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!