July brings with it a burst of color for us.
I have gotten to where I love planting flowers in our yard that will come back yearly. The cannas were given to me by a neighbor. :) They look tropical and exotic to me.
The local school gets decked out too. My youngest will be going there next year so we should be taking more walks both morning and afternoon and maybe evening too :D
The local school gets geckos on the walls now. I called a university that deals in this and found out they were new to our area. They are not native to here at all but they had started out being brought in to Shawnee in flower pots and established a colony and the colony on the school in Tecumseh is a new one that we enjoy watching. They are usually out when we start our night walks.
Stargazer lilly that I gave my mom in the glass I etched. She enjoyed the fresh flowers in her house. I would like to get her some kind of plant that will do well inside. I look forward to the stargazers blooming.
A local building that had been damaged some in a past earthquake (older building) just couldn't continue holding up and so discussions started about taking it down for safety...this was in July...still there for now :) 
We watched the fireworks displays both at the air show in Shawnee and at Firelake in Shawnee (not the grand just the regular by the grocery store) These were actually pretty peaceful and good times for us. 
I had yellow cannas this year
My tomato plants were putting out an abundance of tomatoes and I enjoyed every last one of them. Peppers, tomatoes, etc but no squash as the wild rabbits thought that was for them.
We got a few visitors at night. This guy and an opossum that likes to come hang out
one of my youngest daughters favorite library programs. Tommy Terrific. Geared for the younger crowd but was really a cute and funny show :) 
My roses continued to put out beautiful blooms all summer
I got a nice surprise when I got more gladiolas. They had mixed colors.
These started sprouting up in front of my moms giving her something to see when she comes outside :)
The wisteria only get fuller and prettier through the season
My youngest picked these out to plant.
The last program of the season. 
This was from the Oklahoma herpetology group he came to show the snakes. I later joined them. :) My youngest got to hold a snake. 
Lots of trips to the local park.
August: This was the busiest month for us there was so much going on (good things) so there are lots of pics
My lil grand baby continue to grow so fast (still is) and got to spend time with family and friends a lot. 
Lots more trips to the local lake. 
School was starting and this was their theme. My youngest takes after her brother in her love of lego games and such (the actual blocks not as much) but she really loved this. I have to admit this was very cool. 
Hot out and birds seeking shade.
one semi hauling two
a bit of weather
more lake (not so much catching anything after the one day though. 
Persimmons
The water lillies were blooming. They are a new thing (or I've never seen them at Tecumseh lake) and I LOVE them. 
We checked out the other side of the lake and the other building that we'd never seen it before. It was pretty cool.
Old chimney on it.
Dragon fly (was released post photo)
Loved the contrast of this
Different shades of persimmons (now I know where to find them though my dad brought me some and I can plant the seeds around here)
and of course an Oklahoma novelty in the summer. Working the fields but need to stop by and pick something up on the way home? Yep. :D
This was my 2nd trip to see my Rheumy so my son got to go this time to the museum. 
It was a great trip :) 
The kids really enjoyed it.
The scenery on the way was nice
I was feeling okay enough to stop in at Thunderbird to the wildlife area on the way back. There were a bunch of wild turkeys at the entrance and we tried and tried to wake my youngest up and she was OUT. Finally she saw them on the way back out when we left. 
Purple Thistle
Goldenrod
Thunderbird We want to try again next summer
out on the dock.
My MIL got to see the grandbaby for the first time and my oldest for the first time in awhile. :) August was my mom's birthday month too. It was just a great month in all.
September: My birth month I turned 39. It is also my youngest son's birth month. He passed at birth with Trisomy 18 but we celebrate his birthday every year by doing a stepping stone. Now we have a special place to put them. It is not a dark day at all just a day to remember him and honor him. Every September I look forward to the Pott. county fair and the Frontier days celebration. This year we all decided to enter something in the fair. We plan on doing it again this coming year.
My son thought these were cool. This pic does not do them justice. He stands at least 5'6 I think and they came up pretty high on him.
My youngest loved this pony
This was a fave. of mine too cute.
Of course this was awesome too.
My youngest entered the coloring contest.
My son didn't want to go on this but my youngest did it :) Maybe next year we can get my son to do it too LOL 
This guy was posing
This is the type of chicken I want. Mille Fleur 
My husbands entry the headpiece and necklace on the mannequin head. (we got a pair of these to use in our crafts) 
My youngest made this bracelet. She likes beading (so does my son) 
It was raining out so no rides really but the did get to do a little. The indoor water thing worked out great.
I entered and got first prize. Very excited about that still :) I have plans for next year.
My son entered a duct tape satchel he made. He is very good with crafting things like that. I couldn't find the pic but I do have a pic elsewhere in my blogs somewhere of it.
We like to use glow sticks at night when walking they created a game with them.
Impromptu library function. Origami. 
Some beautiful storm clouds as the weather changes a bit. 
Visits from the praying mantis' as they look for mates.
Local frontier days parade. It was hot but fun. The only thing that bothers me is if you watch the parade stuff is practically closed down before you can enjoy it. (the booths and such) 
largest flag
My youngest was excited about the band. She was telling us how they came to her school.
The had a bear this year for people to take pics with. They had a wall of plexi glass between the people and him.
My youngest loves the ponys. Won't be much longer she will be small enough to ride.
She got this puppet poodle there. We need to fix the strings but won't be hard. It is really cool. 
We had lost all our fish the summer before when the pumps quit working. We still had our supplies and got a hold of a bigger fish tank for like $5 or $10 so we put it to use with the supplies we all ready had and got some gold fish. :) Really enjoy it. 
Apparently these are called red spider lillies. They come out as a sign of fall coming. Beautiful flowers. 
and here is a red spider to go with them :) (fly catcher) 
Wild life and insects getting ready for the seasons to change 
The stepping stone we did.
October: Halloween is a favorite holiday of ours. This was also the month that my 2nd oldest came back home to Oklahoma to stay. Got a job really quickly after months of searching where she was and has as this point gotten a raise once and is due for a 2nd one. Got a vehicle and soon to get a place of their own. Has been engaged but made it official :) Planning a wedding for this coming year. Very happy for her. She has a really wonderful fiance and I think she is doing great. Had a get together shortly after she came back and even my dad came and he and my mom also met my grand baby for the first time.
Spiders coming in as the weather changes. I think Momma wolf spider can keep that coupon. We scooped her up and put her back out. 
The skies change
and change again.
Lovely bout with hand foot and mouth. It really affected her little toe. She was super sick with it. It really gives them a sore throat too. We thought she had strep til the rash showed up on the hands and feet and I knew but we took her in anyway to confirm which they did. 
Downtown Trick or treat we met up with my oldest and my friend and her kids and my grand baby and went around down town with them and then went out trick or treating on our own later that eve. Kids had a blast. My youngest outlasted my son LOL My son was ready to go home.
November: Thanksgiving of course. My 2nd oldest turned 19. Family get togethers.
Not the prettiest cake but her younger sister picked out the colors. The inside was blue.
Just as the fall skies were. We thought it funny how this jet trail bent. It was rather windy out.
Other parts of the sky appeared silver almost
Set this up for the outdoor cat to use and he wound up going over to my Mom's and this opossum decided it was his.
Popcorn cakes. Very good when you can't have wheat though not something to get too often.
We got some snow that meant the schools were out for a few days.
My first non-loom knitted crocheted hat. This was for my grand baby and I made another for my youngest. I am making other hates and such mostly loom knitted for family members at this time.
and this brings us to December:
The other non-loom knitted hat
We met up with my two older girls at the Christmas gala (well the last half of it) and spent a lil time there. 
Beautiful sunsets
On the way to Walmart saw these lights at the Grand and had to stop and take pics. 
The cats took our tree down 3x before we secured it to the wall really good. LOL This is what it looked like after. :) They left it alone til after Christmas and now have decide it is time for to come down. It looks pretty sad now LOL :D
My son made this for his girlfriend he even wrote out the design first. :) (he has a really awesome girlfriend by the way ) 
Birds on the power lines
This spider was on the side of the car and was too cold to move much it wasn't dead. My youngest accidentally put her hand on it and it tried to hang on to her but was thankfully too sluggish to do anything. We moved it off the car.
Hat and scarf for my MIL. I love loom knitting.
My youngest had a Christmas program before school let out for break. They sang and while she had left her group during another program because she saw us and ran to us this time she did great. :) These are gingerbread houses the classes made.
They had a party post program.
Cute
This guy followed me around the yard one day watching me. Seemed he was confused about the cold snap.
Enjoyed the one day of sunshine we had out of so many dark and dreary days. The lack of sun has me wanting to hibernate and worrying a bit about my D vitamin levels dropping too much again. This was a nice day though.
hat for my mom (it is red not orange though the back ground makes it appear that way)
these 3 pines have been through a lot from the tornado, to the drought, windstorms etc. The first two had snapped off midway up (they were pretty tall) and we were worried about the last as it had a narrow space to fall in which it would not mess with the power lines. I found out just a couple of days ago it did just that. Fell between the space so didn't hit any power lines. Very grateful. We had a wonderful Christmas. The best in a long time and I managed to get the girls gifts to them today. We were supposed to visit but it didn't work out that way which may not be a bad thing as I haven't been feeling good today but hoping as the weather warms we'll have lots more opportunities. This has all in all been a good year. :) Hoping every one else's was too :D Here is hoping next year is just as wonderful if not even more so :D
