Feeling mighty Texan

Saturday found us doing an art booth in a little town called Celina. That's Se-LINE-uh for all you non-Texans out there, emphasis on the liiiiiine. We had a good time, to say the least. They were celebrating their centennial, and also sort of celebrating the fact that they finally got a McDonald's to open in town. Not exactly something I would be celebrating, but to each their own. They had a parade, which consisted of good old boy after good old boy showing off their Farmall tractors through the ages, some horses and riders, and a few old cars and firetrucks. The kids loved it! They also had some funny little shops around the square where we scored items such as 10 cent comic books and 50 cent soda pops. James was stuck drawing portraits all day, leaving me and the munchkins free to wander and enjoy the country bands, tour the fire trucks, and chit chat with the locals. It was an anthropological dream come true. There was also an appearance by Ronald McDonald (my kids wouldn't go near him), as much free birthday cake as you could stomach, and a book sale at the library (which was about as big as my living room) selling books for 10 cents each. As you can imagine, Cali came home with MANY books. We found ourselves unprepared when Grey suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and yelled, "I can't hear any of you!" Both of his batteries were dead, and I had not brought any spares. I looked around and asked the nearest friendly small town police officer where the Walgreen's was, and he smiled at me. Then I asked where the Wal-Mart was and he just laughed. It looked like I was driving back toward Dallas if I wanted my son to be able to hear, but small town friendliness saved the day. The officer walked over to a man nearby and asked him if his store had hearing aid batteries to which the man replied, "Yes, what size do you need?" I told him and he told me how to drive to the store. I thanked him and started to round up kids, car seats, and the truck, (we had to drive both vehicles to haul all the booth stuff and all of us) but by the time I had everything ready to go, the man walked up to me, handed me the pack of batteries, and wouldn't take my money. He said he had his employee run them over for us. Later, he came back by and asked Grey if he could hear now, and Grey looked up at him and said, "YES!" It was super sweet. If only they had a Chuy's, I might be tempted to move there.....here is a shot of the parade.

The kids outside the library

Of course I have to throw in a shot of the okra and the eggplants. I made a mean mess of stewed okra and tomatoes a few nights ago. I caught both my kids saying y'all and yes ma'am this weekend....I tell you, I'm feeling mighty Texan....I think all that is left to do is teach them the pledge of allegiance for the Texas flag, and we'll be all set. In fact, I am pretty sure Grey will learn that one first, because it is much shorter than the national one!