I'm a Mom... and love it!

Turn off the volume on my music player first (located at the bottom of the page).

I found this on a friend's blog. Thought it was cute! Pass it on to all the Mom's you know!

Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the long hiatus! After our stinky adventure, we are now back in the house. Actually we "moved back in" last Monday night. The wildlife removal company came out last Monday and deodorized the house with a pleasant smell of cinnamon. It was strong, but at least it smelled good. Since the house finally smelled something other than skunk and we'd been out of the house for a week, we were all itching to get back home.



Thanks to a great friend who helped me clean for 3 hrs. that night we got a lot done. (THANK YOU, A!) Enough that we could at least sleep in our beds. I bought all new pillows and washed the sheets. We didn't have clean blankets, so we were a little chilly, but we were home!! I've washed a ton of stuff since we've been back in the house. I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. I practically washing EVERYTHING! A big plus.... I'm finally getting organized too!



Thanks for all your calls/e-mails/prayers...... we are so blessed with such awesome friends and family. Our house doesn't smell normal yet to me, but the major skunk smell is gone! HUGE praise!!!



We were able to still take our trip this weekend to Chattanooga to celebrate Ryan and Katielaine's (our niece) birthdays! They turned 4 just a week apart. It was a wonderful trip, it just went to fast. I will post soon about our trip and our birthday boy!

Pepe le Pew has been relocated

Just a quick update.... we are out of the house and staying with our sweet neighbors. Praise God for such wonderful neighbors opening up their home and adding 4 more to their house. I have been so overwhelmed with all of this and have my moments of "holding it together." Each day seems better and better.

Thank you to all of you who have called/e-mailed. We are taking this whole thing day by day. for those who don't know, we have a wildlife company who we contacted to come and set humane traps to catch our critter(s). The guy comes everyday to check. Today..... he caught something. Jason called the guy and he said he drove the animal 35 mi. out to release it. When he did it was a juvenile skunk. DUH!!! The juvenile part had me a little concerned, but hey! It's gone! One down. I don't know how many more to go, if any. Hopefully by Friday they can get into the crawl space and survey the damage and then can start the deodorizing process. The house smelled a little better this morning, but in no way is it good!

All this is wearing on us a little and as much as we are thankful for a warm, cozy and friendly home to stay in right now, we want our "home" back. Just not in its current condition. It's going to be a long process.

Please keep us in your prayers!

The Revenge of Pepe Le Pew

Round 2! I thought we had just a one time incident Thursday night when I reported about us waking up to the "lovely" aroma of skunk. Guess what!? It happened again tonight! I had actually cleaned the house like crazy on Friday to get rid of any lingering smell. It was a waste!

Tonight I was in bed and woke up at 12:30 am to the smell of skunk. It was strong, but not quite as strong as Thursday night. I REALLY thought I was having a nightmare. Nope!! IT WAS FOR REAL! I again, woke Jason up. Neither one of us were too chipper and couldn't believe we'd been struck again! Jason went and grabbed the Febreeze to spray in the return vent. I was choking on the smell. I told him I could not take another night like we had Thurs. Oh, and I didn't!!! IT IS WORSE!! WORSE I tell you!

I came downstairs to sleep on the couch (last Thursday it was mainly the upstairs). Tonight it was the upstairs AND the downstairs. Only the downstairs is 10 times worse! Yes, seriously it was/is BAD! I call Jason downstairs and he about fell over it was so bad! After and hour of trying to figure out what to do and it wasn't going away even the slightest bit, we wondered if it was just skunk we were smelling. The downstairs was VERY ODD smelling. Not really like your typical skunk smell, but just as bad. My nose and throat were burning and Jason's chest was burning. We wondered if it was something deadly.... seriously!

So, Jason called the Non-Emergency number to explain that we had a strong ODD odor that we believed was a skunk but weren't positive. He asked if they would please send some one to stop by and "check it out." After answering a few questions, she said she would send someone out. Jason politely asked if she would asked them to not turn on the lights and sirens. WELL..........

they came, yes they, not just someone, but a lot of someones. We could here them coming from a mile away. I was on the front porch gagging and coughing when I heard them coming. I saw Jason's eyes and he was mortified!

Anyway...... 2 big fire trucks and and ambulance later..... a few firemen entered the house. Jason went with them while I remained on the porch, smelling a dryer sheet and puking! A few mins. later one of the firemen came out and said, "Yeah, you definitely have something. Something odd." So, I felt better that they smelled it too and we didn't call them out for just our imagination. They called a few more guys in the house. They confirmed...... SKUNK!!!

One of the firemen said he just went thru this. He had skunk who had taken up residence in his duct work! YEP!!! HAVE YOU EVER???????? OH. MY. GOSH. They were very happy that they could leave our smelly house and get back to their firehouse. We turned off the heat, opened the windows downstairs and have been awake since.

Why didn't we get a hotel? I thought it was a waste since I couldn't sleep the night away. By the time I packed our bags, got the kids up, drove to the hotel, got in the room, got the boys settled and tried to fall asleep; it'd be time to get up and get ready. I have a busy day ahead of me! One I am not looking forward to on about 2 hrs. of sleep.

Oh, and where were the boys during all this commotion, you ask? Fast asleep all snug in their beds. I have a feeling it will be quite amusing when they wake up and smell what we smell! Ryan our resident "Stink Police" will have something to say, I am sure!

So, now Jason is going to be home getting a "Special Service" out here to take care of our problem. The firemen that just dealt with this is getting us the number of the service he used!

WHY????? HOW???? WILL IT EVER GO AWAY?????

We have Pepe Le Pew living right here in our duct work. I am just hoping he didn't invite his whole family!

I am really hoping I wake up and this is all just a BAD DREAM. A really BAD dream!

I was looking outside around our house expecting to see bright green fumes coming up from around the house! I am sure that we have the green fumes emitting from us too! How embarrassing!!! I will understand if people start choking and running from us when they see us. I just hope Nathan doesn't get picked on at school b/c he smells! We can't help it!

Please pray this nightmare will end soon and not cost us a fortune!

The Yak and the Cow

Today at lunch Ryan and I are sitting at the table, when all of a sudden he comes out with this: "I wish we had a yak in da backyard." HUH??? I repeated what he said to make sure I understood correctly. A yak? Didn't even know he really knew about yaks! O.K. Here is the rest of this funny converstaion:

Me: "Really?! What would you do with a yak in the backyard?"

R: "Well, I'd put some yogrit out dere."

Me: "Oh, ok! So, what's the yogurt for?"

R: "Um, for da cow." (duh, mom!)

(at this point, I'm really lost... but he wasn't -- I guess that's a good thing.)

Me: "Oh, so you want a cow and a yak in the backyard?"

R: "Uh, huh! But I give dem yogrit to eat and I tell dem to stop."

Me: "So you'd give them yogurt and then tell them to stop eating it?"

R: "No, I tell dem to stop playing on the swing and slide and da trampoline." (double duh!)

Me: "Yeah, it probably wouldn't be good for the yak and cow to play on those things, huh?"

R: "No. And Puppy's (his little puppy blanket) going to eat da yogrit and I'm gonna let him too."

That was it! He was done with that conversation and onto playing our ususal game of "What starts with the letter ___?" Today it was letter P! He came up with a great list!

He is so funny! He keeps me laughing. I love to see his little imagination growing. Hope he doesn't ask for a yak and a cow for his birthday! I don't think the neighbors would like that too much!

One question

Why does my house smell like skunk???? Yes, I said SKUNK! You know the horrific smell of a skunk, but have you EVER been woken up by the stench? Well, I have! Lucky me, huh?

Most of you who know me, KNOW that I LOVE my sleep. Well, tonight I was woken up at 1:30 AM to the STRONG smell of skunk. Why??? I have NO clue. I woke Jason up and he smelled it too.

It's been an hour now since I was so RUDELY interrupted! Here is what I have done so far: thought of 3 days ago when my neighbor called me about her house smelling like skunk, grabbed the Febreeze and sprayed the air return vents, almost puked, researched the internet and now blogging about my experience.

I am open to anyone who would like to share similar experiences and how they resolved it! Yes, like I mentioned, my sweet neighbor called me 3 days ago asking if my house possibly smelled like skunk. Of course, I chuckled and replied, "Um, No!" She proceeds to tell me that she woke up to the smell of skunk and her car smelled too when she left for work. Upon returning from work, her car and house STILL smelled like skunk. Of course my heart went out to her and I even researched and sent her an article on removing skunk smell. I haven't asked her how the grand smell of skunk is at her house now. I don't think she would appreciate a call in the middle of the night, so I will wait.

I am SERIOUSLY considering packing a bag and heading to a hotel! The smell is MUCH stronger upstairs that downstairs and the heat was on when I woke up to the smell. I thought about opening the windows and letting the house air out. But folks, it is COLD outside. I mean really! It's early February in the middle of the night. I guess I will turn off the heat and open all the windows in the morning.

To those of you laughing..... WATCH OUT, it may be your turn next!! : ) I really do not wish this upon anyone. It is AWFUL! My throat is burning. How can Jason go back to sleep? Why didn't the boys even wake up? How did this happen? What do I do now?

Ok, ok.... so I didn't have just one question, but many! Do you have ANY answers??? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought these things only happened out in the country!

Oh, and if we smell like skunk (weeks down the road) or if you come over and still smell it in my house, PLEASE tell me! I promise it's not a new perfume or T*Y*L*E*R* candle!

I leave you with this....

Doesn't that look sweet?! I DON'T THINK SO! I DO NOT consider this a very pleasant gift. Not what I was wanting for Valentine's Day! How 'bout you? ha! : )