"Toe Bite" Turns TWO!

For the past two years, one of my FAVORITE parts of Christmas is celebrating my youngest nephew's birthday.  Heathen #3 says that he is very lucky because he shares a birthday with Jesus.  And I'm very lucky in that my brother and his wife are tolerant of me and my love of children's birthdays - they let me get the cake and decorations and everything!

Currently, my Ozark's favorite book is a Dr. Seuss - and he even has a favorite page.  When I visited last month, Ozark kept wanting a "toe bite" and would then laugh hysterically if you pinched his toes and yelled "toe bite!"  What could possibly be a better idea for a cake?



I'm lucky in that I have a friend that makes cakes!  Not only are the cakes YUMMY, but she is also fantastic at decorating them!  I emailed my brother and asked for a scan of the page.  I sent her the email with the picture scan - and she created this!

Ozark didn't really understand the singing.

 

And he didn't understand blowing out the candles either!

 

He stared at the candles for several minutes until
Michelle helped him blow them out.

 

Ozark definitely understood EATING the cake!

 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ozark!

 

Christmas Eve & Morning 2013

 Christmas Eve was just as wonderful as every other year.  The Heathens put on their Christmas outfits and we spent the evening sitting as a family at church.  Christmas Eve, along with Easter morning, are one of my favorite times to attend church as a family.  While some families only surface at church on the holidays, these are the days that help us remind the Heathens that God is part of those important holidays.

This year, the Heathens decided they were all wearing suits to Christmas Eve service.  This is the first photo EVER taken where all of my Heathens were wearing suits.

A photographic FIRST!

After church, we headed home and put the Heathens to bed.  After several hours, and waiting for everyone to fall asleep, we sent out the signal to Santa that all was safe at our Zoo for his arrival!

Christmas morning dawned early, however the Heathens followed the Zoo rule that they are NOT to wake us up until at least 7:00 am and NO ONE is permitted in the living room until the entire Zoo is present.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Christmas of the Cows, Shepherds, and Bells

The Heathens had a BIG weekend at church!  It was the weekend of the Christmas pageant - and all three Heathens were involved.  And the younger two Heathens were thrilled with their costumes!

Heathen #3 was a COW!
And he had a speaking part!

Heathen #2 was a shepherd.

Right before the pageant began.

Heathen #1 played the part of a narrator.

And Heathen #2 made his debut with the bell choir!

He was right on beat!

All three Heathens did a FABULOUS job.  Well done, Heathens!

Swimming Debut In Red & Gray

Today is a day that Heathen #1 has been waiting for and working towards since he was 9 years old.  Today is his first high school swim meet and he'll be swimming for the same school as the Asst. Zookeeper did.  He wasn't excited AT ALL when he came down the steps this morning.

The high school swim team dresses for school on the days of swim meets.  Everyone in khakis and white shirts, boys in red ties.  They also wear their warm up jackets.  They really look nice as a group.

Usually, Heathen #1 has to be bombed out of bed and barely makes it down the steps in time to stumble to the bus in time.  This morning was different.  He was up early and ironed his own shirt.  After I watched him struggle with his tie for several LONG minutes, I finally gave in and started to snicker at his attempts.  The Heathens are not tie-wearing children.  Not surprising since the Asst. Zookeeper is not a tie-wearing person on a regular basis.

Heathen #1 was tolerant of my snickering and waited until I had regained my composure.  He then politely asked me to give him a hand.

I must say, I was quite proud to claim him as mine after he was all ready to go.  Good luck tonight, Heathen.  You have put in the time in the pool.  Have fun.  The Asst. Zookeeper and I will be poolside as always.  We couldn't be more proud.

  

3rd Generation Santa Debut



Santa Arrives!

The Asst. Zookeeper's mine decided to plan a family Christmas party this year!  And because he knows I'm a sucker for small children, holidays and parties, the Asst. Zookeeper volunteered me to do most of the planning - and that was fine by me!

The men and their families had a great afternoon!  But my favorite part was the arrival of Santa.  The Asst. Zookeeper was busy with other parts of the party and could not be Santa's Helper this time.  So, Heathen #1 made his debut as Santa.  And did a fabulous job of it for his first time!

 

Santa peeked at me between children.  I had to have
a few photos of him!

 

He talked to every child there!

This last picture is my favorite.  Heathen #1 looked at me with a bit of panic when one of the ladies handed him her infant who was no more than 4 months old.  He held the baby like a champ and managed to keep hold of his beard at the same time.

Well done, Heathen.  And Merry Christmas!

Zoo-Mobile

Several months ago, my mother called me while she and my father were on a trip down south somewhere.  She had seen a North Carolina license plate and was insistent that I needed to have it for our family vehicle.

After she told me what the plate was, I agreed that I simply HAD to have it if it was available here in Pennsylvania.  And it was!  After $20 and waiting six weeks, it finally arrived!  It is SOOO appropriate for our Zoo!

Christmas Candy - A Tradition Resurrected

For as long as I can remember, the Asst. Zookeeper tells me every year during the holidays about making hard candy with his family as a young Heathen himself.  Every year without fail - and I've always been a bit jealous.  His grandparents would come over, his parents were both helping, and he and his brothers got to help as well.  And every year when he tells me, my jealousy grows just a little bit.

This year, when he started to tell me about making hard candy, I admitted to being jealous because it sounded like so much fun.  So, the Asst. Zookeeper decided that we were inviting everyone over to the Zoo and making hard candy!

I'm not sure who was more excited - the Nana, the Grandma, or the Asst. Zookeeper and his brothers!  As soon as we had a day and time scheduled, the Grandma started rounding up supplies and pulling out pans and candy thermometers.

WHAT A STICKY MESS!  We made candy for several hours - in every flavor we could locate!

We filled an entire roaster pan with hard candy.  Morbid curiosity got us at the end and we weighed the pan to find out how much candy we had made - better than 25 pounds!  Once we had finished, we divided the candy among the households.  All the Heathens and the Cousins had hard candy to give teachers for Christmas gifts - just like their fathers did as children themselves.

Definitely planning on candy making again next year!

Birthday Shoes

All my Heathens are of the male persuasion, which is perfectly fine with me.  I'm a momma that was meant to raise boys.  I love being outside and getting dirty.  Small boys are right up my alley.

Occasionally, I feel the need to spend time doing "girly" things.  And thank HEAVENS I have been blessed with three nieces!  They are always willing to come play with me when I need girl time and they all belong to women who are willing to share with me.

I've always teased the girls about their shoes because shoes are something that I LOVE.  So, since the girls were all big enough to not really want a toy for their birthdays, we go shoe shopping together instead!

Two of the three girls have birthdays that are only 9 days apart - which means that this shoe shopping trip is a group event every year.  It always involves food to start, then shopping, and then we usually head for ice cream as well.

Ili Grace and Gertrude are quite a pair.  Not only are they cousins, but they love to spend time together as well.  And they are a hoot to watch together.

Usually the girls have an idea of what type of shoe they are looking for.  Last year, Ili Grace wanted slippers and Gertrude wanted dress shoes with heels.  This year, the girls had no clue heading into the store.  However, it didn't take them long to make their selections:

My Ili Grace and  my Gertrude!

 And, we ALWAYS wear our new shoes home.  Thank goodness their mothers are willing to share these two with me.  We always have a blast together!  Happy Birthday to Ili Grace and Gertrude - six years old!

Don't worry Skinny Minnie - your birthday is right around the corner.

TIMBER!

One of my memories as a child is going to cut our own Christmas tree.  I remember it being COLD, and I remember big hills of pine trees, and then I remember the car breaking down and eating french fries at a bar.  I don't actually remember cutting down a tree, but I always remember that I had a great time.

For several years, the Asst. Zookeeper and I have discussed cutting our own tree.  The trouble has always been that we didn't know where to find one on the day I decided we were getting a tree.  And I'm not the most patient of people - there is no, "We'll find a place and get the tree tomorrow."

This year, I planned ahead!!  After a Google search, I found a tree farm!  We loaded the Heathens into the truck, grabbed the bow saw and headed for the farm.

The Heathens had a great time.  Heathen #2 was fascinated by how many Christmas trees were growing and Heathen #3 kept commenting on how tall the trees were.  Heathen #1 just wanted to cut one down.

After poking around the field for a bit, and circling the trees looking for bare spots, we made our choice.

The lucky tree was chosen!

 The farm has men who work in the field and will cut the tree down for you.  They were quite entertained by Heathen #1.  One of them asked him if he wanted a job!

Heathen #1 went to work.

The Heathens and their tree!

 While the tree was being run through the bailing machine, the Heathens and the Asst. Zookeeper entertained themselves like only small heathens can do.

 

 

 

 

 We hauled the tree home to decorate.  It is a great Christmas tree and I know we will go to the tree farm again.  We had a great afternoon!  Merry Christmas!