Official Retraction

I am officially taking back my not so subtle suggestion that Luke or Noah was the culprit in the great gerbil episode. I got home today from running an errand to find our neighbors son IN MY HOUSE, door ajar, gerbil lid off again on the floor. Thankfully the gerbil was still in it's cage playing with a few marbles he added. I am glad my mom radar is working ok because I really thought both boys were telling me the truth the other day, there was just no other likely explanation. Moral of the story...sometimes life is weird and unlikely and your neighbors 5 year old is hanging out alone in your house. Also, always double check to make sure your garage door is locked.

Lost & Found

It seems that as soon as Jason leaves town lately things get really interesting around here. When we went to get ready for bed last night the lid to the gerbil cage was on the floor. Cutie Pie was dead in the cage and Sprinkles was no where to be found. Although the gerbil food and wheel were in the boys room they both swore NO ONE touched ANYTHING. The girls totally believed them and sadness turned into sobs of fear because either a robber or a ghost had to be responsible... mass hysteria ensued...

Thankfully Grace picked up her dead pet and put her in a box for our first backyard burial.

Sophie wrote the speech. The grave marker says, "The box under this tree has Cutie Pie Hardy in it. She has a joy in our heart." We went to bed all in my room with the door locked because the kids were so freaked out. I went to sleep convincing myself that there is NO WAY a gerbil could climb up into my bed.

This morning Grace was home from school with pink eye, Luke had a fever of 103 and I was desperately looking for the missing gerbil. I remembered my friend from church telling how their pet hamster got out and ruined the couch by chewing up the insides. Totally grossed out, I didn't know if I would rather find Sprinkles alive or dead. The silver lining was that rooms, closets and cupboards got completely cleaned... but no gerbil anywhere. Molly, our supposed terrier who was bred to find and kill rodents, decided it was a grand morning lay around napping and was no help at all.

After thoughts of exactly how stinky a dead rodent in my house would be, late in the afternoon I told the kids that I would pay $20 to anyone who could find the gerbil, dead or alive. Sophie promptly got a flashlight and looked under an overlooked piece of furniture. There was Sprinkles! Sophie cried the first tears of joy in her 7 year old life. While crying and laughing at the same time she told Grace that her gerbil would be both of theirs now.

After everything calmed down I asked the girls to say a prayer and thank Heavenly Father that they were able to find their pet. In unison then chimed that they already had. Together in their room these sweet girls had already offered a prayer of gratitude to a Father in Heaven they know loves them and is aware of their lives. Everything else today was suddenly so worth this one moment.