celebrations

It has finally calmed down a bit around here and I'm able to gather together some of the pictures. These are just a few we have tons more...literally. I've got so much to talk about hopefully it doesn't turn into a book.

My sisters, Brenda and Karla were visiting me two, three...maybe four weeks ago...dang the time just flies! It was fun being around them again. I hope they enjoyed their vacation and got to relax, but I'm not sure if that happened since we stayed up too late some nights, you know how that goes it's tradition.

Karla came in Friday, the 9th and we got to talk and hang out. She said she would be getting her one on one time with me because she was coming in a week before everyone else...hehe!



The boys had belt camp that week. They started Taekwondo in June and belt camp got them through their first belt...they are now yellow belts!  My little warriors!!

Brenda and Jessica, my niece, came in the following Thursday late -er actually it was Friday morning when they came in, they got stuck in Dallas and they eventually had to switch planes because of an a/c leak. It was pouring rain I could hardly see when we were coming home from the airport. We haven't gotten much since them. I think Brenda was a little nervous but I was trying to stay calm even though I couldn't see and I trying not to hydroplane. I hope I succeeded I never said anything to her...she's pregnant and I didn't want to stress her even more...

The next day (actually I think I'm still on the same day...Friday) we had the boys graduation at the martial arts school. It also happened to be Rem's 9th birthday (again where does the time go!!!). He got to be an honorary black belt for the day.



You can see Ram's head in the foreground.

He was so excited and his brother was excited for him too! We brought in cupcakes to celebrate his birthday with the other students. At the end of the class they had graduation for everyone. Master Hammons made it fun for the kids during their graduated, he kept cracking us up. I kept looking at my sister Karla he had her rolling. Ram also graduated with his yellow belt and looked pretty good in it! They have come a long way from where they started and I am so proud of them. Next we are working towards their high yellow belts.

Ok it has been pretty hot around here and the girls...the older girls...the little one did not complain, thought it was way too hot and of course the mosquitoes did not help.

The celebrating was not over...



Saturday we had L's and Jessica's baptism they both looked so cute! Brenda and Luis are L's godparents and Roger and I are Jessica's godparents. So we had a lot to celebrate. I've got tons of pictures that both Kelli and Karla took and I'll add a link to the other ones later. The girls got a little tired and cranky during the service but they made it through and did actually really well during the pouring of the water.


 












We all came back home and had tres leches cake for the baptism, it's a Mexican cake that means milk cake but they use 3 different types and I'm not sure what 3 types evaporated, regular...not sure, it taste good though. Of all the pictures I think Karla may have taken a pictures of the cake...so no picture of that. Sorry it should be in that empty spot in the middle of the table. My camera had run out of battery. I'll have to get them from Karla there were some cute ones of the girls next to the cake. 

We had a chocolate cake for Rem, his theme was Troy Built power washer...haha! He came up with it.
I think he had a good birthday he got a lot of the camping stuff he had asked for tent, sleeping bag, lamps...hehe!  He got aluminum foil as a gift from his granny, and yes he loved it! He likes to make stuff and he likes the shiny characteristic of the foil. He got to shoot a .22 the week before so he got some shells and a hip pouch from the girls, loved that too!! He had a great day. (Again I think Karla has those pictures...hehe)



This is the only picture we had of Rem's cake...I think there maybe one where it is not in the box??? Karla??

I had ordered a Yudu and it came in early in the week. Its a silk screening machine and Karla helped me make a t-shirt (actually she did all the work...hehe!)  for Rem that he designed. Can't wait to use it again!



His shirt looks great! he wore it for his birthday great work Karla and Rem!

These are the pictures of the keepsakes we made for the baptism and since we were up until 4am the night before they deserved to be seen...haha! We had more boxes than candle pillars made.



Sunday we went to the lake, so the girls could cool down. They got a boat ride although the water was higher than average it was hard to get a good beach spot, but Roger found a pretty good spot. The water felt perfect it cooled us down and it wasn't too cold. Brenda is pregnant so I think she enjoyed some of that baby weight being held up by the water. Covered everyone with sunscreen and dove in.
 

Karla in the background trying to sneak Jessica in the picture, I didn't notice until afterwards when she told me...haha!

Hope you guys had a good time while you were here!

 

This is Jessica with Fred by the end of the trip, she was pretty scared of him when she first got here. They look like buddies now!!

Garden update...I have to say the garden it struggling right now. I didn't do much with it while the girls where visiting and it's been so hot. I hear a lot of people of having trouble with tomatoes right now. I personally have not had much of a harvest...dang! The basil for some unknown reason is doing really great! Lost the pumpkins due to the heat...sniff sniff. I was really looking forward to them.
 
Finally I wanted to let you all know I'm getting ready to open my etsy shop. I just signed up and I'm getting ready to make a couple of things to list for sale. As soon as I get some stuff ready I'll go ahead and list my website. If you have not heard of etsy check it out I have bought some neat stuff from there.
 
Getting ready for school to start next week!!! ack!!!

garden update

I added white pumpkin seeds last week "Casper" and this week I have sprouts! The package said I can harvest in 105 days...middle of October! Perfect timing for Halloween. The carrots don't seem to be coming through yet???? But I do have more seeds. You can see the grass it starting to go crazy in the background since I have not had a chance to pull it because of the holiday weekend (actually it has been since Wednesday...hmmm). I would like to tip my garden hat (-er soon to have garden hat, because I don't have one yet, but I will maybe it's more of salute until said hat can be purchased) to all those gardeners, this is hard work and I'm pretty much leaving my garden on it's own. After I worked in the garden I'm sore and achy. I'd also like to add that I consider myself pretty young, but my elderly retired neighbors do much more work than I do and they don't seem to get as tired as I do...haha! 

With everything going so well there has to be bad news...I lost my squash plant, something killed it not sure if bugs or just mold, it was definately not animals. I need to add a picture in case anyone recognized the cause and can give me advice. This happened last year too and it was in a different part of the garden. I did get one squash! 

The sunflowers are blooming like crazy and I noticed the birds are eatin up the seeds. I'll have to get out there and get some before they are all gone. Luckily are still more buds further down the stalks so I should get more.

I also wanted to add Ram's drawing of a blue jay...it looks great and the wing flaps...hehe! He used a picture from a bird book he borrowed from his granny to get the details.

4th of July

4th of July
Originally uploaded by ravenramandmoon

Happy Independance Day!

garden update

Wednesday's garden update...

Here are some shots of the backyard garden. It's starting to get full! I added some white pumpkins, carrots, radishes and some flower seeds around the borders.

Look at all those tomato plants if they all produce we will be eating tomatoes all day...hehe!

finished!

I'm finished! I got the quilt done this weekend and it was so much fun making! I'm just sorry the birthday girl is still waiting to get it.

I took the pattern from Quilts and More Magazine it's the one on the cover. Something different for me leaving the ends raw they will unravel a bit as it ages it should look pretty. Even though I have not taken pictures I have been making matching pillowcases with all the quilts I have given. I got a free pattern when I ordered some patterns and right now I can't remember which website...I'll have to add the link later when I remember.

Which reminds me, this weekend was my 40th birthday...WOW! I don't feel 40?!?!?! Anyways...I got to go to the mall and buy makeup as my birthday gift and of course lunch with my family. I also got out in the garden and pulled more grass. I came inside about an hour later and decided to take a nap. I was worn out from the heat. So...happy birthday to me! haha! Monday I found my friends had birthday wishes for me on facebook (which I'm so bad at I rarely get on) but I was warmed by all the wishes...THANK YOU!

This is the pillowcase I'm sending my niece Cristal along with her quilt. The fabric is Odyssea from Moda, it's a cute undersea theme print.

Here's a close up fo the quilt, I used a layer cake so they are 10" squares -er about that with my sewing...hehe! I got the boys to hold it up, they were more interested in the lawn mower...Rog was cutting the grass in the backyard.

Here it is! All finished and it looks sooo much better in person and up close. I hope she loves it!

I took the picture in the evening when I was loosing light, it could have been better. My helpers kept complaining their arms were getting tired...jeez!

Here is L, my other helper, she loves the sewing maching...I'm so happy...hehe! Actually she tries to touch the needle and presses all the buttons, but it's a start!

One last picture...I wanted to share this Oklahoma sunset! There was alot of gold but the camera has it so far away. Check out my sunflowers...they are really starting to bloom!

our blooming garden

This is the first bloom in our garden, this beautiful sunflower is at the very top and below you can see more forming. It looks like the sun shining down. The garden is changing quickly that I'm planning a garden update once a week. Can't wait to see the stalk with all those sunflowers on it. It will be amazing! As long as the birds don't eat it all. The tomatoe and jalapeno plants also have blooms, but I'm not counting those, this flower is just so amazingly beautiful I'm just counting it as the first! hehe! So we should be picking peppers and tomatoes soon! I'm planning on sharing my bounty with everyone.
I also forgot to mention, if you have not noticed my new blog banner. How can you not it's so colorful. Nicole from intermsofsheep created this for me. She was so nice to work with I think I scored a bargain. It looks great and it's perfect. This should be my garden blog...haha! If you check out the site I bought this.

Father's Day weekend at the lake

Friday we headed out to the lake and got to spend the night on the boat, first time this year. The boys were so excited since we had not had a chance to go since L was little. The boat ran rough, but it ran enough to get us to a nice area and back. We gave Rog one of his gifts early, swimming trunks. The water level is lower than normal and we anchored the boat away from the beach since we couldn't get it closer. The boys are swimming and it's around waist level on them, which is nice not to worry so much about them when it's deeper.  

L and Fred on the shore. Fred was tired after about an hour since he is 12 he doesn't have much stamina anymore. L took to the water like a fish. It helped that the water was not cold and low and farther out the bottom was soft on our feet. It was fun, Ram said it was the best day ever! They are so easy to please.

Rem said it was pretty darn hot near the edge!

Lunch! hamburgers cheeseburgers and chips! Yummy! Thanks to Rog, Griller Extraordinaire! He can cook some pretty good hamburger.

Rem found a clam with the clam still in it...his pet clam (that's what he said). They combed the beach and found all sorts of stuff which I didn't take a picture of like a dead rotting catfish...stinky! They of course were excited, me and L looked at it from a distance. They also made pots out of clay from the bottom of the lake, but we forgot those on the boat and I didn't take a picture of them...oops! Maybe when we go back...

Rem making the peace sign.

Ram just waving.

L trying to get the stuff off the table...little itty bitty. I used so much sun screen on her since she is so fair I was worried she would burn but she didn't even get pink. I did find tan lines on her on her leg, faint line...who knew! I didn't think she would tan...hehe!

Fred pooped out...haha! Poor ol' man.

Ram fished the night before and caught a small catfish that we threw back. He caught this one Saturday and he wanted to have it for dinner! Unfortunately it slipped out of Rog's hand, slippery little suckers, and it fell into the water. He was trying to hang it by the dock. Rog said he told Ram he was sorry. Ram said he would catch another one, a bigger one. He didn't have any luck after that...fish must have caught on...?? I am still amazed at how they have developed their own personalities likes and dislikes. They are so much alike and so opposites. I may start to cry I'm feeling nostalgic...snif snif! I don't know how I'm going to handle girlfriends, graduations, college...ack! Okay, stop! Back to the kids...Ram likes to swim but he likes to fish too. Rem likes to swim all the time! He is a really good swimmer, he taught himself to swim. My tadpoles!