Mouse #2 - Enema #3

I thought our house was void of any mice. The traps were all empty for two days. I was just about to collect them all and put them away for the next rodent to dare enter my home, when I found a disgusting mouse upside down, rigor mortis already set in, in the trap in Shea's room. The worst part is, when I found it, Shea was still in bed sleeping. I snuck in with tongs and a garbage bag and scooped him up while she slept. I debated not telling her, but she knew when she came downstairs and Taylor and I were staring at her with horrified looks our of faces.

I promise this will be the last time I discuss the pooping habits of my children, but Isabella had her 3rd and hopefully final enema today. I question her psychological state after the trauma that we have created for her. If she didn't want to poop before, she is really not going to want to poop after this experience. Back on the Miralax tomorrow, and hopefully we will have a happy and regular child again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yesterday was a busy day in our family, but we had a great time with both of our families. We started our day at Joe and Heidi's house with Nick's family. We visited for a while and had appetizers, and then headed off to my sister's house for dinner.

We got home at 10:00 last night, and luckily both Isabella and Nicholas fell asleep in the car and I was able to carry them both into their beds without them waking up. We were all exhausted and went to bed shortly after that.

We really enjoyed seeing and spending time with both our families, and the food was outstanding!

My Dad's Birthday Celebration

I am a little behind on posting my Dad's birthday, but I was waiting for a picture from my Mom since mine were all terrible. My Dad's 74th birthday was on the 20th, and my parents, my sister, Isabella and Nicholas and I went out to lunch to celebrate on his actual day. On Sunday, we celebrated at my parents house with the family.

My Dad is such as awesome man. He is a great Dad and Grandfather (the kids call him Papa). He is patient and kind, and the smartest person I know. He also has the best imagination I have ever seen. He is so fun to be around. He loves to laugh and have a good time. He plays with the kids like he's one of them, and creates the coolest games. In my opinion, some of the games cross the line in the dangerous category, but the kids and my Dad think they are harmless.

Happy Birthday Dad, you are truly the best father anyone could ever wish for.

Never a Dull Moment in Our House

You are not going to believe this! This afternoon I set four mouse traps upstairs and 2 downstairs by our T.V. The kids and I went to the mall, and when we came home at 8:00, the mouse was not in any of the traps.

Let me back up a little bit to this morning at the doctor's office. Isabella has been having some pooping problems. She has decided that she doesn't like to poop, and refusing to do so. We have tried fiber cereal, fruit, apple cider, etc. You name it, we've tried it. We started giving her a laxative everyday, but she still refused to go. This morning, the doctor instructed us to give her an enema because she was really miserable. As you can imagine, this was one of the more unpleasant things I have had to do with one of my kids. I waited until this evening when Nick was home from work, and we did it together. We were upstairs in Isabella's bathroom performimg this horrible deed while she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Shea ran in, in a total panic and told us that the mouse had stepped into the trap next to the T.V., and it's foot was stuck in the trap. The mouse was running around behind the T.V. like a maniac with the trap stuck to his leg.

After we had Isabella under control, Nick and Taylor got the mouse with our Kitchen tongs and threw him in a bucket. Shea, Isabella and I stood on the coffee table and watched. Nick pryed the trap off his leg, and we walked down the street and let him go in an empty lot.

Hopefully, he was the only one, but we will be setting more traps over night just in case!

The First Day of Thanksgiving Break (It wasn't pretty)

Yesterday was the kids first day off from school for the Thanksgiving break, and I had visions of spending an entire day of fun with the four children. It didn't exactly go as planned. The day started poorly when I woke up, and noticed it was snowing really hard. That's not a huge deal, but still a pain to drive around in and get babies in an out of the car in a blizzard. While feeding Nicholas his morning bottle, a very loud ear piercing alarm started ringing somewhere in our house. I discovered it was coming from the basement where our water softener and well pump are. Apparently it was the grinder pump, which is for the basement bathroom that we never use. The plumber said that he could come out and look at the pump sometime in the afternoon. That blew our day for leaving the house. A bummer, but still not a huge catastrophe. We would just postpone until Wednesday.

I decided to make some brownies and as I poured the oil into the measuring cup, I knocked the bottle of vegetable oil over and spilled 1/2 the bottle all over the counter, down the cabinets and onto the floor.

The three girls went outside to play in the snow. Shea decided to come in after 30 minutes, which started an argument on the deck. I had Shea watch Nicholas in the house so that I could go outside to play with Taylor and Isabella. I went down the sledding hill one time. (I have to admit, it was really fun.) Shea ran out on the deck screaming for me, which sent my heart into full panic because I thought something happened to Nicholas. Nicholas was fine, but we had a mouse running around in our living room. Now, if you want to send me into full freak out mode - put a mouse in my house. I turn into a complete lunatic. When I got inside, he was hiding behind our T.V. I could not find a mouse trap anywhere in our house, so I drove to the corner gas station/mini mart. They don't carry mouse traps. I didn't want to drive 10 minutes farther into town because I was waiting for the plumber to arrive, and I didn't want him there alone with the kids. Taylor was extremely pleased that I had not bought a trap being the animal rights activist that she is. I googled "How to humanely catch a mouse", and there were several hits. Can you believe that???? Taylor and I set up a complicated contraption with a cardboard ramp, toilet paper tube, cracker and peanut butter, and a tall bucket. Then we waited. Taylor stuffed towels into every crack of the entertainment stand so that he couldn't escape. The entire time, Taylor commented on how cute he was and that when we caught him we should keep him. I think she watched far too many Disney movies as a child. In my head, I continued to curse the little S - - T for having the misfortune of entering my home. Two hours went by and we still did not have a mouse in our homemade "humane" trap. We also had not heard from our plumber yet.

I had promised Shea that she could go to the basketball game with her friends at 4:00, so I left the house with 3 children and told Taylor to watch the mouse and make sure he didn't try to bolt from under the T.V. I called the plumber and told him that I would not be home for the next 45 minutes, and took off in the blizzard to drop Shea off at her friends house. I bought 2 traps at the drug store on my way home and was confident that he would be dead shortly. When I got home, the mouse was no where to be found. Spectacular!!! The plumber arrived shortly after that and told me that the pump was broken. I mentioned previously that we never use the bathroom, so how can a pump be dead in 3 and 1/2 years? It appears that when a pump is not used enough, they go bad quicker. Go figure! And how much is it going to cost to replace, I ask? $800!!! Is it under warranty, I ask again? No! Not as of 5 months ago!! So, he fixed the pump for the bathroom that no one uses, and I scurry him out of the house so that I can leave again to meet Shea at the middle school for her teacher conferences. Back into the blizzard I went with Nicholas. Isabella stayed with Taylor.

As of today, we still have not caught the mouse. Taylor woke up at 4:30 in the morning and said that the mouse ran out of her room into the hallway. Is it possible that a tiny mouse can hop up an entire flight of wooden stairs? Or do we have more than one? Or did Taylor dream it? Nevertheless, I will be purchasing several more traps today, and will be setting them in various places around our house. This mouse is not going to survive another day in my house.

Winter Has Arrived!!!!

They are expecting another 6 inches tonight. The kids are praying for a SNOW DAY!!

A Long Day.......

Isabella's First Haircut

Ballerina Princess and The Troll

You're Never Too Old to Play in a Leaf Pile

One of the Many of Reasons Why I Love My Husband

I called Nick at work at 12:30 this afternoon on a whim and asked him if he would like to come home for an hour or so to have a picnic outside with Isabella and me. (Nicholas was sleeping)

15 Minutes later, he pulled into the driveway. What can I say? He's the best.

Mommy's Helper

Washing baby bottles is a messy job in this house. This picture does not do justice to the massive puddle of water all over the floor.

Trick or Treat!!

We went to our old stomping grounds to trick or treat last night, and it just so happens to be where Nick's brother and Sister-in-Law live. It's a great little neighborhood where all the houses are very close together, and all the people sit outside to pass out candy. Taylor and Shea were with their Dad for this Halloween, but they insist on going to our old neighborhood even when they are with him; so, we ran into them several times throughout the night. Shea and her best friend were Mimes, and Taylor and her best friend were C.I.A. Agents wearing my old business suits from when I used to work. Isabella was going to be Cinderella, but when we got to the Disney Store and she saw Ariel, it was all over. Nicholas had no choice. I found the costume, thought it was cute, and WARM, and that was that.

We have plentiful amounts of candy, and I have been swiping Reese Cups and Snickers all day.