Eeeaaakkk!!!

That's the sound that came out of my mouth several times this afternoon! The reason ~ I spied a mouse in the girls' room. After seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, I saw it run from their bathroom, along the wall, behind the bed, and there it stayed until Alex (oh, I'm so glad he was home!) could move some things away from the wall so we could better see it and get at it. We had it cornered behind Grace's bed for a while (thankfully her bed has a solid wood frame that goes clear to the floor), but it got away from us and ran into the closet. Ha! There it was trapped. As Alex cleared away shoes, bags, and more junk, I blocked the door to the closet with a flattened box, which worked great at keeping the little rodent inside the closet. That is, until it got away and ran behind the door (must have gotten past my barrier due to my jumpy reactions). Anyway, Alex, however, was ready with the end of the broom handle and that is how he killed it. Sick, I know, but it's dead. Throughout the whole episode, I think I frightened poor little Leah by my reaction every time I saw the fast little critter. It gives me the willies just thinking about it again! Once Leah was on top of Megan's bed, rather than on the floor, she calmly watched everything. I am just so thankful that I was in the right place at the right time in order to even see it.

I very much dislike mice. We have been in this house for 4 1/2 years and have only seen and caught two mice. That was over 2 1/2 years ago, and we have never seen any evidence of their presence since then, and even before that we hadn't. About a month ago, I found droppings in a small cupboard/drawer. Everything inside the drawer was taken out, washed, and the area disinfected. A trap was set, but no further evidence was seen for a few weeks. So, everything was put back inside. Recently, though, I saw droppings again in the same location. Once again a trap was set, only this time with peanut butter on it. Today after seeing the mouse, Alex went and got that trap and the peanut butter was gone. That blasted creature.

Alex swept and cleaned out both registers.

Well, "good" did come from the "bad" in that the girls' room is extremely clean and disinfected. Any holes or cracks were sealed up with steel wool, beds were literally turned upside down and stripped and those linens were washed. Registers were swept out. Walls were wiped down. Oh my goodness, we cleaned and we cleaned. Their room looks so nice, and it gives me great satisfaction having most of the main floor thoroughly cleaned! Grace kept saying, "I like my room. Dad, thanks for helping us with our room. Mom, thanks for cleaning. I'm not glad that there was a mouse in our room, but I am glad to have our room cleaned." Now, if they would only keep it that way! When I asked them if they now understand the importance of keeping their room cleaned and picked up, they both answered, "that since they had a mouse in their room, yes, they understand."

The girls loved the finished product and I do too! I just wish I had taken a before photo. What an improvement. I know a few posts ago, I claimed that I had a greater appreciation for God's animal kingdom after visiting the vet hospital, but that appreciation does not apply to mice, and I could name several others that it doesn't apply to, as well.

As we put the girls to bed tonight, I will admit that I was leery about having them sleep in their room. Lord, even though it's very freaky, if there are any more mice in our house, please bring them out into the open so they will be caught. And Lord, I would really love it if that mouse was single! Amen."

~Wee