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Today I thought I’d share a funny tidbit with you. So, we’ve lived in our house for 3 years now, and it seems that each year when the weather gets cold, low and behold, we get a mouse. The first year we found a nibbled chip bag in the pantry, used several traps and baits and FINALLY caught the thing. Last year he went after the popcorn, leaving a huge mess! We couldn’t believe it! After the first year, we thought one could have easiely gotten in while we were moving in, but don’t remember a time last year when one could have snuck in? So after many rounds of traps, and a few times of FUR pieces left on those sticky pads, but NO mouse, I started searching on the internet to see what I could find about catching a mouse…there’s more out there than you’d think!

I came across a website that showed how to catch a mouse, without killing it. Out of pure curiosity, I decided to check it out. Here’s what I would need, a toilet paper tube, some peanut butter, and a tall kitchen garbage can. I was determined to make it work!! My husband was a bit more skeptical! So I set the trap up and the very next morning, we had our mouse!!!

So, just about 2 weeks ago, I said to my husband, “Isn’t it about this time every year when we get a mouse?”, Whew, thankfully we haven’t had to deal with that again. Just as we were getting our bags packed up for the holiday weekend last night, my husband jumps back, “Guess what I just saw?”, he says. I couldn’t believe it!! We were about to leave out of town, had tons of stuff to do, and I had no time left to worry about a stupid mouse. But just the thought of it roaming our house when we were away CREEPED ME OUT!! So we set up our handy, dandy trap…this year it seemed my husband was a little to eager to set it up and see if it worked! About 2 hours later, we heard a “THUD”. My husband jumped up and went to the kitchen….there was our little mouse, trapped!

Here’s what to do:

–Take your toilet paper tube and put a spoonful of peanut butter inside it on one end.

–Position the toilet paper tube on a shelf or countertop so that half the tube is on the shelf and half the tube is off. Basically balance the roll on your surface. (We have a pantry with several shelves, so we placed our roll on the shelf were we found the bags nibbled on…don’t ask me how they climb up shelves?)

–Next take an empty TALL (and I emphasis TALL) kitchen waste basket and put it beneath the toilet paper roll.

–In theory, the mouse should walk into the tube to get the peanut butter, his weight will set the tube off balance and it will fall down into the garbage can, leaving the poor little mouse trapped, and jumping trying to escape. This is why it needs to be tall, those suckers can jump!

–Dispose of your mouse any way you choose. The first year I felt sad for the little mouse, but we’ve now decided we aren’t for letting it live to find it’s way inside again.

Happy mouse hunting!!

If you walk through almost anywhere, you’ll see books upon books about Sudoku. At Barnes & Noble they have an entire section dedicated to it. I had never heard about it until a couple weeks ago, so what is it? Here are some facts:

Sudoku (a Japanese term), sometimes spelled Su Doku, is a logic-based placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the United States. The aim of the canonical puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called “regions”), starting with various digits given in some cells (the “givens”). Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability. Although first published in 1979, Sudoku initially caught on in Japan in 1986 and attained international popularity in 2005.

-The term Sudoku implies “numbers singly”, or loosely translates to “all the numbers must remain unmarried”, in Japanese; it is a registered trademark of puzzle publisher Nikoli Co. Ltd in Japan. Sudoku is pronounced as the English words “SUE-dough-coo”, with the first syllable accented.

-The attraction of the puzzle is that the completion rules are simple, yet the line of reasoning required to reach the completion may be difficult. Sudoku is recommended by some teachers as an exercise in logical reasoning. The level of difficulty of the puzzles can be selected to suit the audience. The puzzles are often available free from published sources and also may be custom-generated using software.

-The puzzle was designed by Howard Garns, a retired architect and freelance puzzle constructor, and first published in 1979. Although likely inspired by the Latin square invention of Leonhard Euler, Garns added a third dimension (the regional restriction) to the mathematical construct and (unlike Euler) presented the creation as a puzzle, providing a partially-completed grid and requiring the solver to fill in the rest. The puzzle was first published in New York by the specialist puzzle publisher Dell Magazines in its magazine Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games, under the title Number Place (which we can only assume Garns named it).

Great books:

Websites:
www.websudoku.com
www.sudokufun.com
www.sudoku.org.uk

WARNING: IT’S ADDICTING!!

As the holiday draws near, I just wanted to thank everyone who has made my first year of business a success!! This has been a very exciting year for me and I have absolutely loved photographing you and your families, and watching all those little ones grow and change so much. What a miracle! There will be lots of new in the New Year…stay tuned for the newest announcements. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with lots of joy, love, and laughter!!

**Don’t forget…..book your session for January now, and get a free 5×7….don’t forget to mention the blog!!

**What can we do better? If you have any suggestions, please send us an email and let us know. We’re always open to new ideas! Of course, if you already love what we are doing, we like to know that too!!

Today’s image is a sneak peek of what we are working on for the New Year!! Custom designed 8×8 coffee table books…a scrapbookers dream!! I’ve had many moms say they use our photos for scrapbooking. Why not let us do it for you? Each page is custom designed and there are several themes to choose from. Here’s a look at the first page of the one I’m doing for my girls!! Sure to be a hit!!

Have a wonderful Holiday and a delightful New Year!!