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)!

Another year of Elf shenanigans!

We are going on the third year of our new family tradition, The Elf on the Shelf. Cindy Frost has come back and is sporting a new scarf, new snark, and new silly antics.

_________________________________

(Day 1)

Cindy Frost always arrives with a present for our Bunny girl on her first day of arrival from the North Pole. This years present? Elsa (Frozen) warm-up set.

Minion bananas and Despicable Me 2 waiting in our DVD player.

Yummy frozen treats in our freezer.

Scrubbing her bum with Bunny's toothbrush. Bunny got a kick out of this one. And then proceeded to throw her toothbrush away. 

A few days ago we bought a sweet new t.v. and Cindy Frost decided to hang around to watch her friend, Chippy.

Bunny, the red-nosed reindeer. 

Only seventeen more days until Christmas!

Crackle!

Hotcake breakfast mound!

Humble Acts of Kindness

During the holidays, it's become routine to take Bunny out to buy toys and clothes for underprivileged children. We also donate food to our local food bank and get involved in her school's food and monetary donations. In addition, Mr. Winey will cook a very large Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner so we can make plates to share with those who are down-and-out on the streets as well.

But then I came across a couple of mommy bloggers who started doing random acts of kindness and getting their kiddos involved in the process. It went beyond holiday giving and continued throughout the year. Duh!

So this summer I made a point to create a small list for Bunny that she and I (and Mr. Winey when he wasn't working) could complete and have fun with.

 • Cake for everyone! We celebrated my sisters birthday and Bunny decided she wanted to bake Aunt K's cake on her own. She had a very specific idea of what she wanted the cake to look like (big) and chose the flavors (chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate).

• After we each had a slice of chocolate cake from the tower of diabetes, Bunny shared the rest of the cake with our waiter and all of the kids in the restaurant! There were even more leftovers to take to a friend and her kids as well. Like I said, cake for everyone!

 • Sweets and treats. (Again.) We really love baking and we really enjoy sharing our confections. 
Mr. Winey held a summer band camp for two weeks and Bunny and I made sweets and lunch for our friends (new and old) as often as we could.

• Hot Dog Party! Bunny suggested to Mr. Winey that he should have a hot dog party with his band. So he did. 

• Then there was a water balloon and water gun fight for the summer band students (and Bunny). Bunny helped supervise the college student volunteers make the water balloons... and reaped the benefits. 

• We donated clothes to local church organizations. Many, if not all, of her clothes will help give a new immigrant child a clean set of hand-me-downs who have recently crossed over our border. 

• I paid for the person behind me at the drive-thru on a pit stop to Starbucks. Bunny said to throw in a cupcake. So I did.

• Bunny now passes out stickers to kids while we wait to be seated at restaurants. 

• We baked cupcakes for our local fire department.

• We baked cookies for our police officers.

• Bunny handed out bubbles to kids at her favorite park.

• Mr. Winey and Bunny passed out popsicles to city workers who work out in the blazing summer heat.

• Bunny donated a few of her gently used books to Burlington Book Buddies. She also donated the new ones she received from her book clubs (Junie B. Jones® Kids Club, Half Price Books® - Bookworm Bucks). For every book you donate, Burlington will match up to 55k children's books for one month. 

• Bunny handed out a bag of popcorn to kids at our frequent Redbox location with a little note. 

• Bunny drew a picture for our librarian and donated a book she received from Barnes and Noble - Imagination's Destination. 

• There is a quaint hidden eatery we go to as a family weekly that has those old-fashioned candy and gumball machines. Before we leave, Bunny leaves a quarter in each machine as a nice surprise for  anyone who wants a treat. 

• Bunny stuck Post-Its® on random cars in a store parking lot with a cute message or a smiley face. 

• I let a mom go in front of me at the check-out line. She had four kids and looked exhausted. I did the same thing for an older man later that week. 

• We baked cakes for friends. Just because.

• Bunny left chalk messages on the sidewalks at our local university. 


I was ambitious and thought we'd be able to do so much more this summer. But, between mini vacations, play dates, and summer camps, I was happy we even made a dent in our list! 


H-E-Buddy Rockin' Summer Reading Club
Pizza Hut Book It!

It's a monster birthday!

Every year I have the best time planning Bunny's birthday parties. I love spending that extra time with my sister, mom, and baby girl making party favors, creating a themed menu and finding fun recipes to try. Last years "Fairy, Unicorns, and Rainbows" party was by far the best and most fun to create. But this year, on Bunny's 7th birthday, she wanted to have her party at a bouncy castle party place where all they offer the kids are several types of bouncy castles, music, and a ping pong table. They actually like the simplicity of that. So, in true mommy fashion, I gave Bunny what she wanted - a Monster High/Bouncy Castle party. And she loved it. I, on the other hand, did not. Not really. 

First of all, I really don't like that MH is primarily dark and black. Not so cute for a seventh birthday party. And second, there wasn't much planning to do. Just pay to save the date, food, and a few party favors. Yes, I was going through party planning withdrawals. BUT!, I was able to make it a little more personal. So instead of having a monster themed menu and Spectra's ghost bubbles, I was able to get Bunny drawn up as a Monster High character. Her favorite MH ghoul is Clawdeen, the wolf. So Bunny wanted to be depicted as Clawdeen's little sister. Done. And the rest kind of fell into place.

Bunny as Clawdeen's baby sister.

Cake Table

Neptuna mini-birthday cake. I originally sketched up an awesome three-tier cake but plans fell through (Bunny only wanted cupcakes). Fine. Day of party, Bunny realizes she doesn't have a cake to blow out her candle. She begs for a cake and this is the result - a six inch mermaid/pink piranha cake.

I made personalized top hats instead of buying the pre-made black hats with the skullette. The girls liked them and the adults wore them. I'd say double win!

Cupcakes (quadruple chocolate cupcakes) topped with edible glitter, pearl candies, and pearl Sixlets with cool whip frosting.

Valentine's Day box I turned into a birthday card holder.

Bones (mini marshmallows, pretzels, dipped in white chocolate)

Raspberry Kool-Aid, really. I found a beautiful photo over on Deviantart that an artist created. I just had to use it. The kids loved it!

Buffet of fruit, cheese burgers, nachos, and Frito pies.

Centerpieces - There were more candy, stickers, and vampire teeth in here before I took this pic. 

No party would be complete without a piñata. This is supposed to be Lagoona Blue. 

And finally, here we have Venus McFlytrap sitting next to... yes, a real living venus flytrap. This was Bunny's idea and one that she made sure I followed through with. 

This party is officially over and I'm glad. Only thing left to do is send out those darn Thank You cards. 

Mom, The Collector

Before Mr. Winey and I had Bunny, our lives were pretty simple. No worries. On the brink of boring. Don't get the wrong idea! We did have fun the first four years of our marriage. Frequent visits to the island (almost every weekend), going to parties, trips here and there... but it was empty. Then, I was FINALLY pregnant!!

Fast forward six years - present day, 2014. Nobody told me that having a kiddo meant that you became a collector of some of the most random things. My daughter is a mini hoarder of all things cutesy and packaged perishables.

I'm not exactly sure when it all began? But little by little I started buying mason jars, wooden jewelry boxes, and plastic containers just to keep all of Bunny's collectibles neatly on her bookshelves. Here is a list of Bunny's stash.

1. Buttons

Yes, buttons. She loves buttons. Round buttons, pink buttons, glitter buttons, butterfly-shaped buttons... buttons. She'll save her money to buy buttons at Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby. She even asks Santa for buttons and hopes the Easter Bunny will sneak a bag of studs in her basket Sunday morning. 

2. Sequins

Just like buttons, Bunny loves to collect sequins. I wonder if it's the shiny, glittery look to them which makes me think she may be part piranha, part puppy. We actually used a bit of her sequin collection to make her Christmas stocking. There are days when she gets out her tackle box of sequins and sorts them by color, other days by animal/insect and shape.

3. Pennies 

Bunny doesn't care where those ugly bronze coins are laying, she's going to pick it up and stuff it in her pocket. She even chants "See a penny, pick it up. All day long I'll have good luck" while striking an 'X' on the ground as a little ritual. Those pennies go in a special mason jar to hold her good luck and wishes, of course. 

4. Crayon Shavings

This is a recent habit she's picked up. Last semester, her class had a substitute teacher and told them that if they save their crayon shavings they can reuse them to make iron-on crafts. *facepalm* Bunny was elated. Duh. More junk to pack!! She even asked Mr. Winey if he could buy her a box of snack bags so she could keep it in her backpack just in case she has crayon shavings to save. (Notice that she never came to me to ask. I'm pretty sure she knew I'd say no.) I'm glad to say that she often forgets or is too busy in class to remember to save those curly crayon shits. 

5. Pencils (Usually No. 2 pencils)

I can't seem to get those lead sticks in one place no matter how hard I try. Bunny doesn't use these pencils. She just stores them in random places. She gets pencils from teachers, her school, prizes, friends... who knows where else. But they have some sort of sentimental value to her and I actually think it's cute. 

6. Buddy Bucks

Ok, so if you're not from Texas, then you more than likely do not grocery shop at H-E-B. This store gives out a Buddy Buck or two, per visit, to your little rugrat(s) so they can play Spin & Win It where you collect stickers with a number of points (yes, more crap to store in my already packed wallet) to trade in for prizes. For the past six months, the H-E-B we shop at has not fixed their machine so Bunny has a hefty collection of Buddy Bucks. *grumble grumble*

7. Ketchup packs

The lunch ladies at Bunny's school are Ketchup Nazis. The kids are only allowed one pack of ketchup for their fries, burger, chicken nuggets... you get the idea. If your kid is anything like mine, she needs at least one ketchup pack per nugget or for every two fries. (Who doesn't?) So I collect ketchup packs and stuff a handful of them in Bunny's lunchbox - just in case. I'd like to thank Burger King, McDonalds, Chick-fil-A, and Popeyes for their continued support.

8. Erasers

I don't know what it is about erasers, but Bunny just has to have erasers. And when the book fair goes to her school, without fail, she'll plead and beg for money to buy flower shaped rubber (and sometimes a book.)

9. Stickers

Most of the stickers Bunny has collected have come from doctor and hospital visits. She has an impressive stash, too. Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, Disney Princesses (Ariel, Cinderella, Pocahontas), Rise of the Guardians... the list goes on. And she never uses them. Never. They're just there, looking pretty.

10. Jewels/Beads

This goes hand-in-hand with her sequin and button collection. All those little girl birthday parties we attend have plastic jewels sprawled across the tables for little grubby fingers to grab a hold of and pack in their pint sized pockets. 

Those are the top ten items Bunny (and sometime myself) collect and keep in no particular order. I hope this prepares you moms-to-be. Start buying mason jars. I recommend getting them at the Dollar Tree. Inexpensive and perfect for any mindless, first world junk you need to keep for your little darling. 

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes (Recipe)

Bunny and I came home early from school/work because she wasn't feeling too well. So between her visits to the restroom and 2 minute naps, I decided to bake cupcakes... hot chocolate cupcakes! Perfect for this cold and dreary day.

What you'll need:

1 box (4 oz.) milk chocolate baking bar, chopped (Bakers)
1/2 c water
1 c butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 medium/large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c cake flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c low fat buttermilk
1 can (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 package (11.5 oz) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 bag (12 oz) mini marshmallows
1 ice cream scoop
Preheated oven to 350˚

Boil water; add chopped chocolate and stir until consistent and smooth. Set aside and let cool.

Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar until fluffy. Add one yolk at a time, blending thoroughly.

Add melted chocolate to butter mixture and vanilla extract.

Slowly combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk to chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form then fold into batter.

Use ice cream scoop to pour batter into cupcake liners for consistency.

Bake for 15-25 minutes. (Depending on your oven)

For the fudge frosting:
Combine morsels and condensed milk in a pan on low heat and stir until smooth.
Pour frosting while warm over heated cupcakes when they come out of the oven.
Frosting will keep cupcakes moist and dry smoothly over cupcakes.
Add marshmallows.
Sprinkle with confectioners sugar, cocoa powder or peppermint pieces and serve. You could also add Reddi-Wip® and shaved chocolate. The possibilities are immeasurable!

Enjoy!

*Makes 2 dz. cupcakes

You can also bake batter in a bakeable (is that a word?) mug for 20-30 minutes for a mug cupcake. 

**And of course, you could always poke holes in the cupcakes when out of the oven and lightly pour Kahlúa® over to soak in the spirit for a grown up cupcake ;)