Oh Rats!

No, literally, oh rats!  As in I let my kids each get a rat.  How gross is that?!  Ben doesn't think it's gross . . . but he's weird apparently.

My kids have wanted small critters for awhile.  They would talk about it for a bit and then forget it for awhile.  Well Jonas brought it back up again and couldn't leave it alone (he's like that).  So something inside me snapped and I agreed.  The boys bought everything - cage, accessories, and actual rats.  The girls bought their cage and accessories ($50 each) and Ben and I bought their rats for them (seeing as we had helped the boys with their first critters - hamsters or gerbils, whatever they were).

We were going to buy them at Petco until we were told those rats were mainly "feeder rats" and hadn't been "handled."  If not handled, then they are more likely to bite at first, etc.  They are trainable, but . . . So we found out about a pet store in Delta and after a week of semi-good behavior, Ben and I took our kids to buy their rats.  I'm not sure what was more gross - the rats or the pet store.  I just felt so dirty after leaving the pet store - it was the worst!  Yuck!  Also, we were told the rats the kids picked out were all females (which is what they wanted), but, upon closer examination once we got home, it turned out we ended up with 3 males!  What?! Again, not impressed with the pet store.  After Ben read about the differences in the genders, the girls decided to keep their males.  The boys decided to go with females and so that meant Ben and Miles had to go back to Delta and exchange rats.  What a day.

Emmy's rat is the most cuddly so far, but I think they are all warming up to the kids.  Here are the names:  Tomato (Miles'), Nibbles (Jonas'), Oreo (Emmy's), and Harold (Lucy's).  Brigham can't get over them.  He pretty much just sits by their cage and stares.  Sometimes he'll bark.  He's nuts.

On another note, just Friday night we did a bedroom change - Ben and I moved in to the girls' room and moved them in to our room.  Then Ben came up with a brilliant idea of making a wall - so the girls' room is not part of a thoroughfare (why didn't we think of this when we were in there these past 9 years?!).  Ben has always wanted the girls' room and I do have to admit that I love it!  It's so cute and quaint.  Ben will eventually make the girls some beds (that can be made in to bunk beds) - actually, that's what inspired the switch.  Standard beds do not fit in the girls' rooms due to the wacky walls (it's like an octagon shape, but not quite . . .).  Anyways, that's what's going on in our lives (besides work, school, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, activities, etc., etc.!)

 Our new room - it's hard to get a decent shot.

 Ben's side . . .

 My side . . .

Luckily we don't need any floor room because we don't have much!  But seeing as we don't play with toys, I think we'll be okay.

 What Brigham does 90% of his time now.

 Emmy and Oreo.

 Lucy and Harold.

 Ben working on the wall.  (I hung curtains so we could visualize the wall . . .)

Miles and Tomato.  I really, really didn't want the kids to get a white one.  They are even creepier than the creepy rats.  But Miles did.

Sigh.

Oh, I did have multiple nightmares the week before we got the rats.  Once I even jumped in the bed and screamed out - scaring Ben.  Then I couldn't stop laughing because I'm so funny.  But, yes, the nightmares did involve furry critters!

Aiyiyi.