Adventure Around the World

This past Friday was the black-tie fundraiser at the my organization. Adventure Around the World visited Japan, Mexico, Ireland, and France and covered four floors of our Broad Street building. The decorations were absolutely gorgeous and it was fantastic.

Granted, we put HOURS into the event. I know that last week alone, I put in just shy of 60 hours in five days. And there were people I work with who did more than that. It was quite labor intensive to get that much of the building prepared and decorated for the event. But we did it and it went off really well.

One of the best things about our annual Gala is that I can bring along the Asst. Zookeeper and we can socialize with other adults that we're not connected to through our children. No other soccer moms or cub scout dads. Just us as adults. It is heavenly.

And it is the one time a year that I get to see my husband in his tux = which is wonderful. Although I may have a biased opinion, I think he looks fantastic in formal wear. He has the build and the stature and the presence to make the tux look good. Here's a great example from Friday night:

This photo was taken on our third floor terraces around 7 or 7:30 that evening. I wasn't ready for the photo obviously. I don't even remember what I was saying to him. But I love this photo. You can see the double steeples of St. Stephen's over Dan's right shoulder. Behind us is Cambria City.

Momma's Day

Another Mother's Day has come and gone. And with it, the Heathens and I made another whirlwind tour of the mothers in our lives.

First thing in the morning, Heathen #2 presented me with a handful of items that he had made for me. Some were from school, some from Youth Club, and others he had made on his own. He had hidden them in the one basket that I keep gloves and hats in - and he had expressly told me not to peek (and I didn't). He was so proud of himself that he was practically floating.

The day started out with going to Sunday School and then church with the Heathens. Sunday School was a little wild as it was the last class of the year. Needless to say, the boys in my class were a little wild. But we survived.

During church, I was the nursery attendant and the Asst. Zookeeper was to meet us there to sit in church with Heathen #2. When he didn't arrive on time, I assumed he had fallen back to sleep. And that would have been understandable since he had worked Friday night and been up all day on Saturday. But he arrived after about 20 minutes - with a cup of coffee for me, God bless his heart!

After hurrying home to change, we headed to the IN LAWS house for lunch. Every year on Mother's Day, the men in my husband's family cook lunch for all of the mothers. Usually we have steak - but this year we had a choice of steak or chicken. Hurray! I'm not much for steak.

The boys presented their grandmother and great-grandmother with their cards and the sun catchers they had painted for them. It was a nice afternoon.

Afterwards, we headed to the other hill to do some shopping and errands. The Asst. Zookeeper's cell phone was finally on its last legs, and he finally decided to trade it in. He could have traded it in at the end of February. We also stopped at Dunham's and the boys let me pick out a hammock for my present. It's red with white flowers - I can't wait to take it camping this summer!

Next we drove out to Seward to see my parents. And the boys presented her with her card and sun catchers. After staying and chatting for a bit, we headed back to the zoo so that we had a bit of downtime before the Asst. Zookeeper had to leave for work.

Once he left at 6pm, the Heathens and I were back on the road, this time to my grandmother's apartment in Richland. She got her sun catchers - we had mailed her card previously. We invited her to dinner with us, but she had already eaten. I wasn't thinking very far ahead by this point in the day.

After that, it was on to my other grandmother's house in Windber. Again, we had a presentation of sun catchers (thank goodness for craft kits!). We only stayed there for a short amount of time. It was already going on 8pm by that point and I still hadn't fed the Heathens their dinner.

On the way home, we stopped at Valley Dairy for dinner. And the boys really were good, in retrospect. That evening though, I was convinced that they were deliberately being loud. But as I was paying, the manager commented on how good my boys had been. It was the perfect end to Mother's Day.

I didn't get any expensive presents or showers of cards (like I'd know what to do with either of those). I didn't necessarily do what I wanted - which I'm not sure what that would have been any way. But it was still a great "Momma's Day" for me. I got to spend the day with my Heathens. The Asst. Zookeeper really touched me with his cup of coffee in the morning. And I got to see all the mothers in my life - both the ones from my life and the ones that shaped the Asst. Zookeeper. It doesn't get much better than that.

Mud Baths

This past weekend, the Asst. Zookeeper got a start on a home-project that he has been wanting to do since we bought the house five years ago. Our yard is a hill. The children are able to play there and there is room for the playground and the sandbox, but a lot of it is still not usable because of the slope.

Well, the Asst. Zookeeper's father bought a back-hoe. And the Asst. Zookeeper borrowed it to regrade our yard. And the yard turned into a mud pit after it rained the next day. And the Heathens loved the whole process.


Anytime the back-hoe was turned on, all three of my Heathens were on board. The Asst. Zookeeper is always so good about letting the Heathens "help" when he does stuff around the house. I wish I had that kind of patience.

Here's a video clip of the Heathens on the back-hoe:

After the yard turned to mud, the Heathens had a great hour slopping in it. Check out the dirt on them! I had to clean them off before I could take them in the house for baths. And did I mention that our hose doesn't work outside? We had to use a bucket that I filled up in the kitchen. They had a blast! I just hope that no one visits my house until I get all the dirt cleaned up that they tracked inside!

Soccer Snapshots

The season of spring soccer has arrived. We now spend Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays at the soccer fields at KidSport. Armed with folding camp chairs, we brave almost any weather to cheer on our Heathens. Luckily, both sets of grandparents come watch the games as well - our Heathens have quite a cheering section!

I finally snapped a picture of each of the boys in their uniforms. We managed to get really good colors this year and by luck, each boy got their favorite color. You can't ask for better than that.

And of course, Heathen #3 loyally attends EVERY soccer game all season. In this photo, he is entertaining himself by biting his father's fingers.

Momma's a FLAKE

This past week, I managed to prove to my Heathens (again) that they can't trust me to keep my act together. They know they need to be on alert to watch for my multiple, frequent screw-ups. Thank heavens they are vigilant (and forgiving).

After the month of April and all of the soccer practices and ballet rehearsals, I was so thankful for last Monday. We didn't have ANYTHING on the family calendar for that night. I was ecstatic! I was finally going to get to stay home for the evening. The kids could simply play. We could relax and I could catch up on the laundry pile that was threatening to take over the second floor hallway.

That afternoon, Heathen #1 had called me at work to ask if he had a soccer game that night. And I said that his first game wasn't until Wednesday. And I knew that I was right. I had spent at least an hour combing through the two soccer schedules and dutifully marking each one in my calendar that I carry and in the family calendar that hangs in the kitchen. So I went home and we had a lovely evening of "nothingness" as a family.

Tuesday, Heathen #1 comes home from school and announces that he DID have a soccer game on Monday night - one of the boys in his class in also on his team. And I said that was not possible! And I checked the printed schedule that we were given - and sure enough, there was a game scheduled for Monday night.

I know how and why I made the mistake - which doesn't matter. What matters is that I screwed up and he missed his first soccer game of the season. Which also happened to be team picture day! Talk about feeling crummy as a mother! Heathen #1 was very forgiving about it, bless his heart.

We made it to Wednesday's game without any issue. Friday rolls around, and Heathen #1 calls me at work again. He says that he has a game that night, but that it isn't marked on the kitchen calendar. He knows he has a game because he talked to the kid in his class again.

At this point, I figured it wasn't possible. I'd already screwed up the schedule and made him miss the first game. I couldn't possibly have screwed up twice in the same week - could I? So I checked the printed schedule just to be safe. And sure enough, there was a game that night!

So we made it to the Friday night game, that I had missed on the schedule, and it turned out to be the make-up night for team pictures - so we almost missed that one too!

Heathen #1 hugged me and said it was okay. Thank God for children.

Cow Patties & Gingerbread

This past Saturday was a whirlwind of activity at our zoo. It was the culminating day for all the activities the Heathens did during the entire month (and in some cases, longer).

We started the morning out by being at Roxbury Park at 8am. It was the first-ever Chuckwagon Derby held for the Cub Scouts. The boys had to construct a covered wagon and supply it with a list of things. They then traveled to different stations to complete different activities.

Here's our wagon:

Don't they all look THRILLED to be awake this early on a Saturday! My personal favorite for the stations was the "Cow Pattie Toss." Using spray foam, the leaders created "cow patties" and them spray painted them brown. Even knowing what they were made of, it still looked gross.

Here's Heathen #1 with his cow pattie.

This was an all-morning event. However, we had more activities than just this! At 9:15, I took the younger two Heathens to Heathen #2's first soccer game of the season. He had worn his uniform all morning and managed to stay clean, which was awesome because he had team pictures before the game.

We arrived ON TIME for the photos. As his team was almost to the front of the line, it started to sprinkle ever so slightly. As his team was being positioned for their photo, the rain cut loose and we heard a huge thunder clap - which automatically cancels all games for the day, according to the group by-laws. Everyone ran for their cars. His team photo didn't get taken.

So we headed back over to the Chuckwagon Derby for the rest of the morning. We hung out there until noon. At that point, I took the younger two Heathens home to feed them and have them lay down for a bit. The Asst. Zookeeper and Heathen #1 followed shortly after they had loaded up the wagon.

At 1pm, Heathen #2 and I had to be at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center for his spring performance with the Johnstown Concert Ballet. For the matinee performance, I had volunteered to work backstage as one of the "moms" that keeps the girls under control. Imagine 15 first grade girls, Gavin, two other mothers, and me, stuck in a small dressing room for three hours. It was a long performance.

The great part of being a backstage mom is that I was able to get some photos of the kids in their costumes. I had volunteered at the beginning of March to sew all 16 gingerbread costumes for the grade 1 class. This included 15 pairs of bloomers and 15 dresses for the girls, and a jumpsuit for Gavin. I wanted photographic evidence of the fact that I can sew and that I did it all without asking anyone for help! The photos of Heathen #2 in the white shirt and black vest is his "peasant" costume, before he gets turned into a gingerbread boy.

Here is half of the group. The other half was already into the dressing room before I could catch them.

The show was over around 5pm. We then raced home. Heathens #1 and #3 were quickly cleaned up because they were going with the IN LAWS for the evening. Ballet isn't exactly their thing. I changed clothes and so did the Asst. Zookeeper. We then raced back to PPAC for the evening performance.

Heathen #2 really has a great time performing. It's obvious to watch him. However, neither the Asst. Zookeeper or I felt like sitting through three hours of ballet. We just weren't in the mood. After the Hansel & Gretel piece was over, we slipped out and went out to dinner. It was a nice chance to talk.

We picked up Heathen #2 at the end of the performance, around 10:30pm. He cried the entire way to the car because he was so tired from everything that day. He was asleep before we were out of the parking lot. After picking up Heathens #1 and #3 at the IN LAWS, we all headed home and went straight to bed. It was QUITE a big day at our zoo.

Call to Volunteer... Again

It's happened again - this time, twice in one day. The phrase "Volunteers needed" has crossed my desk twice.

It's not that I mind volunteering. I don't. I enjoy helping. The trouble is, that I volunteer ALL THE TIME. And if anyone uses the phrase "need a volunteer or else..." I'm guaranteed to raise my hand. Here's just some of what I do...

Cub Scouts: outings chair, popcorn kernel, and camp coordinator
Church: Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Christmas pageant, children's Advent workshop
Ballet: backstage mom, grade 1 costume mistress
PTO: Giant Eagle coordinator, plus helping with various other committees

Today, AYSO soccer and WAY football reared their heads using the dreaded "V" word. Soccer used the sentence "This is our last attempt to fill these positions." Football worded it as "volunteering is required." Does it still qualify as volunteering if it is required?

Well, I already know that I'll be volunteering for both of these functions as well. I've already looked into the requirements for the different positions, and I've sent the emails for further clarification. I wonder what it's like to be the parent that drops their kid off and drives away, returning just in time to pick him up... I'll probably never experience it. At least, I hope not.