Christmas: the Season of Stitches

On December 22, Heathen #3 asked if he could have an apple for a snack.  Absolutely!  I'm a big fan of fruit for snacks.  Not only is it healthy, but the Heathens can all get their own fruit out of the refrigerator.  He asked if I would cut it up, but I told him to just eat it whole.

At this point in the story, I was upstairs putting away laundry.  10 minutes later, Heathen #3 comes back upstairs and asked for a band-aid.  When I asked why he needed one, I was presented with a thumb that OBVIOUSLY needed a few stitches!  There had been no shriek, no scream, no crying, NO WARNING that I was going to be presented with this thumb.

As I wrapped his hand in a clean wash cloth and went into "Mom Mode" in preparation for heading to the ER, I asked how he had cut his thumb.  Heathen #3 decided that he was going to cut his own apple!

Everyone reading, relax.  He didn't touch a knife.  He used one of those apple slicers that cores the apple and cuts it into section.  The one I have is older that Heathen #2.  One of the apple pieces got stuck in the slicer and he used his thumb to push it through.  THUS the sliced thumb.

Heathen #3 has never had stitches before.  The ER people were fantastic with him.  Heathen #3 received 3 stitches in the tip of his thumb and he took them like a pro!  He even managed to weasel a popsicle and orange juice out of the nurse.  By the time they had him ready to leave, he looked like a burn victim!

On December 26, Heathen #2 REFUSED to wait for me to open a package.  It was one of those horrible plastic packages that are miserable to open.  He suggested using a knife and I specifically told him ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!   Ten minutes later, he came and asked me for a band-aid!

On my second trip to the ER in less than a week, guess who I ran into: the same triage nurse, the same roon nurse, and the same doctor to do the stitches!!!  Could I have been any more lucky?  When we left the ER, Heathen #2 was also the proud owner of 3 stitches.

 At the Zoo, we don't return to the doctor for them to remove the stitches.  We have our own EMT (thank heavens).  It is considered a rite of passage to have the Asst. Zookeeper remove the stitches at home.  Before school started for the new year, Heathen #3 had joined the ranks and Heathen #2 had renewed his membership.

Heathen #3's Stitches Before Removal

Heathen #3's Stitches During Removal



Heathen #3 After Stitch Removal 

Heathen #2's Stitches During Removal

Heathen #2 Taking Out His Own Stitches

Heathen #2 After Stitch Removal

Cookies with the Cousins

The hardest part of Christmas, in my humble opinion, has always been to find shopping or free time that is Heathen-free.  The Heathens are ALWAYS around!  In hopes of giving other the needed free time, I initiated "Cookies with Cousins" this December.  The Heathens were joined by 5 additional small children for the afternoon, freeing up their mothers for some shopping time.

I decided that we were going to decorate sugar cookies.  And like every true woman...  I ORDERED them from the local Eat N'Park (without icing).  I knew if I tried to make them myself, it would only be a huge disaster.  I even cheated and purchased the colored icing instead of making it.  I also had enough sprinkles of various types to keep all the little munchkins and Heathens happy!

After they each decorated their cookies, they headed to the basement to watch old Christmas movies.  They had a great time that afternoon and were all on a complete sugar high when their mothers came to pick them up!  Aunt Dani strikes again!

 Baby What

 Gertrude

 Illy Grace

 Heathen #3

 Heathen #1

 Heathen #2

 Skinny Minnie

Breaking the Silence

I've had many mentions that the Zookeeper has been strangely quiet for the past few months.  Several have voiced concerns that nothing was happening at the Zoo.

Have no fears, the chaos continues.  I have a free morning and will attempt to fill in some of the holes since before Thanksgiving!

Every Student's Dream Come True

This past weekend I was incredibly ill on Friday night.  By 3 am on Saturday morning, I woke up the Asst. Zookeeper for him to drive me down to the hospital.  Due to being so sick, I didn't even bother with putting on my glasses.  I simply didn't care.

Upon arrival at the hospital, I went through the typical triage area and then was taken back to be seen.  Amazingly, this all went very rapidly and everyone was very nice!  I saw the doctor and he decides what he is going to do.  Part of his plan was an IV for fluids because I was so terribly dehydrated.  Doctor say that the nurse will be right in to get it started.

In walks the nurse.  I opened my eyes enough to verify if the shape was male or female.  Male.  Definitely my age or younger.  He was very polite as he moved around the room.  Then he asked if I still taught at McCort.

Huh?  I haven't been at McCort since spring of 2004.  And I'm not wearing my glasses, so I can't even see who this guy is.  He casually says that I was his math teacher. 

And now it's time for my IV!  Kudos to Travis (who's name I remembered shortly thereafter) for not spending an hour or more digging for my nonexistent veins.  He actually was very good at his job.

When he finished taping down the tubing and had everything situated, I told him he was now the envy of every high school student in the world.  What student wouldn't LOVE to stab their math teacher with a needle!?!?

What teacher doesn't dread the day that a past student is part of the "real world."  We remember you as a teenager or younger.  It's always a frightening thought!  And my old student was my nurse!

PS - Travis, you were a great nurse.  The IV was well done.  Congratulations on turning into who you are!  Welcome out into the real world.  :)

Say "Cheese!"

This past week, Heathen #3 came home from kindergarten with an interesting assignment.  He received a paper turkey, and he was to make a disguise for it.  It was a parent/child project (a.k.a. - you're allowed to help).  The assignment even gave a few hints for possible disguises.  I assumed the littlest Heathen would pick one of the suggestions.  I was SO wrong.

He wanted to put his turkey in a bikini because it was going to a "bikinishoot" - which translates into "bikini shoot," like a model.  It took a little bit to figure out what the correct translation was because he was getting VERY impatient with the Momma.

I'm figuring he won't have thought this through very clearly, and it shouldn't take much time.  I'll give the Heathen some crayons, he'll draw a swimming suit, and we're good!  NOPE!

After much work translating, I discovered that this turkey wasn't just to wear a regular bikini, it was to be a STRING bikini (Heathen translation: a bikini with those "things" and lots of hand motions).  And he wanted it to be sparkly.

Bless Grandma and her glitter glue!  She saved me (again).  After more than an hour of coloring, cutting, pasting, gluing, leaning in the glitter with our elbows, and REDOING everything on the above list, here is what the Heathen created for his disguise:

Don't miss the nail polish and the lipstick.  And the sandals have "those things on them" that he wanted as well!  I think I should have gone into fashion!

A New Era Begins

For the first time in twelve and a half years, I do not have a little Heathen at home.  Heathen #3 became an "offical kindergartener" last Monday.  He was more than ready to go.

He fought with some nervousness the day or so before he boarded the big yellow bus.  But on that morning, he was too busy running around with the other kids at the bus stop.  The photo below shows my youger two Heathens and my neighbor's three (her youngest also started kindergarten).

Heathen #3 managed to snag his foot running over a backpack and fell on the sidewalk.  He smacked his head on the concrete and brush burned his knee.  As soon as he hit the concrete, I heard the school bus start up the street - go figure!

I stood him up and checked for blood - there wasn't any.  He was still sniveling when Heathen #2 herded him onto the bus with the other kids.  He didn't have time to be scared.  He was still rubbing his knee and his forehead from falling.

I'll admit to a few sniffles and tears of my own after the bus left.  It was a very long, quiet day at the zoo by myself.  Turns out, I really do like the Heathens after all!

Later that afternoon...

Around 3:45, the school bus returned to Shady Lane with the Heathens aboard.  Our neighborhood children don't walk off the bus, they swarm off the bus.  The littlest Heathen came running up the front steps yelling, "Momma, it was AWESOME!!!" 

My Heathens came inside and immediately began handing me papers and talking at the same time.  I finally got to ask Heathen #3 what was his favorite part of his "awesome" day.  (I'm listing the possibilities in my head: art, recess, gym, etc.)

With his arms spread wide, a huge smile on his face and sparkling eyes, Heathen #3 announces, "They give you all your food at once, even your dessert!  And you get to pick what you put on your tray!"

Only my Heathen's favorite part of the day would be the cafeteria.

The Last Huzzah

My Heathens never sleep well the night before school starts.  They are awake for ever, all worked up about the next day.  This year, I decided that we weren't staying home and we were NOT going to bed at 8 pm.

Instead, we drove almost three hours to attend the Renaissance Faire near Mount Hope!  August 28 and 29 was one of the themed weekends: Pyrate Invasion!  So the Heathens and I went to the local thrift store and put together pirate costumes to wear.

We invited the Grandma to go along with us.  She didn't go in costume, but she did make and take a pirate flag.

We arrived around 11:30 am and we didn't leave until after 8 pm.  We saw singers, musicians, sword swallowers, jousting, knights, pirates, queens, peasants and SO much more.  The Heathens decided that they would like to go back again.  The only bad part of the day was when my camera broke.

The younger two Heathens attended pirate school and learned how to fight with the blow-up swords they were given.  We all did a pirate treasure hunt to search for the secret word that opened the treasure chest.  All three Heathens went to sword school with the actors who taught them how to do mock sword fights for spectators.  We had an amazing day!