My top 10 list from Mouse Invasion 2009

10. Getting to talk to your sister for 2 hours in the wee hours of the morning while you mouse hunt...thanks for the moral support Natalie!!!

9. Gives me something to blog about...(not that Joel's birthday bash was a total blast!!! I'll do that one next)

8. Having a conversation starter....example..."Hey Amber, how are you doing." My response, "Oh, fine. My house is just being over ran by mice...yada yada."

7. Having a good story to tell..."Do you know what happened to me last night!!! I was sitting in my recliner in the living room facebooking when mice started to pour out of my kitchen!!! I was shocked. I got a flash light and started to investigate. I left my computer on the recliner chair arm when a mouse went flying through the air and knocked it on the ground!!! The mice were everywhere!!!"

6. I use to like Ratatouille the movie...but now it just creeps me out.

5. This is the extreme that I have to go through to have my Mom come and stay at my house!!! Eat your hearts out Jennifer and Natalie!!! Jealous!!! I have a great mouse killing machine of a mother.

4. The feeling that I can eat whatever I want...including pre-mature Halloween candy because "I AM IN A CRISIS" I think I eat my way through problems my some times. Ohhhh, and Azteca Nachos yesterday.

3. My son Drew thinks that helping me "find" and pick up the mouse traps in the morning is like a great Easter Egg Hunt and says "Mom this is the coolest"--kind of weird

2. My house is cleaner than EVER!!!!

1. Getting great feed back and support from everyone of you!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have loved the phone calls, messages via blogger and facebook! Your personal stories and advice/comments made me feel like I would make it through the mice invasion of 2009 and guess what!!!! I THINK IT IS OVER!!!!

FYI: Wednesday night only one trap was set off my a mouse but he got away injured...Last night I caught a three footed mouse...making me believe that he was the last one...hopefully!!! I will continue to set traps for a while...but I think I am out of the woods!!!!! YEAH!!!!

And just because....last night I took Jenna to her soccer practice/scrimmage game. I told her that if she scored a goal that I would buy her a chocolate ice cream cone. (Bribery never hurt, right!?) Well, during half time she raised her hand in the team huddle and told her coach, "Coach, coach!!! I think I am going to pray to Heavenly Father that I score a goal!!!" It is times like these that I wished we lived in Utah. Ohhhhhh the faith of little children!!!!

Divide and conquer

I consider last night a success. After putting the kids to bed, Joel, my Mom, and myself took ourselves downstairs to watch The Biggest Loser. I had set 20 traps in the kitchen, laundry room, and pantry. Within about 20 minutes we had a mouse caught. Within another 20 minutes another!!! It looked like this was going to be a good night.

Anyways, after TBL Joel went to bed and my Mom and I waited in the living room to see if we could spot some action. I mean, after last night how could we not!!! Sure enough two mice jetted their way across from the island to the fridge. But to tell you the truth it was really slow (that is sooooo good). Especially since I fixed a hole in the wall in the laudry room that some of the mice might have been living in. While we were sleeping we caught two more total making our total for the night: 4 mice.

That is exactly half the number caught last night, meaning we are dividing and conquering!!!

FYI: I feel soooooo much better today. I got a whole nights sleep. My mom helped sooo much and bagged all the mice. What a Mom, huh!!! I just know that the problem is almost fixed!!! I am happy!

Because you are probably dying to know...

final count of dead mice last night: 8

total since mouse invastion: 10

total hours of sleep last night for me: 3

number of exterminators met: 1

number of mouse traps set: 20

my sanity: zero

fyi: my mom is staying the night to be my moral support since last night was so horrible. the exterminator came out today and basically said I am doing everything that they would do and that major concerns are black widows and hobo spiders...whatever. The hole is the side of house in closed...hole in laundry room fixed...let's hope they come out tonight and see the presents I bought them today...nothing like handing the grocery store cashier and arm full of mouse traps and saying "it is as bad as it looks."

Mice invasion 2009 update

Well, we spent all of today cleaning and cleaning some more. You know the fun stuff like under the washer and dryer, behind the refridgerator, etc. We found quite a bit of mouse poop and our house is spick and span clean. Now we can trace the mice so we can sucessfully set traps.



Just a note: I am sitting down in my living room facing the kitchen. I have just witnessed three mice run across my kitchen under the refidgerator. I have noooo idea what to do. They gross me out like nothing I have ever experienced before. My stomach is in knots. One is peaking around the corner like they know that I am here. It is sooooooooooooo sick. Joel says to just let the traps do their work. I feel helpless and totally intruded upon. I think that one is stuck on a trap. One just made the corner to the laundry room. I feel like the old lady in Ratatuoille. You know what I mean????



Anywho, I just woke up Joel and set four more traps. I just hope the kids don't get up in the middle of the night. Poor Joel, he has to get up soooo early to go to work and I am keeping him up with these mice!!!



We found the hole that the mice came in out side and filled it with steel wool. Steel wool. Sounds like a good rock band. Hope, hope, hope that it works. Then we filled it with insulation spray. I am loosing it. Because to tell you the truth...day is good, night is horrible. From Dark until Dawn...dark until dawn baby. Thanks for the support though.

A trap just went off...got to go!!

Hickory, Dickory, Dock...

and you know the rest...let's just say that I have a new perspective on this guy. It started around 11 o'clock on Joel's birthday when we had our good friends Mike and Marianne over. We were sitting in our living room when Mike spotted a mouse in our kitchen. I could not believe it. But sure enough out he came again. We was running through a hole by our dishwasher and coming thorough a hole under our sink (where the garbage is). Anyways...my Mom was keeping our kids for the night at her house for Joel's birthday so Joel and I ran down to Wal-mart and bought one trap because that is all that we had...one stray, random mouse. SOOOO WRONG!!!!

Last night, Sunday evening Joel and I were enjoying Desperate Housewives when I heard a sqweak. Then there was scratching. I thought I was just being paranoid...because I now am. I investigated more closely to find a mouse behind our refridgerator, a mouse under the sink, and a mouse in the laundry room (all surrounding one major wall). This wall was also scratching--that is right MICE IN THE WALLS!!!! Joel and I were soooo creeped out!!! Joel went to Wal-mart again and bought multiple traps. He came home, set traps, and we got back to our show. I was googling mice invasions, of course, and Joel looked over at me to see a mouse run right behind me!!!! FREAKING OUT!!!! We got out a broom and tried to kill it but it was jumping and sooo fast! We tipped all the couches over in the living room and it looked like a war zone...worse yet...we scared it down stairs!!!! I watched it jump all the way down stairs and chased it but it was too late. So now we have one downstairs and a bunch in the laundry room wall.

To make matters worse...Drew is allergic to cats and peanut butter. Peanut butter is the most effective way to set a trap and cats, well, you know. We tried to have Rocky chase the mouse...but no luck!

So it really is the happiest place on Earth...

Disneyland...the main reason for our Southern California trip. We did save the best for last. We had the best time in Disneyland. It was extremely hot...I mean like 105 degrees but thankfully most of Disneyland's rides are air conditioned. Apparently we went on a great week too because it was a black out week...so there weren't that many people there...for Disneyland standards of course. But we were able to get onto rides easily and quickly...besides waiting in line for 2 hours to meet three very important Princesses. But we met lots of famous people and animals and gave lots of hugs... Drew loved Tigger and it seemed that Tigger loved Drew too!!! Really cute.

Drew's wave just cracked me up...Can you see me Pooh bear????

Here is tigger again...sorry so random and I don't have that many pictures on the iphone because I bought a couple of disposable cameras and used them most of the time.

Here is Princess Jenna with her Tinkerbell doll that she used her "piggy-horse" money to buy. Here is a story that makes me so proud...we asked Jenna what she wanted to spend her 27 dollars on and this is her reply, "I don't know...maybe I can buy Drew a Buzz Lightyear toy." I just about cried. This girl is so thoughtful and sweet. We love you Jenna!!! But this is Jenna after waiting in line for 2 hours in extreme heat to meet Aurora, Snow White (who we loved), and Jasmine. It was sooo cute how they were all in character!!! We also met Tinkerbell in Pixie Hollow and it was soooo cute. Loved that!!! Then when we were at California Adventure we met Cinderella!!! What LUCK we had!!! It was sooo great. She was so pretty and nice and she told Jenna that her eyes reminded her of her own and that she looked like Cinderella...they really did look alike. Jenna was in HEAVEN!!!!

Drew of course met "manly" characters like Woody and Buzz. Another great story is that on our first day at Disneyland we ran into Buzz. Drew was so excited and ran up to him and gave him a hug and a high five. Then later we were a little lost and Joel and Drew ran into Buzz again. Joel asked Buzz and his helper where Buzz's Astroblaster ride was...Buzz took Drew by the hand and walked him to the ride. Drew was soooo proud!!! He had his little chest out and the biggest grin on his face. It was the cutest thing in the world.

Here is Drew and Mom at the ride. Joel taught Drew how to salute Buzz and he would say "I'll do it Buzz." It was so funny. People standing in all the lines got the biggest kick out of this kid and his wild and fun personality.

He wasn't always sooo lively...he did a little of this and a ton of playing... but it cracks me up how he sleeps with his arms behind his head like Joel.

Miss Jenna at the Princess castle...the best was the fire work show that they put on at night...soooooo amazing!!! They choreograph the fireworks to Disney music around the castle and even have a real life Tinkerbell on a zip cord twirl around the castle!!! Too amazing...they have a Dumbo too. Really cool.

Jenna with Jasmine...all my other pictures are on actual film...

The castle at night... Joel and I have agreed that next year we go on a cruise--just the two of us--less walking, packing, sweating. I am sooo exhausted but we really had the time of our lives!!! I was afraid that maybe the kids wouldn't necessarily remember Disneyland but when I went on It's a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean my childhood totally flashed back at me from when I was 8 and I totally felt like I had been there before. I hope that my kids will feel that too when they are older and experience the magic that really is Disney!!! It was great!!!

Some other highlights of our trip...

EATING AT THE BLUE BAYOU RESTURAUNT--TOTALLY WORTH THE CASH FOR THE MONTE CRISTO SANDWICH

SPACE MOUNTAIN AND THE TEA CUPS AND FINDING NEMO...OF COURSE

WATCHING JENNA AND DREW EXPERIENCE ALL THE RIDES

PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN

GOING ON BUZZ LIGHTYEAR'S ASTRO BLASTERS 15 TIMES...REALLY

PRETENDING THAT I WAS AFFRAID OF THE ROLLERCOASTER RIDES AND HAVING JENNA TELL ME..."IT'S OKAY MOM, I AM RIGHT BESIDE YOU"

MEETING THE DISNEY CHARACTERS

PINKBERRY...DID I MENTION THAT BEFORE

LAUGHING AT OUR KIDS WHEN THEY DANCED AT THE STREET PARTY PARADE...ESPECIALLY JENNA WHO HAS TOTALLY "RAD" BREAK DANCE MOVES

GETTING OUT OF CALIFORNIA BEFORE THE FIRES GOT REALLY BAD...DID I MENTION THAT WE HAD REALLY GOOD LUCK ON OUR TRIP!!!

COMING HOME AND SEEING ETHAN...OH HOW WE MISSED YOU...IT WAS LIKE A LONG LOST REUNION WITH THAT LITTLE GUY AND HIS SIBLINGS...HILLARIOUS

Seaworld and a day at Coronodo Beach

These are in no particular order because I am still using Joel's laptop and it drives me crazy...anyway. Here is my mermaid. She thought it was pretty fun to be buried in the sand, and I thought it was pretty fun to make her into a mermaid with mermaid "seashells" and a tail. Joel didn't like the shells...but come on!!! You can't really see the awesome craftsmanship...I am just joking here. Joel was so proud of his sand castle...I think it might even be his first...I don't know. The sand was great...it was like light brown sugar.

Day three was Seaworld. I was sooo excited for Seaworld and while we all loved it...it wasn't quite what I remembered. We did get to feed some sting rays...that was interesting...they are like vacuum cleaners. The Shamu shows were neat and the dolphin show was pretty funny. They introduced a family...a mom, dad, and little girl. Well they staged it so the "mom" fell in the tank with the dolphins. I WAS DYING!!!! I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD I WAS CRYING! Unfortunately it was just staged. I am weird like that...I think it is the funniest thing when people fall or get hurt (nothing really harmful). The trainer was a really good actress...but new it was staged when she was balancing on the dolphin's nose :)

Don't judge...it was soooooooooo stinkin' hot.

Another nice San Diegoian offered to take our picture...I didn't want to but she was just too NICE!!!

Shamu was really amazing...they do a night show that really was the best called Shamu Rocks...really worth seeing. Joel and I were a little disappointed in the shark aquarium...but oh well--the kids loved it. Again we were there at opening til close...another long day.

The next day was the beach day. We then drove up the pacific highway to Anaheim. We checked into our hotel and then went out to dinner with our friends the Smiths. After dinner we hit up Pinkberry...this might have been the highlight of my trip and I am trying to talk Joel into opening one here in Spokane!!! Ohhhhh how I love you Pinkberry...too bad I didn't get a picture of you...original with coconut, mangoes, and sweet, sweet strawberries...I am drooling now.