Man, there's lots going on....updates from our crew

Well, my pictures didn't add in the order that I wanted, but for the last two days I haven't been able to add any pictures at all, so I'll take what I can get.

Here's the latest...

We got home from Dallas on Sunday and as I was putting something in the pantry, I had the hideous "honor" of spotting a mouse running across the bottom shelf in our pantry. I CALMLY (yeah, right!) said (screamed) "I found the mouse!" and quickly shut the pantry door. The good thing was that we'd eaten lots of food out of the pantry before we left for the trip, so there wasn't alot on the bottom shelf! If you don't remember, several months ago Jeremy saw a mouse running in the drawer in our laundry room, but we've seen neither hide nor hair of it since. Well, I guess when the dog's away, the mouse will play! (I was really hoping this was "mouse" singular, not "mice" plural. ) Michael, my man the hero, quickly blockaded the pantry and started unloading things from the floor.

I took these photos while sitting with my feet up VERY HIGH on the island. I want to be a responsible blogger, you know! Get the pictures!!! But my rodent tolerance is very low, therefore, my distance from the floor must remain high! Michael's plan was to get the mouse in the "open" and then club it with the stick that is in his hand. Disgusting plan in my mind! Jeffrey's bleeding heart thought that was horrible. He ran out to the garage to get the gerbil cage to catch it and release it in the wild. Michael encouraged him to get the gerbil ball because the holes in the cage were too large and this little guy would fit right through. So, as the scene plays out, Michael sees Mousey and starts banging around with the stick, but Mousey is too fast. I quickly head out to the living room, 'cuz I don't want to have to HEAR breaking bones or squeals from a mouse. I'm randomly screaming because...well, I don't want to have to HEAR breaking bones or squeals from a mouse! Michael at one point squeals and pretends that the mouse is out and then laughs. Jeffrey's crying "Dad, dad, please let me in. I can catch it and put it in the ball. Please dad, please", but Michael's on a mission. Failure is not an option! He's gonna club that Mousey, like it or not! But add to this equation, a flimsy cookie sheet baracade and a 7 year old! Somehow, in all this chaos, the cookie sheet gets bumped and allows just enough space for Mousey to scramble out. Michael is now yelling, "Oh, man he's out!" I think he's kidding, but I interrupt my periodic screams to find out that he's not. From my new perch, on the arms of the chairs in the living room, I see everyone scrambling out of the way and groaning as Mousey crawled inside a teensy tiny hole right under our oven. How gross is that!! I'm sooooo glad I didn't see that little rodent body morph into that hole!

Needless to say, mousetraps went straight onto the list for the store. And now Mousey is... how should I put it delicately? No longer with us. Actually, after Mousey was quickly introduced to Mr. Trapmeister at 1:00 AM the next morning (yep, I heard the trap snap!), Jeffrey (remember the bleeding heart!) took the mouse out and wiggled its lifeless body around so Trixie would pounce on it and eat it. She did and he thought that was cool. All in the circle of life,right! :-)

Well, yesterday, I saw a Baby Mousey. This time I really DIDN'T freak. I saw it limping around in the laundry room. Josiah and I tried to get Jackson in the room fast enough so he could get it, but he was there just in enough time to see Baby M slip under the 'fridge. But, the relentless hunter that he is, he didn't leave that laundry room for hours. He was just waiting. Now Mr. Trapmeister and two of his brothers are armed and ready for battle. All I can say is, at least they aren't dying and hacking under my couch while I lie there immobile! (This really happened to me about 15 years ago! But that's another story for another day!)

In other animal news, the deer, Buckie-you know every living thing around here gets a name!-was remarkably still alive when we got home from Dallas. It still had not moved from the spot where we left it, so that wasn't a good sign. We took it water and some goat food a couple of times. When we got near it, it would start to shake and try and get away, but it couldn't. So sad. I found out that there is a wildlife resuce service somewhere near here, so I called them. The lady said that if the deer couldn't move it's back leg(s), it wouldn't make it and to just call the Sherriff. The day that I called, we'd seen three buzzards on the telephone pole by our house. I figured that meant Buckie was pretty near death and they were just waiting around. Michael and I decided that if Buckie was still alive the next morning, I'd call the Sherriff. I guess the Sherriff would come out and shoot it and that way we wouldn't get in trouble for hunting w/o a license. Who knows? But, thankfully, Jeffrey came back later that afternoon and reported that Buckie had died. Now the question was what to do with it. Like a truly great homeschool dad, Michael suggested that we go out and watch it every day and document the changes on the carcass. Take pictures, make drawings, whatever. After all, we live in the sticks, who's gonna care??? So that's what we decided to do.

The coyotes has a different idea. When the boys went out yesterday morning, they only found part of Buckie. They came in telling how cool it was to see Buckie's insides! Yep, they took pictures. They're boys you know! I'll do you all a favor by NOT posting the pictures, but if you want to see them, just let me know! :-) It's still a study in the cycle of life, I guess!

Ok, now on to basketball. There's no death involved in this report! I did figure out how to get my camera to take pics that aren't too dark (I turned off the flash), but beware, they're very blurry! This is NOT your eyes. Do not attempt to adjust your glasses! Just be thankful I posted the "good" ones! :-)

Here's Jonathan shooting a free throw.

Here's Jeremy playing some awesome defense.

In all, J&J's team went 3-2 at the tournament. One game they lost by only one point. In that one Jonathan threw up a "circus shot"-that's what the boys call it- at the buzzer that went in. It would have given the Patriots the victory, but the ref said Jonathan was stepping out of bounds. He wasn't, but the ref called it the way he saw it. In the game pictured above, the Patriots won by 1 point. We had a really good time at the tournament. The National tournament is in just a couple of weeks in Springfield, MO.

And finally, in more J&J news, there's orthodonture in our future. The very near future. The very near, very expensive future. We had an appt. at the orthodontist on Monday and within about an hour, we were on our way to Bracesland. They got some spacers put in their teeth that feel like rubber bands stuck between their teeth, they say. Two weeks from today the bands go on. And two years from now, we'll be thousands of dollars poorer, but the boys will have straight teeth with no gaps. I can certainly think of funner ways to spend the money, like a cruise around the world. But... I'm a mom, so braces it is! I wonder if Obama is planning any orthodonture bailouts any time soon??? I need to get on that list! Really, though, J&J are pretty excited about it. And I remember what it was like when I was 14, wishing for braces. I got stuck with glasses. At least in two years when they realize having braces is "not all that", viola...no more braces! Glasses hang on for your whole life. Or until Lasik!

So, there you go. Lots of news from our corner of the world.