading, but at least she somewhat enjoys the same books I do. But boys are different, so I'm glad some authors are realizing that. Now we're going to move onto 39 Clues, which we've heard good things about. I should have bought them from Scholastic while they were cheap, because we might be on waiting lists at the library for quite a while. :)

Austin is still as cute as ever. Surprise, surprise. :) We took some pics of him and his cousin Gavin, who is 6 weeks younger. Austin was sooooo tired that he just sat there while Gavin tried to get his ear. (Normally he would have at least smiled at Gavin while his ear was grabbed. :) It's just fun to see them finally seeing each other and responding to each other. Boy will they be trouble-makers when they get a little bigger ...


My sis showed me the cutest way to make designs/words on shirts, and I am thrilled! I found shirts at the dollar store, so I made shirts for Shayla's pre-school before our last field trip. I am in love with them. I have also made some onesies for a friend that I'll post later. So exciting and pretty easy. I would love to post a pic of her with two friends all wearing their shirts. It was soooo fun and cute!


And the bestest news yet -- I'm an auntie again! My baby bro Dustin and his wife Heidi gave birth to the sweetest little boy on Friday night. He is adorable! Just look at that hair:


Off to another week. Can anyone else believe it's already mid-November!!! Good thing my Christmas shopping is DONE!