An Adventure!

We came home after having left the girls with a babysitter. It was dark and they were all upstairs and in their jammies. All was well, except. . .

The back door was open about 5 inches! It was great that the babysitter had taken them outside to play tag and get some fresh air and exercise, but NOT so great that they hadn't closed the door! Since it was clearly dark, the door had been standing open for at least an hour. Not good.

I explained to the kids (again) why it is important to close doors (don't you feel like you tell kids that over and over again?)! I told them that the door had been open wide enough to let in all sorts of bugs and small creatures, and that a friend of ours had just had a vole in their basement, which provided excitement at their house that I didn't want at mine!

Well, sure enough, we later found evidence of an unwanted visitor--tiny "droppings". Oh MAN! Ted got out the glue traps and we set them around the kitchen and pantry. We checked them in the morning, with no luck.

Later, Ted was holding baby J and talking to me while I prepared dinner. Suddenly, something scurried over both my feet!! It hadn't even quite registered with me yet when Ted calmly said, "here, take the baby. I saw the mouse run under the stove." Eek!

The hunt began. We blocked off our kitchen as best we could. We saw him run out from under the stove, but couldn't get him in time. I was truly trying to stay calm and quiet to be a good example to the girls, but I wasn't doing a good job of it. Ted is definitely better under rodent pressure than I am. At one point he quietly and sweetly suggested that I leave the room. Didn't he need my help? Not the kind I was giving, which wasn't helping!

The mouse ran up into an open area between the cupboards that we hadn't known was there. We tried scaring him out by banging on the cupboards, but he would run right back up when Ted moved to catch him. Now dinner was getting cold and the kids were hungry, so G volunteered to keep watch while the rest of the family ate. Periodically the mouse would peek his head out, and G would calmly and quietly say, "mouse". She was a GREAT lookout--much calmer than I was (me: "TED! THERE HE IS! GET HIM!" promptly scaring him back up the hole--yeah, not helpful).

We quickly finished eating and Ted took over the sentry post while G ate her dinner. I told the girls, "let's pray again, that Daddy will catch the mouse the next time he comes out." We all quickly prayed as the mouse poked his head out once more. He made a dash for it, and this time Ted trapped him! Praise the Lord! I'd be able to sleep tonight because the mouse hunt was finally over!

After the mouse was safely outside a minute later, Ted asked the girls, "Now what did we learn from this adventure?"

Not missing a beat, G yelled, while jumping up with a fist in the air, "That God answers prayer!!"

"True! Great answer! And what else did we learn?"

They had to think about it a minute--"Not to leave the door open?"

Okay, that one might need some more repeating, but the first lesson was more important anyway, even if I did have visions of mice running over me as I went to bed.