POC Couple fishing

A few weekends ago, Wes & I ventured down to Port O'Conner with the Siemsglusz's.  The four of us abandoned ship, leaving 6 kids behind.  We would have loved to have loaded the coolers with fish, but reality was we didn't care what we caught, we were just thankful to get a weekend away without kids.

 Dreaming....  I'd fish just about everyday if I had a boat like this.  That's probably a lie because if I had enough money to buy this boat, I'd also have money to buy a beach house and that would be my preferred choice for relaxation/spending my days as a millionaire.

 Adrienne & Steven Siemsglusz

 The Maurer's

Wes's Texas Grand Slam... a trout, redfish and flounder all in a quick hour trip out in the bay Friday afternoon.

Fishing is not one of the top 25 activities I would put on my hobby list, but it was great to be out on the water and see Wes in his element.  The man loves to fish and he's good at it.  Tides, wind, water depths, fish tendencies... the man knows it all.  We let the guys do most of the fishing, but Adrienne and I did get out of the boat and wade fish on Saturday and we were ok with staying out on the water from 8:30am - 4pm.
At nights we enjoyed dinner, drinks and shuffleboard out on the town.  Great weekend with great friends!

I must note that we got home from POC around 2pm on Sunday.  Wes had a Monday morning guided trip to Galveston planned with his dad and Uncle Doug.  So after unpacking and house to-do's, he was in bed early Sunday night only to get up at 3am to be in Galveston to dock at 6am.  At 6:45am, I got a text saying that they had already limited out!  We had grilled fish for dinner and have enough in the freezer to feed a small army.

Summer picks

I've mentioned before that Wes gets all the credit for our garden.  We've enjoyed dinners of squash, corn, potatoes,  & cabbage and those sides that call for fresh jalepenos, onions, and bell peppers.  We've also picked plenty of these:

Pickles!

We have more of these than we know what to do with.  No one in our Party of Five would dare each a raw tomato.  We usually freeze a few for winter soups and we eat lots of fresh pico.  It's our after work go to snack.  If I could only find a great tasting chip with no calories, I'd be a happy camper.

Pico recipe:  7 medium/large tomatoes, 1 large onion, 1/2 bunch cilantro, 4-5 jalepenos (deseeded)  Cut veggies into large chunks.  In a food processor, chop fine.  Add lime juice and salt.  Marinate 3-4 hours (best overnight).  Yummmmmm-o!

TV Stars

If you happened to be watching Channel 11 News (KHOU) Friday afternoon, you might have caught a glimpse of our crew.  Popo sent in this picture of the kids... not real sure why, but kind of cool that is was picked for their photo of the day.  He took it when they went down to Port O'Conner at the end of May.
Wes had the kids all day Friday while I was at work and when I got home I was told we were going out for dinner.  The kids got to pick where we went.  When I asked them why they got to pick, Avery said it was because the were "rock stars".  Then Austin said, "no, we're movie stars."  Rock stars, movie stars, tv stars... they are all the same.

Bible School

I was gently reminded yesterday that it had been a while since I last posted.  I can't say I've had too much spare time this week.  This is Bible School week at our church.  My day usually starts with dragging tired kids out of bed, dropping them off at St. Paul's, working, picking them up at 5:00pm, getting to Bible School at 5:30pm for an early supper, Bible School from 6pm - 8pm, home by 8:15pm, fixing a second supper because everyone is hungry again, unpacking from the day, repacking for the next days activities, and then putting kids that have fallen asleep in front of the tv into bed.  Four days of that can wear a person out!
Bible School has been fun though.  I was assigned to help with crafts... what were they thinking.  Good thing we had a book to follow and supplies were provided otherwise we'd be painting rocks all week if I had to be creative. 
Looking forward to a low key weekend with great friends!

Happy Father's Day!!

Can't say enough about the guy in this picture.  When it comes to being a dad,  he's the B.E.S.T!  He takes the time to teach the kids about all the things he loves - fishing, hunting, and projects around the house.  But I think the thing that he really loves the most is being with his family.  He does everything he can for our Maurer Party of 5 and for that we are to thankful!

Of course we've each had a pretty incredible dad that has taught us how to love, care, provide, and sacrifice.    Thanks Jimmie & Otto for being great dads and continuing to love and care for us.  Happy Father's Day!!

"I can't find it"

These are famous words spoken by Austin.  The boy just can't seem to find anything he's looking for!?!?

"Mom, where are my clothes?"  "I put them right next to you on the couch, Austin."

When looking in the fridge door, he says "Mom, I can't find the tea pitcher."  I walk to the open fridge door and see a 2 gallon tea pitcher right in the front.

Last night after the shower he was asked to go get underwear and shorts for bed.  He came back naked.  I warned him that if I came in there and had to find it, he was going to be in trouble.  He came back in just underwear and just couldn't find his comfy sleep shorts.  I walked in and in less than 1 second found 3 pairs in the drawer!

"Mom, I can't find my shoes!"  "Did you look in your closest?"  "Um no... oh, there they are."

Most days I just have to laugh.  Others I fear that he may never find a woman to marry.....

SUMMER time!!

It is that time of year.... time for fun in the sun.  I get extreme teacher envy every year around this time and this year is the worst yet because I could see staying home with 3 kiddos being manageable.  In years past I could probably have survived 3 days before waving a white flag, but this year I could see our days being tolerable, dare I say enjoyable.  I feel guilty that they don't get a true "break".  These are the days I wish I had stuck with getting my teachers certification.
All three kids love the water and we've already had several afternoons at the pool including a 4 1/2 hour stint... they just didn't want to leave. We are now members at Gun & Club so we have a "home" pool and I hope the kids enjoy it as much as I did growing up.  All three kids are in swim lessons for two weeks. I'm so thankful they feel comfortable in the water!
The kids will be at St. Paul's for the majority of the summer.  Kelcie has offered to keep them a few days, hopefully Mondays so they get a chance to catch  up on sleep after a busy weekend. At St. Paul's they will go to the movies, swimming and skating weekly so no chance for boredom.  We have a few weekend trips planned as well as our annual Maurer Frio trip and Kemper coast trip.  Hope you are having a great summer so far!

She loves gymnastics....

It is a shame that this is the first post I've had about Avery and gymnastics.  I blame it on the fact that parents are not allowed to watch practices, so I never have my camera when she's in leotard.  This girl loves gymnastics and truth is she's pretty good.  Thankfully, she does not follow in her mother's footsteps when it comes to flexibility and charisma.  She's compact, strong and can backbend and tic toc with the best of them.  She gets excited when she learns a new skill and insists on having an audience at home when showing off.  

We enjoyed watching her show off at her recital this past weekend.  Can't wait to see all the things she will continue to learn.

Yellow Jackets Tball

Yellow Jackets 2012 Tball Season is a wrap.  Despite a 4-week break in the middle of the season due to rain and other community events, the girls did pretty good for their first year of tball.  Coaching girls is.... interesting.  

 Gooooooo Yellow Jackets!

 Hustling off the field.

 Talking through our game plan... serious stuff.

 I was the last person she needed hitting advice from!  

 Avery was a pretty good hitter.  She's quick so if she didn't hit it to right to someone, she was guaranteed to get on base.

 Not quite sure what this expression was when she was running.

Our Yellow Jacket, #1!