What I've been doing in my spare time...

Hmmmm I just got Olivia's Christmas jammies done! Pathetic ...I know!

They have a story. I found this cute fabric with polka dots and monkeys

all over it and fell in love with it.

I was going to have them all done to send for Christmas, but when I was with them in November when Camille had Sam, I became aware of the fact that Olivia is scared to death of monkeys.

She won't have anything to do with anything monkey...stuffed, pictures, movies about...when she saw this cute monkey I had won for a white elephant gift that was wearing a hula skirt, coconuts, and had big red lips, she came and handed it to me and told me she did not want it in her room!

So I put the fabric (halfway sewn) away and thought I would save them for next year. Then when I was tidying up my sewing room, I came across them and decided to just finish them up and put them away done. So I got them all done, then when I looked at them, I realized she will be way to big to fit in them next year...especially the slippers, so I'm just going to take a chance and give them to her. Maybe she's over the monkey thing? Also, It's 90 degrees in Arizona now, so the flannel may be a bit much. They do keep it pretty cool in their house though and if she is anything like her grandma, she will love the woolly warmness of the jammies.

Who knew you can make slippers? I made this little kitty for Olivia a little while ago...

There's nothing better than that phone call.."Grandma a kitty! and it has the cutest little skirt! I love it!"

I've been loving the pictures Camille sends me of Sam's fatness.

Olivia getting ready for pre-school. She is so ready to start regular school...so smart!

Camille says Sam is rolling all around now. Can he get any cuter? I don't think so.

Candice and I were just talking about how before Sam was born, we didn't know if we could ever love anyone like we loved Olivia...YES WE CAN! Sam has won all of our hearts

Been wishing spring would come...we will have a few good days, and all of the flowers will bloom, then it will snow and flatten them all down.

I mean I know that's how spring in Utah goes...but this is not normal. It's April 14 and

it's about 32 degrees...snowed last night.

Sick of it.

Yesterday Rebecca came to help mom with her shower and she told me that she was really glad that she was there....I guess the people at Rocky Mountain Health had tried to take her away from mom and let a full time girl come in. Rebecca is just working part time while she is going to nursing school, so she has less say about the hours she gets.

She said she really put up a fight about it though and told them they couldn't take her patients she had become so attached to away!

I was so glad! It hadn't occurred to me when Jessica ( the other new aide) had said that they had scheduled her to come every day. I thought maybe she was going to come help Rebecca when mom was having a bad day....not to replace her!

She is so wonderful with mom...I don't know what I would do without her.

Anyway, Rebecca and I got mom up and into the bathroom, and she said she thought she would be fine to get her into the shower since mom was standing pretty good.

I told her that mom needed more help eating her breakfast and taking her pills, and she said "of course I will do that!" I love her!

Anyway, so I went to play racquetball. I had called R last week and told her I wasn't going to make it cause mom was having a bad day and I wanted to stay with her.

R started asking me about mom when I got there and I told her how she had just gone kind of limp and weak. She said her mom used to do that when she wanted to get out of going to dialysis...that she would fake being weak. I know there is a reason why R is the way she is...she has had a really crappy life...we hear about it every week. But when she said that I wanted to smack her. Mom is trying her best and it is not in her nature to even think of faking anything. I was just like...."nope, my mom would never do that."...and I had to hurry and go into the court to keep from saying something I would regret.

Last night I had all the YW over to teach them how to make jam.

We had a little party for Jenni too cause it was her birthday.

The girls all joined in and participated...some washed the berries, some cut out stems, then some mashed the fruit....then there was the adding of all the sugar and lots of stirring. Kirstin worked on the pectin...dissolving and boiling, then added that to the fruit. I had the bottles all ready, so Maggie took over filling the jars. They all did their part and the jam turned out yummy...I had made a loaf of bread in the bread maker and it was just done when they came so we got a slice of warm bread with the freshest strawberry jam for a treat!

I hope they had fun!

After the girls had left, I took a slice of bread with jam down to mom

and we had a nice moment reminiscing about when she was a YW leader

and the fun things that they did. I treasure those times when her mind is clear and we can talk like we used to....they are getting fewer and fewer these days.