Texas Small Town Christmas & Froggy Art

Santa looks good as a cowboy, doesn't he?

We went to our small downtown Christmas festival over the Thanksgiving holidays.

and I had a field day with my camera.

We have lots of old buildings.

And...froggy art!!

I don't know why there were frogs everywhere...

But, I even talked Remy into posing next to one.

Bizarre but fun!

 

This is the center of the square, the courthouse!

You've seen our Official Texas Reindeer, right?

Egg Heads taking on Reindeer

The Easter Bunny needs to fire whoever currently does his PR,
because Santa Claus totally has him beat out.

Easter has the potential to be as big as Christmas, honestly.


Which sounds more appealing to you,
a jolly fat man in a red suit who sneaks in your house and eats your cookies?
Or a big furry bunny that poops eggs with surprises in them around your yard?



I think part of the secret lies in the music.
Christmas has a ton of great songs ties to it.
So, we need to come up with a bunch of Easter Songs.

How about:

We Wish you a Happy Easter (to the tune of We Wish you a Merry Christmas)

Randolph the Red-Spotted Rabbit (to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)



Santa's got sidekicks too. Elves, reindeer, etc.
So, our Easter Bunny needs sidekicks.

How about Egg Heads?
Little walking/talking eggs with faces, hands and feet, all brightly colored?

And, Easter needs to ditch the pastels.
If it wants to compete with Christmas, it needs bold, jewel-tones.

And I'd love to see those Egg Heads take on the Reindeer.

Any suggestions on how Easter could compete with Christmas?

Ketchup, Holiday Drama & a Contest

I've been spending all weekend playing catch-up (ketchup. hehe)
I've been catching up on sleep.
I've been catching up on blogs.
I've been catching up on laundry.
I've been catching up on spending time with my boys.

I've played a million games of Mario Kart, racing my boys.
Now my thumb hurts.

We celebrated Forced-Love Day as a family by hanging out at home all day with each other.
Playing games, watching movies, just being together.

My husband, Texas Homeboy, surprised me with an extremely thoughtful gift.
Our relationship has been rocky lately.
Normally, if I even get a gift, he's a last minute gift-giving kind of guy.
But two days BEFORE Valentine's, I came home from work to find he had bought and set up an external hard drive for my computer!

The best gift. JUST what I needed.
My computer was bogged down with thousands of photos and moving slow.
It was a thoughtful and wonderful gift.

I was touched.

Speaking of photos, UpTake is having a photo contest. You could win $250. Check it out!

Now on to the drama.
Remy, my 7 yr old, had to make Valentines for his whole class, of course,
But, Donny, my 12 yr old, is now in middle school and this is the first year ever he didn't have to make Valentines for the whole class.
Except, Friday, in school, his English teacher made them all make Valentines in-class. And they had to say something nice to each student.
Donny is respectful to all his teachers. And a good student. But this teacher sometimes drives him nuts because he feels like she treats them like children...young, stupid children.

And my son wrote down on one kid's Valentine, "Thanks for messing with Mrs. English Teacher."
And of course, the teacher saw this.
and pulled him out of class to talk to him.
And then called me.

What I've learned from this?
My smart, respectful son can make stupid decisions occasionally.

Now, let me leave you with this for now.
We've discovered our sweet Annie doesn't like stickers on her head.

Not a Valentine's post

I have no idea what kind of bird this is.
I found it while walking around our town lake with the kids and my mother.

Have you taken a walk lately?
Just stopped what you were doing and walked,
enjoying nature and a conversation with someone you love?

Anyone know what kind of bird this is?


What are you waiting for?
Come join Camera Critters!!

Nutcracker with a Bad Habit

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 today's post.

We drove down to Austin for a few days to spend time with family.
It was 80 degrees there.
That's not winter weather, that's suntannin' weather!!

But while we were there, we saw one of their Christmas decorations had some attitude.

He was being a rebel. And just didn't want to fit in.

Starting the New Year Out Right - A Texas Word Tangle Giveaway

In my mind, there's only one way to bring in the New Year...

besides rocketing in a space ship from NASA up into outer space to look for aliens...

ahem.


and, that's with a fabulous giveaway!!!

The gift package will include three books:

When her plane en route from Glasgow to London experiences horrible turbulence, Emma Corrigan is convinced she is going to die. She babbles all of her most intimate thoughts and secrets to the handsome American man sitting next to her. But the plane lands safely, and Emma bids him an awkward good-bye. When she enters the office on Monday and learns the CEO of the company, Jack Harper, is in for a visit, Emma is horrified to learn Jack is actually the man in whom she confided on the flight. He knows everything, including that she hates her job and that she is not quite sure she loves her boyfriend. But Jack does not fire her on the spot; instead, he quietly replaces the office coffeemaker she hates and gives her advice about her personal life, which she finds infuriating. So why can't she stop thinking about him?

Something Borrowed is as much about the meaning and value of friendship as it is about love, and it takes some risky chances that pay off. Rachel is celebrating her thirtieth birthday with her friends, including her lifelong best friend, Darcy, and Dex, Rachel's handsome friend from law school and Darcy's fiance. One thing leads to another and Rachel ends up in bed with Dex.

Goodnight Nobody stars Kate Klein is a feisty, charmingly insecure Connecticut housewife who trades in a life of late-night karaoke sing-a-longs and West Village brunches with her best friend Janie for a world of mini-vans and Mommy and Me pilates classes. Life in Upchurch, Connecticut, heats up when Kate discovers picture-perfect wife and mother Kitty Cavanaugh dead on the pickled maple hardwood floor of her recently remodeled kitchen. A former chronicler of celebrity gossip, Kate takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of Kitty's murder and the disappearance of Lexi Hagen-Holdt, another Upchurch supermom. Along the way, the mysteries and disappointments in Kate's personal life begin to unravel, including her marriage to the kind-yet-uptight Ben, and her unresolved crush on Evan McKenna, a former neighbor with whom a one-night tryst ended in disaster.

So, I'm giving away those three books
as well as:

this 11" Thomas Stir Fry Pan free from my grocery store.
(and since I have plenty of pans) I've decided to pass on to you.

It's dishwasher safe, oven safe, comes with a glass lid and is $70 in value.

And with this fabulous piece of cookware I am including
a package of Cajun Magic Jambalaya mix.




And this yummy chocolate brownie mix.







I might throw in some more stuff as a surprise, like a picture frame or a photo album...

But only the winner will know for sure.

Leave me a comment a day to earn an entry each day,
Tweet about it for 5 extra entries,
blog about it for five more.

Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 6th at midnight U.S. central time.

Pause

This time of year, from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's, is an important time of year.
We're so busy and on the go;
partying, wrapping, contacting loved ones.

It's the time of year we send holiday cards to those who are dear to us.
The time of year we give gifts to those we love.
It's the time of year we enjoy life to the fullest with good food and parties.
A time to let go, have fun, and enjoy life to the fullest, while most worries are put on hold.

And it's important to take a moment during this time.

To appreciate what's important.




What IS important, Rhea?

Why, dear reader, I'm so glad you asked.

To me, what's important beyond all else, is family and friends

and figuring out my place in this world.

Helping my boys get a good start on their life,
and finding the way to make the most of mine.


Today is my moment to pause, to take stock of my life, to plan ahead, and to make decisions.

And I plan to take on the New Year head on.

with my family.
with my plan.


Bring it on, 2009, bring it on.


Tomorrow I will hit the "play" button with purpose.

It's OK to make fun of your relatives on the Internet, right?

If I go missing or undergo a "mysterious" accident, you know who did it.

It's the relatives in these short clips.

Relatives who may or may not have had a little too much holiday cheer...and are playing with a new iPhone that is supposed to recognize the tune and name that song if you hum or sing to it...

A theory that was tested over and over and over again.
Much to the delight of a certain blogger.

It's OK to make fun of your relatives on the Internet, right?

A gift that keeps on giving.

We received a huge surprise for Christmas.

A huge plasma HDTV for our den.

Our previous television was around 15 years old and not holding up so well.

We were so shocked...and excited...and amazed.

It was love at first sight.

We couldn't resist putting it on the fireplace channel that played Christmas songs.

Funny thing is, my Remy, he gets just as much joy out of the BOX it came in.

I keep putting it in the garage...and he keeps getting it out.

That's ok, Remy, enjoy the box...until trash day.

Then it's gone for good.

Is it still Christmas?

It seems like I've been running behind constantly this holiday season.

Here's the photo that went into our Christmas card...
that I plan on mailing out today...or Monday...

Grab a camera & a critter, and join Camera Critters!

Santa just might be an Alien

Santa is so mysterious.

He works in strange ways.

How do we know he isn't really an ALIEN?!

He could have landed on our planet a while back and decided to stay.

Full of goodwill and desire to give to others.

A nice, saintly alien.

Here's why I suspect it.

He gave my boys this:

and this:

So, maybe, just maybe, he might be like this:

Christmas Punks

If you're looking for further continuation of the Anna Mannequin story
(here are part 1 & part 2), I will have more on that soon,
but for now, here's some random jibber jabber and punk photos.

Not the usual SWEET Christmas photos. Just us having fun.

Remy making his infamous armpit farting noises.
That boys has SKILL.

And we finally had a Christmas photo session at my mom's house two nights ago.

Here are some of the photos we're NOT using.