Is Autumn Truly Here? The pumpkins say Yes.

My neighbor's punkins, growing in their front yard. These folks have green thumbs!

The silvery grey plants in front of the punkins are guava bushes. I have one guava so far, with plans for another, and they planted maybe twenty guava bushes. Yum.

Confessions of a Wonder Woman Wannabe book review

Jenny Sulpizio wrote "Confessions of a Wonder Woman Wannabe" where she shares her funny insights on momhood, and ideas about how to avoid her mistakes (we all make a few), and how to organize your days to be a fun and successful mom.

She will bring you giggles and laugh out loud moments interlaced with solid tips on being the best mom you can be.
The chapter titles give you some idea of the fun ahead for readers: "Jesus take the wheel: this girl's outta control", "Did someone say DIY? The Wannabe gets crafty, " "Frazzled and frustrated: this mama's stressed out", and her wise words too, like "Remember, God isn't calling you to be perfect ... He's calling for you to mother your kiddos to the best of your abilities."
Her book is a fun and info packed read for all new moms and for moms of older kiddos too.
Jenny often has give aways on her site at www.jennysulpizio.com especially in September which is her book launch month.

Two garden vignettes, lily and succulents

Yes friends, this is an experiment to see if I can repost an older post!
Two patio scenes, the top one is of a fiery orange red lily given to me by a friend in 2009 and this lily is a very happy and faithful bloomer. The second photo shows a little scene with quite a few dainty succulents in a pot, one is blooming with lavender flowers, bless its heart.
The subtle colors of succulents are so pretty I bought several and put them in one pot recently. Actually the one that has flowers I already had in a huge pot, so I broke off a piece and put it in this container, but I bought the others. As you may know you can break off a piece of succulent and put it in dirt and it will usually thrive and grow.
And yes, that is my lavender color chair from my previous post. I like the effect of the new paint job, and a fellow blogger inspired me to paint the chair. I linked to her in the previous post.
Happy gardening, painting, crafting and most of all, no matter your passion, happy June.

My favorite bedtime story books

 Do you have favorite bedtime story books to read to your kiddos, or that you recall from your own childhood?

Here is the list of favorite bedtime story books, a list we wrote for our co-authored book “Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts: Stories to Celebrate and Wisdom to Bless Moms”.

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

The Little House on the Prairie series and The American Girl books.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Great to read aloud at bedtime.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

Elbert’s Bad Word by Audrey Wood.

Dr. Seuss books.