The Mouse in the House

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything. It's been a long month, and I just haven't had it in me to post anything. Things are starting to look up finally, but not before I thought I was going to lose my mind. This past week, I found a half eaten piece of candy in my daughter's cubby, and when I questioned my hubby, he remarked that it could NOT be a mouse because the mouse would have eaten the whole thing. I blindly and totally believed him. First mistake.

The next morning, I saw something furry and brown run out of our utility room and KNEW we had a mouse. I got the kids off to school and spent an hour sitting on my bed, wondering how I could out the door without seeing the intruder again. My husband set some traps, but I really wanted to see brooms flying and serious searching going on. No way was my hubby gonna do that.

That night, after clapping and saying "shoo" every time I entered a room, my hubby and I set traps all around the house with Starbursts on them because that was the kind of half eaten piece of candy I had found. To catch a mouse, you gotta think like a mouse, right? At 11:00 p.m., we heard a trap go off, and we had our mouse. I still have traps set just to make sure there isn't a "sibling to the mouse" still lurking about, but there has been no more evidence of any mice.

Who knew such a tiny creature could me into such a panic mode. :) My son prayed at lunch thanking God for our food and that He would "kill the mouse." He got a loud "Amen" from me.

April Fools Day?

It's been forever, but I have been SWAMPED with work. It was the kind of job where it just consumes me, and I can't do anything but think about it. So, I have been kind of holed away in my office for a week or two.

I just signed my little man up for Kindergarten. I was ok until they pulled out his birth certificate. And I realized that it was just yesterday when this wonderful person was all mine. In the beginning, I didn't have to share him with anyone and now, just 5 years later, I am about to have to give him up for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. And to be honest, it stinks. I hate it. (Here is where Mr T would pipe up, "Mommy, you said a bad word. Hate is a bad word.") No, it's not if it says what I really need it to say and I do hate it. I hate it.

I remember holding him for the first time and staring into that beautiful face. I remember everybody being asleep, and I got to feed Mr T and snuggle with him all by myself. I remember how he never cried really; he'd just start wiggling and grunting and I could feed him or change him and he would be happy. He was the best baby. I prayed and prayed that I would not be so hormonal with Mr T and God heard my prayer. We had so much fun together. And no one says that kindergarten is going to stop those fun times. They'll just change, and in case you haven't noticed, change is hard for me.

Have a wonderful April 1st.

A LIttle Praise Dancing

Yesterday, we had a softball game that I was worried about how it would go. I prayed and prayed about it and planned to just spend all my time watching Mr T ride his bike while his big sister played ball. And that is mostly what I did. My hubby did watch Mr T for a few minutes and during that time, my little girl hit a triple. The smile on her face could have been seen from outer space, I'm sure. While she was batting, I was praying God would let her get a hit and he did. And behind my sunglasses, there were tears of joy. Not so much because my daughter got a hit, but because I have a God who loves me so much. And even though I tend to live like I don't care about him, He still loves me, provides for me, and gives me special blessings like a triple for my daughter at a softball game just because he can. I am in awe of that fact that God gave his son to die on cross for e who messes up so often and lives so selfishly. God is too good.

While I was walking behind Mr T, I had my $10 mp3 player and was listening to Mandissa's CD. I was honestly walking around the park with my hands raised in the air. It took all I had to keep from dancing right there (now that woulda been a sight.) What a great praise CD. Get it if you don't have it.

A fish outta water

I am once again finding myself in a situation where I am totally out of my comfort zone. And let me just say that it is painful. You'd think it would get easier each time I am forced into a place where I am a fish out of water, but it hasn't. I am really trying to learn from this experience so that maybe I won't have to learn this lesson again.

And I am learning. In high school, I would just hide and dream about never coming out when I found myself in a place that I felt completely alone. In college, I learned that the way to solve a problem was to get 4 or 5 of your best girl friends, get a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and eat the whole container. No bowls, just a bunch of spoons flying. In my first job, I learned that stress really will cause migraines every day if you let it and sometimes it's ok to quit when you are miserable.

Just a few minutes ago, I was hiding in the kitchen eating every bite of the tube of cookie dough. I think I've decided that food worked best in college, and I'll try again. Or maybe it was the friends that made life easier. Either way, this situation will all be over in a couple of months and maybe I'll have a new coping skill that doesn't involve food.

The glasses

I've been promising a picture of the glasses. So sorry it's taken a couple months to get it. Here we are at the circus. Enjoy!

Another Snowy Saturday

It's been almost over a week since I've posted anything, but it's been a crazy week. We've had softball practice, soccer practice, a field trip, a "Green Eggs and Ham" party at preschool, a presentation on North Carolina by my daughter, and then the normal piano and gymnastics lessons and church and MOPS. I am worn out. At MOPS, I taught the 3 and 4 year old class and shared the Easter story using the "Resurrection Eggs." Each egg has a different object in it that helps tell the Easter story. For example, there's a whip, a cloth for Jesus' robe, a crown a thorns, an empty tomb. One of the kids speaks up and wants to know where the spit is that they spit on Jesus. I had to swallow my laugh.

My hubby was gone today so my parents came up to spend the day, which was such a treat. We just stayed at home because it was cold; it was such a treat just to hang out with my parents. My mom saw some crows in our back yard and told us about when she had a pet crow named "CawCaw." She said when she was a child, a bird nest was destroyed so they adopted the baby crow. It would ride on her dad's shoulder or hat as he rode around on the tractor and it would come to them when they pulled out anything shiny, like a coin or piece of metal. I can't picture my grandpa riding on a tractor with a crow on his head. I do remember once when we went to visit and my grandpa had a hummingbird land in his hand. I remember thinking the bird was amazingly beautiful, and my grandpa was amazing for getting to land in his hand. Now I know he had previous bird experience with the crow.

Thunder and Lighting

My hubby and I were awakened at 5:45 this morning to all manner of thunder and lightning. It felt like the thunder and sounded like the lightning was inside our bedroom. We definitely weren't going to back to sleep quickly.



It would have been a great time to snuggle and talk about future plans and dreams. To plan vacations where we won't take the kids, to dream of our "dream home," to talk about who we want to be in 10 years. I say "would have been" because we had both kids in between us. Why won't they sleep on the outside of the bed? Why do they HAVE to be in the middle? And why do they put their cold feet on me and not their dad?



It may be a LONG day.