Christmas Tally COMPLETE

Another Christmas season is completed - and I "believe" I may have retained my sanity.  Maybe.  Still not sure.
It was definitely a busy season, and the Zoo wouldn't have it any other way.  Here are the totals:

Visitors to the Zoo:  42
Heathen visits outside of the Zoo:  3 houses for an additional 9 friends & family
Sleepovers: 2 (Heathen #1's friends were all out of town this year!)
Shared meals with family & friends (at the Zoo or elsewhere): 53

Here are some of the photos I snapped of the season:

Heathens 1, 3, and 2 (left to right)
taken BEFORE the presents were opened
all thinking: HURRY UP MOM!

Heathen #2 scored on the amount
of Duct Tape (both from Santa
and relatives).  Most of the 27 rolls
are already used up!

Heathen #3 unwraps a huge cardboard
house that is colorable.  Santa
forgot to check and see if it came
with markers!  Oops!

Heathen #1 was already plotting
to fly his plane an chucklin
about dive-bombing cows.
The Zookeeper promptly gave him
a dirty look.  :)

The Asst. Zookeeper is wearing his required
Santa hat as he watches the chaos and flying wrapping
paper in the room before him.  I think he might have
been sleeping with his eyes open - but he responded
appropriately when someone spoke to him!

No Christmas is complete without watching the children's Christmas pageant at church.  The oldest Heathen has moved from Sunday School to Confirmation and is no longer a part of it (much to my dismay). The younger two Heathens still participate.  It's one of my FAVORITE Sundays all year!

The younger Heathens ready for the
Christmas pageant to start!

During the March of the Christmas Children as the Heathens
and the rest of the children were moving through the Sanctuary.

Every year, the Sunday School children include the March of the Christmas Children at the end of their pageant.  They always move through the Sanctuary so that everyone can see their costumes and hear them sing.  If you have not heard this song, it is worth a few minutes to click on the link I've provided.  I watch the "Church Ladies" (as dubbed by the Heathens) cry and wipe their eyes as they have huge smiles on their faces every year.

Birthday Boy!

Aunt Dani got the honor of hosting Ozark's first birthday party here in PA. Although I know he had a party in TX and there is another planned for CA, it was still lots of fun!

In one house, we had people from CA, PA, OH, TX and a few other states if we count birth locations.  With a crew of approximately 20 family members, Ozark smashed cake and had a good time!

Ozark's personal cake.

The cake for the family.

He was so civilized to start - using a spoon.

The first taste of icing!

Civilization is over-rated.  He needs a drink to wash
down all the icing!

To Aunt Dani's delight: he had icing in his hair!

Opening presents with Mom and Dad.

Happy Birthday, Ozark!

To Ozark: Happy Birthday! I wish you lived closer, so I'll just have to steal the moments I can.

To Rhys and Michelle: Thanks for sharing him with me.  :)  I love birthday parties!  Congrats on surviving the first year of parenthood.  Just a few more years to go.

Newest Zoo Arrivals

All Zoos have a constant influx of animals.  Some arrive with planning on everyone's part.  Others arrive when the Zookeeper says, "Awwww! I want them!"

Thus, the arrival of Sorchia and Tucker, a set of litter mates.  Tucker (cream-colored) is male.  Sorchia (black & white) is female.  Both just over a pound when they arrived at the Zoo, they are ALMOST four pounds together at this point.  Although, from they way they eat, they should weigh a lot more.

They have spent the past few weeks playing in the end of the garlands in the hallway.  This was the latest "battle" that I witnessed.

Tucker says, "These are my garlands."
Sorchia says, "You think?"

Tucker says, "STOP looking at the garlands, they are mine!"
Sorchia says, "Eeeeek!"

Tucker says, "You can have them."
Sorchia says, "I knew they were mine anyway."

Replay this battle a minimum of 20 times a day.  You can put in your own conversation.  Alternate the winner about 50% of the time.

Welcome to life at the Zoo!

Icing & Sprinkles EVERYWHERE

Saturday, December 17th was a BUSY day at the Zoo!  I roused the Heathens out of bed "early" on a Saturday morning.  We had people to pick up and places to be!

First stop, picking up Noah Logan, Ili Grace, and Wyatt.  Turned out, Gertrude had spent the night at her house - I managed to pick up four kids instead of just three!  Second stop was to pick up Skinny Minnie.  By 8:45, I had a car full of 8 children (ages 13 to 3) and we were headed for breakfast with Santa.

Breakfast with Santa was great!  There was only one problem.  Santa's helper that day was Pappy.  As soon as the grandchildren heard his voice, their heads all snapped around and they narrowed their eyes at Santa.  Breakfast was finished with lots of sticky syrup for the pancakes and lots of suspicious looks at Santa.

While the younger 2 Heathens had final rehearsal for the Christmas pageant, I took the other 6 children to the grocery store to purchase more "decorations."  Although I had already been to the store, I knew I didn't have enough sprinkles, icing or "stuff" for them to put on their cookies.

Taking six children to the grocery store is interesting.  We went to the store where I normally shop with my three Heathens.  This time, I had twice as many kids and only 1 of them was mine.  After 20 minutes of shopping, we had Christmas M&Ms, marshmallows, sprinkles, and icing in multiple tubes and containers ready for checkout.  It was basically a big purchase of sugar in various forms.

We picked up the younger two Heathens and headed to the Zoo.  The kiddos all watched Rudolph while I made macaroni and cheese for lunch.  I thought water took forever to boil when there were three hungry Heathens.  It takes MUCH longer when there are 8 of the staring at the water in the pot!

Once fed, I separated the kiddos into two rooms for decorating.  The youngest three stayed in the kitchen, while the oldest five headed for the dining room.  Here are the kiddos with their favorite cookie they decorated:

Heathen #2

Skinny Minnie

Gertrude

Meatball

Ili Grace

Heathen #3

Heathen #1

Noah Logan

There were sprinkles and icing everywhere!  All things considered, the kiddos where unbelievably NEAT.  A quick wipe of the table and a swipe of the vacuum and everything was picked up!

The only casualty was a spilled glass of milk that found it's way into Skinny Minnie's lap.  She finished decorating in a pair of Heathen shorts while her jeans were in the washer.

Then (the best part), I packed up all the over-sugared kiddos, their cookie creations, and TOOK THEM HOME!

Collar Embarassment

The Dogs went to Petco for their monthly "spa" day.  I take them to Petco for two reasons.  First, the Dogs are both big enough to be a pain to bathe at home without making the whole Zoo smell like wet dog.  And second, I hate smelling like a wet dog after I finish bathing them!

"Spa" day is one of the Dogs favorites.  It combines some of their favorite pass times: car rides, water, attention, and snacks.  When I pull in at Petco, they start whimpering in the back because I won't take them inside fast enough.

This is what I found when I picked them up a few hours later:

Duchess

Bantley

They turned my Dogs into poodles!  Usually, the Dogs come home with a bandana tied around their necks.  The bandanas they love - if you take them off before they fall off, the Dogs will whimper.  The frilly collar was in place of the bandana for the holidays.

My Dogs look like lapdogs - but they love the collars!  Heathen #1 took it off Bantley, who promptly tried to stick his head back into it!

Here's the best part: instead of looking ferocious when they play, they look STUPID!

As each of the Heathens arrived home from school, I heard from the front door, "Momma, WHAT is on the dogs?"  Looks like I'm not the only one to think they look ridiculous.



Bobcats & Jingle Bells

Last evening was the Cub Scout Pack meeting for the month of December. Heathen #3 earned his Bobcat badge!  After a lot of work, the boys in Heathen #3's den were thrilled to get their patches.

Heathen #3 (right) and his cousin (left)
are so excited to get their patches!

The den gets their patches.  I'm in the green t-shirt, with
Heathen #3 in front of me.

Also at the Pack Meeting, our favorite December person paid a visit!  Unfortunately, the Asst. Zookeeper wasn't able to be there (he was at "work").

Heathen #3 with Santa

Heathen #2 with Santa

We were home from the Pack meeting for approximately 15 minutes before the Asst. Zookeeper arrived home from "work."  The younger two Heathens were convinced that the Asst. Zookeeper had played Santa that evening at the Pack meeting. 

The Asst. Zookeeper promptly called his evening maintenance foreman at the mine and asked him to explain to the Heathens that he had been at work all evening.  Thanks to Mike Gerber for talking to the Heathens so that they knew Daddy had been at work!

"Rescue Stupid" Boots

Every morning, the Dogs eagerly wait at the back door so that they can go out and stare at the Huge Rabbits that moo at them.  It has become a morning ritual at our house.  Wake the Heathens.  Put a Dog outside.  Listen to the barking and mooing commence.  All Creatures seem happy with the arrangement.

While Duchess is smart and never gets tangled, Bantley can NOT say the same.  It is only 8:00 and for the third time this morning, I looked outside and found this:

Doesn't he look pitiful?

For some reason, if he is outside for more than a minute, he manages to tie himself around this handrail.  This "figure 8" isn't the worst he's done.  Last night, he literally managed to tie himself to part of the railing.  How he did it, I have no idea.

The best part isn't that he continually does this.  It isn't even the pitiful look on his face when you discover him.  Or even the excitement when he realizes you are coming to rescue him.

The best part is that he thinks you are trying to kill him while you try to unwind him, so he struggles the entire time to tangle himself up farther!

Considering I plan to die in this house, and Bantley is only about 4 years old, I have many more mornings of this to look forward to.  In preparation, this morning I placed an old pair of boots at my back door that I can just step into.  I've dubbed them my "Rescue Stupid" boots.