Again...Seriously!?!?!?

I cannot even believe this has happened to me twice in one month, but I went to mow the lawn last night, a mouse jumped out of the lawnmower as soon as I moved it. Luckily, I've been through this before so before I even started the mower, I tore it apart and guess what I found...YEP, another mouse nest. I did make Matt come take the nest out because I was sure there would be some hairless, nasty babies in there, but there weren't. Just a lot of grass and shredded paper. Anyone have any suggestions for keeping mice out of your lawnmower???? I think I'll just sprinkle the base of it with Decon.

On a much shinier note, we got a new grill! Yay, end-of-season clearance sales! Our old grill was a hand-me-down from a friend a few years ago and boy had it seen better days. Note in the picture below the rust spots, overhead rack that no longer hung, and the white base where it was actually disintegrating.

Matt put together about 1,200 pieces last night and when I came in from mowing...da...da...da...DA...here's what I found!

(note: this picture was taken this morning when we moved the grill outside. By the time I got done mowing and Matt finished putting together the grill...it was well past dark outside.)

I pray this glorious grill tops off a week of mechanical defects for us. After returning home last Monday, we found that our full (& very gross) dishwasher would not work. We knew it was a problem with a breaker or circuit or something because we also had 2 outlets in the kitchen not working also. After a week with no dishwasher (& all you mommas know what a pain that is), a random neighbor person came and fixed the problem in 10 minutes. On Friday, I went outside to leave for work and discovered the car had a flat tire. Providentially, Matt had not gone to work that morning because he had to take AJ to an appointment while I was at work. So Matt ran to the tire store on a half flat tire and got it fixed (stupid nail!) before running back to Wilmore to pick up AJ for his appointment. On Saturday, Matt & I threw our old couch onto the lawn (very KY, I know) and while Matt ran to Lexington to pick up our new couch (which arrived 3 weeks late), I frantically re-arranged and cleaned our living room in preparation for the new couch. Matt arrived at the furniture warehouse only to discover that the couch was not the color we had ordered. So after a series of phone calls, the furniture company promised to deliver (free of charge) the correct couch this Friday (I'm not holding my breath). Sunday, we attended a lovely ET New Year celebration (Happy 2004!) and on the way home, Matt & the kids were re-ended. No one was hurt (PTL!) and the car's bumper is the only casualty.

Needless to say, these are all first-world problems, but man, it can wear a girl (& her husband) out. We praise the Lord for a new week, and beautiful weather here in Central Kentucky! We are doing well as a family and thank God for all our friends and family who continue to uphold us in prayer.