THE NEW RESIDENT OF 403 EAST PERCY STREET, INDIANOLA HAS BEEN EVICTED.  WE HAD TO CALL FOR BACK-UP AND WE MEANT BUSINESS.

IT WAS EITHER HIM OR US. 

No, this is not the actual rat - this is a picture of what a Wood Rat looks like - I was doing my research to try to figure out what kind of Beast I was dealing with!

He thought this was a game.  We did not.  It started about 2 weeks ago.  We heard "something" but couldn't quite figure out the direction it was coming from.  Later that week, Mark found pellets poop, LARGE POOP, in his closet.  We cleaned out everything, from shoes to underwear.  We swept and cleaned his closet until it was spotless.  That same night while laying in the bed watching sports center, the devil himself decided to show his squirmy little face to my husband.  All Mark could say about the "incident" and informal meeting was that he was no mouse. No Sir.  We were not dealing with a "mouse."  He was grey and his tail was as long as Mark's arm.  I called Terminix, seeing as to how my "mouse traps" were not going to tackle this job.  They brought poison in a box.  Mark was concerned about Darly getting the poison.  As much as I was concerned about that too, I was just as concerned about the little rodent eating it only to die in the walls of Mark's closet and never be found.  So terminix returned.  This time they brought sticky traps.  I could hear the little turd laughing himself silly as we lined the floor of the closet with our goo.  All the little beast did was play in the mess.  He literally ATE HIMSELF free from the sticky traps.  You could LITERALLY SEE TEETH MARKS IN THE TRAP.  This is a RAT.  A GIANT RAT.  So that night, I went out to the shed.  Pulled out the best trap we have - the one we got for armadillo catching.  The trap hasn't ever caught anything but a cat - but if its big enough for a cat - its big enough for this little beast.  I bait him.  CHEESE.  I tried assortments.  Mexican Cheddar was his favorite.  Not a big fan of Pepper jack.  Still.... I couldn't catch his squirmy little a**! So... We called 'Ole SAM.  It was time for a dad to step in and take care of business.  Mark has 2 holes eaten out of his closet and his Church shoes had poo in them on Sunday.  We were ready for war.  The more often Mr. Rat came around, the more of a mess he made.  He was loud, and destructive.  2 weeks of this "temporary resident" was all I could take. 

Well.......  WE GOT HIM... or so we thought! Apparently, where this is ONE MR. RAT, there is a whole brood of them......  Our count got up to SIX! Yes I said SIX!!!!!!!  At which point I didnt care about the smell, and we reintroduced Poison, as well as fixed the holes in the closet - so they are probably all dead in the walls of Mark's Closet, but the inside of our house has been Rat-Free for 5 days now! Hallelujah!

TACKY TENNIS CHRISTMAS

We had a fantastic time on our "night out"!

Our sweaters were courtesy of Nana Rose - she loaned us "her nicest" for the big event!

The menu consisted of pork rines, KFC (in the bucket), melted chocolate balls, vienna sauages (in the can), chips (in the bag), milk punch, BBQ, Spam, and cranberry sauce.  A TRUE REDNECK CHRISTMAS!

Karoke was a hit.  Although Mark never made it to the stage to sing (like his wife), he did however; dance a little while chowing down on a chip or two. 

OH, and Who knew Cousin Eddie was coming to the party????

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO .... UMMMM....

SUGAR FREE FRENCH VANILLA LATTE WITH NON-FAT MILK

MCDONALDS

UMMMM.......

IF THIS WONT GET YOU IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT THEN YOUR JUST A BAH HUMBUG!

I EVEN CAUGHT MARK JAMMIN OUT TO "GO TELL IN ON THE MOUNTAIN" YESTERDAY!

HAPPY THURSDAY EVERYONE :)

7 MONTHS

YOU ARE EVERYWHERE.

YOU DO NOT SIT STILL.

YOUR LITTLE HANDS ARE LIKE STICKY LITTLE MAGNETS.

YOU ARE CONSTANTLY ON THE GO.

YOU ARE THE BUSIEST AND HAPPIEST PERSON THAT I KNOW.

HENCE THE PICTURE IS A BLUR.  I SWEAR I TOOK ABOUT 80 AND THIS WAS THE "BEST"

I GAVE UP.  

WEIGHT:  16 POUNDS 
(you have lost weight this month - not much - but a little.  I am not concerned (yet).  Your little muscles are working overtime, plus, I think you have gotten longer)

DIAPER SIZE: 2 

ARMY CRAWL:  YOU ARE MASTERING IT

HEIGHT:  I do not know the exact measurement but its longer than a month ago because all of your pants are suddenly too short by about an inch.  (This could be due to Miss Lizzy and her washing skills since our underwear is usually blue these days, but I really think you have hit a growth spurt.)

EATING HABITS:  YOU ONLY EAT WHEN YOU WANT TO. You have suddenly gotten into this "If I don't want to eat it right now, I'm not going to" phase.  This has been going on about a week now.  You eat, just not as much, and not as often.  You want your bottle because its quick and allows you to multi-task.  "Food Food" requires too much time, and your too busy for that.

SCHEDULE:  You have thrown it out the window.  You eat and drink and play when Rose wants to eat and drink and play.  As long as your sleeping all night and happy - whatever.

Mickey Mouse is great entertainment for SHORT PERIODS OF TIME.  Then its like a light bulb goes off in your little head and DING DING DING... Its time to do something else.  Again, Your too busy for that.

Walmart and the Grocery Store are your new favs! Mission Impossible! "How many things can I grab from the cart within 30 seconds of walking in???"   1.2.3. GO MOM.  

I'm finally putting all those Parenting Magazines to good use! They make GREAT entertainment because Paper is the coolest thing you have ever seen! 

You are so much fun right now, but I am a constant worry wort! BECAUSE YOUR INTO EVERYTHING!

Questions I have asked myself more in the last month than ever before in my life:

What is that smell?

Where did she go?

What is in your mouth?

Where did that come from?

Whats all over your shirt?

What do you think that look on her face means?

Where is your other shoe?

What are you eating?

Where is all this drool coming from?

Why are your clothes wet?

Why are your hands blue?

How did that scratch get on your face?

Are we going to get turned over to child services?

LET THE BABY-PROOFING BEGIN ! 

ITS BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS ...

TAKE TWO

I finally decided to try AGAIN to decorate our home for Christmas.  As a child, decorating for Christmas was a huge event that I had to wait all year long to do.  It was the most fun Saturday of December (unless of course Christmas day actually fell on Saturday).  This year, maybe its because I'm older, maybe its because I'm much busier, maybe its because of the weather, or maybe its because Christmas Part One turned into a complete disaster and ruined my spirit, I dunno, but it just doesn't "feel" like Christmas yet... I now know why every year my dad had to ask the question "Carol, do we have to get a Christmas tree this year?"

(like there was a possibility in his voice all those years ago that we may actually not get a tree... there was an option here????) 

Well dad.... I TOTALLY GET YOU THIS YEAR!

However, if you take heart to the pictures that follow, you will understand why decorating this year is so important to me.  You will also see that Christmas is no longer about My Spirit.  There is someone way more important who deserves Christmas just the way every Child should.  This Christmas may be only remembered by the paper, bows, and boxes, but our home will be lit up and "in the spirit" for this holiday season - even it I don't finish until Christmas eve at midnight! And I hope that thru the entire month of December, I remember the Reason for the Season, and don't let the "decorating blues" keep me from enjoying the most special time of the year!

The outside garland sure is looking a little puny these days... The outside lights still do not work... but those balls are HOT GLUED to that garland, and it is going to be a nightmare to get those lights off.  I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN....  What a job this may be, but it does make our home look so pretty to be lit up.  I will do it.  Christmas eve is the goal! ha :)

EYE ON IT

TOBY MAC - IN CONCERT



MAC DADDY HIMSELF


I'M A ROCK STAR COUSIN (no pun intended)

For Christmas, Mark and I took all of the kiddos to the Toby Mac concert! We had a BLAST! The theme was "Keep Your Eye On IT"  with IT of course being Jesus.  I somehow managed to get floor level tickets... I'm still not sure how I pulled that one off, but our seats were INCREDIBLE! Yes, We really were that close to him, and Yes I could see his sweat and the hair on his arms! SO CLOSE!

We never told them what they were getting for Christmas, and we never told them where we were going. Mark and I picked them up at 3:45 that afternoon and headed toward Jackson.  They had no clue what was going on.  The whole way there our trip consisted of Clues...

Can you drive it? ....................... No
Can you ride in it? ..................... No
Can you eat it? .......................... No
Can you play with it? ................. No
Can you wear it? ....................... No
Will you take it home tonight? .... No
(this was before I knew Josh would spend his entire life savings on TM apparel - Neon green/yellow apparel - he looked like a highlighter busted on his head by the time we left)

Its the Professor.  In the Library.  With the Knife!!! 
DING DING DING!


Sarah Allyn is the only one who figured it out prior to the concert!
She was about to absolutely BUST AT THE SEAMS because she knew and the boys didn't!

We went to FIVE GUYS to eat before the concert.  We sat them all down at the Renaissance and gave them each an envelope.  Inside held the GOLDEN TICKET!

I think that they all had a great time, and it was something they will never forget!

Walt:  Yal did so much better on our Christmas present this year than last year!
Mark:  What did we get you last year?
Walt:  I have no idea, that's why this one was way better!