Snow Day!!!!!!

I was thrilled this morning when I saw the word "closed" under our school district. I immediately called the office, informed them that I was using a comp day, and crawled back under the covers. It's even better because it's Friday.

The boys all emerged from their rooms at their own pace. I'm not even sure when it happened. I finally left my blankets at 11:30 with my hair standing up in all directions. But I felt calm and as though I could keep up with things for the first time in quite a while. It's amazing what sleep can accomplish.

My Heathens are all over the house in various states of dress - or undress. Heathen #1 is wearing the same jeans as yesterday. I'm pretty safe in guessing that he slept in them. Heathen #2 is wearing underwear and blue soccer socks pulled up to his knees. And Heathen #3 is in a diaper and pajama pants. But they are content.

They were so excited that it was a snow day and that we were just going to stay home. I think they needed a day off as badly as I do. They watched TV, eaten snacks, played dress-up, danced, and built new beds for themselves out of blankets and Rubbermaid totes.

The zoo is trashed - and I am not exaggerating. There is "stuff" everywhere - in every room, on every piece of furniture, on every floor. It's been the usually hectic week here and the clutter has taken over again. So far, I've managed to load and start the dishwasher. I'm hoping to completely reclaim my house by Sunday night. But today's a snow day. I wonder where I left the novel I've been attempting to read...

Snowboarding & M&Ms

Last week, the Assistant Zookeeper took the older two Heathens snowboarding at Blue Knob. Heathen #1 got a snowboard for Christmas two years ago, and Heathen #2 got one this past Christmas. And, of course, the Assistant Zookeeper needed to have a snowboard so that the Heathens could go. Ironic, isn't it?

Anyway, the boys all went Friday evening. Since I was home with the remaining Heathen, Dan took video of the boys so that I could see. Here is Tristan - slowly and cautiously, but able to do some "moves."

Gavin simply takes off and falls down - but he always jumps back up and keeps going.

And here's one video of the two of them together. Gavin is off and running without waiting for Tristan. He falls and gets back up again before Tristan even catches up!

Heathen #3 remained home with me and was quite entertained by M&Ms. He didn't realize that I was recording him and our conversation until after I started. Then all he wanted to do was watch himself on the little screen on the camera. But here he is with his M&Ms:

Holidays on the Home Front

This was a busy week at the Zoo. Not only was it Valentine's Day, but it was also my birthday this week. I'm not 29 - according to the Assistant Zookeeper, the most popular birthday among women ever! :) But Valentine's Day comes first, so I'll start there.

I managed to have a clean red shirt for myself and all the Heathens for Thursday, which was V-Day. Considering the amount of backed up laundry currently, this was no small task. While I was in the shower, a vase of white roses appeared around the shower curtain. Not known for being a "sensitive" guy, the Assistant Zookeeper definitely won points that morning. He'd also brought home a teddy bear for Heathen #1 to give to his main squeeze, Laken.

Over the course of the day, I managed to pick up cards and chocolate for all my Heathens, nieces, nephew, godson, and godson's brother. And one for the Assistant Zookeeper. We picked up all the boys and we headed to Ponderosa for dinner as the older two Heathens had coupons from school. It was definitely a good day.

This morning, my birthday, I got up the Heathens for church and Sunday School. After church, we came home and the Heathens played for an hour while I curled up in bed beside Assistant Zookeeper. He asked where I would like to go for lunch - and I felt like Taco Bell. :) Then we had some time to kill before attending a birthday party, and we went to Value City. I got myself a new pair of shoes and a fantastic new purse - it's ORANGE! After the party, we came back home. The kids played nicely this evening. And they went to bed without any trouble. It was heaven.

Now, as for my age - I can't say that I'm bothered. I'm not old. And I still don't have a single gray hair. I figure I'm doing pretty good - 3 sons, an assistant zookeeper, and no hair dye yet!

Cookie Monster is BLUE

Two nights ago, after I put the three Heathens to bed, I went downstairs to check my email. After approximately 20 minutes of peace and quiet, Heathen #2 came down the basement steps and informed me that Heathen #3 had a blue marker. (At this point point, imagine me groaning and hanging my head in exasperation).

I followed Heathen #2 back upstairs to see what awaited me. Low and behold, Heathen #3 was sitting on the stairs to the second floor with a blue marker. Upon flipping on the hall light, I was greeted by a two-year-old who had blue palms and a BLUE NOSE. Holding is palms up beside his face, he seriously informed me that, "Cookie Monser is boo!"

I should probably mention at this point that he was wearing a bright blue hooded sweatshirt that has a Cookie Monster face on it and he had the hood pulled up. He was also wearing blue pajama pants. He was completely blue - including his skin! And he was absolutely correct, Cookie Monster is blue.

Thank heavens it was washable Crayola marker! Otherwise, he'd still be blue. I wanted to take a picture, but I was trying to be all "mom" about it and we talked about only coloring on paper. But I really wish I had taken the picture first.

Zoo Errands Add Up

Sometimes I wonder how I possibly use as much gas as I do - driving between 250 and 300 miles per week though, it adds up. But, to put this into perspective, lets see how much I drove in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday I left work right around 5pm.

Left work and picked up Heathen #3 at the sitter's house.
Drove to pick up Heathen #1 at Youth Club.
Went to a friend's house to pick up frozen food items I had purchased.
Finally drove home. (approx. 5 miles total)
Left home and took Heathen #2 to the pediatrician's.
Went to pharmacy to fill the prescription we had just received.
Drove home. (approx. 20 miles total round trip)

This morning:
Left home and drove Heathen #3 to the sitter's.
Took Heathen #1 to the pediatrician's (stopping on the way to fill the gas tank).
Went to WalMart.
Picked up ink cartridges at cartridge World.
Took Heathen #1 to school.
Went to the pharmacy to fill Heathen #1's prescriptions.
Picked Heathen #2 up at kindergarten and took him to the sitter's.
Finally arrived at work (this was around noon). (approx. 25-30 miles)
Left work at 5 pm and dropped Valentine's at my nieces' house.
Picked up Heathens #2 and #3 at the sitter's.
Went home to pick up the Assistant Zookeeper.
Took everyone with me to go to the YMCA and pick up Heathen #1 from swim team.
Drove to do shopping and go to dinner in Richland (which involved stopping at three separate places).
And drove home again. (approx. another 30 miles)

So I'm going to estimate that I just drove approximately 85 miles in the past 24 hours. And I wonder why I always seem to need gas in the mini van. Duh. (** Keep in mind that my sense of distance is not-so-good. But I've still made my point!)

The Zoo Takes a Field Trip

The Assistant Zookeeper and I decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to get out of Dodge for a few days. Read "a few days" as "Friday night and Saturday." Anyway, BODIES the exhibition is currently at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh and we thought it would be a great item to go see. Add to this that we have family friends who wanted to see the exhibit as well - and you have a trip!

We picked up all the Heathens around 3:00 and headed for Tarentum - about 1.5 hours by car. It put us only about 25 minutes from the museum. Friday night we had a great time! When I booked the hotel, my only stipulation was that it HAD to have an indoor pool - I have three Heathens, need I say more? I made reservations for Springhill Suites. Turns out the hotel was right beside an enormous mall - that had both a WalMart and a Borders bookstore.

Upon our arrival in Tarentum, we drove past the hotel and went straight to WalMart. We needed junk food for the night - and did we buy it! We left WalMart with 5 bags - full.

Then we actually checked into the hotel. Because we hadn't taken the kids anywhere for a while, and because I wanted the pool for them to swim, the hotel was a little pricier than we would usually do. As we were pulling up into the driveway, Assistant Zoopkeeper and I were joking about how we would be spotted as the "white trash" immediately by what our kids would say and do. We were making comments like "Wow, look at the wallpaper, it's ain't even peelin!" and doing it will a southern accent. I'll give you two guesses what Heathen #1 said at the top of his lungs when we got into the hotel...

We got settled into our room and then headed for the pool. We've decided that we want a room like that on our new house. The pool room was very pretty and it was beautifully lit. The room was big enough that you could have added several picnic tables and had quite a party. And the hot tub was in the same room in the corner. It was lovely to soak in the warm water and watch the Heathens try to drown each other just a few feet away.

After we were all thoroughly pruned, we headed back out to go to Borders bookstore. After everyone picked a book, or a "kit," we headed out into the main mall to take a look around. It was huge - and it was packed.

After leaving the mall, we headed back to WalMart. We'd discovered the fact that we hadn't bought the kids anything to drink to go with their snacks. And we had no way to watch a movie - so we bought a really cheap DVD player.

Back to the hotel! We watched "Surfs Up" with the kids - but I didn't make it through the entire movie awake. I remember the beginning, have vague recollections of the middle, and nothing after that. I did manage to sleep until after 3am before Heathen #3 ended up in our bed. After that, it was dozing in and out until 9.

At 9 o-clock, I jumped in the shower and started to rouse the Heathens. Heathen #3 was already doing his "I hungy" chat and I figured the other two weren't far behind.

At 9:30, the Heathens and I headed down to the lobby for the continental breakfast. Assistant Zookeeper stayed behind to shower and start picking up the debris since check out was at 11.

The Heathens enjoyed making teddy bear shaped waffles - although they didn't eat them. We decided to make Assistant Zookeeper an egg muffin with sausage, which went over really well when we got back to the room.

After 30 minutes in the car, we parked at the Carnegie Science Center and got our pre-purchased tickets. The boys had a fantastic time. I've put all of the photos I took into my web album. Assistant Zookeeper was set on getting an arch built in the one activity - and, with a lot of extra hands, finally managed it!

At 1pm, we met the Law Family to go through BODIES together. It was fascinating. Unfortunately, the boys were all bored. The traffic moved too slowly for them. Had they been able to move at their own speed, it would have been better for them!

After the BODIES exhibit, the Law Family headed back to Johnstown. Their newest family member is Buster the puppy - and they didn't want to leave him for too long.

The Heathens headed into SportsWorks. Tristan tried this thing that spins you in circles.

Gavin tried a bungee-cord trampoline thing that shot him up into the air.

And Landon went for a smaller-scale spin you in circles item.

We also visited the USS Requim that is on loan from the US Navy.

Finally, we headed for the Zoo around 4:30 pm. And we pulled up behind the house probably around 6:45 or 7. The Heathens were exhausted and so were we, but it was a great trip!

Soggy Envelopes

Since Heathen #2 is in kindergarten this year, every holiday has been a new experience for him as he learned how holidays affect school. For example, he got to take a present to school for Christmas to exchange with his classmates.

Well, Valentine's Day is just around the corner - and WalMart has had valentine's since December 26th. I obtained the boys' valentines early so that I didn't forget.

When Heathen #1 was in kindergarten, the whole Valentine's Day initiation was miserably painful. He HATED to write his name for any reason. I spent every evening for a week arguing with him, until he has signed his name to all 13 cards. It was such a lovely experience.

Heathen #2 couldn't be more different. He's been asking when he got to write his cards out for the past two weeks. And I finally gave in last night and set him down with his cards, the envelopes, and a pen - and Heathen #2 went to town.

Not only did he sign all 15 cards in LESS than 30 minutes, he also decorated all 15 envelopes with hand drawn hearts. Definitely has a flare for decorating! Up to this point, it was all good.

The trouble is that Heathen #2 was over-enthusiastic in licking the envelopes. By the time he was finished, there was a pile of soggy envelopes that were wrinkled and wouldn't stay shut. I found myself wondering if the amount of glue he'd ingested could possibly be dangerous.

Look out Mrs. Oswalt - I'm sending soggy envelopes your way! Hopefully they've dried a bit by next Thursday.