Summer Happenings

Dear Summer, you are passing too quickly. Please slow down so I may enjoy more time with the boys before the hectic pace of school/activities/theatre/gymnastics? start again. Kthxbai. Love, Me.

We've been so busy this summer. At least summer school is over. DS1 and DS2 are both happy about that. :)

We try to go bowling at least once a week. The boys are all getting better, and I've managed to keep my form too. Ha.

We've had lots of family visits. Cousins:


And we've been hanging out at the ranch:



And we celebrated DS4's 5th birthday with lots of friends:

(16 kids and everyone's eyes are open! Ha.)

I have managed to finish a blanket that I made for my younger niece A. She loved the colors; like me, purple is her favorite!

I have lots more plans for summer; just hope I don't run out of time!

Cousins Reunion, Part II

A week ago, I spent a long weekend in Alma, Colorado with my sisters and my girl cousins. This is the second time we've met to catch up and hang out. (First time was last summer in San Antonio.) Sadly, because of family and work obligations, three cousins were missing this time around. :(


This is the six of us on the last morning in Colorado. ^^ I'm on the bottom right side, wearing my blue tunic that I finished just in time for the trip. Talk about motivated!

We stayed at my uncle's beautiful log cabin (thank you, Tom and Rosie!), cooked, laughed, played games, and went sightseeing. Alma is located a few miles south of Breckenridge.

We went bowling in Fairplay -- just 8 lanes and most people went to the bowling alley for the tamales! We had a blast!

This is me at the Continental Divide:

Til next year, Gonzales Girls!

Girls Weekend!

I just spent 3 fun-filled days in San Antonio with 8 of the most loving, creative, fun, and wonderful women I know -- my sisters and my cousins, the Gonzales Girls!

One flew in from California, and her sister flew in from New Mexico. Four came down from the Dallas-Fort Worth area (one of those by way of Mexico -- long story...). One drove up from Brownsville, and the other one drove down from Austin. I'm so blessed that they are my family and also my friends!

Here are the 9 of us in birth order from left to right (I'm the fourth one from the left):

This photograph is courtesy of MeriBella Photography (Gonzales Girl #8), which leads me to a collaboration that I am thrilled to share!

My cousin Meri asked me to create a cocoon/wrap for her to use when taking photographs of newborns. Here's the image she created with the wrap I made for her:

During our reunion this weekend, Meri and I discussed more newborn items/props. I can't wait to create these, and share them with her and with you. More information on MeriBella Photography, based in Brownsville, Texas, is available on the website or the Facebook page!

Reminder: the giveaway for the set of lip balm holders will end on July 1. Please read the last blog entry (I'm Published!) for ways to enter the giveaway. Good luck!

WIPs and UFOs

My home is full of WIPs and UFOs. Before you get the wrong idea, WIPs are works in progress and UFOs are unfinished objects. Sounds like they are the same thing, but really UFOs are WIPs that have been tossed in a drawer and left untouched for a period of time. I admit I just looooove to start new projects, sometimes before the current ones are complete.

So to that end, I decided to finally finish some loooooong standing projects. I can't tell you how many years ago I started this cross-stitch sampler, but the magazine with the pattern on the cover is from 1988.

It sat unfinished for many, many, many years. I finally finished it recently, but I made a design change (gone are the teddies!). Now I just have to frame it! Yay!

I also finished Afghan 1 for los primos (the cousins). My mother asked me to make 7 afghans for her 1st cousins (children of her father's brother). Out of the 21(!) children born to my great-grandparents, only my grandfather and my great-uncle Nat lived to adulthood. Both of them died in 2001, and they are greatly missed by their children and grandchildren.

So Afghan 1 is finally ready:

Afghan 2 is almost complete (it looks finished here, but trust me, the side with all of the yarn ends looks horrible! If you know anything about me, you know I hate to work in the ends.):

I did manage to complete this great dinosaur skull shirt for DS3's birthday! It only took a couple of days to crochet, and a couple more days to sew it on the shirt. The pattern is by Regina Rioux Gonzalez and was published in the March/April 2009 issue of Crochet Today!

I have 2 more WIPs that I started yesterday (please don't ask why; I just don't know). Both are scarves -- one is made of cotton yarn, and the other is an acrylic/bamboo blend that I just couldn't resist. They will both be listed at The Lavender Lizard when they are completed (which, hopefully, is soon!).