Bandit caught a mouse...and a cell phone.

An update on our war against the mice:

Since the two we found dead under the couch we have not seen or heard from any mice! That D-Con really gets the job done! And I guess it was a fluke that two of them died under our couch because we have been checking all over (and under) for lifeless little bodies and have found one. I guess they decided to die in the crawlspace like I wished for.

Before we got the D-Con, Bandit actually managed to catch himself two mice which is insane because those things are fast! Well tonight we got a surprise as we were sitting on the couch. I was watching a movie and Jared had the headphones plugged into the computer and was watching some youtube. I kept thinking I could hear a faint squeaking but thought it might be coming from Jared's ear buds.

Nope. I quickly realised that Bandit was on high alert by the garage door. I tapped Jared on the knee and tried to get Bandit to come to me but he went in the kitchen. I went into the kitchen from the other side while Jared pulled out his ear buds asking me what was up. At the sound of his voice Bandit pushed past me and went over to lay at Jared's feet and dropped what do you think?

Yes. That little blob is a half-dead mouse. The poor thing was barely alive and we kept letting Bandit play with it so I could take some pictures. I actually had a brief moment of pity for the little guy.

He was very proud of himself.

In related news, Bandit also caught my cell phone battery. I can't be sure if he got my phone apart or if JR maybe threw it on the floor and busted the back off it first. Either way it no longer worked.

I had a hard time getting a good picture of it though. The major holes were on the other side of the battery but those pics didn't turn out.

PoJo's Party

Last night we went to the totally awesome "PoJo's" for Jared's little cousin Spencer's birthday party. Somehow I did not manage to snap a picture of the birthday boy, who I personally think JR resembles greatly. Lucky for JR he has lots of little cousins around his age to play with.

Miss Charlee

Playin' b-ball with Taytay

She was JR's riding buddy

JR is totally a construction truck kind of man

Some of the rides were okay while stationary

But not so awesome when moving

Sliding with Keldon

"Please Mom, no more pictures!"

Actually, JR isn't too sensitive to paparazzi, my camera actually told me it was "exhausted" and shut down before I could snap any fabulous pictures on the carousel. JR was getting to meltdown mode by the time the cake came out so we left without dessert which was fine. Kiddo was wiped out enough by the time we got home, he didn't need any sugar to assist in his crash!

Blue Door Cafe

Tonight was the annual Jazz Till You Drop event at the Blue Door Cafe off HWY 55 in Eagle. Jared told me he would watch JR so I could go out to see my sissy Mercedes sing at this yearly event for her school Arts West. Sadly I don't have any friends so he and JR ended up coming with me. Luckily they have delicious pizza. We picked the "Country Ranch" pizza.

We arrived around 6pm and Mercedes put her name on the list to sing asap and came over to help entertain JR for a little while. NO ONE can make that kid laugh and send him into fits and giggles like his aunt Mercedes can.

We loved watching the students and guest musicians on stage while we ate. JR would sit for long periods of time watching them.

Jeff Baker, teacher and Jazz musician extraordinaire did a song and Jared could not believe how long it lasted! There was still one more group before Mercedes was to come on and Jared was worried it would take another hour if everyone took as long as Jeff did!

Mercedes did an arrangement of  "After the Storm" by Mumford and Sons. She rocked it.

Good job Mercedes! It was a way fun night and we loved seeing you sing! I think if I am going to get Jared to come again though you might want to do an arrangement of AC/AD or something! Haha. Just kidding, we love Mercedes and support her in everything she does, plus teasing her is one of Jared's favorite pastimes!

Ladies Man lookin' for a lover.

We had some Valentines to deliver on Monday to our favorite people.

JR donned his "Ladies Man" shirt in hopes of landing a Valentine while we were out.

But there were so many ladies and only one baby to go around so he shared the love. 

With Nana (Jared's mom)

With our special friend Jana

With Great Grandma Fritzley



There were many more women in JR's rolodex that evening but we didn't want to make anyone jealous so we limited the pictures to three. Ladies Man went to Grandpa and Grandma Fritzley's for the evening so Jared and I could go out to dinner. Grandma gave him a Valentine balloon and some bright red water shoes for this summer. Grandpa gave us a nice card which I am sure took him forever to track down a "to my daughter and son-in-law" card like it did last year. Over all it was a low key evening.

Even though the lover's holiday has passed JR is still looking for someone to have a cuddle battle with if any ladies out there are interested!

7's Hero: Aunt Joyce

Jared'S aunt Joyce is retiring as a nurse from St. Lukes NICU after 40 years! She wasn't JR's nurse while he was there but she made sure to watch over him and give him loves while he was in there. Watch the video at the link below.

Two women celebrate 40 years at St. Luke's NICU KTVB.COM KTVB.COM Boise, Idaho news

We love you aunt Joyce, you rock!

The good news and the bad news

The good news is that D-Con really works. The mice in my house are dying.

The bad news is that they are dying under my couch. Can they really not go in the crawl space and die?

I guess the bad news is mostly for Jared because he is the one forced to extract them. I told him that if he tried to mess with me AT ALL with the mice he would not get any breakfast for a looooong time.

I guess that didn't bother him though!

And no, you don't have to come over to our house!

Olives

To say that Jared loves olives would be an understatement.

He wants to eat them with every meal.

• Lasagna
• Pizza
• Spaghetti
• Tacos
• Enchiladas

But that is normal right?

What about in hus egg and mushroom and cheese omlet? Is that weird or no?

What about in potato casserole with ham and cheese? Really wierd if you ask me.

I guess JR has also developed this love for olives.

 I made alfredo pasta for dinner and I couldn't keep my little helper's fringers stocked fast enough.

So cute.

Sick

This is what sick looks like.

Feverish...

Mad...

Maybe a little delirious?...

But somehow my little helper still feels good enough for a little light cleaning...

It was only 6:30pm and the sick one was out for the night...

Here's hoping JR gets a good night's sleep and that no one else gets it!

Family Mission Statement

Jared and I will have been married 4 years in July and we have had some really big ups and downs in that time. I won't go into any more detail than that beause it isn't anyone's business and I would have told you if you needed to know. Also I am happy to say that Jared and I have been happier than we EVER been these days and for about the past year and also happier than probably a lot of married couples. In our short marriage we have really tried and tested each other and worked through the hard parts and come out stronger and more in love. This year we are making a goal to get back to the basics of being married, being a family and making a good life. An idea I stole from an article I read about creating a family mission statement. The article had a great list of ways to brainstorm and find themes in your family which you could build your statement off of. This site has similar questions which you answer and I guess it supposedly generates a mission statement for you at the end.

We just decided to look at a few examples and write down a list of words that defined us and our goals as a family. This was mostly a one-sided effort but Jared did appreciate the concept.

I just wish that JR was older so hecould participate. Jared expressed that he was afraid he couldn't live up to the standards we listed but I told him that the constant, active effort to remember these core values was something you work towards over the course of your life and he didn't have to get it all down in one day now that we have it in writing.

I think what we ended up with was really nice.



As Tsh Oxenreider (the author of the first link I listed) says-

“When we’ve made deliberate decisions about what we’re about as a family, certain choices become a no-brainer. Even fun. You’re at peace with the choices you make, because they align with your priorities, and they just make sense.”

Enough said.

A Day in the life.

I didn't really know how to begin our family blog, so I decided to copy a childhood friend of mine whose blog I read and do a day in the life of the Lovelands. The day I happened to pick was more exciting than most, but still typical.
5:30am - I am already up and cooking Jared breakfast before he leaves for work. I usually take this time to let Bandit out, pick up his food and water so JR doesn't get into it when he wakes up, and I usually do the dishes.

5:50am - Jared finished getting ready for work. I usually have started the car for him and let Bandit back into the house.

6:00am - I am totally back in bed and praying as I fall asleep that JR continues the sleeping-in phase that he has been going through. But usually Bandit starts getting antsy to go out again around 9:30 and will jump on and off the bed until I get up to let him out.

9:45am - After I let Bandit out and use the restroom I usually start JR's breakfast because by now he has woken up to the sound of me and Bandit. After I get Jr and change his diaper it is time to eat while watching Sesame Street.

11:00am - I am in the shower by now and even though I usually put on another Sesame Street or cartoon, JR usually ends up hanging in the bathroom reading a book or looking at my lotion collection under the sink.

11:45am - Finally dressed for the day!

12:30pm - This day we went with JR's aunt Jennifer (Jareds oldest sister) and her son Keldon (about 6months younger than JR) to the mall.

1:00pm - JR had a happy meal and aunt Jenn shared a cookie with him.

2:15pm - We went downstairs to the play area and let JR and Keldon get all their energy out!

3:15pm - We got home and JR went down for a much needed nap while I got the mail and let Bandit out of his kennel.
4:30pm - By the time JR woke up Jared was home from doing a little overtime at work. Jared always says JR flips out when I leave and is only excited when I come home, but the first thing he did when he saw Jared was crawl across his lap to see him!

Although we are going to a birthday party tonight the rest of our days are usually filled with dinner, baths and family time!

Can't wait to blog more! This is fun! Stay tuned for my other blog about my misadveentures of trying to be a housewife, supermom, crafter, maid and part-time job holder to be launched soon!