There's a Mouse in the House

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A little mouse ran past me the other night. Nearly scared me to death.

I thought perhaps I was imagining things until I leaned over the edge of the couch and there were some little beady eyes staring back at me.

I did what any sane woman would do. Pulled my feet up onto the couch and yelled for my husband to come and kill it.

We spend the next 20 minutes trying to corner the little thing, set a trap, but didn't manage to rid the house of the rodent.

The trap we set along the wall worked fine for {ahem} eliminating a very-pregnant-rodent a few years ago, but I'm wondering if perhaps our current mouse-friend can smell the prior mouse homicide within the plastic confines of the trap. When we tried to chase the mouse into the trap, the mouse ran headfirst into it, literally bounced off the trap, stopped and then jumped over it.

While I'll admit I laughed for a moment...the mouse STILL WASN'T IN THE TRAP.

It's been two nights now with no sightings...but also no trappings. I'm not sure if I should breathe a sigh of relief and hope the kids scared him off, or if I should keep my legs curled up under me until something shows up d.e.a.d.

What tried and true methods have you used to make your house rodent-free?

What I'm Reading: May Week 2

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The last book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency showed up at the library {Tea Time for the Traditionally Built} and I was able to sit down last Sunday night and read it.

Other than that, I have been steering clear of fiction the last few weeks to concentrate more on my non-fiction list.

I am THIS close to finishing Finding Favor with the King....just half of the last chapter to go! BUT I did actually finish a fiction book!! I've been sharing some different thoughts from the book The Mentoring Mom and have loved it!

{And I know I'll be sharing more from it still!}

I have another book from Jackie Kendall {Free Yourself to Love: The Liberating Power of Forgiveness} that I'm adding to my list to read. I started it today and read the first chapter, but kept getting distracted by these four kiddos running around the house. And the weather. And too many other things.

Grace Based Parenting is also one that I really want to dig into a little more this week. Since the library doesn't have anything exciting to offer in the way of fiction right now, that ought to help!

The Finding Favor devotional is what I'm using in my 7 minutes each morning. :)

• Free Yourself to Love: The Liberating Power of Forgiveness - Jackie Kendall
• The Mentoring Mom - Jackie Kendall
  
• Finding Favor with the King: Daily Inspirations- Tenney
• Finding Favor with the King - Tenney
• Grace Based Parenting - Dr. Tim Kimmel

Be sure to stop by and visit 5 Minutes for Books and their monthly meme called "What's on Your Nightstand?" and also the Saturday Review.

What Is Your Passion?

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"One needs to be careful that her passion
does not become idolatrous."

p. 139 The Mentoring Mom

Again with the conviction this week. I tried to skim through this chapter {and avoid it}, but all week long it has been coming back to me. Reminding me. Working on me a little at a time.

The Holy Spirit can be persistent like that, eh?

As a mom, I desire to instill passion in my children. A passion for life. A passion for learning. Most importantly, a passion for God.

What am I doing in my life that shows and models that passion to them? When they watch me daily, what do they see and believe is important in my life?

Am I more concerned about the latest email from a friend than I am to help my child with something that might seem inconsequential to me? Is it more important for me to check a blog or update my facebook status, but ignore the fighting of my children and chalk it up to "they need to learn to work it out".

Is there something in my life that I put ahead of even my relationship with God? With others?

And the answer would be a sad and 100% yes.

There are things in my life, passions of mine, that I have allowed to 'take over' and take prominence. Expectations I have set for myself that are not right.

Things that need to change. Passions that need to shift. Boundaries that need to be set ~ and adhered to.

The one quote {p.144, The Mentoring Mom} that has stuck with me this week:

"Do you see evidence of your passion for Jesus in your children? Or does your passion take you toward investing too much time in what is temporal and not enough time in what is spiritual? Maybe it is time for a little fasting from the world and feasting on God."

What is your passion? Is it time for a fast?

In a Woman's World

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This site also has some {semi} addicting games to play - just a warning.

Emergency Binder: Insurance Information

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This is the insurance information document for our Emergency Binder. It {should} have place for every insurance you can think of: health, dental, vision, life, long-term health, auto, homeowners, etc.... It is a six page document with plenty of room for you to add important information.

Click on graphic to print

What is an Emergency Binder? Simply put, it's a binder that stores all the important information in one central place so it can be grabbed quickly in any emergency {i.e. fire, flood, accident, etc...}. Something to flip through and have everything handy that might be needed: life insurance contact information, bank contacts, monthly bills/addresses, work information, etc...all organized and put together to help save time in the event of an emergency.

The information you choose to keep track of is entirely up to you ~ if you don't feel it's safe/essential to keep track of certain things, just leave that area blank. There are also blank areas provided to keep track of other important information that might not be on forms. These were created and are relevant for our family, so it might not all apply to your family.

If this is the first you are reading of my Emergency Binder documents, you can find any other ones that I've currently posted here ~ but stay tuned, there are more coming in the upcoming weeks too!

Just wanted to pass along a little something that is Working for Me! Hope it helps you out!

And the Winner is....

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Congratulations to 4 Girls and a Marine on winning the $25 Amazon gift certificate!! Look for an email from me!