The Tale of the Shrew (No taming involved!)

So we've discovered recently that we have a shrew problem outside... gross. Thank goodness the problem is only outdoors though! Anyway, as I was hiding Caroline's Easter eggs a few weeks ago, one ran right by me, so yeah, gross.

We decided the best way to combat the problem(s) was with some glue traps.

The first night, we caught two shrews. Well, before we went to bed, there were two. When we woke up in the morning, there was only one. GROSS. Anyway, night two wasn't as eventful and we had a grand total of zero rodents caught. On the third night, Benjamin was working REALLY late and I was bored, so I decided to go check the traps. Sure enough, there was a shrew in the trap. The poor thing was writhing around on the glue trap, so I did what I thought was a humane thing by trying to give it a quick death.

Physical force was out because I don't have the stomach for that, so I resorted to dousing the thing in boonie bee spray. Before you go thinking that I'm cruel, that stuff instantaneously kills boonie bees and you can shoot it from up to 20 feet away. THAT WAS A MISTAKE. The spray was enough to help the gross little thing wiggle free and off of the trap! And not only that, but it then (soaking wet) started running after me!!!! I obviously made it inside and that little sucker camped out on my doorstep.

Luckily Benjamin called and said he was about to come home. I told him the news... that I was trapped inside the house with a vicious assailant outside. When he got home, the shrew was there (which I KNEW because that thing was psychotic, of course it was stalking me.) Benjamin sees it, it apparently runs at him and he does a Riverdance on it. And then acts like I am the weird one for insisting he use a lysol wipe to clean off the bottom of his boots. GROSS.

The moral of the story is this: boonie bee spray helps shrews escape from the traps. And boonie bee spray does not kill shrews, it just makes them angry. NOTED.

On to the next Geib family lesson: do not leave the baby unattended. She will find my make-up and go. to. town.

Yep, that's my eyeliner all over her face. And this picture doesn't do it justice. It was all over her eyelids! I thought she was with Benjamin and he thought she was with me. She was with my make up. Lately when I've put my make-up on, Caroline will point out where each item goes. "Mama, eyes!" as I put on eyeliner, "Mama, cheeks!" as I put on blush, "Mama, yipstick, mouth!" as I put on lipstick. So I guess I should have only expected that her trying it on was right around the corner. I'll be moving my make up out of reach now! But boy did Benjamin and I get a good laugh over the whole thing. We were trying to keep straight faces, but it was impossible. Even as we were removing it, we were still cracking up.
In the end, most of it came off, but there's a faint remnant of it around her eyes and she looks like she spent the night clubbing.

Besides partying in Mom's make-up, Caroline has been pretty busy lately. She dressed up as an Aggie on April 21st in honor of Aggie Muster. She wasn't really happy about it though! OR... maybe she was teething, I don't know. But one thing is certain -- she's mad in maroon, happy in burnt orange. I think that speaks volumes, folks.

See that lunchbox Benjamin is holding? Caroline insists that not only is a purse, but it's her purse. Dad was on his way to work and she got so upset about him taking her 'purse' that he grabbed his lunch out and left the box with her. She carried it around the rest of the day.

Speaking of purses, as you can see in the next picture, Caroline loves them. And hats. And well, all accessories. (Disclaimer: it was the weekend and Benjamin dressed her.)

Last but not least, we've started going to story time at the library. I think it makes Caroline feel like such a big girl. She'll sit at the table with the big kids for a little while but likes to leave early and head to the play ground.

So that's what we've been up to lately! Fighting shrews, fighting make-up stains and PLAYING!