To Rabbit or not to Rabbit, that is the question

I've had a hard time trying to decide what to get my boys for Christmas this year.

They haven't given me a wish list.

They seem to be having a hard time coming up with ideas.

I've come up with a few ideas...and given them all away to relatives.

And then my 8 yr old, Remy, came up with an idea.  A real DOOSEY.

He wants a rabbit.

He really, really, really wants a bunny rabbit for Christmas.

People have been weighing in.

They think it's a bad idea.

They say rabbits' cages smell.

They say they're a pain to clean up after.

But you know what, it's a good responsibility for Remy to take on.

And it'll be an adventure for us.

They're inexpensive.

They don't require shots or regular vet visits.

And we'll have to make sure we never let Annie have time with it.

Because I have a feeling Annie would like a rabbit for Christmas way more than Remy.

3 Unique Gift Ideas

It's amazing what people come up with.

I really admire ingenuity.

My co-worker showed up this morning with a USB Humping Dog.

Only $14.95 plus shipping and handling.

It's hilarious.

And when you plug it in...it moves.

Disturbing.

But funny.

Next, I saw tweet from Kara about underwear that offers you privacy from the body scanners.

They're called Brief Blockers.

Sorry Uncle TSA.

They have them for men as well...

and they act as a radiation shield in addition to shielding your privates.

Finally, the third Unique gift is the Ultimate Football Accessory for Ladies. 

It's a pom-pom glove.

And I may just have to get one for my son's middle school team colors.

I love finding Unique gift ideas.  

Anything wacky out there that's you've discovered?

Handmade

We've always been fond of handmade gifts -- for giving or receiving. This year, alas, I had no time to make anything but John stepped in and turned (pun intended) out these beautiful wine stoppers from an array of exotic woods . . .

along with some elegant bowls and tiny little kaleidoscopes (not pictured.)

Claui surprised us with a lovely set of hand-embroidered napkins. She worked on them, she told me, during the power outage, by means of a head lamp. I love it!

And Justin presented us with an elaborate drawing of our extended family . . . (He was quite kind to some of us in his depiction of body shape.)

John and I are standing in the front door with Maggie between us and a tangle of dogs in front of us -- Molly and the Border boys, Jack and Dan.

Then going counter-clockwise, Ali Ali is in a rocking chair, next, our friend Josie, Claui, with William trying to climb into her lap, and Justin (looking pretty pleased with himself.)

Next is Otis the pit bull, sulking under the little table. Our friend Kasie is pouring wine, while Cory is taking a picture of Miss Susie Hutchins. Ethan and Aileen and their dogs are next. (Ethan is dashing in a frock coat, such as he wore at his wedding) and Big Eddie is stretching on the railing.

Handmade and heartwarming!

Magic Whistles from Peru

Don't miss out on my New Year Giveaway!
Read this post, then leave me a comment a day for an entry.
Blog about the giveaway for an extra five entries!
Follow me for five extra entries!
Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 6th at midnight, U.S. central time.




Now on to the Magic Peruvian Whistles.


My little sister, The Bug, recently went to Peru/Bolivia with her husband,
and she brought back souvenirs for my boys.

These are special little bird whistles that they found while traveling by bus from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca in Peru. An old lady with no teeth was selling them alongside some ancient Incan ruins.

I want to visit Peru.
I love to plan trips everywhere.

Oops, did that slip out?

Anyway,

Donny chose the Eagle whistle.

And Remy chose the Toucan whistle.

When you first blow, it sounds like a regular whistle.

High pitch, annoying as heck.

And, then, my sister told them to fill the whistle with water.

And, wouldn't you know it, the noise changed.

Big time.

They no longer sounded anything like normal whistles,
but instead sounded just like birds.

All the noises in this video that sound like birds...are really coming from these whistles.

I kid you not.

Isn't that amazing?

Apparently these whistles date back to the days of the Incas.
They are now hand-formed in villages near Cuzco,
and then fired in traditional pits made out of stone, straw and wood.
After that, they are hand painted.



The Eagle.


The Toucan.



Those Incans were bloody brilliant!

I'm totally baffled by how they work.




And then, of course, my boys have to dump out the water when they're done.

And make the horrible high pitch whistle again.

Peruvian water whistles are way cool.

Secret Shindigs and My Digs

Kori at My Life as a CFers Wife arranged a Secret Santa Shindig with over 66 people!
I sent my package off to my secret partner,
and I received a gift in the mail today from the person who had me.

The card was cute.

And I found out my secret santa gifter was Hollie!

I LOVED my gifts.
Chocolate, a compact case, lip gloss, an adorable Annie-looking Christmas decoration, photo albums and a journal.

Hollie, you did an awesome job.
I was so surprised, and I LOVED it.

THANK YOU!

I had a lot of fun with this secret santa shindig.
If you want to see other's gifts, go to Kori's blog to check out the links.

*******************

Now, Tuesday it got downright freezing here in North Texas.
And everything shuts down when that happens.
Schools were canceled, and the temps never left the 20's all day.

It was COLD, y'all.

So, we stayed home and decorated.

I don't have a ton of decorations, and I'm not super crafty, so it's meager.

Here's a little of what we did.

OH, we got the tree Saturday, but didn't decorate it until today.

I think they love using a ladder.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

Fairy Godparents

My children told me they would love to have Fairy Godparents.

How am I supposed to compete with that?

Seriously?

If they did have fairy godparents to grant my boys' every wish,

the world would be in deep doodoo.

We'd have robot armies and alien monsters running loose.



It's too bad.
Guess they're stuck with me.

The C-Word.

I think you know what word I'm talking about.

It's a word that brings to mind green and red, pine trees and jolly old men in suits...

I'm not ready for it.

Family members are starting to ask what the boys would like, gift-wise. That means I need to start figuring out good ideas...putting my thinking cap on and getting creative.

I think a lot of my brain power has been geared towards other things lately. Am I ready to switch gears? Move into holiday-mode?

I love giving gifts, and I really try to think of things the people in my life will truly enjoy.

I've had trouble getting into the c-word mood so far.

I guess because there's been this other little issue I need to deal with first...

it's called...

THANKSGIVING!!

One holiday at a time. It's how I roll.

Cow teats, a coffee cup collection, the Texas dog rabbit & wooden flowers.

I brought my hubby and kids gifts back from my Wisconsin trip. My husband is a huge coffee drinker, so I always buy him coffee mugs wherever I go. Here's the one I got him this time...

Who can resist a hot, steamin' mug of cow teats? hehe He hasn't used it yet...I'm putting it by his coffee maker tonight, so he'll have no excuse in the morning.

This next cup is one the boys and I picked out for him when we went to Washington D.C. last year to visit the treasury (or whatever that place is called that makes all our money). We wanted him to know we think he's worth a million bucks (or 100,000 bucks, whatever).

This is a cup we gave him for Father's Day one year. I took a picture of the boys goofing around on the trampoline. This was a few years ago. I uploaded the picture to Shutterfly and had it made into a coffee cup. I love Shutterfly.

Another Father's Day gift to show hubby we think he's incredible. This was one of our favorite family movies ever!

No need to adjust your monitors or tilt your heads...the cup is kind of diagonal...on purpose.

When I got back from my Wisconsin trip (I know, you're getting sick of hearing about it, but I'm having so much fun typing the word "Wisconsin" because before now I'd never used that word), my boys had gone to a Home Depot Kids' Workshop and made me a "Welcome Home" early Mother's Day gift! I LOVE them!! I put one box by my computer and one on my bathroom counter.

These kids' workshops at the Home Depot are held the first Saturday of every month from 9am to noon at your local stores. It's completely free and they help your kids build the project of the month. My boys have made some awesome stuff...a race car, a pirate ship, an art caddy, and it looks like next month's is a catamaran. The above one that they just completed is a flower pencil holder (and I LOVE it!).


Finally, we made a little excursion to Target today, and it's bad enough I have to limit the spending on myself and two children, I also now have end up buying something for the dog.

We got Sweet Annie a rabbit. And, boy does she love to chew on it. I'm betting $50 it won't last the next 24 hours, and I'm going to find rabbit stuffing all over the house. Don't worry, I'll take pictures.

My family knows me so well.

I really had a great birthday yesterday, and I got gifts from my family that were perfect for me! It all started with these simple, casual shoes I bought for myself (blush). They're Dr. Scholl's, super comfy and really cheap! $28 at Walmart. Thanks, Carrie the Gremlin Wrangler, for telling me about them.

Then, my mother-in-law gave me this fun beach/overnight bag below with matching towel. It also had a matching make-up bag and wallet and hat! I liked the colors...not something I would have bought myself, but very fun to receive!

Then there is this beautiful bag from L.L. Bean with my name on it! (Ok, I ordered it for myself and had the kids give it to me) I have a little bit of a tote bag addiction...and I love all the pockets on this one.

My mother-in-law knows how much I love to read, so she gave me this wonderful gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for an exorbitant amount! And, she knows how much I love Harry Potter, so the card theme is obviously...you got it, Harry Potter!

My mother, my stepfather, and my father all chipped in together and bought me...drum roll please...a new camera and Photoshop Elements!!! I am beyond excited. I am estatic!! I am high on life and ready to take some REAL photos. I can't wait to get started!!! The new camera is an updated version of one I have and love, but the newer, improved model. I've never had Photoshop before, and I think it's high time I start cleaning up and having fun with my photos. My mom is a photography nut as well and has all the software...so she understands my obsession with it as well. I'm working on converting my children over to the shutterbug side now as well.

My parents are so wonderful, all three of 'em. My mother also cooked a yummy dinner and cake, feeding my whole fam, which is no small feat.

And, then, my hubby and boys gave me the final gift right before bed tonight...a new all-in-one photo pinter, scanner and copier. Yippee!! I've never had one of these babies before. Can't wait to start scanning in lots of fun, older pictures!!

I am beyond happy, can't wait to start playing with my new toys. It's been a great birthday! I also made it back into the fitness center (which I somehow avoided for the last month or so). It felt great to work out again. Those endorphins really kick in!

Giggle from Giggles (formerly known as VBF from Motivationless) gave me this sweet, adorable award recently, and I wanted to thank her!! She's my new awesome friend from Australia, a real live wire with lots of fun energy. We discovered our shared passion for the TV show LOST. Here is my award:

And, I want to pass this award along to everyone who took the time to stop and say Happy Birthday to me yesterday in the comment section. You guys were all so sweet to stop and say hello and help make my day even more special! Thanks!! And, enjoy this award...you know who you are.