The Tale of the Skunk

About two weeks ago we started noticing the smell of a skunk in the house. We assumed it had sprayed outside and was just coming through the vents. After about 4 days of that, one evening it came through so potent that I was coughing and gagging. It was around 11:30pm and we were opening windows and trying to catch our breath. 

At that point we thought maybe it wasn't a skunk but actually a dead animal under the house. Lee reluctantly decided he was going to go under the house to retrieve the carcass. Heaven knows I wasn't going under there! Throughout the day, Lee was dreading doing this and decided to call our pest guy and ask if he did carcass removal. He said he did and he came by later that night. Armed with a headlamp he crawled all under the house and found nothing. He did say the smell was a live skunk and soon found it's nest kind of under/near the a/c. He also added that it was probably a pregnant skunk nesting for her babies. He said it was getting in through the opening around the bottom and going up and through it to get to it's nest. 

Well, no way on earth were we going to have a pregnant skunk under our house! 

That night we put wood all around the bottom of it, hoping to keep it out.

The next day we tossed 3 boxes of moth balls under the house. Skunks supposedly hate moth balls. Our house quickly went from skunk smell to moth ball smell. Both were awful.

While we were tossing them under our neighbor said, "What in the world are you guys doing?" Turns out he was having the same problem. We walked over to his house and found his hole. He actually called someone who told him it has been living under his house for about a year. Luckily, ours was only a new resident.

Then became the question- how do you know if a skunk is gone?? We hadn't smelled any of its spray, but perhaps it just hadn't been spraying. Maybe it was under the house giving birth. Or maybe it had relocated because of the smell. We had no idea.

A few days later Lee started doing research on moth balls and it turns out they are really hazardous to your health. The EPA has several warnings about them. So instead of continuously poisoning ourselves, he braved the crawl space again- this time armed with a better gas mask- determined to get all them out. Amy said, "Mom, I want to marry a man who is willing to go under the house!" I told her that it's a great trait!

Sweet Tyler wants to be a "fixer man" so he couldn't wait to help. We armed him with a mask and gloves and they both went under. When Lee removed the door the moth ball smell was unbearable. He only let Tyler help for a little while.

They collected over 300 moth balls!!

Lee decided to go all in and scoped where the thing was living. He found the nest and lots of poop, but it wasn't there (or he would have gotten sprayed) and several of the moth balls were in the nest. So surely the thing had moved on.

Since we knew it wasn't at home (and had no idea if it was still coming back or not) we duct taped some small holed mesh around the a/c.

I guess this was the only picture I got of the duct tape. It was getting late and it was our temporary bandaid on the problem. Our other neighbor said, "What the heck are you guys doing?" (We get that question a lot around here!)

The next morning Lee went through and screwed in the mesh all around as a more permanent fix.

Now that is sealed off and we've walked the perimeter of the house multiple times. We cannot see any other way for that thing to get back in. But we shall see. So while this seems like the end, it's really a continuing story!!

Sarah Turns 40!

While Amy turning 12 was the biggest thing of the month, me turning 40 was another big event. I don't have any pictures because I wanted to do that say was sit and watch movies. I didn't have a cake. I didn't have a special meal. I just turned 40 and that was it. :)

My friend Talana brought lunch over and we enjoyed that and talked. Anna sent me 40 messages throughout all the day. Some were funny, some were memories, it was really sweet.

I got several other calls and texts throughout the day, which was fun as well.

The Saturday after my birthday I went on a hike with some friends. It was called the "Birthday Hike" but it was really just a normally scheduled hike. We went to Radnor Lake in Nashville. It was really cold, but it was a sunny, clear day. While camouflaged in the pictures, there were a lot of really tame deer, which was fun to see. A jaunt in nature is always good for the soul!

Amy turns 12!

The biggest thing that happened this month was Amy turned TWELVE! Who can believe our little girl is 12? Lee and I certainly can't believe it!

Her birthday was on a Saturday which worked great. We celebrated as a family that morning and then she had a party with her friends that afternoon.

Her gift this year (that both sets of grandparents and we contributed to) was an archery bow, target, arrows, etc. She's really enjoyed archery this last year but it will be really helpful if she can practice at home. (Until now she just practices after school, only shooting a few times because of everyone sharing the bows.) 

She got a book series she's been wanting from Uncle Mark.

She requested crepes for breakfast.

And then promptly went outside, on a very cold day, to practice with her new bow.

That afternoon we had 14 girls over for a painting party. We watched a step-by-step video on Youtube and everyone got to work.

She requested a lemon Nothing Bundt Cake and since she turned 12, I obliged :) We also had pizza, which the girls devoured. I was afraid we were going to run out! Pink lemonade and candy, of course (all were her idea.) 

Happy Birthday to our sweet 12 year old!

The Start of 2019

Happy New Year!

We've had a busy start to 2019.

The visit at Anna's wore the kids out. I think they slept almost the entire way home.

Lee and I got to take Amy to the temple to do baptisms. We got a sitter for the boys and went one Friday night. You used to have to be 12 yrs old, but recently they changed the rule to they can go the year they are turning 12. Granted, her birthday is in a few weeks, but it was fun to go a few days early. :) She LOVED her first time at the temple and I hope she remembers it always.

I went on a hike with my hiking friends. We went to a semi-local place called Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park. It was a little cold out, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.

We had friends over for an impromptu game night. We played 2 silly games I just bought. One is called Game of Phones and you play with your smart phone. It was pretty funny.

The other is called "We Didn't Playtest This At All." It's so ridiculous that its hysterical. There is no strategy. You win or lose on the flip of a card. There is really no way to describe it. It takes a minute to get the hang of it, but once you do, you are sure to laugh all night.

We cleaned out and organized each of the kids money. We rolled nearly $50 in coins and I made 2 different trips to the bank to exchange it for dollar bills. Now everyone's tithing, savings and spending envelopes are organized. It was a chore but I'm glad it's done.

The boys used some of Great Grandma's Christmas money to buy legos. Amy tucked hers safely into the bank.

Lee and I got to go back to the temple on a Wednesday together, which was really great. We haven't been together in years! It was another cold but beautiful day!

Will has started composing. He made up a song and every wrote down all the notes- all on his own. It's called the Minecraft song. We may have a future composer on our hands!

I love musical theatre so I got Amy and myself tickets to a local theater's production of Newsies. It was really great. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen. The musical talent was outstanding. I just love local theater!

I finally got around to painting the hallway. I had done the living room before Christmas but needed to do the hall. I'm so glad it's done.

We've been working on the kids fixing their own meals. I think they were working on lunches at this moment.

Will was invited to a party at a local bowling alley. I stayed with Will and Lee took the other two on a separate lane. I think everyone got around the same low score- which doesn't say much for the adults!

Aldi had strawberries on a steal of a sale so I bought 16 lbs and made 48 pints of jam. Jam in January!? It was great.

The boys got awards at school for behavior, attendance and other accomplishments.

Below is Tyler- the school is working on soft skills- like shaking someone's hand and looking at them in the eye.

I missed Will's handshaking picture, but got his awards instead.

I came back from somewhere one day and the boys rushed to greet me. It was sweet.

Tyler told me he could stand on our headboard. I didn't believe him, but once again, he proved me wrong.

It's been a great start to 2019!