Aldi's

When I moved out here to the south about a year ago, I was introduced to a new store, called Aldi. At first I didn't think much of it, but I have grown to absolutely love this store.. my reasons why..

1. Things are usually cheaper then at other stores.
2. It is a small store so I can get in and out fast (Which is really helpful now because I can't keep Alden in a shopping cart... anybody have any tips on this, he can even wiggle out of the seatbelt ones)
3. I would say about 85% of the time I see someone from my ward there and the other 15% of the time I inevitably meet someone new. (Last time I was there a nice little old lady in the line gave me a back massage, where can you go and get back massages while waiting in line... I guess this lady does this for people in the line at Aldi's most of the time when she comes in.)

Well those are my reasonings, but the back massage totally made Aldi's go off the charts as my favorite store.

Shirt or Shorts for your hat tonight?

Michael and I have been looking for a good way to help Alden go down to sleep, because every night and nap time have always been a little bit of a challenge for Alden. Well, we finally found it...

Some people have special blankets, some have stuffed animals, others have bed time routines, but Alden has parents that put his shorts or his shirts on their head.
It really works great, I get a pair of Alden's shorts or one of his shirts every time I want to put him down. Once the article of clothing is on my head, Alden gives me a big smile then settles down and puts his head down on my shoulder and is ready to go to bed!

Michael was the genius behind Alden's new bedtime routine, thank you Michael.

Marathon

Michael did great on his marathon. He finished in the time he wanted at 3:43:56. Not only did he do great on his marathon but he helped pack everything up and drive back to Mississippi on the same day.

St. Louis

On Friday Alden and I went to the Memphis zoo and then on Saturday we went with Michael to the St. Louis Zoo. Both times Alden really had something important to say to the elephants. We caught just a little bit of it on video. (Here he is a little bit tired so isn't being as voicetress as he was at other times) We all loved the St. Louis Zoo!

Missouri

Off to Missouri for Michael to run his Marathon!

Happy Birthday Alden

Last year at this time Alden was born and Michael was missing student orientation. It has been a wonderful year starting optometry school and having such a cute little one at our home.

Projects

This summer I have been working on a couple of different projects. One I actually finished towards the beginning of the summer...
This is a Christmas stocking I made for a future child. (Alden already has his) My Grandma made all of us stockings like this, so I wanted to continue the tradition and make them for my children. (We will see how I do at this because this one took me forever, they are a lot more work then I thought.)


The other project is I have been trying to illustrate a children's book that I wrote. I am almost done but still have a couple more paintings to go. These are a couple of the paintings from the book. This is another project that has taken me longer than expected, but I have enjoyed it. I am thinking that I should stop thinking of more projects, I have one last one that I already have in the works and that is to make a quiet book, but after that I think I will be done for a while.