Reading is a Famly Affair!

Greetings Everyone,
I hope all of you reading this are having a great Christmas Break!  I just wanted to share a few photos from a day or so ago as my kids were introduced to one of my favorite books as a child, "The Monster at the End of This Book."  We were at Barnes and Nobles playing in the Lego and train areas when I decided to look up the aforementioned book to see if it was available.  Once it was located, the kids found other books in the section that they wanted - and both refused to look at my selection...at least until I decided to sit down and start reading it aloud.  After a page, I had both kids sitting or standing around me listening - and pretty soon they were smiling and laughing.  Both of my oldest two decided that they wanted the book - so we got it along with the sequel that features both Grover and Elmo. 

Once we got home, we read both books one after the other (and I read it in character while doing my best Grover and Elmo impersonations) and the kids couldn't stop laughing.  Below you will see a quick snapshot that my wife took - she tried videoing it but the video didn't work, so we had to settle for pictures.  As you will see below, my little boy Grady had a huge smile on his face - and not his usual "smile for picture" smile - this time it was his real smile.  Lots of fun showing them one of my favorite books from so long ago and seeing them love it just as much. 

Enjoy the pictures below!

A very happy little boy...and a happy dad!

I am enjoying it just as much as the kids!

 And here is a throwback from a few years earlier!

Nothing like a one year old reading some "Justice League!"

A Very Poe Christmas!

All I Want for Christmas is My...
BUST OF PALLAS!!!

Yep, a real Bust of Pallas just like in The Raven!

  Yes, it is true.  I asked for a Bust of Pallas (a statue of the Goddess Athena from Greek Mythology) to adorn the Edgar Allan Poe section of my magic room...or to adorn the Edgar Allan Poe section of my Theater Room of Gothic Awesomeness - either way is a win for me! 

Below are a few more pics I took on Christmas day once I put the kiddos in bed. 

"And the Raven never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting - on the pallid Bust of Pallas just above my chamber door..."

  

Of course, that is not all I got for Christmas.  My mom, with suggestions from my wife, got me a Poe t-shirt, a Poe necktie from the Poe Museum no less, as well as an awesome Poe Bobble-head. Enjoy the pics below!

  Merry Christmas!

Brand New Baby Ball Python!!!

Greetings Everyone!
I know everyone (educators and students) are getting ready for the Christmas Break in just a few days.  It has been a while since my last post, which was on Halloween.  Things have been pretty busy during the month of November - with shows all over the place at elementary, middle, and high schools.  However, everything has now come to a halt as far as shows go and the real work begins - staying at home with four very energetic kiddos.  I'll post a few cute kid pics at the end of this blog - however, I first needed to share some very exciting news with everyone.  

A few months back, one of our ball pythons laid several eggs, but only one was actually fertile.  The mom and dad were both "normal" looking but they also both carried the genes for both albino (Nanner Puddin' from my Safair Show) and piebald (Smiley from my elementary show), so the kids had a 1/16 chance of being an albino pied (which is yellow and white like an albino, but also has solid white sections like a pied).  However, once we saw that there was only one egg that was "good" our hopes of actually getting an albino pied were very low.  

After almost 2 months of incubating, the snake finally slit the egg open enough for me to take a peek inside and I could see yellow and white, which was exciting as I knew that it was at least an albino.  I would have been happy with an albino as it would have been our very first albino hatched by us.  However, when I came back the next morning and looked into the container, the baby ball had climbed out of the egg and was yellow and white...with a patch of solid white on the tail end - we had an ALBINO PIED!!!  To say that we were excited would be an understatement.  Below are a few pics!

Here's a pic of mom and dad - mom is the big one.

And here's the little one poking out the egg - I could see the yellow and white and got a little excited!

This was the next morning after it came out the egg.  Albino Pied!!! 

After it's first shed - quite a bit brighter afterwards!

Here it is eating it's very first meal - it's always good to get the first meal out the way as baby ball pythons can take a while to get the hang of it.

So there you have it - some very exciting news in the world of breeding ball pythons!  In other news, Viktor Lucian (pronounced VEEEEEKKKTOOOOR LOOOOOOOSUUUUN in a Transylvania accent - please see two previous blogs for more info regarding name) is growing nicely - he's now starting to focus a little and smile and coo at us.  Below are a few cute kid pics for everyone to enjoy!

Their brother wouldn't sit still long enough to be included in the pic.

Reagan wanted to hold the big snake for a pic.

Toby hugging a, most likely, terrified pied boy.

People say Viktor and I look alike - especially after I shaved off my beard.

Making Christmas Cookies!

That's all for now - lots more to share in the next blog - coming soon!