Celebrating the 4th in Blooming Prairie

Starting out the day before with a hit of some Coca Cola. :) I found the actual old style big bottles in the Latino section of Walmart... I couldn't resist.

Helping me by peeling eggs.

Little punk playing in the water.

Two of my favorite helpers.

Raspberry lemonade cake.

Sugar cookies, done like watermelon (duh right?)

We got down to Blooming Praire just before the kid's games started. There are always fun foot races, three legged races, and penny races. Also a shoe kicking contest...

Before it started, Samie and Micah wanted to swing, so Grandma Manami helped out by giving Samie and underdog. :)

And then Chaos ensued.....

The menfolk look so excited to watch a bunch of kids running around. :D

We went back to Manami's house and Uncle Jeff had brought these really cool soft swords that were really durable... obviously sword fighted commenced. :)

Chef Tim Malloy threatening me... :)

Pretty Prego Carol keeping a sharp eye on the kids.

Getting the party started.

The stand-off

Uncle Jeff and Zach going at it... they do it all the time so they don't hold back. It was really fun to watch them. :)

Levi didn't know what to make of it.

Micah attacking Zach

Micah attacking Daddy.

Micah and Xander attacking Uncle Jeff

Levi wanted his own sword..

Tim going after Emily's sword.

My dorky husband giving the outfits a thumbs up.

the now "infamous" outfits that Auntie Ky makes every year for the girls... only this year Carol help me out. :)

Jayden & Emily

Samie & Joelle

Havyn, Brynne, & Justice

Bethie's newest obsession.... she wants one just like her big brother. :)

...he told her she needed to start out smaller though.

We headed to the parade next...

The menfolk assessing the display.

Quite a line-up of girls there. :)

CANDY!!!

ooo look a fireman! :)

Couple of my favorite guys :)

One of the newest fun places to play... the back of a pickup truck. Xander Micah and Zach were bonding. :)

Da Boys at the Parade.

Couple of cute girls here. :)

Jayden (11) Emily (12)

Brynne and Justice.

Samie being a dork.

BFF's

Samie getting ready to go on her first motorcycle ride. :)

Roman playing in Grandma Manamie's garden.

James Checking him out.

The fam getting ready to go and watch fireworks.

Jo Jo and me. :)

Poor Bethie got about 4 hours of sleep the night before... she was SO ready to be done.

Carol Jeff and Tim

Uncle Jeff is MAGIC with those glo sticks. LOL!

Okay there's funny story behind this one, but I don't feel like telling the whole thing.. just that apprently Jeff and I are a lot a like with quips, pranks, and general sarcasm... enough that neither one of us have been accused of being sweet little angels.... However, we vouch for each other's "Halo's" ... now we have pictorial proof that we have them.. no matter what anybody else says.

Updated Garden pics.

Herbs

Garden

Peas

You can see the peppers

My zucchini... no veggies yet though.

Cabbage with no kids. :)

Green beans.

As Promised ;)

Garden Pics from June 4th

Okay so I'm a little behind posting... but wait til you see the progress of the garden.

This is my fabulous HUGE cherry tomato plant. Complete with tomatoes.. who knew! LOL!

Here are my peas blooming beautifully.

Tomato plants

Green beans, cabbage is doing well. and the zuchinni is doing alright too.

I'll post more in a couple days so, from recent.

Garden Update May 15th

I've already learned a few things with this garden. It's nothing like I expected. I had hoped, that by now, I'd have some growth on my plants. *wrong*

On the little pellet thingy's I started the plants in, it said it was unecessary to take the filmy stuff off as the roots would grown right through. *wrong* I pulled out a couple of my green beans and noticed that the root system was still incased in the stupid little things. I then proceeded to uproot everything I had started in the house (green beans, green peppers, cucumbers, jalapenos, cabbage, and zucchini) and peel off the little casings.

I hope to see some progress in the growing aspect this week as its supposed to be warm and sunny. I just have to make sure I keep up with the watering.

My green beans on the left and zucchini on the right.

Here are my peas I started right in the garden from seed. I think they're the most hardy of the whole bunch.

This is a good shot of the whole garden and you can see my pretty tomato plants I picked up athe farmers market last saturday.

Lastly (for now) I've learned that this tool is invaluable, its a two headed Hoe/pick thingy. It's just the right size to use not only as what it was meant for. (weeding and cultivating) but its perfect to use as a walking stick in the garden. As you see in the pic above I've got little stepping stones, but my larger feet dont' exactly balence real well on them. This thing saved me from stepping off in the mud a few times today. ;)

That's all on the garden for now so I thought I'd add a few more pics of the Mother's Day weekend of which I got to spend with Mom and Dad. It rocked.

This is the hummingbird feeder I got for her, (I got myself one too as you can see by the pic, obviously this isn't the one I got her, it's being shipped to Oregon.)

I also sent this windchime with it, obviously I got myself one too. :D

This was a cute little Johnny Jump up that I saved and planted in a pot for Sam. She's thrilled she has her own potted plant for outside.

I on the other hand, am thrilled with my pretty red Gerbera Daisy that was my gift from my Mom. :)

This is a shot of the table right now. The pink Gerbera is for Beth, my Sister In Law, a gift from my Mom also.

Here's some of the stuff I have out front of my house, my Mother's day from Tim. All pretty new plants to accent the not so pretty house.

Colius (sp) and some sort of Dragawhatchamacallit grass for the center. When they fill in it'll be beautiful.

Here's a shot of the two larger planters and my birdbath, which I transfored from a fountain and with a little silacone made a nice bath for the birdies that I don't have to plug in. :)

LOVED this daisy. I've never seen a white daisy with a purple center. So unique. Had to have it.

Dahlias in the smaller pots out front.

Here are the new flower beds Mom and Dad helped me put in. I have Moss Rose, Galardia, and Lupine planted in here. Also on the far left I have my pumpkin patch.

Lastly here are the baskets I planted, the first one I had, the second was another present from Mom. Can't wait for them to fill in.

New Family pics

Mom and Pop come to visit!

Love this shot of Dad and Levi!

Taught the Parents how to play Settlers of Catan!

Mom and Samie got wallpaper hung in the bathroom!

Mom's knee highs... Samie's thigh highs! HA!

We did the zoo thing on Thursday!




Helped Grandma do some cooking, with new aprons even!

We had such a great time. I wish I would have taken more pictures but you know how it goes. I'm really lookin forward to going out to Oregon in September. Hope I can justify a new camera by then :)

Oh and here's a shot of our teaparty we had, so special Mom got us a new tea set. Now I just have to find creamer and sugar things and maybe a new tray.