I HATE MICE!

So, how many of you can relate? We have mice-again! We usually get them about once a year, when they seem to get tired of outside or the garage and want to spread their domain to the rest of the house. Although some of you might scoff at my, shall we say, disgust, for these little rodents, they just creep me out. Keith found a dead mouse a little more than a week ago, but it had been in the wall (we have a small area that doesn't have sheetrock) and he was rescuing some toys. He pulled that out too, and wasn't sure what it was, but when he looked closer he threw it down and came to tell me that there was a mouse in the playroom. I thought he was joking, but had Tyson go and check it out. Sure enough, there was a dead mouse in the middle of the floor of the playroom. Now we hadn't played in there for a few days, but I was still surprised that one would crawl there and then die. Had Keith wash his hands really good after that and the next day he told me that it really came from between the wall. Gross, huh?

Then Tyson told me he thought he saw a mouse run along the wall by the fireplace one night, but wasn't sure. Turns out, he really did see it, but didn't want to freak me out. Too late! So we didn't do anything and he left for the slope. My sister stopped by to get some traps from us and share the woes of the mice at her house, and that night, after the kids were in bed, I was down here at my desk, and I heard noise over by the fireplace. I was naive no longer! Not to mention that a few minutes later I actually saw the furry little beast run behind my shelves against the wall. I called to let Tyson know that it was official that we had mice. I then made the time that I spent downstairs limited, because I didn't want to be around them. I did get two sticky traps that we had and put them down here to try and catch the critters. And the next day, the kids said they saw a mouse run against the wall and the shelves on the other side of the fireplace (where Tyson had first seen the beasts). So we bought more traps on Thursday, put some out, and waited for Tyson to get home on Friday so he could rid us of the vermin. Keith loves to check and see and let us know when they are on the traps, but he is still nervous about them and doesn't want to be all by himself. If he does check it by himself, then he has to work up to it. But he walks around the house and when he hears an unidentifiable noise, he says he thinks he heard a mouse. And he has seen a mouse's nose too peek out from behind things. Can you say that his mother's paranoia is rubbing off? I think so. I try to be brave for him, because I don't want to scare him, but it is hard.

So we have removed 3 little, or as Keith says, medium sized, critters from our home. Hopefully the rest will soon follow! I just hate even thinking about them, but thought I would share with you all why I may not be at my computer very much until they are all gone!

Dipnetting 2007

This summer we were all able to finally go dipnetting after trying for the past several years. One thing or another had come up in the past (usually work for Tyson) and we hadn't been able to make it. But we went this past year. Got way more fish than we needed, so if you want some, just ask, I'm sure we have plenty to spare! We went to one place first that Dad had heard about, and it was perfect. Sunny, not too windy. Soft sand. Not too crowded. The kids were able to dipnet along with everyone else. But....no fish. Shortly after we got there, we noticed lots of boats heading out and setting nets, so we figured we weren't going to get much. So instead of setting up camp, we headed over to the "usual" spot, and set up camp there. Much more crowded. Kids playing on 4 wheelers all night long and close to our tents. Colder. But, fish at the right time. So at about 4 AM Tyson, Dad, and Shawn all headed out to see if they could bring in more fish than any of them really wanted to take home and eat! So when the rest of us woke up, they were about done fishing, and ready to start cleaning them. We fed the kids breakfast and then rode the 4 wheelers down to the beach to "help." I mostly made trips back and forth for items that were at our campsite to those at the waters edge cleaning the fish.

As you can see, they did a pretty thourough job cleaning fish. Tyson let the kids hold the eyes and whatever that is that Rachel is holding. I tried to put a picture of Keith holding some fish innards, but I guess I had exceeded my space by then. Just know that he got his hands dirty too! Anyway, after getting all the fish cleaned and packed up, we headed across the way to Seward to vacuum pack the fish at the military facilities there, because Shawn and Becca love us! After that, we headed home. It was a long weekend, but the kids did pretty well. They loved playing on the beach and in the sand. And on the playground while everyone else (except me because I had to watch them) processed the fish. A lot of driving for the weekend, but memories were made and these pictures prove it!

PS- I know some of the pictures are from awhile ago, but now that I am able to look at them, since my computer was recovered, I thought I would share some. I only have the ones from April of this past year on. All the ones before that were irrecoverable. So let me remind everyone, back up your pictures! Don't just put them on an external hard drive while organizing them expecting to have a copy in both places when you are done! You never know when technology will fail you! I have learned my lesson! Twice! I plan on using discs as a means of backing up, just have to figure out how to do that! I am not that computer literate when it comes to some things. New technological things scare me! Especially when there are lots of steps! But never fear, I will conquer!

Our Princess!

A visit to the ER Nature Center Summer 2007. We took some day trips with a little group of friends and this was one of them. A short hike down to the salmon spawning viewing deck. We didn't see any fishes, but we did see some bugs in the water. This big tree is fun to have the kids have their pictures taken in. This was shortly after Keith gave himself and his sister haircuts. You might notice that Rachel's hair is pretty short. It actually looked like a cute hair cut if you didn't look too closely! It was trimmed pretty closely on the right side. Just now is it about to the point that I can almost cut it and make both sides even! LOL!





The two pics of Rachel in the green coat are from a day that my mom and sisters and I went out to Hatcher's Pass with the kids this past summer. We took a picnic and had fun. The kids got lots of exercise running up and down the mountain. Keith was especially a mountain goat. Mom was trying to collect plants to use to make first aid tinctures and such. I just mostly relaxed and took pictures and Becca and Carolyn ran around with the kids. It was beautiful, but a bit windy, hence all the windbreakers we wore.


This picture is from a family hike up Thunderbird Falls also during the summer. Daddy was home, and he hadn't been up there, so we made a trip over there. Not too far from home, and the kids can do the hike by themselves. This is a picture at the top and Rachel is having a snack. She had put the headband on, and wanted to leave it on. We try to encourage her independence, but sometimes it does backfire on us! But I thought she looked pretty cute!

Mommy and Keith's Date

It has been so nice to have Tyson home from work over the holidays. We have been so blessed to have him here all the time. It is a shame that he and Rachel decided they wanted to get sick! But one of the nice things that we have been able to do is have dates with the kids. I took Rachel out to run lots of errands one day (one of which was her to the doctor!) and Tyson and Keith stayed home and played Hide and Seek. One of the kids' favorite games, but one Mommy just doesn't have the energy for lately. Hmmm, wonder why? LOL. But then the next day, Daddy and Rachel did finger painting (which turned out marvelously by the way) and Keith and I went to the park to play. As you can tell, it is still winter here. And I didn't do much playing. But he did get all bundled up and played on the playground equipment. I got some shots with our new camera. (You'll have to bear with me as I learn how to play with it.) Then we walked around the park track because Keith wanted to. We were going to try to do two times, but one was about all I could handle. Then we went to Jitters and colored and played Brain Quest while we had steamers and a special treat. The kids both loved these times. I only wish we could do them more often! I highly recommend taking the kids out on their very own dates. It made such a difference in their attitudes. They were so happy and excited. Of course, they had a hard time understanding that the special time their sibling had with the other parent was equal to their special time with the first parent. They both wanted to be able to do both things! I guess it is good when they want to spend time with us, right?

O Christmas Tree

Well, I posted pics of us getting a tree, so I thought I might add to those with pics of the tree being decorated, then after the holidays were over, us dismembering our tree. Tyson decided that instead of just taking it out and throwing it in our backyard (which is a miniforest) or driving it down to the recycling area in the grocery store parking lot, we would burn most of it.

So we did! Our tree was a very nice one, but towards the end it was raining needles inside. I would sit and read on the couch, and hear the drop of the needles as they fell off. I am not sure why it did it so drastically, because I kept it pretty wet, until the end anyway! Then I figured it was pointless, so I quit!

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to drop a quick note- because as you will see from the time, it is rather late, and I need to get to bed! I did have about an hour catnap while Tyson was working on homework, but I have lots and lots of hours of sleep to catch up on, and then even more to store for after Tyson leaves again to head back to work, and not to mention when the baby comes in February! It is coming closer!

I have just spent the last few hours jumping blog to blog and I must say there are lots out there! It is fun to read them though and see what friends have been up to- especially since I am a lousy correspondent!

Tyson has been working on getting my comptuer functioning, and we thought it was all working, he even printed off pictures on my new printer! It was so neat! The kids loved having at 8x10 picture of themselves, and Rachel hung her picture in her room, and brought the one that Tyson printed off of me and hung it in my room for me. Keith carried his around for awhile, then he decided that I could keep it so I could have a picture of him. How sweet! The only one I didn't get a picture of was Tyson. Hmmm, I'll have to print one off once he gets the computer functional again. For some reason, the new printer just started to "print" but nothing was on the paper. Tyson said it was possessed. He has now been playing with it for about 2 hours now, and says it is temperamental and I should never turn it off because it might not start back up if he isn't here. So if after he leaves, and I can't get to the computer, that will be the reason. It won't feel his vibes and will go crazy on me! I know that comptuers and cars have that problem. I always had it when I was growing up and only when my dad was gone would we all have problems. And it has continued on into my married life. Things feel Tyson's vibes and shut down and give me problems when he isn't here to keep them in line! Anyone else ever feel that?

Well, I am going now, but wanted to make sure to wish you all Happy New Year!