Wednesday evening the winds howled all night. Our neighbor has four palm trees in his yard and I have been amazed that the tall trunks never sway even though the huge leaves flap about violently. However, last night the trunks swayed a wee bit. It was windy! The winds must have brought in the tide because all the lowlands were flooded in the morning.
We have enjoyed the signs in Texas. One of our favorites is this sign when you leave the two gas stations at the beginning of Padre Island. It means there are no more gas stations for 65 miles. But we like to joke that we have to stop and get out to empty our gas tank and walk.

This sign is right before an intersection on the island that has a few stores. It looks like a major thoroughfare, but you would laugh if you could see it! It's in the middle of wide open land!

Of course, here's the most famous sign in Texas. Most people don't know that the "Don't Mess With Texas" slogan started as an anti-littering slogan.

This is a new middle school that was built last year on the island. It makes my heart so sad every time we pass it. I cannot imagine any of my children being boxed up all day in concrete. We have never seen the blinds over the small windows open. How can a child commune with God when they are shut off from His magnificent creation like that? I would've taken advantage of the beautiful scenery and built huge windows. (The other side of the highway is miles of open beaches.) That's why they make electric shutters for hurricane threats.
Here's a fun picture to share. Why are large families on a tight budget? It's the shoes! Each of my children owns 3 pairs ~ Sunday best, sneakers and sandals(youngest 3). We used to all own black sneakers until many of us wore the same size. Got too hard to tell whose was whose!

Sarah let me know about this webpage she found. It is titled The Christian Checklist. I think it is perfect. It has surely given me lots to think about. Be sure to take a look.

Is it really Friday? We have been here in Texas for 3 weeks. Seems like 3 days. Maggie's chiropractor says we should start to see major improvements now. Is that exciting or what?! We are trying to determine when to come home. It really depends on how Maggie responds to treatment this next week. I think we are all secretly hoping to be here 2 more weeks. But we are in serious prayer about it and are seeking the Lord's direction.

Have a good weekend. The zipper on Allen's Sunday pants broke, so we are off to find him a new pair. We'll be sure to take our camera in case we see anything exciting.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Trade Center Flea Market

Last Saturday when my Dad was still here, we went to the indoor flea market called the Trade Center. I am not sure how Maggie was able to snap this picture because all I remember is masses of humanity! Anyhow, it's in a huge building. We were one of the few non-Mexican folks there.

One of the vendors sold spices. I found two interesting spices: Watermelon Spice and Fruit Cup Spice. The ingredients are the same: either salt and chili powder, or salt and lemon. As we were walking out the door, I saw a group of people with styrofoam cups of pineapple, with the salt and chili powder seasoning sprinkled on it. The childrens' faces were stained with the chili powder. Someday I'll have to be brave and try it!

The building is divided into squares, with each vendor owning a square. They hang chainlink fencing around when they're closed. Between the squares are the passageways which have names.

I took this picture because I was feeling a bit apprehensive. Twenty years ago I stayed at a hotel in Manila, Philippines, and I wondered at the time about the safety of the hotel because the hallways were narrow. They were only wide enough for one person. It was embarassing to pass someone. I mentally tried to plan what I would do if a fire broke out.

Sure enough, two weeks after I left, I heard on the news that the hotel did catch fire and burn to the ground. Four American navy wives lost their lives. So Saturday I was trying to keep my mind alert for any sign of trouble.

Here's a picture of a typical vendor and their fencing. It's hard to give you a sense of the crowded conditions. I can't believe we were able to take these pictures without showing wall to wall people! This is Enrique. My Dad has bought many things from him. On Saturday, Dad bought another saddle, then hats for my children. These are the saddles after we set them up at home:

Maggie and Allen enjoy using Dad's ropes to lasso the saddle horns. At the last moment he bought a vihuela. What is a vihuela?? It is a Mexican guitar that is played in mariachi bands. I was able to find a wonderful website with info on tuning and chords. All I need is a piano to tune it!
This is Enrique's store. His prices were excellent. Here is the vihuela:

One of the things that stuck out to me was the obvious resentment of the Native Americans. I saw several signs throughout that quoted Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe that said:

They made us many promises.
They kept one promise.
They promised to take our lands.
And they TOOK it!

It is as if this were 1891.

Outside the flea market are these ugly subs (or whatever they are). I took this picture because I think it reflects the typical Texan's attitude: If I want to put ugly orange subs in my front yard, I will! They seem to be fiercely independent around here and don't like anyone telling them what to do, whether it's wearing motorcycle helmets (none required!) or building codes (very little of those). You gotta love 'em!

We have a lot of fun fishing and swimming. Allen caught a fish yesterday, and I caught one today.
Sorry you are having such cool weather in Maryland. We are in the high 80s but a beautiful breeze. We keep the air conditioner set on 78 to keep the humidity out (82%), but keep the fans running. It's a perfect setup.

Maggie is doing well, lots of pain, but that's to be expected. We miss all our musical instruments back at home.

Today we went on base to the commissary and discovered very low prices. Very low. Also found our dairyfree butter that we are used to. So tonight we had salad and garlic bread for dinner.

Thank you for your prayers. Hope you are enjoying your week. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Cowboy Church

This past Sunday we drove the hour to Kingsville to go to Cowboy Church. It was well worth the ride! Today was a special day for this church. They had a short 20-minute sermon, then everyone hopped on their horses for an afternoon of friendly competition.

The Pastor and his father have a real burden for the cowboy. Yes, the cowboy culture is alive and well out west, especially down here in southern Texas. The typical Baptist church with all its formality is a turnoff to the average cowboy. So Pastor Steve and his father have this ministry that aims to reach the cowboy specifically.
This lady (pastor's mom) was really proud that this puppy has never missed a Sunday morning service. Actually there were a few friendly dogs running around.
Pastor Steve shared some of his testimony with us. He was a modern day Jonah, running from what the Lord really wanted for him.
We had a lot of fun watching this little guy galloping around on his horse.

The two main events were barrel racing and pole bending. It was a hot day but an almost-steady breeze made it pleasant. Actually it was a two-in-one event: the nearby NAS Kingsville base had the Blue Angels performing at the same time! I was afraid the loud jet noise would spook the horses, but evidently they're used to it since this is a training base.
Afterwards we came home and went fishing.
Maggie loves all the herons, pelicans and flamingos around here.
This is Ruthie snuggled up to Grandaddy for his last night here. He left first thing Monday morning. We just talked to him and he arrived home at 10:30 Tuesday morning. Not bad...26 hours!

I have allowed my children to watch some of the programs on TV's cable (or whatever it's called). My children never watch tv at home, so this is different for them. Allen watches Military history, futuristic weapons, and several other historical programs. Then at night, he talks to Grandaddy for an hour asking questions related to history, war, etc. He has learned so much since he's been here. I can tell he's a real history buff like Grandaddy.

Anna and Maggie also enjoy the ancient history channels. Ruthie enjoys the animal shows. Lizzie is not a tv person and gets frustrated by it. She'd rather be riding her bike around the neighborhood. But she did manage to find a show about training and riding horses.

This home has 3 large-screen plasma tvs, so we can each watch our programs at the same time. I would never recommend this in a home, but we are enjoying it while we're here.

Our biggest news today is that Maggie was painfree for 5 hours on Monday!! What an answer to prayer. I was hoping she would repeat that today, but not so. But her Dr. is pleased. So her treatment is working, PTL.

Thank you again for your prayers.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Yesterday Dad took us all to Port Aransis (pronounced uh-ran-sis with emphasis on ran), called Port A by the locals. It is only an hour or so from Corpus Christi, and is quite scenic.

Dad's restaurant du jour was Virginia's, an al fresco restaurant. The food, as usual, was spectacular, and the scene even more so. We were right on Port A where the huge ships and barges go by.

This is my shrimp salad before I gave away my eggs. The dressing was only two ingredients: capers and tartar sauce, mixed in a blender. Delicious! I can't wait to try making it. The mayonnaise around here is made by SYSCO, and uses only egg yolk, no whites. Ruthie and I are allergic to the whites, so it's been nice to eat mayo!

This is one of the big ships that went by during lunch.

We then took the car ferry to the other side of Corpus Christi. This is the ferry that was passing us. Ours looks the same.

My Dad is a born comedian, but I can only take so much laughing. It makes my tummy hurt! So today I refused to get into the van unless he promised not to make me laugh so much. He didn't really keep his promise...! I don't think he can help it.

Because Dad has been taking us out to lunch everyday, we have been eating little snacks for dinner. Last night I made this sourdough Monkey Bread for dinner (I know it's not healthy!). I just used my sourdough bread recipe and added a little sugar. I dipped bite sizes pieces of dough into a cinnamon sugar mix. It was delicious. We snacked on it from 4 to 11 pm when I officially declared it dead.

Dad has decided to return to Maryland for ten or twelve days. Mom misses him. I find it amusing that everyone is concerned for me being without Mike or Dad. I wasn't a navy officer's wife for nothing! This is a piece of cake!

Thank you, all of you who have written. I am slowly returning all emails. I am trying not to spend a lot of time online since that is also Dad's telephone line. But I will answer all emails in time.

Thank you also for your prayers. This is the tough part where Maggie hands are starting to work again but with much pain. This will probably be her toughest week. She is taking B-6 to help with the nerve repair.

Have a worshipful Sunday. Many blessings ~ Kathie

I couldn't resist taking this picture of a sign in the chiropractor's office. Maggie is for sure a difficult case!
Today is yet another windy day with 40+ mph winds and 60 mph wind gusts. This road to the beach is always blowing sand. My children went swimming from 4-5 pm and now they have sunburned faces. They will have to be more diligent with the suntan lotion.
I love the way swimming wears everyone out! This is Anna and Lizzie snuggled on the sofa. We were all singing together and then I noticed we'd lost two voices. Today we went to a music store in town that had hundreds (thousands?) of instruments covering every inch of the walls. It was so much fun. We came home with this baritone ukulele. I had ordered one from eBay but the seller said it had gotten crushed en route. This was the only baritone in the store. The owner said he can't keep them in stock, they sell so quickly. Wow! Everything was so inexpensive.

If you'd like to try your hand at ukulele, go buy a $20 or $30 ukulele and go to this website to tune it: http://www.get-tuned.com/ukulele_tuner.php. Ukulele is probably the easiest instrument to play!

I found this nice tablecloth for sale on eBay this week. Isn't it cute? It didn't sell, must have been the wrong size.I am trying to figure out how it got serged with red thread, but sewn so that the thread shows. If you know, please tell me! I always have lots of denim scraps and would like to try making this. My tablecloths are size 70x120, so it would be a long term project.

Today we went shopping at Hobby Lobby and World Trade, two huge superstores. I get overwhelmed by these big stores, but Dad loves to shop, so we all went. I got a bumper sticker that says:

"I wasn't born in Texas
but I got here as fast as I could!"

Can you tell how much we are enjoying Texas?

I am going to try making Sourdough Monkey Bread tomorrow. It's been at least a year since I've made Monkey Bread of any kind. Enjoy your weekend.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

One Year Blog Anniversary

My dear friend, Charmaine, let me know tonight that today was my one year anniversary for keeping this blog. I have to say, I tried really hard to be faithful at writing, so I am surprised that I only have 185 posts to show for it. But the good thing is that I've enjoyed it. Very therapeutic. To God be all the glory. I have certainly enjoyed making new friends in blogworld.Since Dad brought his truck down here to Texas, I made sure to pack my sewing machine and dress patterns. At the last minute, I ran downstairs and grabbed one of my quilt kits that I normally sell on eBay, but kept one because I like the fabrics so much. Great decision! The girls and I haven't sewn any dresses, but we've been having lots of fun putting the quilt kit together!

Here's a closeup of the fabrics:

This is one of Walmart's Quilt of the Month quilts. To make a kit, I cut all the fabrics into pieces and add the directions. All that needs to be done is sew! The way we do it, I sew, Ruthie snips the threads, and Anna or Lizzie keeps giving me squares to sew. It's like putting a puzzle together. So much fun!

I am so thankful that Dad has this 8-ft long table in the dining room so we can keep everything set up. We lay out 2 or 3 rows across the top which is perfect for piecing.
Today was a weird day for us. I guess all the swimming and walking have taken their toll because we all took loooong naps! Anna and Ruthie slept for 5 hours! Afterwards we went to the beach. The children really enjoy their surf boards. (Notice more seaweed washed up!)
Yesterday when we went to Kingsville, Dad treated us to lunch at Chilis. I had only been once to Chilis, and that was 20 years ago. So I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. When I asked the waitress if the chicken had milk or egg, she brought me a printout of all the nondairy foods they serve. What a wonderful thing! It even listed what sandwiches we could have if we omitted the cheese or sauce. That sure made our day! (And their portions were huge ~ we brought home enough leftovers for dinner.)

Tonight Maggie baked some trout that Dad caught. It was delicious with diced tomatoes, onions, fresh herbs and rice. Maggie was in pain, so she dictated to me what to do. No leftovers, boo hoo.

Ruthie is having a hard time learning her Bible verse today. It is Psalm 101:2, "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way." She keeps mixing up wisely and perfect. But it has given all of us the opportunity to meditate on this verse and to discuss our behaviors, as well as given us a few laughs over Ruthie's troubles.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Kingsville, Texas

This morning after Maggie's doctor appt, we all jumped in the van and drove the hour+ to Kingsville, Texas, home of the largest ranch in the country. The ranch used to be owned by the King family. The King's ranch and Kingsville are almost synonymous around here.

You could see the vast prairie for miles and miles while cruising along at 70 mph. I have been amazed at the Texas drivers. Very few of them speed above the limit. I think that is because the highways are usually marked from 65-75 mph, so you can get anywhere fast, no need to speed faster.
We enjoyed seeing this Chapman Ranch post office in the middle of nowhere. It still has the hitching posts.
Like most places, development is popping up everywhere. The prices of houses is unbelievable compared to our Maryland prices. In Kingsville, we saw beautiful homes on the water for $200-250K. If you'd rather have land, you could buy large 40-50 acre lots for $65K. Here on Padre Island up in Corpus Christi, there are many homes for sale in my Dad's neighborhood for $2-300K. These homes have every upgrade imaginable. The waterfront homes tend to be 2 or 3x as much.

It is interesting to learn about this part of the country that is so very different from what we are used to. One thing that I like are all the Baptist churches! Lots!

Tomorrow will be slow day for us at home. Schooling, quilting, and swimming, before heading off to evening church.

Many blessings ~ Kathie