Of mice and ... shrieking women

I laughed last week when Rick said he thought he heard a scratching noise coming from the inside of the hall closet and was looking for a mouse in the wee hours of the morning.  I was convinced it was the tassels on the corn scraping against the window, and with a smirk on my face contentedly went back to bed.

Gosh I hate it when he is right.  I found out the hard way, as in the -oh my freaking out heck, something furry just ran across both my bare feet ... #$%@^%... kind of way.  I so wish I were kidding when I say that.


But there I was, in the laundry room folding clothes to put in our suitcase.  I was standing with my feet under the ledge of the counter I use to fold my clothes on, and something moved as I took a step back.  In a flash I saw two beady eyes and saw a blur of fur as I felt it go running across, BOTH my BARE feet...  and I screamed.  And screamed.  And jumped on the counter shrieking for Colton to bring me the phone.

I called my husband... and he LAUGHED.  Then told me he'd be home AFTER lunch to take a look.  No way could I sit there for two hours with that monstrous hairy thing on the loose.  Did I mention how ginourmous that thing was?  HUGE, I tell ya.

So next I texted a friend whose hubby was home.  He graciously came and searched the basement, brought some traps, and provided me with enough sanity to leave my perch on the counter.

But no way in heck would I go back downstairs.  I had the biggest case of the heebie jeebies I have ever had.  Well Nolan was not afraid and went and got the suitcase, and some clothes to pack for the weekend... but then SHRIEKING began once again.  Poor Nolan, he said he was fine till part of the floor MOVED.  Thankfully, hubby arrived shortly thereafter.  The mouse hunt was on.

I heard toys rattling, furnitures moving, the lining on the couch ripping as no object was left unsearched.  After another sighting of the beast, it was finally contained in the office.   After nearly a day of wreaking havoc on the house, the big hairy mouse was trapped in a live-trap, and ushered outside a couple of blocks away, to his new home in the field where he belongs.


Would you like to see the little ginormous furry mouse? If you squint your eyes and look in the left hand corner of the wall you can see the gray blob with the c of a tail sticking out.  Ew, ew, yuck.

I think I had the bags packed in 2.7 minutes after that and we hit the road for our Labor Day Weekend adventure.  But just to be on the safe side, we left 3 traps in the basement... thankfully they were empty when we returned.  But the closet with the scratching?  I won't be going near it anytime soon.

When it all lines up

Do things every just fall into place for you? Do you always know when they do? Or do you focus on all the things that go wrong instead?

I sat with my camera during Nolan's first football game of the season, without even shooting any pictures for the longest time. The team seemed to stay at the line of scrimmage without moving much from there and our view was limited from where we sat.

Without the action falling into my lap I wasn't all that focused on the game. I had two cute girlies sitting next to me keeping me quite entertained.  But at some point I decided to get up and move down to the other end of the field.

I tried to grab a few shots of Nolan in motion, in action as the quarterback, but my camera was too slow. There is a delay between the time I press the button to the shutter actually opening and taking the photo. In other words, I wasn't getting anything. I turned to go back to my seat.

And then Nolan got to play defense. I lost him in the line up and couldn't see his position. I watched the football get snapped from the center on the other team and put in the hands of their running back. In two seconds flat the play headed straight towards me... the running back and the middle linebacker from our team, hot on his trail, grabbing him and moving him with the ball out of bounds at my feet. I snapped as I looked at the number on the back of the jersey.

#57. It was Nolan literally at my feet with a good play.  With the score at 13-12 with our team, the Redskins in the lead, we had to hold them to win the game.  A few short plays later it was over and the victory was ours.

It was really such a small moment, and yet, everything lined up to ensure that I was in the right place at the right time.  I found out later, that Nolan had maybe 3 plays like that during the game. I just happened to have one of them land at my feet.

When was the last time everything lined up just right for you?












Nolan on the sidelines practicing a reverse play.


My two friends Thea and Tessa, who come sit with me on my blanket and keep me entertained.  See how far away the action is from where we sat?



Nolan getting ready to play defense...



I was so relieved to see I got the first part of Nolan moving the opposing running back with the ball out of bounds.  He was stoked to see it too.






I know, 57, the number given to wear as a QB?  Don't ask.  Doesn't he look for real though?

All the numbers round II

I posted one like this last summer and with one longggg week left before school starts, I oddly find myself in the same boat.


Round two, here goes...

36 =  the number of times I had to remind the boys we do not eat in the living room. Yes, thats ONE day.

488 =  the number of fights I break up in a day.  (Okay this may be a slight exaggeration, more like 483.) 

4 = the number of minutes I get to work on something without interruption, cough, NOLAN.

8 = the number of stinkin days left till school starts. ( I lasted 5 more days than last August)

88 =  the number of degrees above zero forecast for today.  

0 =  the number of pools left open in which to enjoy sweltering temps.

5 = the number of minutes out of the day that hubby is around.

1572 =  the number of things I'd like to do right now, minus kids.

1572 = is also the number of times I consider shipping the kids off to boot camp :)  Hm... coincidence  

            perhaps?

< 3 =  the number of intact nerves I have right now.

 8  =  the number of people who have said they are in the same boat as me.  

Infinite  = the number of times I count my blessings that I have this time with the boys.  A few   

                days after they start school, I will miss them all over again.  

How about you?  What do your numbers look like today?  

Westra Family reunion or Grandpa saves the day

Its true.  Grandpa Jim had to rescue me because I didn't take any pictures at the family reunion last weekend. So he promptly made a cd for me and I not so promptly am finally blogging them.


Because Rick and I dated a few *cough* (10-12) years before we actually married (13 years ago),  forgive me when I tell you I can't remember the first Westra reunion I attended.  But when Rick's sister Missy said to a relative that I've been around these reunions forever, I can see where she is coming from.

Plus, lucky for me, I've had all of those years to straighten out the names and faces of the 8 brothers and sisters in the Westra clan.  6 out of the 8 brothers and sisters were in attendance last weekend, although there were several cousin's families unable to attend.


Seated in the photo below my father-in-law, Jim is in the orange, his sister Grace, the birthday girl on this day is next, their brother John who worked with my mother at Concordia College for many years is next to her.  In the front row (L to R) their sister Dorothy, who is sitting next to their sister Helen, who is sitting next to their sister Margie.  A brother Jack, (who our Colton Jack is named after), has passed away, and a brother Jerry was ill and unable to attend.

To help identify each other, we color coded our shirts by families.  I've abbreviated the names of the families a bit, but I also didn't want to leave anyone out... okay, crossed fingers I got them all right.

The family of Jack

The family of Margie

The family of Grace

The family of Dorothy

The family of Jim

The family of John

Here we ALL are... should I name them for you? Ha, I'm better at the names, but that may just be a stretch even for me.

The only downside to our day was how unbearably hot it was outside.  We even skipped going to the zoo this time around, but who needs the zoo when you can have... minnow races :)  Who knew a couple of gutters with some water and a bucket of minnows could be so much fun?

There were lots of laughs, stories told, and memories shared.   Thanks to our cousin Brenda for her spectacular job of organizing everything and all of us too.  Believe me when I tell you its no small feat to get all of us in one place at the same time.


I know this much is true, I have no doubt our kids know where they came from.  Our family roots run deep on both sides of the family.  And this summer?  We've been so blessed to have spent so much time with all of our family.  It doesn't get any better than that.  Amen

PS, Donna, how did I do?

Cobber corn feed

                                                              With scurrying feet-

we wove our way thru the canopy of trees and the sea of people

and skipped past the kiddie ride-sniff sniff-

past Prexy's pond-

straight to the blow up games galore for this kid-

                                                              and this kid-

while mom and dad feasted on free corn at the annual cobber corn feed. 

YUM

Its about time... Madi and Alex

Hard to imagine:

-It was too hot to take many pics this weekend.  Nolan's football team played in their jamboree and I was too, too busy wiping sweat away and trying to hydrate everyone to take photos.

-We went to the Westra family reunion yesterday and I never took my camera out of the car.  There were tons of photo opps, but I didn't jump in like I normally do.  Grandpa Jim, if you share some jpegs with me I'll post away, but I have nothing to use otherwise.





Soooo, what I am going to share is lonnnggg overdue.  Surrounding the passing of my father over the 4th of July weekend, was a visit from my brother, his wife, and his two girls.  As much as we  treasure our time with them, our attention and focus was obviously diverted away from them this time.

Plus, some of these are photos we printed and placed in the casket with my Dad.  I suppose I've stayed away from them for awhile to distance some of the emotion around them.

Today however, I see them for what they are, 4 lucky cousins who always enjoy spending time with each other.

July 7th, 2010

What do you get when you take 4 giggling cousins.  Fill them full of ice cream.  And traipse all over trying to take their photos?

Besides a headache?  If you're talented like my hubby, you get shots like these of my beautiful nieces.

Alex is 8, going into 3rd grade and the boys will tell you she smacks the ball in baseball like nobodies business. 

Madison is 10, going into 5th grade, and just discovered the Babysitter's Club series of books.  She is a sweet young girl after her auntie Vicky's heart in her love of reading.

My favorite photo.  Rick knew Nolan would probably dump Colton off his back to be funny, so he did opposite cousins.  See that glint in Nolan's eye?  He is still thinking of dumping Alex, but he didn't quite dare, whew.  

Just so you know where the "headache" part for Rick comes in... clearly the boys were their usual antic-prone selves, even around their cousins.  Alex summed up the experience for everyone well.  Its a wonder those girls seem to want to come back every year to see us... *wink*

How Favre can you go?

If you are a Minnesota Vikings fan the big news yesterday was the return of #4 Brett Favre.


 How cool he debuted the start of his twentieth season last night in our front yard?

I know... can you believe it?

Hey, its really me.

That ankle he had surgery on appears to be healthy, although a bit scrawny.  

Hand it off like this...

Coach Childress, is that you?

Some sources say the team is looking a little "young" this season.

But with the likes of veterans Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen returning, most think the team will contend for a spot in the Super Bowl again.

AP with 6 trying to take him down and he hangs on to the ball... hope returns.

All the way this year guys, what do you say?  

Brett aka Nolan

The smell of football is in the air.   You'll notice he even got a haircut so his helmet wouldn't feel so tight.  He plays his first football game with pads, on Saturday.  We'll see how FAVRE this QB can go :)