<Viewer’s Discretion Advised; The following blog contains material that may be unsuitable for children, or squeamish adults… or PETA members>

Last Thursday while I was settling in to another productive day at work (I’d finished reading my daily blogs and the news and was trying to remember what I do for a living) I received a frantic 911 call (okay, IM) from my dear wife. As luck would have it, I log all my IM conversations at work:

(11:37:18 AM) Kimberly: Oh my Gosh!!!
(11:37:28 AM) Kimberly: There is a mouse in the dog food container!!!
(11:37:29 AM) Kimberly: alive
(11:38:04 AM) Kimberly: Kippppppppppppppppppppppppppp
(11:38:08 AM) Kimberly: help me!!!

I quickly rushed home and here is what I found at the scene. Our dog food container, two feet high, plastic, with a snap on lid, was in the garage where it normally was. Kim was standing next to it with little beads of sweat on her brow.

Inside, was (as I would soon find out) the cutest little (very plump) brown mouse I’ve ever seen. My dear wife spotted the mouse while she was refilling the dog food container, slammed the lid, and IM’d me .

[ If anyone out there has any idea how a little mouse made it into a sealed plastic dog food container I would love to know. I haven't had the time or inclination to dwell on it because I'm afraid I will just never find the answer.]

Not sure what to do, I wiped the little beads of sweat from my brow, put on my ‘protector’ face, and approached the container. It was really just a matter of making the right choice.

1. Let it go.
2. Smush it with something hard (mercy killing).
3. Wash out the hamster (God rest Hammy’s dead little hamster soul) cage and keep the mouse around for awhile. Like I said, he was really cute.

In reverse order:

3. Not a chance. These things carry the plague, ya know!
2. This option brought back horrible memories. You see, I’m an advocate of old-school mouse traps. They are cheap, easy, and you can toss them when they get gross and only be out 25 cents or so.

Unfortunately, sometimes they don’t really result in a ‘clean kill.’

Several months ago I came home from work and saw a little mousetrap running across the garage floor. It seems the trap just sort of grabbed on to a little guy’s nose. I quickly threw a box over him while I decided what to do. Sound familiar? This was an easier decision, though. Since this one was maimed I didn’t consider keeping him. Who wants a disfigured mouse?. And I figured if I let him go, he was just going to crawl off and die in the yard somewhere only to be brought in later by the dog. So the only option I felt I had was a mercy killing.

I placed a little rag over the box (coffin) grabbed a hammer (one of my smaller ones, I swear) and gave him a slight ‘tap.’ So yeah… mice are really small and their bones are not very tough. The little guy just, well…

<Viewer’s Discretion Advised; The following blog contains material that may be unsuitable for children, or squeamish adults… or PETA members>

EXPLODED… it was a total mess. And I almost hurled. It comes to mind often when I think of Sushi.

Option number 2 was out.

1. Let it go. Yes. I’d let it go. It would run off wild and free… over to the neighbor’s garage.

I carried the container to the edge of the yard, tipped it and the little guy came tumbling out. He looked up at me, flashed a little smile and started walking back toward our garage.

I ran up to the garage to stand guard. The mouse would take a couple steps toward the garage and then stop, wink at me & Kim, then take a few more steps. He was serious about moving back in.

Not quite sure what to do now, I picked up a golf ball sized rock and bipped the little guy in the head from about 12 feet away (this is because I was trying to aim ‘short’ to scare him away). The hit didn’t phase him and he continued to inch back toward the garage. Out of options, I started to reach for a shovel (ever see Psycho II?).

Then, it happened. Out of nowhere (or maybe out of the scrub oak on the side of our yard) appeared a chubby little magpie. In a flash, he dove down, nailed Jerry (this whole thing had gone on long enough that I went ahead and named him) about 6 times with his beak… just like a little bird jack-hammer. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM. Actually, it was more like a little bird ice-pick, but that’s just gross.

Then he picked him up, flew up into the scrub oak and…

<Viewer’s Discretion Advised; The following blog contains material that may be unsuitable for children, or squeamish adults… or PETA members>

started to tear Jerry into little tiny mouse pieces. I was devastated and horror-stricken so the first thing I could think of was to run inside and grab the camera (not my fault… I have crazy people on my side of the family).

Unfortunately, when I tried to get close enough for some good pictures, Heckel (or Jeckle?) flew down out of the tree and landed about 20 feet away from me (BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM (pick-pick-pick-pick-pick)), so what you see below is the best I could do.

Not sure what we should do at that point, we looked at each other, said “Wow, that was weird,” and went inside and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Today another of our dear family pets went up to heaven with all of her beloved friends. We will miss you little Finn, say hello to Kady, Getta and Hammy for us!

A Simple Message From Your Pet

by Ken D. Conover

To have loved and then said farewell is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you stooped and touched my head, fed me my favorite treat and
returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you. For the care that you gave to me
so unselfishly. For all of these things I am grateful and thankful. I ask that you grieve
not for the loss but rejoice in the fact that we lived, loved and touched each other’s lives.
My life was fuller because you were there, not as owner, but as my friend. Today, I am
as I was in my youth. The grass is always green, butterflies flit among fthe flowers and
the sun shines gently down upon all of God’s creatures. I can run, jump and play
and do all of the things that I did in my youth. There is no sickness, no aching joints
and no regrets and no aging. We await the arrival of our lifelong companions and know
that togetherness is forever. You live in our hearts as we do in yours. Companions such
as you are very rare and unique. Don’t hold the love that you have within yourself.
Give it to another like me and then I will live forever. For love never really dies,
and you are loved and missed as surely as we are.

Your pet in heaven.

I was supposed to be loading the dishwasher when I noticed my checkbook on the counter and went to put it away and noticed that the computer was still on and a half-written e-mail was still on the screen, so I decided to finish it when I realized I hadn’t checked my e-mail lately and so here you go….  Now back to those dishes! @

Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D. – Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

At the end of the day: the laundry isn’t washed, the bills aren’t paid,
there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter, the plants aren’t
watered, there is still only one check in my check book, I can’t find the
remote, I can’t find the wipes, and I don’t remember what I did with my keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled
because I know I was busy all day long, and I’m really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it,
but first I’ll check my e-mail. Do me a favor, will you? Forward this
message, because I don’t remember to whom it has been sent.

Don’t laugh — if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming.

After many days of really cold temperatures it was a real treat for the kids to be able to play outside. The temperature finally reached a balmy 20 degrees so the kids bundled up and romped in the snow. G had her friend B over for the afternoon and they told me they were going to climb a tree. When I looked out they were in the Aspen grove looking up into the trees. I can only imagine what they were thinking. Might it have been something like, “He he we can climb THIS tree.”


On the other side of the fence, the boys were also playing in the snow. Driving their trucks through the snow, making roads throughout the yard. Days like today are what being a mommy is all about. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be home with my children.

Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand. ~Henry David Thoreau

Christmas tree and trimmings are all down and put away for another year, new toys have a home, and a new year begins. 
Why is it that after only a couple of weeks off of our regular routine is it so difficult to get going again?  School, MOPS, ballet, and all of our daily duties are back and I am having a difficult time being motivated.  I hope that I get back into the swing of things soon. I really enjoyed the down time our family had together.  For the first time in many, many years Kip was even able to take off during Christmas.  What a blessing.    Cheers and here is to 2008!  

We wish you all the best for 2008.   

Can you believe we have already captured a year of memories?  Thank you for keeping up with us this year and I hope to continue to capture the fun, precious and amazing memories again this year.  

As always, we love to hear from  you.  

From our family to you!  Happy New Year!!!!