Yup. It's perfect.

On Tuesday of this week, I was having a long day.  Nothing had gone wrong, it was just a busy day and I was really tired by the time the Heathens came home on the bus.  When they arrived home, Heathen #1 came over to give me a hug as I was washing dishes in the kitchen.  He asked what was wrong and I explained that I was just tired.

He gave me a hug and then announced that he was going to put up my bird feeder in front of my kitchen window where I actually wanted it.

Here's the back story:

When we moved into the new Zoo, there was a dilapidated bird feeder on a pole outside the kitchen window.  As the weather warmed up, birds were flocking to it.  I decided that I wanted to replace it with a new one since I could see the feeder and the birds as I washed dishes.

We purchased a new bird feeder.  When I attempted to put it on the same pole, I ran into trouble.  The pole has a plate across the top and the new bird feeder was made with a spike in the bottom to be inserted into a pole.  So I placed the new feeder out in the yard in a tree stump, but I couldn't see it from my window.

Back to current day:
After fussing with the pole to remove the last of the old feeder, Heathen #1 brought over the new feeder.  He removed the spike from the bottom and placed it on the pole.  But he didn't have a way to attach it.  Here was his solution:

Can you see how he attached it?

BUNGEE CORDS!!!

When he stepped back and I realized what he had done, I laughed hysterically.  He came back into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face.  Walking over to me, he gave me a big hug and said, "Now your bird feeder is where you wanted it."  I practically cried.

When the Asst. Zookeeper came home a hour or so later, I was so proud to show him my new bird feeder.  He chuckled as he looked out my kitchen window.  He said, "Let me guess.  We're leaving it that way."

And I said, "Yup.  It's perfect."

1st Overnighter w/ Asst. Zookeeper

The Asst. Zookeeper has been taking the Heathens camping since before they could walk.  But it was something special when he and Heathen #1 went on their first overnighter with the Scouts.  I wasn't sure who was more excited that evening as they set off into the woods together.

This past weekend, it was Heathen #2's turn for that first trip into the woods with just the Asst. Zookeeper.  Since he was old enough, that meant he needed a new external frame pack and a zero-degree sleeping bag.  Here he is all geared-up:

At this point, Heathen #2 was impatiently waiting for the Asst. Zookeeper to finish getting ready (he'd just come running in the door from work!)

When they were finally both ready, they humored me:

I said: "Pretend you are hiking"
Heathen #2: "Really?"
Asst. Zookeeper: "The faster you play
along with your mother, the faster we leave."

I said: "Look like you are having fun!"

I said:  "Pose and look manly!"

Asst. Zookeeper said: "Now point at something and look interested!"

They came home the following morning, tired, smelling of campfire, and thoroughly content.  Heathen #2 had a million stories to tell me - including how they made omelets in a bag!

The Asst. Zookeeper had a very tired, but satisfied look on his face.  His only comment was, "He had a good time."

Heathen in the News!

Last Saturday morning, the oldest Heathen fell victim to my "You should DO this!" mentality.  I'll admit, I have a problem.  I am a sucker for event flyers.  If it is on a flyer and handed to me, I feel compelled to go.  Here's what happens in my brain:

"Wow - they actually made a flyer.  It must be important!  We're absolutely MUST go!"

This is how my Zoo has ended up at bizarre places and doing bizarre things.  Probably the best to date would have been BatFest in the fall of 2010.  My Heathens and friends still make comments about white-nose syndrome and the Heathens want to buy bat houses for the new house!

So Saturday morning started out with a flyer advertising a "badge in a day" program.  Anyone who is involved with the scouts KNOWS that completing a badge in a day is difficult.  Once the boys move into a troop, the badges can be very involved and require very specific materials or equipment. 

I checked Heathen #1's schedule and he was AVAILABLE - so I informed him he was going.  He said okay - but I never told him what time it started in the morning.  Oops.

Since I was already driving Heathen #1 to this, I decided to round up some other Scouts from the Troop to take as well.  We ended up with a group of 8 - all in my Suburban.  It was at this point that I started to question my wisdom.

The boys did finish their badges all in one day.  And were all wound up like puppies when I picked them up in the afternoon since they had been indoors and sitting all day.  It was an interesting ride home, to say the least!

This photo appeared in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat the following day:

The following day at church, I was swamped with "church ladies" telling me that "your oldest, Tristan" was in the newspaper "in his uniform" and that did I want them to save me a copy of their newspaper.