It's an official first for us: We have a mouse in the house.

My husband reported seeing what he thought was a little bit of mouse droppings in the basement when he went to get down the Christmas decorations. I'm so glad he mentioned it because I had a mouse sighting last night that would have stopped my heart without a little advance notice.

I was curled up on the couch in our TV room with the dog by my side when I saw something shoot out from under the couch, over to the desk and right into one of the openings in the cold-air exchange at the base of the wall. I creeped over to the wall on my tippiest of tippy-toes to avoid contact with this little creature, but it had already disappeared into wherever that thing leads (which, my husband reports, is the basement).

After that there was about a half-hour of me turning all the lights off in the TV room, sneaking out of the room, waiting a few minutes and then -- bam! -- rushing back in with a quick flip of the light, hoping to catch that little bugger in the act of being in my house uninvited. I was sure this was the way to snag the mouse, although I had no weapon, no bucket or bowl, no box -- nothing to capture or trap it in. 

I'm not exactly sure what I was going to do if I did see it, but that didn't dawn on me at the time.

This morning I informed the kids that a little gray mouse was, in fact, spotted in the house -- in the room where they spend the most time. 

I bet you can guess what came after the mild horror.

"So Mom, if we find this mouse and we catch it, what are we going to do with it?" my son asked.

"If it's still alive, we'll put it outside," I responded, knowing full well this was really just the beginning of the conversation.

A little time passed.

"So Mom," the son tries again, "you said this mouse is very small, right? It's really cold outside and it might not live. Since it's so small and all, maybe we could keep it? Like a pet?"

Then we had to have the talk about why wild animals (even cute little mice) aren't good to keep in your house as pets. Why letting him go is really the right thing to do. And why, no matter how much they'd try to convince me that they would, I wouldn't buy them promising and pinkie-swearing that they would clean the little mouse's cage. 

I'm wise to this game. I mentioned that we have a dog, right?

So now we're all on Mouse Watch at our house, with children reporting that they've seen the mouse running all around the first floor and under the Christmas tree. One swears he heard squeaking.

I just saw this on JSOnline.com and thought you might want to know. After all, it's an amazing flying can!

Toobee is giving away its popular toy

By Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Our very own MilwaukeeMoms.com blogger Marianne Szymanski will offer new toy ideas for parents all this month!

Marianne's first video segment deals with board games, and she has great ideas for all ages. 

Look for the Toy Tips box on the home page of MilwaukeeMoms.com for a new video clip each week from now through Christmas. Watch before you shop!

Here's a link to the first video in her series. 

If you haven't seen this video of a little 3-year-old who only wants her daddy home from Iraq for Christmas, grab your Kleenex and click here.

CNN.com is reporting today that a full 41 million Americans have not even begun their Christmas shopping. The biggest procrastinators? Surprise, surprise -- men, and those in the 35- to 44-year-old age range. In this group, 21 percent said they had not started spending their holiday cash.

I'm in the age range of those who haven't even started shopping yet, but I can't say I'm in the same boat as those folks. Unusually for me, I'm just about done. Typically by this time of year I have stressed myself out by waiting to buy some gift that is just about impossible to get just days before Christmas. That didn't happen to me this year for some reason, so all is well in my pre-Christmas state of mind.

Last year people were driving all over in search of the elusive Wii gaming system, but I know a few families who will have one under their tree this year without much stress and struggle.

So what are the hard-to-find gifts this Christmas?

So how happy are your kids? Mine were banking on this, so if it didn't happen -- oh, that would have been rough.

Remember the days when the weather forecasters would get us all hyped up and then nothing would happen? They'd close school in advance for a snow day and then a scattered two or three inches would fall?

Why does it seem like that never happens anymore?

The past two winters I have been amazed by the accuracy of the weather folks. If they say snow's rolling in at 10 p.m., sure enough -- the flakes start falling at 10 p.m.

I guess that's progress and technology and all that, but it does take a bit of the surprise out of the whole thing, which, as a kid, was part of the joy of it. Waking up and finding out that there was a snow day when you had no clue the night before? Nothing better than that.

Now the kids know it's coming, when it's coming, how much is coming -- and they basically book it on their calendars. 

But in fairness, it doesn't seem to matter. They're doing the Snow Day Dance around here and for them, life is good.

Having a family doesn't mean you have to give up celebrating New Year's Eve. It isn't all about fancy restaurants or hanging at the bar. Fortunately, there are many local places to go with your children to mark the start of the new year.

If you don't have plans yet, you might want to try one of the following. And who knows? It might just become your family's new tradition.

New Year's Eve at the Domes: View the holiday show and enjoy a family-focused party with food and beverages for purchase with entertainment, magic, comedy and food. Admission fee required. 6 to 10 p.m.

New Year's Eve at Red Arrow Park: Ice skate with your family and get ready for the New Year's countdown at midnight by Executive Scott Walker. Be sure to stick around for a brilliant display of fireworks ringing in the New Year. Red Arrow will be open until 1 a.m.

New Year's Eve at Noon: Families are invited to join the party and ring in the New Year at the Betty Brinn Children's Museum! Children can create their own party hats in the Artist’s Studio, count down to the big ball drop at noon, and celebrate with a juice toast and treats.

StoneFire Pizza New Year's Eve: Enjoy unlimited attractions, unlimited nonredemption games and the buffet from 5 to 9 p.m. for $29.95 for adults and $24.95 for children at StoneFire in New Berlin. Includes a champagne toast and balloon drop at 8:30. 

Pump It Up New Year's Eve Party: Sparkling cider, open play, noise makers, hourly countdown at Pump It Up in Brookfield. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

New Year's at Nine Family Dance Party: Get dressed up and dance with the kids. 6:30 to 10 p.m. with New Year's countdown at 9 p.m. $40 per family with proceeds going to charity. Hales Corners Lutheran Church.

Kids and Family New Year's Party: At Rio West Cantina -- 5 to 8 p.m. Prizes, games, special party room. New Year's coundown at 7 p.m.

Harlem Globetrotters at the Bradley Center: Shows at 1 and 6 p.m. Tickets start at $20.50. 

Eble Ice Arena: Open extended hours, 1 to 3 p.m. and again from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Big Backyard: Indoor playground in New Berlin, open until 8 p.m. New Year's Eve.

Family Fun Land: Indoor playground in Germatown, open until 10 p.m.

Just 4 Fun Children's Center: Open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., special New Year's countdown at noon. $10 per child, includes snacks and the party. Located in Grafton.