More Basement Photos

This room will be a bathroom.Before:
Entrance to bedroom and theater:

Guest Bedroom

(Didn't get a good picture of the theater room- although right now there isn't much to see!)

Spring Project #2

Getting our basement framed

Bar Area (Before): Bar (After):

Spring Project #1

Creating a backyard BEFORE

AFTER

Face Painting

Kolton chose a football while Karter chose a train or "choo-choo" in his words.

School Carnival I

Balloon Hats
Marcia and Amy invited me to go along to N. Miami's School Carnival this weekend. Being the proud aunt that I am, I had to take lots of pictures.

Kolton won a goldfish.

Karter jumping in the Moonwalk that they had set up in the gym!

Mouse Update

A lot of people have been enjoying (at my expense) hearing the latest on the mouse that lives in my car. So, here it is...

The morning after I baited my car with over 15 glue traps, I STILL hadn't caught him. The traps were shuffled around and no longer in the neat line where I had placed them. One was even missing some cheese and had mouse hair stuck to it but no mouse. This was Friday morning and Friday after school was when I was to drive my car home. Remember, my car had remained at school ever since the mouse was first spotted.

Before leaving, a co-worker and I pulled everything out of the trunk to make sure he wasn't in the boxes in the back. He wasn't. However, I didn't even make it past the parking lot before he ran out from under the passenger's seat. My plan had been to whack him with my snow brush if I ever saw him again, but he's fast!!! I saw him run from the front of the car all the way to the back through where the shoulder strap of the seat belt is and into the trunk. I immediately pulled over, stuffed anything I could find into the openings where the seat belts are, and drove home as quickly as possible contemplating going car shopping the entire way!

We were (again) unsuccessful at checking him all weekend. Thankfully due to daylight savings time I am again driving to work in the dark. I have had an epiphany though. I have decided since it is warming up outside there is a smaller chance that he will want to live in my car. With that in mind, I am no longer trying to trap him but REPEL him instead. From my Internet research, I have gathered that mice do not like dryer sheets. I went out and purchased a box of dryer sheets and dispersed them around my car (trunk, vents, under seats, etc.). So far, NO MOUSE!! (If this "trick", has not worked for you in the past, please don't tell me. It is what gives me peace of mind for the time being. That is until I see him again.)

In the meantime, at least my car smells nice.

A little thing that I like to call "Plan B"- dryer sheets

24 weeks

At 24 weeks, the baby...

• weighs just over a pound.
• is about a foot long.
• is filling out proportionally and will soon start to round out.

Continuing to develop are...

• its brain, taste buds, branches of the respiratory tree, the cells that will help the airs sacs inflate once baby hits the outside world, thin and translucent (but not for much longer) skin.

It’s time to get serious!!!

Mouse update...

We left two spring-loaded mouse traps covered with peanut butter in my car overnight. This morning the peanut butter was completely licked off the trap but no mouse. I guess that it is safe to assume that he is still in there.

I decided that it was time to take things to a whole new level and reclaim my car back, so I bought 40 glue traps. My theory is that if I lay them in a straightline across the floor of my car and my trunk that everntually Ralphie is going to want to get from one side to the other. And when he does...

ALL THAT I CAN SAY IS THAT WHEN YOU MESS WITH FIRE, YOU ARE BOUND TO GET BURNED!!!!

By the way, do you know of anyone interested in a Dodge Stratus? It comes with some "special features."

11 glue traps in my trunk baited with cheese just waiting for Ralphie

Adventures WITH Ralph S. Mouse

DON'T BE DECEIVED!

There's a mouse in my car. Now, I have been aware for quite some time that a mouse hangs out in there. I have taken great measures to eliminate this problem (i.e., no food in car). Still, I would see occasional droppings, but today dear Ralphie and I got a bit more personal...too personal for my liking. I actually saw him WHILE I was driving to work!!!!

What does one do at that point? Obviously it freaked me out. It was running back and forth on the floor on the passenger's side. Every time I saw him I would scream. Then I thought; what if it comes on my side so I spent the rest of my drive with my feet in the air. Two of my co-workers scrounged up mouse traps and peanut butter but by the day's end we hadn't caught him.

This brings me to my next point: if Ralphie has found his way into my car he can surely find his way out, so how am I ever going to have the peace of mind that he is in fact gone???? And, what about tonight's drive home? I could stay until dark. At least if I am driving in the dark there is a smaller chance of me actually spotting him. To make matters worse, Kyle is working second shift this week so he can't rescue me. The best plan I have come up with so far is to have Mr. Hammel take me home from school and drive Kyle's truck the rest of the week now that he has a work truck. This still doesn't resolve the fact that Ralph can get out any time he wants. The sooner, the better if I had it my way.

Lastly, why am I so scared of a little mouse??? What's the saying? It is more afraid of you than you are of it. To quote Mandi, "I'm not sure I believe that."

Enjoying the Outdoors

With the beautiful weather this past weekend, we couldn't help but get outside. We watched an eagle about a mile from our house feed on a dead deer. On our first walk through the woods this spring we discovered that a beaver lives back there and that he has been quite busy this winter!!

P.S. Not only can I feel the baby moving around, you can now see it. It is pretty entertaining to watch- just ask Kyle!

Unfortunately, I scared the bald eagle away. You can see it flying just above the field in the background.
A beaver's favorite food!

A clearing made by the beaver...Look at all those stumps!

Destruction from the beaver