I wanted to get caught up on blogging so that I would be ready to just blog away on YBC when the time came. :)
So, here goes nothin'!
A picture is definitely worth a thousand words! Abi and I were awakened one night by a noise. It sounded something like papers sliding off a table... but, then, Abi pointed out that it sounded an awful like like a mouse jumping out of our trash can. Yuck! Well, we settled back into bed, knowing there was nothing we could do. This wasn't the first time we'd had a nocturnal visitor. I couldn't fall asleep, knowing that there was a four legged critter somewhere in our room. Out of the stillness, I heard an almost indistinguishable rustling. I couldn't be sure, but somehow, I knew he was back. As I waited for, who knows what, I heard it scrambling across the Kleenex box on the floor right by Abi's bed stand. I woke Abi up, and we discussed it for awhile. Finally I asked her to turn the lamp on, just to assess the situation. As we chatted nervously about it, the creep actually darted across the open floor from the night stand to Abi's cedar chest! I exclaimed, "Abi! That was a big mouse!" I wasn't sure if it was the lighting, shadows, the lack of my specs, or all of the above, but it sure looked big to me! We finally decided that I would run down and grab a mouse trap. If I'd known what was coming next, I would've felt extremely foolish with a measly little mouse trap. Well, I set it up in the accustomed spot, crawled back into bed and waited for that delightful snap. I didn't have long to wait. Again, that almost indistinguishable swishing, the snap!!! Silence... I waited for a bit, then finally heard it twitching. Abi had drifted back into dreamland, so I had to wake her up to turn the light on. As my eyes adjusted, I could hardly believe what I saw! I blinked, and blinked, and blinked, expecting my eyes to clear up and see correctly. Nope! "Abi! That's a huge mouse!" changed to, "Abi! That's a RAT!" I could see it twitching and gasping out what I thought was it's last. We quickly decided that this was a situation for a boy! I crawled down from bed, grabbed my glasses and ran up to get Josh. He snatched up his big weighted Bowie knife and followed me down. On closer inspection, we discovered that the mouse trap had just given him a good biff on the head, knocking him out. It hadn't actually caught him. As Mr. Rat started to come to, Josh gave him a good crack on the noggin, sending rude ratty off to wherever rats go when they die. Looking at him the next morning, we just had to shudder thinking about that thing running rampant in our bedroom! Despicable creature!
That's a standard size mouse trap.
Sam was taking pictures. :)
Sam again, but this time he was taking pictures of his rocks.
DeeWee and Watson love to follow Abi around in the barn!
Talitha is learning how to be a docile milk cow. :)
Abi wanted to try her hand at cheese making so she proceeded to try!
Abi and I sprinkled baking soda on our mattresses to freshen them up.
Abi sprinkled mint leaves on hers.
Remember the rat (sorta like "Remember the Alamo!" Not.)? Days after he was gone, Abi discovered that he'd been digging in her lard candles.
They are right on the windowsill, level with the night stand. That means he could've crawled onto the night stand and proceeded onto Abi's bed... It's too awful to think about!
The finished cheese!
It was yummy!
The cats are finally learning how to live together in harmony. :)
Mom got this little ginger bread guy on sale. :)
Talitha's getting fatter!
Our rooster and his harem.
Hens always look so motherly and comfortable... Until they peck your hand! Those little ladies can pack a powerful pinch!
Abi made caramel bread pudding...
Fat Dawse
KK's boot :)
Abi's constant outdoor companions
Sam and Lynna were making a box car.
Ben was carrying Watson around on his shoulders.
KK built a domino tower the other night.
Abi made unleavened bread the other day...
It was pretty good!
More cheese!
That cow is getting humungous!
He was supposed to be doing school. :D
Our church had Couples' Night last night. Zooks and Martins were in charge of it this time. They decided to have the meal catered at the SF Martin house by the owners. They also asked several of us girls to come along and take portraits of the couples. We took the camera's SD card to Walmart and had a picture of each couple developed, then we framed them.
The Christmas decorations were still up with Valentine decor mixed in.
The entire place breathed of Victorian flare- lofty ceilings, intricate chandeliers, deep, manly woodwork, and that slightly damp and cold feeling that one associates with that particular style.
The dining table was decked out beautifully!
Just for fun, I messed around with the colors, contrasts and shadows in this picture.
The sweetest and bestest couple there (in my opinion)! We girls had this discussion, and we all agreed that each of us had the best parents there! :)
Ryan was telling us he had to come to couples night alone. :D
We were trying out different options on the camera.
So it didn't work too well.
Sweet Manny got to go along. :)
The sweetest little family around! Well, minus LouLou. She got to bach it with the boys at home.
After we were kicked out, we girls decided to get some pictures of ourselves. :) They didn't turn out very well, but what fun memories!
This is our "sober" pose. :) What do you think?
After we left, we ran over to Walmart to get the couples' pictures developed. As we waited, we shopped around for YBC necessities (like, candy, for instance). :) Once the pictures were done, we dropped them off at the SF Martin house. After that, we had the difficult decision of deciding where we could eat. Pizza Ranch finally won out. We got there a half hour before their buffet closed. Whew! Once we'd satisfied the beast within, we ran over to the thrift store as Lois needed to look for something. Over all, it was a fun evening spending time together! I'll always cherish these memories!
