Small town politics

Early voting location downtown New Braunfels.

Seems like political opinions abound even in the small Texas towns!

Who are these people

...and what have they done with my family?

After lunch today, I sat down at the computer to work on some church stuff. Chris decided to vacuum the dining room rug when he saw all the food Tanner had dropped.

Before I knew what had happened, a quick vacuum had turned into a mini "spring cleaning". About an hour later when I had finished my work, I got up to discover Tanner vacuuming his room:



Then the house was dusted and the couches were vacuumed:



Then windows were cleaned:



Needless to say, I began to feel guilty and had to join in by doing a good kitchen cleaning.

I decided we need to make this a regular "family activity"! Great bonding time right??!! Hey, a girl can dream.

All I know is my house looks really clean - and I didn't do much. What else could a woman want?

Solving the hair mystery

This morning, Chris was helping Tanner get ready for church and as he bent down to put Tanner's shoes on, this is the conversation that ensued:

Tanner: Daddy, you are missing some hair up there.
Chris: Oh really??
Tanner: Yeah, I think the squirrels are getting in your bed at night and eating it.

I have been giggling all day just thinking about it!

Back home

It is almost 11:00 pm and we are finally home from the beach. I am exhausted so I will keep this short and sweet.

We had a great time - saw dolphins jumping beside the ferry, went to the aquarium in Corpus where Tanner got to touch a shark, and had numerous days on the beach building sand castles and playing in the water.

And believe it or not, I actually found a sand dollar! You would have thought I won the lottery, I was so excited. I was having a great time yesterday walking along the beach by myself just talking with God - and suddenly I looked down and there it was. It was as if He dropped it there just for me - His little way of showing me that He delights in me!

Here are a few more pictures from our week:



Tanner learning how to boogie board:



My surfer boys:



Chris & Tanner with their unique twist on a sand castle:





Beautiful home down the road from our condo:



And finally, CHEAP GAS!! The frugal part of me couldn't resist taking a picture of gas that was more than .60 cheaper than what I had paid 5 days earlier back home :)

Searching for the perfect shells

I think I could move here.

Beautiful weather, sugary sand, and that wonderful sound of waves lapping the shore.

What else could you want??

Except maybe the elusive sand dollar. The beaches here are strewn with PIECES of sand dollars. Diane and I felt like we were being teased in our search for the whole sand dollar.

Diane got up at 6:30 our first morning and went out to the beach hoping she could find some before everyone hit the beach. She found footprints all over the sand and realized that 6:30 wasn't early enough!

While we were at the beach later in the day with the kids, an older man gave us some shells he had collected. They were gorgeous and that only increased our determination to find some. When we asked him how he had collected so many great shells, he told us he stayed on the beach all night. WHAT??!!!

So, the next night after Chris had arrived, Diane and I got up at 4 AM and went out with our flashlight. There was NO ONE out there - and all I can say is that the beach is a little scary in the middle of the night when you only have one little tiny flashlight for two people. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting - I thought the beach would just be covered with these awesome, perfect, unbroken shells just waiting for us to find.

Yeah, not so much. There was nothing. Only the fact that Diane's phone rang and we just about wet our pants it scared us so bad. Needless to say, we didn't stay out there very long! And we didn't find anything...

So, Diane and the kids headed home yesterday but I talked to her last night and she had another shell tip for me. Apparently, her hairdresser told Linda yesterday that you have to go out to the first sand bar if you want to get the sand dollars. I must be pretty desperate - taking sea shell advice from someone's hair dresser!

But I am hoping to sweet talk Chris into exploring the sand bar today...we'll see how that goes :)

The glorious beach

We are currently in Port Aransas with Diane, Lena and Rowdy. The weather is absolutely beautiful and we are having a great time.

A few pictures from our first day:

My little man

If you were to ask Tanner how old he is, he would quickly tell you that he is four - but almost five. For most people, a birthday 10 months away would not constitute "almost". But Tanner is eager to grow up.

While his mommy wishes that time would slow down!!

We recently enrolled him in a city program called Sporties for Shorties. What an appropriate name!

Imagine two young guys trying to explain the fundamentals of basketball, baseball, football, and soccer to a group of 4 and 5 year olds. It was downright comical at times.

But Tanner thoroughly enjoyed it, and is very disappointed that it is over. I definitely think I see sports in his future - he loves anything that involves a ball. And I think I can safely say that any athletic abilities he may have did not come from his mother!

Here is a video from the last class on football: