Look who's 3

Friday, our Clairey-bear turned 3 years old. We have been talking about it for weeks...it's finally here! What a princess we have. We tried to make it a special day for Claire...December birthdays are going to be tricky. My parents and sister were going to drive up for the night to be with us; but alas, a snowstorm cancelled the plans. So we invited our good friends the Beutlers to come celebrate with us; that's a party, right? Emma Beutler is Claire's bestest friend up here, so it's always a party when she comes to play. It sure is fun when your kids get older and can really get excited...we can't wait for Christmas to have more present moments.



Claire's birthday began that morning with her favorite breakfast made by Dad: cheesy eggs, toast, and grits. Grandpa Cox would be proud that my kids are growing up on grits; I'll pass on them, thanks.

Grandma and Grandpa Cox sent Claire a present in the mail, a Littlest Pet Shop set. Oh, joy and rapture! And Davis was almost more excited than Claire was.

Claire's first bike! In all shades of pink, it couldn't be more perfect for her. She loved it. She rode it around the kitchen, with lots of help from Davis. But then we got smart the next day and let her ride it around the garage. By summer, she'll be cruising.

I have been hearing about the cake Claire wanted since summer. "I want a pink cake, with pink frosting, with sprinkles on top...on my birthday, when I'm 3." So that's what she got...with a few candy flowers to spice it up a bit.

Claire was more excited about these scriptures than anything...that's good, right? Who knew $2.50 would go so far. Every morning when we read scriptures, she is sad she doesn't have her own. Now she's set. And she's ready for Sunbeams in 2 weeks...crazy!

But the funniest part about Claire's birthay was later that night. About 11:00, just as Dave and I are going to bed, Davis came running into our room, half asleep. We guided him to the toilet, and when he was finished, instead of walking back to his room, he got into bed next to Dave, sat straight up and started giggling. He was still not really awake, so I said, "Davis are you okay? What's so funny?" He says, with glazed eyes, "I'm not in my bed. I'm awake...and Claire is too!" Well, I walked him back to bed, and as he's climbing into the top bunk he starts crying, "But I'm awake. And Claire is too!" I said, "Davis, Claire is not awake, and neither are you. Lay down." Davis says, "She is too!" And then from the bottom bunk I hear, "Uh, uh, Davis, I'm 3 today." I look down at Claire, and she's fast asleep. Well, I'm to blame for this...I talk and walk in my sleep, so my poor kids must have inherited it.

I GOT IT!!!

Okay, I just have to share this little piece of joy with everyone. We have had a mouse somewhere in our house since, I don't know....AUGUST! I have tried setting out every trap imaginable..sticky traps with bait, without bait, snap traps, you name it. This mouse was the smartest, most elusive thing ever. I would find mouse poops all around the traps, but it never got caught. I plugged up holes with tin foil because I was told mice won't chew through it. The tin foil never left, but the mouse would still get into the cupboard. I even made a house of sticky traps right at the hole under our kitchen cupboard where I expected it was coming in....there is no way it could have missed it...and yet, it did. About 2 weeks ago, I even saw the mouse poke its head out from behind my stove. By the time I screamed and ran for a flashlight, it had gone under the stove and into a hole in the sheetrock that I couldn't reach. A few days later, I came upstairs and turned on the light, and I saw the mouse streak across the kitchen counter and back behind the stove. I have been avoiding the D-Con solution because I just knew it would die in my walls and stink up my house. Well, a few days ago, I tied some caramel corn to a snap trap right where the cupboard meets the back of the stove, where we KNOW said mouse's escape route is. Friday morning, I noticed the popcorn was gone, there were 3 poops right next to the trap, and no mouse. I'D HAD IT! I was either naming the mouse and setting out food for it so at least it liked me, or it was going to die. So Dave put a piece of Manwich meat on the trap. And this morning....THERE WAS A MOUSE! Finally, we found it's weak spot....dried out hamburger. I pulled Dave out of bed...or at least tried, so he could take it to the garbage. But he was being whiny about the cold, so I sat in the hall waiting, while I listened to Davis saying, "It's so cool, Mom! It's still moving.. it looks like our gerbils, kind of. Yay, we caught it!" The kids have been just as anxious to catch this mouse as I have because they are sick and tired of hearing me complain about it, I'm sure. So now the mouse is finally gone, I have clorox wiped every surface I have seen it or it's dippy droppings, and I feel so much better. If I see another mouse poop in my house, I think I'll lose my mind. Forgive me for not including pictures of this achievement...it was creepy and gross. Oh, and when I shared this piece of info in Relief Society today as my "Good News Minute", the RS President said, "There really won't be a creature stirring at your house this Christmas, not even a mouse!" Ha, ha.

Photo Shoot

You shouldn't expect TOO much when you take all 3 kids for a photo session, right? Davis and Sadie did really well. Claire...well.. she either looked like she was saying "Aargh, Matey" or she was pouting. Too bad for her, she'll have to be tortured again in another month when we make it back down to Target. Still, my kids are pretty cute.