New Warmer!

If you have not placed your Scentsy order yet, tomorrow is the day to do it!

This warmer will be introduced October 1st. I will be getting this for sure, as Thanksgiving is a holiday I go ALL out with the kids. Ok...what holiday do I not go ALL out, you are asking? ;) I imagine this warmer would be great with the scents of Central Park Pralines, Baked Apple Pie, or Sticky Cinnamon Bun wafting out of it. And don't forget Pumpkin Roll! Mmmm....makes me want to bake something! Remember that on page 6 and 7 of the online catalog you can find Combination Sets to help you save like, A Scentsy Full-Size System which gives you a warmer and 3 bars. And if 3 bars are just not enough for you (which would be me) then you can get a 6 pack of bars for $25, that is basically one free. Your items will be shipped directly to you. If you do not want to use a credit card for an online offer- you can email me what you want, I can get your total for you, and you can send a check. It is easy...and before you know it, your house can be lit up with the warmth of Scentsy! What are you waiting for?

**Just remember to click on my name on the Open Party list.**

And either email me or leave a comment so I can verify your order goes through!

Isaac finished the first chapter of Hanglider!

Isaac has been a rockstar memorizing his verses for Awana....I just had to show it off! His teacher said he is such an overachiever with his memory verses that she expects that he will finish his first book and move on to the second before the year us out!

Scentsy Online Party!!!

Last month I was so excited to win this Scentsy Plug in warmer and scent bars on a blog giveaway hosted by Mandy at The Campbell Family.

It arrived today with this scent bar, called "You Go Girl" along with "Centimental Cider" and "Christmas Cottage" (That one smells sooo good). These are just a few of Scentsy's new fall scents.

Mandy made the decision to become a consultant last week, so to help her launch her business (and to thank her for the awesome giveaway!) I am hosting an online party! You can check out the products and place an order here: www.mandycampbell.scentsy.us/Home

Just scroll on the left hand side where it says "Open Parties" until you find my name and click on Buy From Party. From there you can browse the catalog, specials, and don't forget the multipacks of warmers and scent bars to save money! Just place your order right there online, and shoot me an email to let me know you ordered, so I can make sure your order placed with her.

This warmer is the Sept. monthly special (but we won't get the discount on this because my party will place in October) with a very yummy sounding scent called "Maple Butter". Can't wait to try that one!

My party will be online until October 14th, and I betcha this adorable Jack O Lantern Warmer will be next months' special. So hold out 'til atleast the 1st if you want to wait and see!Or go for the plug-in for your bathroom. How cute is this?!! These plug ins are a nice size and are the perfect amount of light. I put one little square in there and keep it on during the day so the kids can use the potty and not have to stand on a stepstool to reach the big light. Billy likes to shower in the morning with just the glow of this going, and the scent is bonus for a stinky bathroom!

I love Scentsy! I have been using it for over a year now instead of candles. It fills up your whole house with wonderful scents, you can pour your scent back into it's package to change it out daily if you want to, and you don't have to worry about the kids burning themselves or the house being set on fire. Turn it on in the morning, head out for work or errands, and return to a wonderful warm scent to your home...reminds me of my crockpot! I love having them all going throughout the house when caseworkers and ECI personnel come because it really gives our home a welcoming feeling. SO if you have people over, this is a must have! And as my friends with boys know, there is always a stench in the boys room. I do not know why that is! But they have inherited a Scentsy warmer for just that reason. Scentsy has new nursery warmers too that I have my eye on. My fav. scents right now are Autumn Sunset, Pumpkin Roll, Pima Cotton, Mochadoodle, and Apple Pie. Yummy! (They do have LOTS of non-food scents...but you can see what we favor around here!) These make the perfect teacher gift for Christmas (they have a teacher themed warmer) and are perfect for an in-home day care provider or elderly grandparents or anyone who is afraid to burn candles. Is that enough of a plug or what? Get it...plug? Ok...I'm done.

I am already making my Christmas list of what additional warmers I want (like a cute one for the kitchen and one for Vivi's room) And I always need new bars as I use my Scentsy every day. My sister in law said she wants one for her office at work, which is a great idea, they have "mid-size" warmers that are perfect for small spaces. And I wonder if my mother in law would want a plug-in for their camper....hmmm....;)

So if you are just nipping at the bud to buy one of these, go check out the Scentsy site and place your orders under my party name before October 14th!!!

These Days...***Updated with a Video We Are In***

Connected for the Journey from Tapestry on Vimeo.

We have been busy this month, as the Fall usually goes for us!

Last Saturday night we had the joy of attending our adoption ministry's 5 year anniversary.
We went to the very first event in 2005 when we were at the beginning of our foster care training...my oh my how much 5 years can hold!The centerpieces on the table were gorgeous. Black gift boxes with photos of our families and children coming out of the boxes. Here is one with our friends Debbie, Dave, and Isabel on the left and the Dishman girls on the right. The Dishman's adopted their youngest daughter from the same agency we adopted Vivi from. She is about 9 months younger than Vivi.

There is Isabel again! And Michael with his son, Miles. Michael and Amy began the ministry with some good friends of theirs.

In other news, Isaac's party invitations went out.

His classmates all got licorice tied to theirs and the first night I already had an RSVP.

It has been raining SO much this month, so we are praying for a dry and sunny backyard for the carnival party that is only 2 weeks away now. I am so excited!! But it cannot rain!

So what do we do when it is raining?

We bake!

So happy for canned pumpkin to be on the shelves again.

This weekend, we got free tickets (given to us by Tapestry...woohoo!) to see Veggie Tales at the church we do Awana and VBS at.

Isaac was VERY excited and sang loudly every single word to every song!

J kept pointing at the stage, he couldn't get over it!

The young ones danced in the aisles.

J had his surgery today!!!!

J was able to go in for his oral surgery to fill what ended up being twelve cavities!
He enjoyed the admissions waiting area.

There were beautiful windows.

We pointed at the kite decoration outside.

Then they called us back and Daddy tied on J's gown.

He was SO cute in his gown!

The bed was waiting for us with a hat for him to keep and some toys and books to play with!

AND he got to watch Dinosaur Train...all the comforts of home.

He wasn't scared and let the nurse wheel him right out.

Of course he had a dose of "silly juice" which was putting him to sleep already!

He was in surgery for an hour and a half. Now he has silver lining the inside of the top and bottom teeth. I called it his "Grill". The dentist said he will be prone to decay throughout his life because of this early issue. So sad.

Billy went to get Vivi from school while I was in recovery with J. He woke up, I dressed him, and they wheeled the kids out to our waiting van in a fun wagon!

His recovery was brutal for Mommy. I set him up on the couch with juice and jello. He whined and fussed about EVERYTHING all afternoon. At times I had to have him on my chest for awhile to get him to settle. I understood why...every kid needs their Mommy when they don't feel good... but it was hard to deal with all the fussing coming from my normally easy going child. Then I rocked him to sleep at 6:30. My shirt was covered in drool and mucas/blood from the discharge. The tube down his throat to allow him to breath during the surgery made for a bloody nose all afternoon. Then after he slept for about an hour, he was throwing up mucus on his pillow and blanket, so I changed those and then had him sit with me while we watched the season premiere of The Office. There was no consoling him in bed, so he hung out with Mommy and Daddy for awhile!

Here is to hoping that tomorrow my sunny child will be back in action!

Tradition

We happened to notice that two adoption days in a row, Vivi wore polka dot dresses.

So we chose to stick with the tradition, and last night was no different!

Vivi's Adoption Day!

Tonight was free kids meals at Chick Fil A for kids dressed like Pirates and Princesses. For us, that was easy! I wish you could see J's huge smile in this photo! He made the cutest little pirate you ever saw! With a coupon, I got his costume for just $7. This is what the boys will be for Halloween this year too.
Vivi was excited to open her gift.

We gave her a fairy doll, Iridessa.

She loved it and said "For me?!" and thanked me multiple times.

And the new Tinkerbell movie, The Great Fairy Rescue.

It was released on DVD today.

We have the first two movies and they are all SO sweet and adorable!

Here is her cookie cake.

I asked for hot pink...but what can you do?

Vivi's friend from school showed up and her teacher showed up!

Lots of people wanted in on the free kids meals, I'm sure.

She was very excited to see them.

Now she is tucked into the couch watching the movie with her fairy.

J has to do everything Vivi does, so he went in and dragged out his pillow and blanket too and when he whined at Vivi for her fairy doll, I was able to appease him with a tinkerbell stuffed doll, he cracks me up!

Also, while at Chick Fil A, the marketing manager started chatting with us. She is a foster parent too and was very interested in our family. She gave us her business card and coupons for free food. She said she and her husband also own a bounce house/concession rental company and could give us a good deal. I am going to call her about a popcorn machine for Isaac's party. We will see just what kind of deal we can work out. ;) Billy said "good job, honey!" cause he knows I make connections just about everywhere we go!

Celebrate!

Three years ago today we stood in a McKinney courtroom and a judge announced our baby girl as our forever daughter. How this child has changed our family! I cannot imagine her sweet face and big hair and fiesty personality not greeting me every morning. In the past year she has become a bit of a Daddy's girl for the first time. After dropping her off at school today, I will be going and getting her traditional cookie cake and gift, and I will post photos of our festivities tonight!

A Lesson in Advocating For Our Foster Child

Here is J working with his ECI therapist on some sensory issues. This child can. not. stand. having anything on his hands or clothes or face. So she is working with him finger painting w/pudding. He was hesitant and asked several times for a napkin, but we pushed through!

I post this because today we have had major drama trying to advocate for this child. This Thursday, as in 3 days, was his scheduled oral surgery to take care of his cavities. However, over the weekend both he and I became sick. He is always sick, so it was no big surprise there...but being that I am feeling like total junk, I knew something was up. So I took him to the Dr. and when they confirmed he has Strep throat and that we would have to cancel his surgery, I broke down in tears, explaining to the Dr. that I need this baby to get this surgery...he is in pain, daily. So to shut me up, he hastily prescribes codeine to numb his pain and says "sorry, you will have to reschedule." In tears I drive straight to my dr. and beg them to take me without an appt. After an hour in the waiting room with a 3 and 2 year old who are now officially bouncing off the walls, they swab my throat for strep and nasal passages for flu (that was not cool). Lo and behold, I have strep too! So I start crying for the second time in the second dr's office of the day saying "I can't be sick, I have 3 kids and so much to doooo!" meanwhile the kids are systematically destroying magazines in the corner. He was much kinder than the medicaid pediatrician, no surprise there. He offers me a penicillin shot in my rear or pills. I opt for the pills. Meanwhile, Billy has left work at noon and heads over to the pharmacy to get J's antibiotic. The dr. never called it in. So that sends my devoted husband into a tizzy calling up the dr's office to see what is the deal. I in turn cancel his surgery both with the hospital and and the dentist. They also inform me that October is already full so it would have to wait until November. She sends me on a wild goose chase to find another oral surgeon who will do it sooner and that also accepts medicaid. That surgeon is booked til November too. So after crying to the 3rd dr. of the day...which at this point is really aggravating my symptoms...I hung up the phone dejected. Meanwhile, my amazing husband is working miracles to get J a penicillin shot today, so that the dr. will clear him for surgery. Why the pediatrician did not give me that option when I was there this morning is beyond me! So as I rest on the couch with my first two of 4 pills a day of Amoxicillin flowing into my stomach, Billy is at the dr. again with J (after taking Vivi to her dr. an hour ago, to confirm her symptoms are just a cold...lovely) to get his shot and to await the Dr. filling out a form to confirm J can get his surgery. Whew!! I am SO tired and emotionally drained today. Billy said to me that this is proof that we are the ONLY ones who will advocate for this child, and sometimes you have to pitch a fit to get anything done. We are praying that he does not have a reaction to the shot, that the dr. will fill out the form correctly this time, and that the dentist can keep his surgery set for Thursday. Drama is no fun...but it is way worse when you are sick yourself. Please keep praying for our little guy. We need this surgery to take place this Thursday!

School, Prayer, and Church

Isaac has been learning some real life lessons this school year. He told me that they do a moment of silence after the pledge. I told him why, "a long time ago, kids used to pray in school but then some people who were not Christians didn't think it was fair, so they took prayer out. Then the Christians said 'that's not right', so the Moment of Silence is supposed to please everyone." I told him that as a Christian, that moment can be used to quietly pray to God for your day, your teachers, your family. This was followed by a talk about evangelism in school and how you don't know who is a Christian and who is not...we reviewed his memorization verse of John 3:16 and I said "For God so loved the teachers and children in your school, that He gave His one and only Son..." He mentioned a child who misbehaves a lot in class and said "Mom, maybe he doesn't know about Jesus." and I encouraged him to befriend him and tell him that God loves him too. Isaac's favorite thing to tell other kids (even strangers at the Mcdonald's playground) is "Did you know that God never breaks his promises?!" I love it. I followed up with him a couple days later and asked if he had chosen to pray during his Moment of Silence, and he said no." Ok", I said. But then on Tuesday, when I picked him up he said, "Mom, I prayed at school today!"

We also had a chance for a lesson in integrity a week or so ago. Isaac came home all excited saying he got in trouble for swinging his lunch box and banging it together with another kid in line, but that at the end of the day the teacher forgot to move his clip. I explained to him that I would rather he not have a perfect behavior chart, then to be dishonest and that next time he needs to remind the teacher that she is said she wanted to move his clip. I said "Isaac, doing the right thing is more important than the consequence of getting in trouble." The next day he went up to the teacher and told her. She said she was so impressed that he was honest, that she would keep his sticker on his chart. He was happy about that!

We have been talking a lot about "doing the right thing". I give him "what would you do" scenarios to so we can talk about what might come up at school. Like "What would you do if...your neighbor dropped all their pencils on the floor...your best friend bullies another kid on the playground...you see someone take something that belongs to someone else..." that has been a fun exercise for us in making good choices.

Billy and I decided that at almost 6 years old, it was a good time to get Isaac his first real Bible. I bought him this one yesterday after I heard some great reviews about it:

It has all the Bible verses just like an adult Bible but in easier language and some illustrations and charts that appeal to kids. It has a chart of the main characters in the Old Testament, the ten commandments written for kids to understand, and several others. It also has Isaac's favorite part...the maps in the back! He will begin the discipline of taking his Bible with him to church and Awana now, and I will be doing Bible reading with him when we work on his verses every week along with a boy's devotional. I got this really cute carrying case to keep his Bible nice, since I bought him the leather bound addition. He was very excited.
He is doing well in Awana and we are told is a leader in his Sunday school class. We couldn't be more proud of how far he has come. It is a lot of work raising a boy with so much energy, so much to say, and who needs so much attention. But it is also very rewarding to watch him achieve success.

Pottery Barn on a Budget...part 2

Today, I created my own version of this fall wreath that was featured on Pottery Barn's website for $59. I did it for about 60 cents because I already had the wreath, so I just had to print the photos in sepia. That inspired me to compare all of my bargain Pottery Barn creations around the house...in the form of a collage! I told ya'll I am a huge fan of this company's decorating style. You will see just how true that is! Each collage features PB on the left and my home on the right.
Entertainment center purchased 6 years ago at Haverty's,
the doors fold back flat like the PB one.
Fireplace screen and matching tool set purchased last year at Target on clearance.

Bedding set purchased at Kohls on sale last year, using birthday giftcards.

Sectional from Ikea.

The purchasing of the new furniture forced me to take a critical eye to some other areas of the house that have been a bit neglected. The guest/kids bathroom is always a wreck with toothbrushes all over the counter and bath toys, towels, and clothes scattered across the floor. It is my daily challenge to keep it neat. But in the event that guests come to stay, or we have visitors...which happens a lot lately with ECI, caseworkers, CASA...you name it...I want the bathroom to be guest friendly and appealing.

So here is my updated-no kid's crap-

(I mean adorable little bottles of shampoo, butt wipes, and hair bows)...
bathroom shelves. All prettied up for visitors. I did this in about 15 minutes by just moving some stuff in from other parts of the house and putting all the random stuff in the cabinet under the sink.

My inspiration: These pretty bathroom jars from...guess where? :)

I stole the soap in a jar idea.

We all have random vases that are not in use, right? So throw some soap bars in it. The scent is marvelous and gives the impression the bathroom is clean. And I added a long standing Martha Stewart decorating tip...tying a couple guest towels together.
This keeps them fluffy and clean, since they won't be used by us every day.

I always offer a clean hand towel or these bathroom paper towels,

so guests do not have to use the same towel my kids slobbered on all day. ;)

With small bathrooms, you have got to maximize your space.

And since we rent, we can't paint or renovate. We are thankful for the pretty new faucet they installed and the towel bars we installed and will leave here when we move. That helps!

Now...I will be moving on to the kitchen...and our playroom needs some serious revamped organization. It is just piles of toys at this point.

You can really do a lot on a budget, and if you aren't creative...order PB's free catalogs to arrive at your house...then shop sales at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Target, Craigslist, etc. to match the decor you love.

That should get you started!