Mighty Mouse and Sweet Things

* Before reading this....please note that we no longer use glue traps and have found a better way to trap the mice. I rec'd an interesting comment from someone named Chuck..... I think  Chuck  will be happy about this.  BUT....also..seriously Chuck??

* As for the comment....Inquiring minds want to know......my frump detective skills have tracked "Chuck" to someone who lives in Australia. "Chuck" had done a google search for the word "glue trap". I'm not going to even try and figure out what that was all about. It did cause my phone to ring and a few laughs. So, thanks Chuck....and I promise....we are not some mean, glue trapping mice hunters. Just a simple family trying to keep our children and our things from being eaten and germ-a-cized by those furry little critters. Again, have a nice day.

It seems all the country mice that live on our property have decided to take residence in our garage.....for the winter. I don't blame them, poor little germ carriers cute furry things. We've been setting all sorts of traps.....catching mice daily. Multiple mice. But something strange is happening....the mice are growing stronger. My personal guess.....it's the organic peanut butter G has been using on the traps. Not sure.

Saturday evening......G caught a mouse. This particular mouse was trapped by the glue trap and then dragged the glue trap to the regular trap. Caught by 2 traps. G did what he always does......he took the mouse and trap(s) and disposed of them in the big black garbage bag....which is usually filled with all sorts of other debris.

We woke Sunday morning to find......we had a mighty mouse on our hands. A mouse with oomph and strength like we have never seen before. As I came out of the house to join G and the boys......G motioned to me......" I was going to yell for you to get food and water, I feel so sorry for this mouse" .....and then he began to explain the story of "Mighty Mouse". I said.....

"hang on ...I need my camera!".

This mouse had chewed a hole in the big, black garbage bag.......removed himself from the glue trap and dragged himself.....and the regular trap....across the floor of G's truck. 

 G had compassion for MM......he released him from the trap.....and then MM jumped across the truck and back into the  big, black garbage bag?

We decided.....he's probably very happy in that big, black garbage bag. 

Sunday evening.....G decided that he wanted something sweet. He decided that HE would make cookies. Again, I said.....

"hang on....I need my camera". 

Only problem, I had left it outside from our earlier photo session with Mighty Mouse. If you are hoping for a romantic, foggy effect when taking photos...I have a trick....leave your camera outside in the cold, wet air.  Sadly, I only was able to take one picture of this sweet....in more ways than one....cooking event. Actually, G is a really good cook....he had once thought about going to The Culinary Institute. We are so different in the kitchen.....he measures and everything..a concept that I never acquired. The cookies were amazing.....were being the key word....they didn't last long, but thanks to blogging....this memory will.

Survivor Style T-Ball

A couple of weeks ago.....probably one of the nights we were all sick on the couch.....we watched an episode of Survivor. To the boy's delight it was an episode with a t-ball challenge. We decided to take their idea and tweak it up a bit.....we like tweaking things.

Basically......we took some painter's tape and made a triangle. Then we made boxes within the triangle.....inside of those boxes we wrote numbers...or whatever else we wanted.

We set up the tee and then hit the ball........where it lands nobody knows. Well, technically we did know..... I just felt like that little phrase went with the theme of the game. Anyhow.....the goal was to get your ball to land on a high number. Truth be told......all the balls bounced off the basement wall, few landed in a box. Believe it or not, nobody cared. It didn't stop anyone from playing.

It was a simple game, but brought us lots of fun......I played....they played....and they played some more. That is homemade game success in my book.  Mission accomplished.

This last picture I added.....just because it makes me laugh...in a good, happy mom kind of way.

If You Came To My House Today......

This very moment....if you came to my house today......

If you came to my house today......as you drove down our long, stone driveway....you just might still find the frost melting from the cold morning. We've been hoping for snow....yes we have.....each morning we have looked outside to find everything white and sparkly. This has started our day with a smile.....we love winter in our house.

As you walked into our kitchen......you would probably find the breakfast bowls still on the table. I would hope that you could appreciate the difference between.....a mess and a work in progress. I like to view our messes as  works in progress.

You would notice some cranberries simmering on the stove.....for some reason, I decided to make some homemade cranberry sauce this morning. We love cranberries around here.....to me, they scream November. In fact, later today we are planning on reading the book Cranberry Thanksgiving.

You would notice books everywhere......I have a tendency to "strew" books throughout the house. You never know when you might just want to settle down with a good book.....I like to have them easily available and within reach.

If you happened to look into our first floor bedroom......you would notice sheets ready to be washed and piles of clean clothes ready to be put away. There are always piles of clean clothes ready to be put away. For some reason, having to walk those piles upstairs tires me out. They WILL be put away today.

As we walked upstairs to say hi to the boys.....you would notice more piles stacked on the stairs. Lately, because of our construction project....there are always piles stacked on the stairs waiting to be put....somewhere.

I would show you more "work in progress" and excitedly tell you of all our plans...

You might find the boys playing in their playroom.....usually you will find Ross holding his favorite brown bat.

If you came to my house today......I'd offer you some coffee and  probably some chocolate...cranberry sauce, too......and ask you to forgive the way I look.....because I probably would still be in my pajamas.

Some Things......

We are still working on getting our routine back to our usual groove.  Our energy levels are slowling coming back.....actually, I'm not sure that the boy's energy levels ever changed. How do kids do that?  Some things that have been going on........

We I put together a couple puppets from this easy peasy Martha Stewart puppet kit. The boys were not very interested.....the puppets turned out to be really small, but cute. I think it brought us  2 minutes of  some  fun. I decided to put the kit away for another day. I don't  think we are in puppet mode these days.......

The boys are in more of a Beanie Baby mode ......they like to sort them and make teams....football, baseball, soccer. They have a system to it all.....they try to give every Beanie a chance.....even the skunks and we know how they feel about skunks.

We've been feeling a lot of this.....

There's been much praying and pondering going on............

Too much eating of these.........way too much.

Thankfully, still much of this going on.......Slowly getting our groove back. Actually, maybe we aren't getting our groove back.....maybe our groove is just changing :)

Cooking Man

It was a quiet evening.....I was cozy on the couch watching DWTS, G was upstairs working on his project, Sam was playing a computer game.....and Ross was. Wait, what was Ross doing? For a bit....he was watching DWTS with me....for a little while he was assisting G with his project....for a little bit, he was watching Sam play, but then....he became.....Cooking Man.

Armed with 2 spatulas....1 wooden and 1 plastic....because you just never know what kind of food situation you might encounter. He's prepared....that Cooking Man....super hero of the kitchen.

He declared......"Mom, I'm Cooking Man....give me your hardest recipe....I can cook things in 3 seconds!" His moves were extraordinary.....his kitchen skills.....mouth watering.

My little Cooking Man...... he brings such joy to my heart. With a flash....he was gone....back to computer observing.....watching of the dance....and helping of the project. You just never know when Cooking Man will appear again and yield his mighty spatulas. I'll be waiting...casserole in hand.