Happy Friday, y'all!!

Happy Friday, y'all!! Didja make it through the work week alive and kickin'? I had a four-day week and it felt so much longer!! Ugh. If you're going to be out and about, stay safe in the storms. But seriously, why go out when you can have all the cuddles with your beer margarita wine bottle, Netflix, and a tub of Nutella?

Los Muertos Bailan (The Dancing Dead)

South Texas is rich with culture and history. It only makes sense for the monthly Jardin del Arte to host a special festival for los meurtos (the dead).

Lately, Bunny has been asking about our heritage, culture, and our family tree. She's fascinated with Dia de los Muertos - or The Day of the Dead - and the movie THE BOOK OF LIFE was a great stepping-stone to introduce her to calaveras (skulls), pan de muerto (bread of the dead), and music.

Check out this amazing altar! Full of baskets of fresh fruit, bread for the dead, photos, candy, and other knick-knacks. 

Calavera crafts for the kids. Thank you Dustin Sekula Memorial Library for the fun crafts (and my Harry Potter ticket)!

This beautiful girl we bumped into dressed as La Calavera Catrina. 

Local vendors also set up gorgeous dia de los muertos displays...

RobotAnnie

RobotAnnie

RobotAnnie

 Bunny bought a beautiful figure in the black dress from this vendor based in Mexico.

Arte-Sanias

And there were also local artists who should have a gallery showing for their Mexican-American art.

Artist Noe Vela

I wish I had a link to his work. Mr. Vela is an amazing artist that needs to be known. All I have is his email: noevelasart@myspace.com

And a photo of the artist himself here.

(I lost the card with the artists information on this intricate art piece. If you happen to have this information, please comment below.)

There was also a lively performance by classical folklórico dancers, Conceptos Entidad Dancística. 

The folkloric dancers were Bunny's favorite part of the night. The flare of the dresses, the dancing, the music... I love that she is learning about her culture at an early age (not an adult like myself) and she's curious about most of what she was introduced to tonight. 

Can't wait for next months Jardin del Arte. Until then don't forget to grab your ticket for A Night at Hogwarts!! 

For more information about Dia de los Muertos and Mexican traditions, visit Thaneeya's Art Blog: Art Is Fun.

*I was not compensated for this blog entry nor was I asked promote any local activity for my community. 

...and I'm back!

Oh my gosh has it been a while since I last updated! Two months shy of a year. Oops.

So a lot has happened during these past eight months - good and bad - but mostly good. We have moved into a new home!! Like, brand new, y'all. Custom home built from the ground up and I couldn't be happier. But a couple of months before our big move Mr. Winey lost his father. Both Bunny and Mr. Winey went through a bought of depression (rightfully so). They are doing well now but his absence is still very much noticed. Moving in to our new home was bittersweet. My FIL was so excited to help us out with the move and have a BBQ for us...

I not only moved into a new home, but also a new job at a new campus. Bunny is also attending the same school I'm teaching at and she is loving it so much. She's so happy, has made lots of friends, and has joined almost every club our new school offers. AND! she's keeping her grades up. A honor roll!! (Proud mommy moment over.)

Bunny is now eight and getting into that Disney fangirl phase and is now OBSESSED with their new made-for-tv-movie Descendants. 

Disney's Descendants 

Dove Cameron as Mal in Descendants

She's also started watching Liv and Maddie and is hooked! I tell ya. This past weekend she was able to attend her first concert at our local university to watch Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan (The Girl & the Dreamcatcher) who are the two stars on Disney's Liv and Maddie. The joyful screaming that ensued after she found out she was going to see them perform live was too cute. Really, it was. 

Here we have Bunny waiting quietly.

Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan

aka The Girl and The Dreamcatcher

Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan

aka The Girl and The Dreamcatcher

The local university hosted this amazing fair for the community called HESTEC (Hispanic, Engineering, Science, and Technology) which is a week-long event where they have activities during the day on campus. On the final day, Saturday, the university has their science labs open for the public and presentations, live creepy/crawly animals and insects, and shows in the planetarium. It's pretty awesome and you should probably check it out if you haven't done so already. It's all about promoting the sciences for our future generation and they make it so exciting and interesting for the young folk. It's a fantastic hands-on learning experience for school-aged children. We totally lucked out this year. So thank you, University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)!