Prairie Scraps

This week, I went shopping for groceries and Home Depot stuff, and I made a short video with the help of my 13yo son about why living on the Prairie is so different and then why I chose the name “Prairie Scraps” for my blog.  Check it out- please subscribe and like my video!  I’m trying this Vlogging out so would love the support! Also a very short view of the mountain pass that we have to go down to get to the stores!  This drive usually takes us about 70 minutes one way.

Last week I put together a Preschool Piano camp.  I thought I'd try to put together a video on how I did it and what curriculum I used to for it.  Please take the time to watch my video and subscribe and comment for me! Here are the links for the things that I mentioned.  The Amazon items I get a very small amount affiliate for.  Thanks in advance for supporting my family! www.mythirtyone.com/doristowell - support my small business https://amzn.to/2yRol5K - Busy Bees Finger Puppets (affiliate link AL) https://amzn.to/2yPghmb - Poker Chips (AL) https://amzn.to/2tC6qLp - Egg Shakers (AL) https://www.kiddykeys.com/shop/lesson-plans/packages/ - KiddyKeys Lesson Plans Thank you for watching. 

The new-found front walk has been slowly but surely getting updates.  You can check out our great find HERE.  Like most of our house projects these days, we often are doing the project that seems the most urgent at the present time.  Sometimes it’s purely out of necessity - like when we found a leak in the plumbing under the house.  Other times it's because we find a great deal on a new item for the house. Mr. Right and I were able to get away for two nights for our anniversary this year, and we went shopping.  We really wanted to go rummage saling, but we couldn’t find much for sales.  We moved on to the thrift stores and then  to Walmart.  At Walmart, we had to go through all of the plants. Mr. Right found some beautiful Heather plants.  He had a vision of lining our walk with 10 of the heather plants, and the price was right at $7 a pot! When we got home, we dug out the side of the new path to line the walk with the heather plants. ...

Cathy Williams was raised by strong women, a grandmother who was an African Queen and her mother, a slave.  They taught Cathy to have pride in her heritage as a “Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen,” even as she is torn from her family on a Missouri plantation and sent to work as a cook for the army.  Even as a slave and woman in the civil war, Cathy chooses to keep her strong African heritage and her identity, and refuses to allow her circumstances to change them.  Eventually, she finds herself enlisting as a buffalo soldier and disguising herself as a man.  This book shares a powerful side of the civil war, unknown to many.

Have you ever started a project and the entire thing turns into an even bigger project and into something you never thought it would?  Well, this last weekend, I thought I was starting just a small project, and found some hidden treasures along the way. We bought our house last fall, and right in front of our house, leading to the front door, there are small stones buried in the ground.  They seem to be evenly spaced out, but they were pretty deep in the ground.  I thought they were some stepping stones that had sunk into the ground.  We'd found a bunch of 12x12 inch blocks buried in the back yard last fall. Since the weather is so beautiful, I thought I'd just pop them out.  Here's what the lawn looked like before I started.  None of the stones are peeking out more than about 4-6 inches around.   So, I started to dig.  And dig. And dig!  I found an entire rock path from my front door to the driveway!  It had...

Years after losing a child and the inability to have more children, Anthony and Marty, Old Order Mennonites, take a friend up on a chance to get away from their close knit community to try to heal their marriage.  Little do they know all the ways that thier one act of desperation can actually bring so many more to a personal relationship with Christ.  “Ours for a Season” by Kim Vogal Sawyer weaves in so many heart-wrenching issues of today, with God’s power to heal: a battle with cancer, loneliness, human trafficing, teen foster care issues, etc.  This story brings together people of different backgrounds and faiths, and through the wonderful healing of Christ not only heals themselves, but begins a new work in Him!  I cried. I smiled. I loved this book! All opinions from this review are my own, however, I recieved an advanced electronic copy of this book from www.netgalley.com in exchange for my review.

I've always loved learning a new instrument.  Of course in college, I had to study my major and minor instruments for hours and hours, but my favorite classes were learning new instruments!  Prior to attending college, besides piano and trumpet, I had studied drums and guitar, but college really opened so many more doors for me.  I always have a "bug" to learn a new instrument. In the last few years, my "bucket list" instrument has been the Ukulele.  I've literally studied everything I can about it; from which to purchase, how to teach it, how to play it, etc.  I finally took the dip and bought this beauty! It took me several months to settle on which one to get and since I don't live near a music store, it was hard to choose, but this Luna Mahogany Mo'o ended up being the one!  I ordered from another seller on Amazon and waited impatiently for two weeks for it to come, to discover that the company cancelled my order and didn't notify me. ...