Jackpot! The blog lives!!!

I've been AWOL from this blog for quite some time now. It's been a busy time for the past few months. Above is a gratuitous shot of my grandson posing with his jackpot on our antique slot machine. This kid is a master at expressions. Even though we have a slot machine, we are not the type to gamble at all! I think this machine actually taught our kids that gambling doesn't pay. In the 15 years that we have owned this machine, I think that there have maybe been a handful of jackpot winners.
Brandon hasn't yet learned this lesson. He discovered the joys of the slot machine on his family's visit from Idaho on the occasion of his fourth birthday and during their stay he hit the jackpot.

Brandon is obsessed with "Emergency Men". Actually, he calls them emergency men, but he loves anyone that is in the armed services or is in public safety such as Firemen and Policemen and Sheriff Deputies. He can play for hours with his little plastic Emergency Men (Army guys). This is the cake we came up with for his fourth Birthday Party.

I've been away from posting for awhile mainly because I've been busy with my mother with Alzheimer's Disease. After having her live with us for over 7 months, I have placed her in a board and care home close by. She could theoretically live for another 15 years and I really do need to be able to have my own life. When she was here, I couldn't go anywhere without having someone here to watch her. She made it difficult because she didn't want anyone else here watching her. She would argue with me about this and it just became easier not to go anywhere. It was a bit depressing to say the least.

Now, I have my life back and my husband has his wife back. She still takes up a good portion of my time making sure she is okay in this new environment. She won't be getting the level of care I gave her, but she's not going to die if her clothes don't match. : ) It's terribly hard watching the slow deterioration and dealing with her realities that have no basis in actual reality. I just hope that the home she is in will be able to care for her for awhile. People with Alzheimer's don't do well at all with change.

Now that I can take a deep breath and feel somewhat free, I can concentrate on posting a bit more regularly and more importantly, enjoy some colorful creations!