I discovered the ValueTales series of books a couple of months ago. I told Felicity about them and she was excited and wanted to read THEM ALL! I had no idea just how many were in the series nor did I have any idea how old they were.

We went to our trusty local library to check THEM ALL out. Well, our branch had none. Only one out of six branches in Amarillo had any. They had six of them. That’s it. So we had them transferred to our closest branch. Felicity LOVED THEM! 

I promised her I would start getting them for her as I could. I love to buy used books on Amazon and eBay.

Just now, as I was browsing around on Amazon, look what I found!!!

I am going to pre-order this and surprise Felicity with it. I hope it is as good as the originals. Wonder if there will be more treasuries, until the whole old series is in them?

Oh and by the way - sorry I’ve been gone so long. June’s been a bit crazier than expected.

Felicity is attending a summer camp provided by her school, Bushland Elementary School. All except one day were week days, but we all met at Home Depot on Saturday as a group to do the monthly build-it kit provided free for children. This week’s project was a hand held soccer game.

We all went and had a good time. Greogry’s kit was built by Mike, since Gregory was doing more stemming than paying attention and helping. Must have been all the hammering noise going on, huh?

Here’s some photos of the event.

It was alot of fun. It was scorching outside, though, when we were done. Saturday was 102* here in Amarillo. Very unseasonably warm and miserable.

Gregory had surgery this morning. He had his fourth set of tubes put in his ears, his adnoids removed and a complete dental work up done. I was really nervous this time because he was to be under anestesia longer than ever before and with soreness in his throat and mouth, I was so afraid he would not eat or drink.

He came through with flying colors! Wanted to walk out of the surgery center on his own and has been eating oatmeal all afternoon!!! Whew, what a worry off my mind!

I have started selling my wet bags and cloth diaper pail liners again. Just today I’ve had 4 sales!

I have a store on etsy, Mitchell Grace Designs and also some on ebay on my user Stepford Housewife.

Take a peak and let anyone you know that uses cloth diapers know!

I found a wonderful new blog today! Raising Homemakers

She’s offering the full 10-DVD set for a give away!

Can you imagine winning this glorious set!!!! I have submitted my entries!!!  Run get your entries in, too!

My oldest sister lives in Louisiana. Her favorite flower is the Peony, but she has never lived far enough north to be able to grow them in her own yard.

In the yard of the place we are renting, there is a Peony bush and I’ve just been waiting for the blooms to open to share them with my sister.

Here ya go, Lynne…can you smell them from there?? Click on the images to make them larger.

The bush absolutely exploded yesterday. The fragrance is to die for!

Enjoy!

I just love the West Ladies!  I have watched their first three DVDs, The Art of Candle Making, The Art of Bread Making and The Art of Soap Making.

They have released many more DVDs and the most recent is The Art of Quilting, which was released just a short time ago. (This one is not yet included in the entire set).

Here’s a quick trailer on the series:

You can view the information on the entire set by clicking here to view on the Franklin Springs website.

I will be ordering my set plus the Quilting DVD next week. I can’t wait for them to arrive!!!

I just know you would enjoy these DVDs as much as I have. They used to be available on Netflix, but they no longer offer them. That just stinks.

These DVDs would make wonderful gifts for Mother’s Day or even Graduation!

Have a joyous Sunday!

Today is my 44th birthday.

We spent an uneventful day out running errands and a little shopping, as well as taking Felicity to a birthday party for one of her classmates.

We had lunch/supper out and I requested Sonic Blasts for our celebratory dessert.

I really didn’t have anything in mind that I particularlly wanted for my birthday, but recently had been looking at bibles at a local store. It just so happened we stopped in that store today to look at some homeschool books for the summer to keep Felicity busy. Long story short, I now have my own Catholic bible. Getting my faith life in order is something I want to do in this, my 45th year of life. I have many mental notes of other things I hope to conquer this year as well.

This is the bible I chose. Since I am a converted Catholic, I still have a lot to learn about the faith. This bible is awesome and is on my level.

We found a great bible for Felicity, as well. I will be getting it for her in the next couple of weeks. This bible has “Pray It, Study It, Live It”, so that it is crystal clear for her to learn the things she needs to know.

Felicity was excited when we told her we will be getting her a bible soon. We have not been diligent parents at her faith life, either. That is changing, too.

I also got Smokey, the stray cat that we took in around Christmas, a new litter box. He is a perfect litter box cat, but our dogs are gross and get into the litter box. YUCK! I saw this one and decided to give it a try.

So far, Smokey is not happy with this change. I sure hope he gets used to it. UPDATE-after 2 days with the top off, Smokey is adjusting. It’s tall enough that the dogs can’t get in. Hopefully in another couple of days, we can put the top on and all will be fine.
Today’s Scentsy fragrance: Home Sweet Home

Don’t forget to scroll down to post before last and register for my give away!!! Monday at noon, CST, is the latest you can enter!

Alrighty! It’s time to start with all the exciting give aways I have planned for my blog.

This give away is for a Scentsy plug-in warmer (in the design of your choice )and 3 (yes, three!) Scentsy bars in the scents of your choice! This is a $25 value!

How’s that for an awesome give away?

There are three opportunities for you to register for the drawing:
Go to my Scentsy website and pick the Scentsy plug-in warmer design that you like best, along with 3 scents for the bars you like best. Then…

1. Come back to this blog post and leave me a comment with your choices. This will get you 1 entry in the drawing.
2. Post on your own blog about this awesome give away, come back to this post and leave ANOTHER comment letting me know about your post and a link to see it.
3. Post on Facebook about my give away, come back here to this post and leave yet ANOTHER comment letting me know you posted on Facebook.

Then wait for me to announce the winner on Monday, May 3. I will post sometime in the evening. The last entry I will accept will be at Noon, CST on Monday, May 3.

Click Here to go to my Scentsy website.

Also remember that Mother’s Day, Graduation and end of the year Teacher Gifts are right around the corner and Scentsy makes perfect gifts!!!

If you (or someone you referred to me) sign up to join my Scentsy team, I will award you the same gift!

Have Fun!

The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining today. We’re going to find something fun to do this afternoon, just not sure what yet. I love this photo and definitely miss the Bluebonnets this time of year. We don’t have Bluebonnets up here in Amarillo.

I have changed the scent in my Scentsy burner, we’re enjoying . Thunderstorm is “very refreshing, sharp, spicy; an outdoor fragrance, like the breeze in a storm.”

Happy Sunday!

On days like we’ve had for the past 3 days, I don’t miss living in the south at all. I realize just how much I love our dry (and sometimes very windy) weather here in the Texas Panhandle.  It’s so humid here right now, I feel like I need to take several showers a day to feel clean.

We don’t see these very often here.

The trees and plants are green-ing up nicely with all the moisture, though.

My clothes line looks so lonely in the wet backyard.

According to the weather forecast, we’re going to be sopping wet for another 2 days. Guess that means no yard work this weekend. Instead it’s time to work on some sewing and quilting I want to do.

Our house smells wonderfully tropical and inviting, though. The Scentsy scent that fills the air is .

Happy Friday!