Invasion of the Squeekers Part 4....seriously.

Before I begin the next saga, I will let you know how the last one ended up.
I waited for Ben to get home from work, and the noise from the mouse in the hole quieted down. And yes, I did go to Walmart, but it was a good thing, I FINALLY found a costume for Sam, and wigs for mine and Ben's rockin' awesome surprise costumes.
Ben got down on the floor with the ski pole, grabbed the trap with the pole and slid it toward him.
The kids and I were anxiously awaiting the result. I was biting the one nail I have left.
Well, the trap was empty! Yup, I am serious. The trap was empty. The only explanation I can come up with is that it was Eddie. There is no other way I can see the mouse getting it's foot out of that trap. Dang Eddie. We were all disappointed and a little grossed out.
And I am sure, he is in his little hideout, basking in his glory. "I never gave up. I drug that trap around both couches, past three walls, across the sliding door, past the sleeping dog monster, and into the hole. Not only that, but I was able to avoid the giant pole that was dragging me to my fate. I used my mighty mouse muscles to get my foot free, and here I am! (taking a bow) Feel free to come look at my foot. The bruise is amazing. Of course, I ate all the peanut butter on the trap during my journey. It was the best, most hard-earned peanut better I have ever had. I think it was creamy."


OK now it is time for last night's adventure.

Yesterday morning, as I was getting ready to get breakfast going, I noticed this.


What on earth!? Where was the foil that was supposed to covering ALL of the burners? I guessed it may have been mice, but we killed 5 of them the previous night, and figured we had ended our mouse problem. Just in case, I sanitized everything and then proceeded to cook breakfast. Still baffled about the tiny pieces of tin foil ALL over the counter.

Fast forward to yesterday evening.
We had just gotten home from the gym, and we were all just relaxing, when Mary said..."I just saw a mouse run into the kitchen!"
Ben and weren't sure if we should believe her or not, but we chose to believe her. We didn't do anything about it though.
10 minutes later, we heard a "crunch, crunch, crunch."
I got up off the couch, and silently followed the noise. It was coming from the stove! The mouse WAS eating the foil. I couldn't believe it!
I told Ben to come over, and when he did, we saw another mouse run across the counter and hide behind some bags. While we were busy watching that one...ANOTHER mouse ran across the counter and down into the oven burners.
Ben was shocked, and I think I made a different noise each time we saw a mouse. Anywhere from a squeal, to flapping my arms, to breathing really weird.
I pulled out the camera and Ben wiggled the bags, out ran the mouse, and I actually got a picture of the dang thing running as fast as it could back into the burners! I don't know how I got it, because I was doing a little dance at the time.


While Ben was out getting every mouse trap we own, the kids and I proceeded to see five more mice run across the counter and in and out of the stove. My weird noises only got worse and my dancing was pretty nuts. Somehow I caught this little guy in the act of hiding in the corner, right before he dashed into the oven. The picture is pretty crappy, but if you look closely, he is there, right in the corner. And yes, that is straw that the mice ripped off my poor little pumpkin scarecrow craft I had sitting there. gggrrrr


So, with not an ounce of mercy left in our systems, we set out every trap known to mankind. As my friend Heidi would say, "one of each!" Ben set all of them up right there on the counter. He was gracious enough to put paper towels under them. Peanut butter seems to be the food of choice, but we also put some cheese out as well.



It was 11:00pm by this time, and our whole family was wide eyed and wide awake. It took forever to get the kids to bed. Sam kept saying there was a mouse in his bed. He finally ended up in bed with us. Poor kid.

During scriptures we heard the first "snap!" It had only been 10 minutes since we set the trap. Both kids shrieked and I cringed. Ben went down the stairs, got rid of the dead mouse, and re-set the trap.

10 minutes later we heard the next two snaps. Ben went back downstairs. He came back up to report that the cheese was gone from the traps, but there were no mice in them. Smart little suckers! How do they do that? Ben re-set the traps, and we finally got the kids to sleep.
I am sure they were all having a little happy dance in the oven while handing out their hard earned cheese. "Hey Beau, thanks for that class on mouse trap 101, it literally saved our tails this time." "Hey Harry, put down that piece of burnt mac and cheese, and come get some swiss, it is to die for. hahaha, no pun intended."

And then there are the dare-devils in the burner in the dark corner, drawing straws (that they pulled from my scarecrow on the counter) to see who will do the next cheese run.
Eugine: "Few, not me this time. I am getting to old for this. Besides, I think that little lady gerbil over there is finally noticing me, it is not the best time to bite the dust, ya know."
Eddie: "Dang, it's not me. I have feet and guts of steel. Oh well, next time."
Jane: "It's me! I am going to try the duck and grab. Wish me luck."

Another "snap!" Ben went downstairs. He came back up chuckling. We had killed another mouse, but while he was picking up the trap to get rid of the mouse, he looked over to the toaster, just a few feet away. He saw a mouse sitting under it watching him, eating a piece of cheese we had put on the previous trap!
Can you hear it now, "Hey Bob, they got Bill. The human is getting rid of him now, may he rest in peace. Those humans think they are so smart. HELLO, did they not know the stove is a wonderland for us. That will teach em' to for changing the pantry. Can't get anything there anymore, just a mouthful of cleaner. Lay low for a few minutes. Dang, this cheese is good. Poor Bill."

Ben and I finally went to bed. Ben fell asleep in his usual 30 seconds, and as I lay there in my pregnancy insomnia state, I heard three more traps go off. I just shook my head, and continued making my late night list of to-do's for this weekend. One of which is to buy more sanitizer and disinfectant.

We have now caught 15 mice total, and have sanitized our house twice that much.
Someday, somehow, we will prevail. Those mice are going down. And Eddie, we are awaiting the glorious day of your capture. Until then...slow down on the reproducing and stay away from our gerbils.

I just really hope I don't cook burnt mouse and mac and cheese for lunch today. And I really hope I don't make myself toast, only to end up smelling burnt mouse.
Heaven forbid that makes part 5 of this mess.

For those of you attending Ben's Birthday party...I sure hope this isn't scaring you away. Believe me...we are cleaning our house SPOTLESS tomorrow and EVERYTHING will be disinfected to the max. I am dreading it, but it will be done...I promise.
If you didn't get an invitation to the party, it is because I don't have your email, or you live out-of state.
Here is the info. for anyone who didn't get it via email...which is a lot of people...oops!
Tomorrow night (Friday, October 23rd) 6:30pm. Open house. Children welcome. Come whenever, leave whenever. We were going to have cake and ice cream, but we changed it to a fall treat menu. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting, caramel apples, apple cider, apple crisp, candy, ect. There will be a movie for the kiddos playing upstairs along with toys and games. It will be a blast! Come one and all! We would love to see everyone there! EVERYONE is welcome...truly. (accept for the mice that is)