His princess

Katarin was over a few weeks ago and she loves twirling her skirts. Her daddy is a guitar player and she loves singing, dancing, and… you get the picture. I had a hard time taking a good picture but here is one… i love her expression. :-)

When you get the choice to sit it out… DANCE!

-Sandra

this is what I saw in the courtyard this morning and I had to take pics.

talk to you later

The other night I was waiting my turn to play ping pong with the winner of Patrick and Papa’s game (if it’s correct to word it like that) and while papa was retrieving the ball from one of Patrick’s "slams" he suddenly gasps and says, "Sandra, mira!!" And I looked where he was pointing and saw… much to my horror… that my "beloved" palm trees were eaten down to the core. See, my dad likes to let the cows in one by one to "graze in the orchard" but forgets about them. And it’s happened before… they come to the porch and eat my plants. Of course this is very aggravating to me and I used to fuss a lot about the stupidity of letting the cows in the YARD …where of course they’ll leave "cow pies" in places there’s not supposed to be cow pies. So anyway, Papa did start being more careful about this… he didn’t allow them to "graze" anymore, but still fed some of the milking cows inside so the other stupid cows won’t steal their food. And he also was very nice in staying out to watch the cow until she was finished eating. In the meantime, I tried to faithfully water my plam trees (they are in pots, btw) and was pretty happy about how they were beginning to look. The one sprouted beautifully, the other one was so badly damaged I thought it woudl never recover, but it did. It wasn’t as pretty as the other one but it was slowly getting there. I also had a fairly young one I planted several months ago and anyway it was JUST ENTERING THIS WORLD and Papa (or Patrick…. they were blaming each other, lol) forgot about a cow they had let in, and SHE ATE MY PALMTREES!!!!! Well, I must clarify it was only two of the three… she didn’t eat the prettiest one because I had it on the higher level of the porch and she couln’t get to it as easily. Makes me mad but oh well. I decided not to fuss too much, because I know Papa was trying to be careful…. and accidents happen so yah. And besides, they will grow back, I think. It is painful to see them look so pitiful after being so pretty but PALM TREES AREN’T FOREVER.  Does it drive you burzurk to think of the beautiful gardens in Heaven?? We’ll be able to stroll them with Jesus!!!

I shall treat you to a newsy update…

The weekend with Sheri here was great. I didn’t get many things done with her as I would have liked to. I had so much to do to prepare for the weekend it was pathetic. Pathetic because my friend was here and I wasn’t able to spend "quality" time with her but anyway. I am happy to know she enjoyed her two days here… if I understand right, she caught up on sleep and spent some "aloneness" with God. : )
I’m glad I was, in a way, her "source" of relaxation.

Saturday, Unit Meeting, was "ok." The sharing time we had in the morning was interesting… to listen to other ppl’s, struggles, triumphs and woes. I had a headache basically the whole day 
but my afternoon was pretty much ruined completely, I felt so woozy. Amy offered me her bedroom at the teacher’s house and so I went over with her and zonked out on the couch with the whirring of the fan. I had never been in the teacher’s apartment but I love it, it’s so cute!!!! Anyway so much for Saturday. Oh, Benny Byler and Daniel Bontrager from the AMA board 
came for the weekend. It was fun having them here… we had a jolly time… constantly laughing it seemed like. Oh and I have yet to learn what is so scary about their so-called "interviews." They mainly shared some words of encouragement and thanked us (Vane and I) for doing our part here at home ("because of what we have seen…") it was kinda sweet, really.

This week of school has been great so far. Seriously, God is continually showing me how better school and LIFE can be when I depend on Him.  I can honestly say that I am not tired of school yet. I’m not quite sure I 
can honestly say that actually I look forward to it… but it’s mighty close.

Today we had a day off. Was pretty sweet. Mom and my younger siblings (except for Patrick) went to spend the day with Judy Glick and her children. It sounds like Mom and Judy had a great time visiting and sharing tips about schooling… Kenny played himself ragged, and Susanna and Cecilia in their glory with Martha and Marla. Aww.

I spent the day at the Miller’s home. Jennica and Kendra had been really sick and with 4-week-old Brendon, Connie was pretty busy. Jennica is basically over w/e she had… poor Kendra has not eaten anything without throwing it up since Sunday, and even then it’s only been a few bites of jell-o, some chicken broth, and a single noodle. She just brings it all back up. Last week they went to Nicaragua to spend the week with Joseph’s family. Jennica got a stomache ache on the way back Saturday, and Sunday afternoon Kendra began with it too. So I hadn’t seen them for a few days (seemed more like a few weeks!) and when I got there this morning, Kendra came to me with droopy eyes but her same dear smile and threw herself into my arms and squeeezed tight and stayed that way for about a whole minute. What a sweetie.
I had a fun day… mostly entertaining the children so Connie could rest. Brendon seems so big after a week of not seeing him… it’s simply amazing how quickly babies grow! 
Some of the things we did today together with Joshua, Jennica and Kendra were play many many games of Buzzy Bee, Uno, and other vard games. We also played "House" where I was the storekeeper Joshua my man, Kendra my baby and Jennica my beloved friend who came to visit me every few seconds. My friend’s house burned down, my man had to call "the firetrucks" FAST and my baby was sick so my friend had to come over to help me make dinner, sweep the house, etc etc. Our dinner was a soup. The ingrediants were, dirt, water, and leaves. Mmmm, delicious!!

Kendra only puked once while I was there… otherwise she wanted to be everywhere I was, but she is sorta weak and always wanting to be held.

All in all it was a delightful day.

Hope your day was too.

Glory in the Lord!
-Sandra

Carson and I were arguing over chat weather Juan Carlos is my man or his…

He is learning to walk and does very well…
it’s quite amusing though…
he walks with his arms out-stretched
and with a rather frightened expression on his face.

buh bye!

like I thought I should post because

sheri is here

she is talking on the phone w/ verda right now

it’s fun listening in on only half the conversation. (not)

tomorrow is unit meeting and i’m so excited.

ok i am like being so weird… excited about um? you gotta be insane to pumped about UM!! (in other words I am NOT excited about UM…no one else in the Ramos gang is either)

i finished school before dinner.

school this week was great

God’s been working in my life

i didn’t eat as much as I often do this week.  (lol)

i mowed grass this afternoon for the first time in several months

i sometimes feel I can’t wait for rainy season.

dry season can be so not beautiful.

this evening sheri and i went to la neveria for tornados. (they are delicious)

we have (i think) enough coke for tonight. it’s actually only 2 liters… like wow.

it’s slushy cuz we had it in the freezer yum (the coke)

i don’t know what else to right

except that I think it’s my turn to talk to verda don’t ya say sheri?

verda is gonna run up a HUGE bill.

her fault.

see ya later babies as kenny woudl say

behave thyself as I say

I’m being innapropriete as sheri would say

Yesterday Nina Elsie and I took a quick trip to Santa Ana to do some shopping. Ever since we started this floral business (which in reality I haven’t been helping much with, but she still loves making bouquets of artificial flowers and dreams of converting her currently "mini supermarket" into a florist & gift shop), we have been planning to sell "REAL" flowers for special occasions. So we went to Santa Ana… not necessarily to return with bunches of flowers, but just enough to make 2 or 3 bouquets and see what comes of it. Well we were both surprised at the difference of the cost because of the time of the year, and she is so very very indecisive that she nearly lost heart completely and suggested we forget the idea. I am not experienced at all and know she knows lots more about business than I do… but I was very glad that, after debating with herself for ages, she decided we should give it a try. But while she was busy with her restless thoughts I was going bananas… flowers everywhere… not just roses but basically ANY kind of flower you could dream of!!! I was clutching my purse telling myself I cannot spend too much (I was "wise" enough to only take 10 bucks), and in my mind dreaming of a beautiful bouquet… for myself. How selfish is that? Nina Elsie went one way; I went the other. Literally. She went to the end of the market where they sell artificial flowers and I stayed put… 
wondering around like a lost kid in a candy store… in awe of the things around her. JK it wasn’t that bad. In fact, I didn’t wonder around. I knew what I wanted so I bought it w/out thinking twice.

So Nina Elsie did finally make up her mind we should buy a few (natural) flowers and make a few bouquets.
We divided the cost between us which ended up being only $3.75 each… lol. Sadly we obviously didn’t do very well in the selection of roses. She thought we should get the cheapest, because the ppl here in Texis would prolly not want to
pay very much so… they were the kind of roses we have here at home, small and already somewhat wilted. So Nina Elsie made a bouquet out of the nicer roses and we didn’t gain anything but lost 75 cents. Not that we care!! We had fun and that’s what counts. We also learned several things and we
both are excited about Mother’s Day comming up… we are determined to do better.

Go to my photo journal to see a few pictures of my bouquet. I only spend $7.50 on the whole thing. I didn’t think it was too bad. I DO know though, 
that I am NOT good at arranging flowers and need help!! (have any advice? would love to hear from you!)

Yesterday afternoon was the thanksgiving service for Philip and Judy’s twins and also in thankfulness for  the successful heart surgery done on Titus 2 yeas ago. It was an enjoyable afternoon. The service was a typical one… sorta unorganized and during the service we were asked to stand up and move the banches against the walls so more chairs coudl be set up and thus, more ppl coudl be seated. A lot of ppl were invited; most of the ppl from the surrounding churches were there and some neighbors of the glicks, friends, and alos most of the doctors and nurses that attended Judy in the twin’s birth. Was interesting to meet Doctora Marla. Mama says she would almost like to have another baby just so Marla could attend her. Thats says alot

It was interesting to meet the doctor who operated Papa’s finger after we came back from furlough (the second operation done on his poor pinkie). He didn’t have anything to do with Judy but his wife helped with the babies while recovering.

I was asked to sing with a "grupo especial" some songs selected my Phillip and Judy. I didn’t get to practice at all with the group and therefore I was quite distressed. It’s especially trying to sing with ppl I rarely sing with. With my family I can easily sing a song w/out practice because we do it all the time, and I know our style of singing and know how to blend in. Tenor had stress, bass was not loud enough because poor Carlos seemed quite unsure of himself. But then again, so did the rest. Including me. The two other soprano girls kept messing up in one song (i can’t remember what song it was!) 
and I woudl shut up with terror & embarress myself. I mean there was tons of ppl! Oh well. I know that true praise to our King must come from the heart and not from the sound coming from our lips but yes I didn’t really enjoy singing with that group very much. :/

I’m sorry to say I didn’t take pics of baby Martha and Marla but this coming Saturday is Unit Meeting so I might then if I remember.

Right now the song "Didn’t It Rain" sung by Chanticleer is being played in the livingroom and I feel like getting up and singing very loudly so I just might. And in the meantime 
do some swaying to the tune like some others are out there…
"drr-ip drop, drr-ippity drop… drr-ip drop, drr-ippity drop…"

Ppls, don’t come visit the Ramoses if you are "skard" of mice!! Seriously we have them… and rats… everywhere. It is not fun. No, no, not fun at all.

I have this bag of chocolate hearts… no, no one gave them to me; I bought them… that I  had on my dresser the other night. The next morning I was combing my hair when I noticed one chocoalate had a fairly big peice taken out of it. I picked it up and looked closely at it and literally freaked out when I saw tiny little mouse teeth marks on it. I DROPPED it and then started laughing silently. Mice in our bedroom! Naughty little mouse must like chocolates as much as I do.

That afternoon I mentioned what I’d seen to Vanessa and she was liek "shut UP!!" she didn’t wanna hear about the mouse, lol. (so of course I exaggerated as much as I thought possible)

Next morning… another half-eaten chocolate found on top of our dresser. Vanessa decided it’s time to get down to business, although she was only gonna hire ppl to do the job… no, she wasn’t gonna kill that mouse.

So papa put some poison by our dresser late last night… I was too tired to ask him not to put POISON. I’s just awful seeing half-dead (or alive) mice wondering around sickly. Or seeing no more mice but suddenly your nose tells you there’s something DEAD in here! But then again, if he’d set a trap, we’d prolly hear a snap during the night and scream. ….or not. he he.

I stuck my chocolates away in my drawer.

and woudl you believe there is another messed-up peice IN MY DRAWER this morning!!!!!!!!!!

so anyway. not only our bedroom has mice… our house is practically hiding some in every corner. And no, I’m really not THAT scared of them….. I just hate how stupid the are… they run staright toward you and up your legs if you’re not out of the way.

Vanessa found a sick rat on the KITCHEN COUNTER the other day while serving dinner. Can it get any worse?!?! lol.

So, I suppose w’re in for some "busy" days in the future… trying to rid the house of mice. Course, who knows how possible it is to totally rid the house of mice and rats but oh well….