Traditional Cousin Pictures

We have a tradition in the Heath home where we take a picture of all the cousins on the couch from oldest to youngest. We try to do this every time we get together. It is such a treat to see these sweet children grow, and this is the perfect way to capture that change.

December 2010- Isaac, Derek, Logan, Andrew

September 2011- Isaac, Derek, Logan, Andrew

May 2012- Isaac, Derek, Logan, Andrew, Preston

December 2012- Isaac, Derek, Logan, Andrew, Preston, Emeri, Bryce, Savanna

May 2013- Isaac, Derek, Logan, Andrew, Preston, Emeri, Bryce, Savanna

November 2013- Savanna, Logan, Preston, Andrew, Derek, Bryce, Isaac, Clara, Emeri

October 2014- Isaac, Derek, Logan, Andrew, Preston, Emeri, Bryce, Savanna, Clara, Sierra, Oakley

Lanae and Sereen's visit- Dallas Zoo

This was the perfect day to head to the zoo; warm and beautiful! I love October in Texas, it has the perfect weather. Plus, because it was Halloween time, some of the zoo workers were handing out candy to the kids. They enjoyed that immensely. 

A fun surprise happened to Kadi and I while we were at the zoo. We both recognized a women and said hello to her and her children that we didn't know each other knew. This lady's name is Melanie and her son Chase is in Isaac's music class. Her son also happens to be in Derek's preschool class. That was a fun connection that neither one of us knew. Love little surprise like that. They make me happy.

Here are our kiddos enjoying their sweets! Not Oakley of course, she was still happy without one. 

 In one of the buildings at the zoo, a worker was displaying various eggs, feathers, tail hairs, and skulls, of the different animals around the world. My eyes scanned the eggs, and of course the ostrich egg stood out a mile compared to the others. I noticed that it was even bigger then Oakley's head! So, of course I had to take a picture and compare the two. It was so cool to hold a real ostrich egg.

 Sereen is holding what we all considered the coolest and most interesting thing displayed. It was giraffe hair from it's tail. It was the weirdest thing. It felt like smooth thin wire. Seriously, we all were amazed. Bunching several strands of that together and those giraffes have quite the whip! It was so COOL!
The picture of the elephant was taken because we happened to be there during feeding time. The zoo keeper would throw an apple piece from where we were standing into the elephants mouths. They had pretty good aim. It was neat to watch.

 One of the giraffes at the zoo took a fancy to Logan. I don't know if he just ate something or what but it let him, without a cracker, touch its nose and mouth. We couldn't believe how big its head was next to Logan.

 There is just something so sweet about sleeping babies. They are just so precious!! Even if their faces are squished, they are just too exhausted to be bothered by it. HAHA

These were some awesome pictures that Kadi took. The kids loved the baby chimpanzee. It never let go of its mother wherever she went. I like the picture of the crocodile because none of us could see it for a few seconds because it camouflaged so well. When we did finally see it, this is all that was peeking out of the water. AWE!! Look at that eye! Super real and scary. 

I love this picture of Isaac and Nathan because it reminds me of myself and my brother Jon. Our kids look just like us! Plus, there was a sad point in my older brother's life when I was a bit taller then him. He wouldn't admit to it, but I distinctly remember. This picture reminds me of those moments. Haha.

Emeri and this little penguin were playing the cutest game of tag with each other. The penguin would swim to one window and Emeri would chase it and once she touched the window, the penguin would move to another one. It was adorable!! 

 Our happy girls in the strollers! What pretty girls, and so happy after such good naps!  

Lanae and Sereen's visit-Herd Museum

While Lanae and Sereen were in town, we all headed to the Herd Museum. We had quite the time herding these adorable children around. On lookers would stop and ask if we were a day care or if we were altogether? HAHA I love answering those types of questions. I mean it has to look weird to have 11 children of various ages 5 and under being shuffled in the same direction. I mean, we don't even have any grandchildren in school yet. HAHA It must look kind of crazy, but I LOVE IT!

Off we go to see some dinosaurs!

The picture of Isaac on the turtle is one of his best ones EVER! What a handsome little man we have! Isaac you are going to be such a ladies man! WHOOT WHOOT! Speaking of whoot, Doesn't Isaac make the cutest little owl? "hoot, hoot" HAHA

Emeri was a little cautious but she finally pet the dinosaur. Took her a bit but she did it. Unlike Logan and Savanna, they were past the fence and over to the dinosaur in seconds. HAHA 

Such a cute cousin picture! We have such good looking boys in our family! I like how their waist heights are in a pattern. Isaac, short waist, Derek, long waist, Logan, short waist, and Preston, long waist. HAHA

And then it got a little crowded. Love this picture too.

Logan found grass hoppers on the ground and was the only kid brave enough to pick them up. He had no problem at all. Fearless kid. You rock! Andrew is feeding the dinosaur some grass, he told me that "this dinosaur was a herbivore so he needed to eat grass." HAHA That's my boy.

Scary dinosaurs riding on a big dinosaur. Great faces boys. I'd run far away if you were chasing me!

Had to end the day with digging for dinosaur bones! Little Oakley watched with such eagerness. haha

Carving Pumpkins

Carving pumpkins has been on the kids' minds every since they saw them being sold at Walmart. You would never have known how excited they were by looking at these three first pictures though. I think the the kids had forgotten how slimy pumpkins are to clean out. I caught each one of them with their disgusted faces on while cleaning. It was so funny. 

This is just a great picture of all three kids. We love you all!

We got BOOED!!! Our family got booed for the first time this year, and the boys thought it was the coolest thing. It happened to be on the night we were carving our pumpkins too! It was an all around fun and exciting evening together.

 The next day we responded to the invitation and continued a treat on, that the boys had made, to our neighbors. The best part was watching the boys do their first ding dong ditch. They were going giddy with anticipation and nerve while they crept up to our neighbor's house. Once they rang the doorbell it was all over, their faces lit up with pure joy slash anxiety while trying to run back to the car. Austin had to grab them both under each arm because they weren't quite fast enough. When he threw them in they were laughing and laughing! It was such a sight to see.

After the pumpkins were carved, we took them right outside to light them. That was their favorite part, we couldn't miss that. They were so excited! I love Halloween!

All three gathered anxiously around Daddy to watch him light them up! Then the kids surrounded the pumpkins to watch the faces flicker. What fun!

Every morning for about a week the kids would open the front door and check on their pumpkins. They loved them. Later on the boys decided they wanted to paint their pumpkins too. I was all for it. These pumpkins were certainly put to good use.

OcToBeR FuN!

Have I ever mentioned how much we love Halloween?! I know, I know, about every October right? Well, it is true. As the kids get older we have more and more fun! Pretending, scaring, decorating, baking, acting, flying, creating, playing, ding dong ditching, and so much more happen in our house during the month of October. We love to have fun and this month is full of just that.

These super easy banana ghosts are becoming a tradition in our home. The boys remembered them from last year and asked several times to do them again this year. I am always up for a simple yummy holiday craft.

 Oakley is such a sweet baby; always smiling when you come up to her. All she wants is to make others smile. I can't get enough of her.

 Emeri loves playing with water beads. She loves to feel, scope, dump, pour, and smell them. Her favorite spot to play with them is next to the utensil drawer because she knows that is where the coolest tools are. One time though, after arriving back home from visiting family in Seattle for a month, I saw Emeri playing with the beads and heard Andrew say that she was drinking the water. I didn't think anything of it because I was feeding Oakley and Emeri always did that. A few minutes later though, when I was done feeding Oakley I went to clean the kitchen and saw that the water bead bowl was full of tiny maggets!!! AWE!!!! Seriously!!!! Hundreds and Hundreds of them! I just know Emeri had to have eaten some!! Disgusting!!!! I was gagging and gagging all over the place. AWE!!! I am scarred forever and we haven't played with them since then, and probably won't for awhile.

 One time when we were watching Derek, Bryce, and Clara, I had gotten these cool Halloween flash lights and this is what Bryce and Emeri did with them. Bryce just stood in the kitchen where it was bright as day trying to see the ghost light, while Emeri used him as a chance to have some fun and play upside down limbo.

Ghosts in the closet.

Isaac came down one time and wanted to show me his costume. I told him to show me the coolest way to hold his sword. This is what he came up with. The first one is actually a pretty good batting stance. Yes...T-ball here we come.

Sweet Baby Cakes!

 Halloween Bingo! Yes! I love the chance to use a game as a learning activity. Bingo was the perfect choice. Each child had to first color each Halloween picture, cut them all out, and then glue them onto the spot of choice. Great fine motor skill activity mixed with some listening skills, matching, and of course yummy candy corn! The entire activity took about an hour, and not once did I have a child get down from the table. IT WAS SO FUN!

Oakley loves her play mat. She is grabbing and swinging all the time now.

 Human Fingers! AWE!!! The boys went crazy for these. They ate their vegetables the fastest I have ever seen them. (We make them eat their veggies first before their next course.) HAHA They were so excited to eat human fingers! All I did was scrape a little of the skin off the top of a hot dog, added a little blood (ketchup), and voila,  human fingers. After I handed them their fingers on a bun, neither one wanted to be the first to try a "real human finger." Andrew was the first one to brave the blood covered phalanges, and I captured his nervous excitement perfectly.

After Andrew tried it, the other two joined the fun. They all started pretending to be zombies and went crazy. Even little Emeri had "blood" all over her face.

Mommy and Oakley pictures. She is such a doll. I need to capture every moment with her.

Happy Baby!! I love that smile. I also love all of my children. Austin and I have been eternally blessed with these children. We love you all so much, I hope you will always know that.