Happy Mother's Day

Hope you all had a very happy Mother's Day! I sure did! Got a $20 gift card for Fred Meyer (our local one stop shopping place) so I can get red geraniums for my front porch. I just dinked around most of the day -- did things I really enjoy. Hung sheets on the line, made some more foot bars, and then sewed up a gardening apron tonight. It turned out really cute. The highlight of my day was when Missy and my 8 yr old grandson Christien stopped by. Christien brought me a present that he wrapped himself. I just love that! It was an ice cream bowl that has liquid in between that you freeze to keep your ice cream cold -- like those cold mugs. We saw them at the Dollar Tree yesterday and I remarked how cool they were. Christien was so proud that he got that bowl for me. Plus I got a nice card from Missy and from Christien. I was thinking about my mother all day today and really missing her. She was such a pretty lady and I wish I had a picture of her to put on my blog. Unfortunately I don't have many family pictures -- lots of them got destroyed in a wet basement many years ago. My mom was one of those people that could do everything right -- fabulous cook, wonderful seamstress, great gardener. She taught me to sew and I did help her bake some when I was at home. But I could never make pies like she could. Her lemon meringue pie was the best! I was thinking that I don't even have a picture of my mother and I together. That is sad for me. So that makes me more determined to make sure I have lots of pictures of my girls and I together! It's getting late and it's back to work for me tomorrow. It's been a good day and I shall sleep soundly tonight!

Twinkle Toes

The pumice hand soap has turned into a foot scrub bar -- thanks to my talented and creative daughter's idea! It will be scented with peppermint and tea tree oil. I'm calling it "Twinkle Toes" (another thank you to my daughter). What a great way to be able to have nice soft summer-ready feet. So I've spent the morning working on soap labels. Then the creative juices really kicked in and I decided to make a mango butter foot bar to go with the soap. Gotta moisturize after you scrub, right? This is what happens to me. I had everything planned out to get busy sewing purses, got an idea for something new, and now I have a feeling the purses won't get started until tomorrow. If I just didn't have to work for a living I could get all this done before next weekend!

Soaping Weekend

I'm getting ready for an Herb Festival that I'm doing next weekend and decided I better get some soap done. I made a batch tonight scented with Green Tea & Willow fragrance. This is the second batch I've done with this scent and I just love it! The soap stays a beautiful white and the smell is heavenly. My whole house smells so good.

Tomorrow I'm going to try another batch of pumice hand soap. This one will be scented with Basil Lime. The last batch I did was a disaster. I added the pumice directly to the soap pot and it would not mix in no matter how much I stirred. When I cut the soap there were big pockets of pumice in the soap. I sent it to work with my husband to give away. This time I'll take out some soap, mix the pumice, then add to the pot.

Sunday will be Blue Bonnet. This is a fragrance I've had for a while and been wanting to use. I'm anxious to see how it turns out. In the middle of all this soapmaking I've also got to get some purses and aprons sewn up. The housework will have to be on the back burner for the next week. Oh well! Soapmaking and sewing are way more fun.

Sick Kids

What started out as a pleasant trip to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens last Saturday with Missy and our dear friend Patricia ended up with a visit to the hospital. Missy, my oldest daughter, got up on Saturday complaining of pain in her abdomen. She thought it was from the Mexican food on Friday night. We went to the Lilac Gardens for a couple of hours, then back to her house for lunch and scrapbooking. By 4 PM Missy was in so much pain that I told her I was taking her to the hospital. Seven hours later it was determined that she has a cyst that had burst and was bleeding internally. The doctor kept her overnight for observation. She lost a lot of blood and, at one point, we thought she was going to have to have surgery.

She came home the next day and, thank God, is on the mend now -- ever so slowly. Missy and I are blessed to have such lovely friends. I made some phone calls on Sunday morning and people were there to help out with the animals, driving Christien to school, and more. Plus lots of prayers for her recovery.

Today daughter #2, Stephany, woke up with a very sore throat. Since she's had strep before so I decided to take her to the doctor for a throat culture. Sure enough it's strep. She's on penicillin and I'm sure will be back in the swing of things by Thursday. I'm going to talk to the doctor about having her tonsils out -- this is the 4th time she's had strep since last Fall.

On another note -- I think I may be getting a new digital camera for Mother's Day. That would be so cool. The one I have is about 5 years old and just isn't quite up to speed for the kind of pictures I want to take. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I'm Heartbroken

Phil got voted off American Idol last night! I'm just heartbroken! He wasn't one of the best but seemed to be a very nice guy. Sure did love his wife and babies -- that says a lot in my book. And he had been singing so much better! DARN! Now I don't know who I'll have as a favorite for the rest of the competition.

I really need to get a life! LOL!

Comfort Food & Laughter

It's been a rough few days around here -- family issues that have come to a head. Then Monday I woke up with a froggy throat and feeling really yucky. The kind of days that just wear you out!

Then my sweet oldest, Missy, called yesterday to invite Steph & I over for dinner -- she said that we all needed "comfort food". We arrived to a wonderful dinner of roast chicken, rice, green beans, and gravy. I had stopped at the store to get Grands biscuits at Missy's request and figured if we were going to eat comfort food we might as well have dessert. I picked up a triple layer chocolate fudge cake.

After we were done stuffing our faces we retired to the living room. My 8 year old grandson, Christien, decided he was going to entertain us with a reading of "Walter the Farting Dog." Christien is a typical 8 year old boy who thinks that any bodily functions are hilarious. He proceeds to read the book and the whole time we are just laughing and carrying on. Christien gets to one part and says "Oh wait, this is the really good part." It was about how Walter was trying not to pass gas and kept holding it in. Walter started to expand from all the gas. Christien got so tickled at this part that he could hardly read. Of course his giggles caused all the rest of us to laugh! We laughed so much that our stomachs hurt.

By the time the evening was over everyone of us felt so much better. It was exactly what we needed! Laughter truly is the best medicine!