Saturday, July 19, 2014

Big Summer Vacay

 Every summer we take a vacation with the Shaw clan up to Lake Tahoe for a week. It's always a great time of family, fun, and rest. Here are a few highlights:

We loved hanging out lake-side


Westly learned to throw a frisbee

We lived it up in our hotel room

On the way home we stopped for two nights in San Jose and spent a day at Happy Hollow, a zoo and amusement park geared for little guys like Westly

Westly was hesitant to try the Frog Hopper ride, but after Daddy took him on it once, he decided he was brave enough to go a second time by himself

His favorite was the Endangered Animals Carousel. He rode it three times: crocodile, dragon, then dinosaur

We made it home happy but tuckered out

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

I'm the Lucky One

Yesterday, July 7, 2014 (7-7-14) marked our 7th wedding anniversary. There's got be something lucky in that, right? Well, I am the luckiest girl ever because I got to marry Michael Shaw. I've gotten to spend the last 7 years building a wonderful life with him. In those 7 years we've traveled the world, pursued our dreams, expanded our family, and loved each other through storms and rainbows. 
Here's to the rest of our lives together! 






Thursday, July 3, 2014

A Lucky Break

Luck strikes when you least expect it, and perhaps that's what makes it so wonderful.

Last year I finished my Sherlock Academy series. It's done fairly well on a local scale, and I've learned so much about writing, publishing, and being an author the last seven years of creating Sherlock Academy. I've always wanted it to be more, but also resigned that it is what it is. Occasionally when I've had extra time I've sent the first book out to publishers in hopes of it getting picked up and developed commercially in a way I never could on my own. I didn't get any bites.

Until recently....

A few years ago we met an author who self-published his middle-grade book. We immediately became friends with Adam Sidwell, sharing the same passions for writing and kids. We admired his charisma and success with self-publishing. This year Adam started his own publishing company, and sent out an advertisement for writers to submit their work. I submitted Sherlock Academy, figuring I had nothing to lose.

Adam called me up with great news: he and his publishing team loved Sherlock Academy, thought it had commercial value, and offered a plan for publication, which includes selling my book at Costco and Barnes and Noble.

You can imagine how thrilled I am! I'm excited to have professionals take over the business end of publishing/selling Sherlock Academy, and of course I'm excited about Sherlock Academy reaching more readers through large sales at Costco, etc. Most of all, it's wonderful to have others see the value of my work and want to invest in it.

And I'm thinking there's more than luck involved here...

Monday, June 30, 2014

Reliving a Nightmare

When Westly was 6 months old, he had intussusception: a condition most common in kids 3months--2 years old, where the intestines telescope and get stuck. An enema is used to straighten out the intestines. In rare cases the enema doesn't work and the problem has to correct via surgery. Luckily the enema worked with West. That was one of the scariest days of our lives.




Intussusception is supposedly a fluke thing that rarely happens more than once. But earlier this month, it happened again to Westly. Again the enema worked. This time we're going to do a scan and some tests to see if there is another reason this happened again, or if indeed it's just a fluke thing.





There is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain, having to watch him endure horrible procedures, and being helpless to stop it. The best you can do is be strong and comforting, and shower him with love. 
West did enjoy his stay in the hospital because he got to eat Popsicles, play on the iPad, and enjoy the play room. We've talked with him about what happened and everything he had to go through, and have covered him with prayer.
Most of all we pray this is the end of this nightmare. 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

...And Puppy Dog Tails

I love surprises, and this was one big surprise! Michael and I went out for a special breakfast date and opened the envelope with our baby's gender. I felt like I was carrying a girl, but we both really wanted another boy. When we opened the envelope and saw BOY!!! inside, we both gasped with surprise and excitement. I even cried. 



Westly is very excited to have a brother, and we're excited to have another cuddly Doodle-Boy!

Friday, June 13, 2014

My Favorite Things Right Now

Every few months I like to pull an Oprah and list my current fave things:

Chiropractor
Netflix
Michael Shaw
Maxi skirts
SCBWI website
My backyard
Maternity exercise DVD
Hazelnut frapps
Westly saying "Today I'm Mommy's boy"
Cleaning/organizing
Naps
Baby's thumps
Daylight Savings
Westly saying "I'm Daddy's boy"
Princess Kate
No dinner plans
Hamburger at Far Western Tavern
Forever 21 gift card
Katy Perry's "Roar"
Armchair (a Thrift store treasure)
Front living room in the afternoon
God's grace
Coupon matching
Maybeline Gold Confetti nail polish
Weather app
My magic carpet story
This time of year

Monday, June 9, 2014

Ahhh, Summer

It's summer vacation! Even though I am not teaching full-time anymore, I still appreciate summer vacation, mainly because Michael gets to be home. When Michael's on vacation, I get a little vacation too. I can sleep in, I can go run errands or go write during nap time, I have an extra pair of hands to help around the house, I have my best friend around all the time, our fellow teacher friends are also available to hang out, we do fun outings, and we have our big family trip to Tahoe.

This summer especially I will relish vacation because I'm pregnant and how I feel changes from day to day. It will also be the last vacation with just the three of us, for our fourth little Shaw will be joining us in November (just in time for the holiday vacation).

Here's to Summer!