Better Late than never, I always say!!

I know, Thanksgiving was almost a week ago and I'm just now getting around to posting! Sorry...

Today will be more of a picture post than usual. Not just because I won't explain every step of our Thanksgiving, but because I'm also racing the clock here. Gotta go get the gooslings from school here in about 10 minutes.

So here we go....

The table mom did. Isn't it gorgeous?? Like out of a freakin' magazine, right? She did a wonderful job. I love that she makes sure we all sit at the same table. And this wasn't even everyone. We were missing a few of my kids, and my Uncle John and his family.

Center pieces...

Matched the table cloth of course!!

More center pieces. They said "Giving Thanks"

See? Beautiful, huh? She did an awesome job!

Here's dad getting ready to pull the turkey out of the oven!

Isn't he the cutest, most lovable dad in the whole wide world?? I just love him with all my heart!

Turkey's out!

I don't know how long ago it started, but for the past 3 or 4 years now, dad and I have carved the turkey together. I love it, it's one of my favorite parts of the day. Getting all greasy with dad!!

Time to eat!! Doesn't mom do such a beautiful job??

We ate, we laughed, we were merry! I love my family, and have so much to be thankful for.

After we ate at my mom and dad's, we went over to Mr. Goose Poop sister, Angie's, house for dessert. I sprayed whip cream straight out of the can into my 2 year old niece's mouth while sis wasn't watching. We drank wine, stuffed ourselves full of wonderful pumpkin and apple pie.

Here's us three girls. We had Mr. Goose Poop take the picture about 6 times. For some reason I think I look like a fool!! I look like I'm leaning out like crazy, but actually I'm sitting straight as a board. I asked Mr. Goose Poop to take another one, and finally after the 6th time, he said no. So this is the best one we got...

And just for shits and giggles, here's my famous Uncle Jimmy from Virginia...not to be confused with West Virginia I learned this weekend! Big, big no, no!!!

Why yes, yes he is drinking Captain and Coke out of a (big ass) Mason Jar! That he brought from home I might add!! Yup...that's him. He's got some wicked eye brows, too! Check him out...

My weekend was...

...so not rainbows and butterflies!!

...more like rain clouds and spiders. Big, black, hairy, icky spiders!

**Warning...long, boring vent!!**

It wasn't supposed to be this way. We had plans. Fun plans. Going-away plans. Plans the kids were excited about. It was supposed to be a fun weekend. My version? Not so fun. And I'm not all that proud to admit it.

I never want people to think our life is nothing but rainbows, sunshine, and butterflies. It's not. It's so not. But, I also don't want to write a depressing blog. Where you come and read and get depressed. And in turn, never come back. I don't want to air our dirty laundry on the Internet. Arguments between Mr. Goose Poop and I, and fights between the gooslings...happen. Everyone knows that, so why write about them, right?

But...but...sometimes you just gotta get one out. And this is that "sometimes"....

We were planning on going to Mr. Goose Poop's dad's for the weekend over in St. John's. Everyone was excited. He owns a photography studio (random shout out, check them out... www.dicksstudio.com they are awesome), and from August til December the man is so busy, we rarely get a chance to see him. So this was a treat. The kids were gitty with excitement, as were their parents.

Have you ever packed 9 people for the weekend? It's alot of work. I repeat, it's alot of work. And not only that, but we (as in "we" I mean, "I") usually do all the cooking for the weekend. It's much easier for me to cook for one more person, than it is for him to cook for 9 more people. Plus, I always make sure to have leftovers, and stock his fridge for a while. And, and...remember all that baking I did a few days before?? Yea, I stocked his freezer full of baked goodies too. Anyway, I pack and have everything ready to go. Groceries for the weekend, everyone's clothes, slippers, pillows, sleeping bags, toys, shower stuff, hats/gloves so they can play outside, movies, E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. we'd need. I get it all packed in the van, I lay out clothes for Mr. Goose Poop to wear when he gets out of work. I packed everything in the van, so when he does get home, we can hop in and go. I'm not tooting my own horn here. Mr. Goose Poop told me to wait for him so he could help pack. What I'm trying to show here is, I worked hard to try to make the trip smooth and fun.

Now I'm a little stressed, the kids are jumping off the walls, Mr. Goose Poop gets home in not such a stellar mood...it's just a little crazy around here. Mr. Goose Poop and I are trying our hardest to keep our calm. We understand the gooslings are excited. We understand they were ready to leave hours ago. But it doesn't make it any easier. Mr. Goose Poop packs all his hunting stuff, shoves it in the 1"x 1" space in the van I left him, and we hit to road.

I won't bore you with all the details, but before we hit the 25 mile mark, Mr. Goose Poop has already said "...we are not too far from home to turn this van around and go home!"

Never a good way to start what is supposed to be a fun weekend!!

It was a weekend alright. A. very. long. weekend. A very long and stressful weekend!!

The kids were out of control. And that's an under-statement! They were routy. They were naughty. They were mean to each other. They were fighting. They were crying. They were screaming. They were running laps around the house. They were getting into everything that they weren't supposed to. They were complaining. They were hungry. They didn't like what was for breakfast. They didn't like what was for lunch. They didn't like what was for dinner. They wanted more snacks. They were bored. They were grumpy. They wanted to stay up later. They were yelling at each other. They were mean. They. Were. Terrible! Awful!

I have alot of patience when it come to the kids, I'll give myself that. But come Saturday night around 8:00, I asked Mr. Goose Poop if he could put the fear of God, I mean, watch the kids for just 20 minutes, while I went upstairs and had a few minutes to myself to read my book. It was that bad. In fact, I think that may have been the first time I'd actually hadituptohere, that I had to remove myself for a few minutes so that I (didn't beat each an everyone of them) could collect myself.

Come Sunday afternoon, when things didn't improve, and it was the second time I'd hadituptohere, I threw my hands up. I surrendered. I let them yell, argue, fight, scream, what ev. I couldn't even handle it anymore.

To top the weekend off, Mr. Goose Poop went hunting...and didn't get anything. He was right out in front of the house where there are usually lots of deer in the field. He saw one the first morning, I gathered the kids in the front window so they could see dad shoot this deer. He didn't. Said it was too small. Come Sunday night, when it ended up being the only deer he even saw, he was kicking himself for not shooting it

We packed up, loaded the van back up, and headed home. I tried to turn the weekend around, and on the way home we decided to count how many houses already had their Christmas lights on. I think we go to 58 houses. Oh yea, and on the way home, we're driving, minding our own, shit...a deer. Mr. Goose Poops hits the breaks. We miss him. Then here comes the other one, he hits the breaks again. Harder this time. Tires squeal. The van fish-tails a little. We don't miss him! Yup, we clipped the ass end of the deer! Mr. Goose Poop pulls over, we hop out to check the front of the van. Thankfully, no damage. Though some deer out there has a major ass-ache. We didn't hit him hard, but we clipped his ass end, and shoved him a good ways. He gathered himself, and ran away.

And it doesn't even stop here! Are you still with me?? It gets...well, it goes on!

We get home and start homework. Mr. Goose Poop unloads the van, and puts stuff away. Then he has to go run a few errands. So I'm here. Alone. With the kids. We finish homework, do a little reading. I decided to let them have a piece of Halloween candy before bed. Why? After they've been so outrageously terrible this weekend you might ask??! I don't know, but I did. Now it's bed time. I bring the troops upstairs and tell them to get jammies on and brush their teeth. I'm busy emptying suitcases from the weekend, and trying to get the morning's clothes out. I over hear kids in the bathroom fighting about who's going next to brush their teeth. Fighting because one supposedly "cut" in front of the other. Really? C'mon!! Then it happens. I completely and totally loose my marbles!! Lost them! As in rolling all over the floor, with not even one left in my noggin! Gone!

I turn into this fire breathing, screaming monster. I'm yelled some, I screamed some, I yelled some more. I did some things I'm not happy nor proud about. But I'm being honest here. I totally lost my cool. I threw my hands up, left the mess I was in the middle of, and told them they can put themselves to bed. I left every light on, didn't turn the night light on, and worse of all I didn't say prayers with them. I stopped what I was doing, and stormed down the stairs. They cried. I didn't care at that point. They kept crying. A few came downstairs to ask if I was going to come up and put them to bed and what they were supposed to do. I said, I don't know, but I'm done for the night. They cried more. I turned the radio on, and up!!! McKenzie came down a few minutes later with a card she made me. I ignored her. I'm not proud of that either. But I was steaming mad at the moment. She kept asking me to read it. I kept ignoring her. She said please mom this is important to me. I told her yea, it's always important AFTER mom looses her marbles. Then everyone seems to care. But when I'm calmly explaining to them that I've hadituptohere, and that I'm about to loose my cool, and it's important to me that they listen, they don't. She starting crying and took her sorry self upstairs. Then I started crying. I felt awful. My stomach got upset. I just wanted to go upstairs, tell them all I'm sorry, how much I love them, and hug them until they turn 18. But I didn't. I just cried. And so did they...

Then Mr. Goose Poop came home. I started crying all over again before I could tell him I lost my marbles on the kids. He hugged me. Held me. We talked. I cried. We decided the course of action we need to take. I cried. He hugged me again. Held me again. I cried.

I feel awful about my actions over the weekend. I'm not proud of them. And I'm ashamed at how I handled the situation. But, it happens. I know that. The kids know I love them. But they also need to know when enough is enough. And this weekend was enough.

So you see, our life here isn't always rainbows, sunshine, and butterflies.

Sometimes it's clouds, rain, and spiders.

But we're a family. And we'll get through this like God wants us to. As a family. We'll work out this kink. Together. For He will pull us through.

Listen to advice and accept instruction,

and in the end you will be wise.

~Proverbs 19:20

Random-ness...

I should be doing laundry, so I decided to give you some Wednesday Random-ness instead...


Poison oak is not an oak and poison ivy is not an ivy. Both are members of the cashew family. Who knew??

Why is honey so easy to digest? Because it's already been digested by bees!! Gross, no wonder I don't like honey!

In Tuscumbia, Alabama, it is against the law for more than eight rabbits to reside on the same block. (Can't have too many bunnies on the same block now!)

In Birmingham, Alabama, it is illegal to drive a car while blindfolded. (Thank goodness!)
(Boy, those southerners sure got it all covered, don't they?!?)

In Arizona it is illegal to hunt or shoot a camel. (Dang it, we were just planning an excursion to Arizona to get us some camel meat, too!)

In Atlanta it is illegal to make faces at school children while they are studying. (Guess if kids fail a test, they can't use the excuse that someone distracted their studying by making a face!)

In Hawaii no one may whistle in a drinking establishment. (What if you work in a drinking establishment? Can't you "whistle while you work??!?")

A law in Zioo, Illinois, prohibits teaching household pets to smoke cigars. (Screw the humans, they can get lung cancer all they want....but we gotta protect those cats and dogs!)

According to Kentucky law, women may not appear on the highway in bathing suits unless they carry a club. (Better remember my club next time I'm in Kentucky walking down the highway in my skimpy two-piece!!)

In Marblehead, Massachusetts, each fire company responding to an alarm must provide a three-gallon jug of rum. (I bet they get alot of alcoholics starting their own houses on fire!)

It is illegal to fish for whales in any stream, river, or lake in Ohio. (Must be no one listened to this law, since they caught all the whales and now there aren't any left!!)

It is unlawful to tie a crocodile to a fire hydrant in Detroit. (Must be you gotta use the telephone pole instead!)

In Minnesota it is illegal to dry both men's and women's underwear on the same clothesline. (See, that's why I don't use the clothesline. What the point if I can't dry Mr. Goose Poop's underwear and mine together?!?)

In Natchez, Mississippi, it is unlawful for elephants to drink beer. (I wondered why, when my parents took me there long ago, that I didn't see any drunk elephants. Now I know!)

It is illegal for barbers in Waterloo, Nebraska, to eat onions between 7am and 7pm. (Duh...)

In Portland, Oregon, it is illegal to shake a feather duster in someones face. (Note to abusive parents...don't move to Portland Oregon!)

A South Carolina statute states that butchers may not serve on a jury when a man is being tried for murder. (Cuz you know, butchers not only think it's ok to slaughter a cow, but also your fellow neighbor!!)

Myth: "Give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer ad the antelope play..."
Fact: There are no antelope in North America. The animal the song probably refers to is the proghorn (?!?), which resembles an antelope. Real antelope only live in Asia and Africa.

Myth: The forbidden fruit eaten by Eve was an apple.
Fact: The Bible make reference to the "fruit of the tree" (Genesis 3:5), but names no particular fruit. Horticulturists say that apple trees have never grown in the area where the Garden of Eden supposedly existed. She probably ate a pomegranate.

Myth: Hunger is triggered by an empty stomach.
Fact: Hunger is set off when nutrients are absent in the bloodstream. In response to this, the brain begins rhythmic constrictions of the stomach and intestines, which causes stomach grumbling and the feeling of hunger.

Myth: A limb "falls asleep" because its blood supply is cut off.
Fact: The feeling of numbness-called neurapraxia-happens when a major nerve is pinched a hard object or bone. This causes the harmless temporary sensations of numbness, but the blood continues to flow normally.

Myth: Pandas are bears.
Fact: The red panda is an extremely large cousin of the raccoon (with the exception of the giant panda which is actually a bear!).

Myth: I love kids and that's why I have so many.
Fact: I hate kids and this was all an accident!!

OK, so the last one may not by totally true!! But I had to see if you were listening! There's your random-ness for the week. Learn something new every day! Remember, next time you're in Detroit, don't go and tie your crocodile up to any fire hydrants!! You'll get a free ride to the slammer!!

Today I...

I baked. All. Day. Long!!

I baked 7 batches of cookies!!

I baked 2 batches of chocolate chip sticks!!

I baked 12 chocolate chip muffins!!


I baked 1 cinnamon coffee cake, and 2 loafs of cinnamon swirl bread. (btw...I'm pretty sure this is the bread Jesus was talking about in John 6!! OK, probably not, but it'da been a whole heck of alot better I bet!!)

I baked until my kitchen table looked like this!!



The house still has the lingering faint smell of cinnamon wafting thru the air. The air outside is chilly and I can hear my kids playing basketball thru the crunching fallen leaves. The sun is lingering in that magical position right before disappearing for the evening. Now dinner is simmering on the stove. I have hot chocolate ready for kids tonight. The "fireplace" is burning.

This is what fall is all about guys!

How could it get any better than this...???




May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
~Psalm 67:1-2

I only dust my clocks twice a year...

...and I'm totally ok with that!!

And truth be told, I'd neva eva do it if we didn't observe Daylight Savings Time!

You see, my clocks are up high. Like 7 1/2 feet high. So unless you're 7 3/4 foot tall, you'd never see the tops of my clocks. And I'm ok knowing that the tops of my clocks are covered in a half inch of dust most of the year. I'm totally ok with it. Actually, like I said, if it weren't for Daylight Savings Time, I'd never even bother to dust the tops of my clocks. Who cares? It's the top of the clock. No one's ever going to see it. ('Cept my madre maybe, she's tall and has a sonic dust radar!!) And usually the clocks don't even get dusted right after the time change. It usually takes about 2 or 3 months for me to change the time. I change the time on the alarm clocks, the stove, and the microwave....and that's about it. The analog clocks? Not so much. That is until Mr. Goose Poop and the gooslings have had enough.

I know what clocks are right in the house. I know what clocks you have to subtract an hour from, or add an hour to, or which ones are 18 minutes fast (face it, we ALL have a clock in the house at least 15 minutes fast, to keep us on time or make us feel like we are tricking the time gods and stealing an extra few minutes of shut-eye!). You see, I know all this. I do it on purpose. But it annoys Mr. Goose Poop. He looks at the clock, and it says 8:00. He tells the kids to run upstairs to get jammies on and brush their teeth. I look at him like "Huh? An hour early?" He says "What was that look for?" Then I have to tell him "Babe, it's only 7:00." He gives me a look like "Why is it 7:00, but our clock says it's 8:00?!?" Cuz I'm too lazy to climb up on the couch, take down the clock, DUST IT, change the time, then climb back on the couch to hang the dang thing back up honey!

For four Sunday's after the time change, he's rushing kids thru cereal, dressing, and teeth brushing. As the last kids comes sliding down the stairs, he's grabbing the keys to go start the van. I ask him why he's starting the van so early. He says we gotta go! No honey, church doesn't start for another hour and a half! It's only 7:45!! He looks at me. Four Sunday's this happens. So finally I get annoyed by the looks! So I climb up on the couch, take down the clock, DUST IT, change the time to the correct time, then climb back on the couch to hang the dang thing back up! Then Sunday comes....and he's taking his sweet time getting ready for church. I'm running around, rushing kids, and he's drinking coffee...in his jammies! What is he doing?!? I ask, more like yell at, him to hurry and start the van. He grins and sarcastically says "Why honey, church doesn't start for another hour and a half!" He thinks I'm playing a trick on him. Trick nothing....we're going to be late!! I tell him, more like yell at him, NO IT DOESN'T!! It's 8:45, c'mon, we gotta go!! He says "But you can't trick me, the clock may say 8:45, but I'm on to your 'weird time keeping antics'. It's really only 7:45, plenty of time to drink my coffee and watch a little Sports Center!" "No, no, no...I changed the clocks to reflect real time. No more adding to this one, subtracting from that one!" He looks at me!


It's weird, I know. But when I actually change the time to normal, it screws me up. Then I become confused. Can't remember if I changed them or not. Can't remember if I have to still add an hour to the time. I like my way. I'm used to it. In fact one year, I didn't even change the clocks at all. All year long, I knew I just had to add an hour to those few clocks I didn't feel like dusting. Then when it was time to change the clocks an hour back, I was ahead of everyone else, already had it done...a year before!

Moral of the story...never trust a clock at my house! If the clock says 8:00...you never know, it could be 9:00, it could be 7:00. Hell, it might even be 8:18. But one thing you can be sure of...if the clock say 8:00...it's not 8:00!!

But I'll still carry on only dusting my clocks twice a year at most, and I'll still be ok with that!

Happiness is 365 days of joy...

It's been 365 days since Mr. Goose Poop and I got married. Tied the knot. Got hitched. When two became one. One year! And we're still in love! Who'da thunk it?!

As I look back over the year I see how lucky I am. Although Mr. Goose Poop is the most stubborn person I've ever in my life met. Although sometimes I get so mad at him I could spit nails. Although he's turns into Chatty Cathy when he's tipped back a few. Although I sometimes think he's too hard on the gooslings. I also know he's a giant teddy bear, who loves, respects, and honors me. Always. I feel so blessed to have him.

I never have to question his love for me. Anybody can talk about how much they love you, but showing it is what does it for us girls! And he does. He doesn't just tell me how much he loves me, he shows me. Even when he's spitting mad at me. Even when I'm not in the mood to hear how much he loves me, he still shows me. Back in the day, many moons ago, in my former life, I used to live in fear that every fight would mean the end of my marriage. Because it was true. Fight? One of us would walk out, sometimes not coming home for days. I was always walking on egg shells. Doing what ever I could to not fight. And when the inevitable happened, I'd hold my breath. Who'd walk out first? And in the beginning of Mr. Goose Poop's and my relationship, I'd do the same thing. I thought that was just the way it was. Not with him. I'm not going to sit up here and preach about how our marriage is perfect, cuz girlfriend, it ain't!! Far from it. We've had some doozie fights. No way on earth can two people live together and not fight. But when we do, I'm not scared he's going to walk out on me and the family. He's just not the type. It gives me such a sense of security. Who doesn't like to be secure?

I know I've got it good. Mr. Goose Poop is an excellent husband and a great dad. I thank God every day, before bed, for him. I know I'm lucky. He's taught me so many things. Taught me what a marriage is supposed to be. Taught me what it's like to REALLY be loved. Taught me what a husband is supposed to be like.

I don't need expensive jewelry, exotic vacations, a spiffy mansion, name brand clothes, the latest hair styles, or the biggest savings account to know my husband loves me. He always teases me that he loves me more than I love him, but if he really knew, he'd be singing a different tune.

Sometimes I look back over the year, and on one hand I think to myself, I can't believe it's already been a year. Seems like just yesterday we were walking into that church, hand in hand, smiles from ear to ear. And on the other hand I think to myself IT'S ONLY BEEN A YEAR?!?! Not possible. I feel like we've been doing this for way longer than a year!! But whether it feels like one year or 10, the point is...we're still in love. Maybe even more today than yesterday or even last year. And not only do we still love each other, more importantly, we still like each other. Cuz everyone knows you can love someone, but not like them very much. But we do. We love each other, and like each other even more. Suffice to say, we're pretty fond of each other! Yup, I think we'll give it a go at another year. Let's see what the next 365 days has in store for our marriage.

Love you Mr. Goose Poop! Thank you for being such a wonderful and loving husband. I know how blessed I am! I love you...

My Friday Five...

1. Colors

2. Rain on a week day

3. Friends the kids have

4. No plans on a weekend

5. Teachers at ISJ

1. Today I am thankful for the colors changing around us. The trees are vibrant colors of red, yellow and orange. Fall in Michigan is the best fall around. I love the way the leaves crunch under foot. I love they way they fly up in the air when the kids run through them. If I could stop a moment in time, it'd be a day in fall.

2. I tell Mr. Goose Poop all the time I don't like it when he's here during the day! He messes up my whole operation! Any stay at home mom/wife knows, you have a routine, right? And when he's here, he messes it all up. Not on purpose, and I don't mean that in a bad way, he just does. I never get anything done when he's here! But yesterday, right smack dab in the middle of his day it started raining. I told him I didn't care what he did, but he couldn't come home yet! He did end up getting home a few hours early, and of course, I didn't get anything done the rest of the day. Now today, he just called me again....it's raining! They are out for breakfast, trying to wait it out! Wait it out my ass...they are scamming a free breakfast before they do the inevitable....come home! They all know they'll come home, they we're just hungry first! I told him, just like yesterday, I don't care where he goes, he just can't come home! Secretly (well, not any more...he reads this!!), I really kinda like it when he comes home early. It one of those love-hate relationships if you know what I mean. But today I think I love it! Sounds like a good day to be lazy with my husband!

3. I love that my kids have friends! Sounds silly right?? Most kids do. But today I'm really loving it because there is a really awesome family that we know that has 3 boys. Same ages as some of our boys. And two of their boys are best buds with two of our boys. So those two boys of ours are being picked up right after school today to have a sleep-over at their friend's house. They have been so excited about it, they haven't slept in 2 nights now!

4. Having this big of a family, we usually have plans every weekend. A football game, a basketball tournament, visiting family, something is always going on. But this weekend? Nuttin'! Nodda! Zip! Zero! Zilch! Oh man, it's going to be so nice! We can have a lazy breakfast tomorrow morning, no rushing to get some kid somewhere. We can do yard work at a leisurely pace. I'm making a big ham dinner! It's going to be fantastic!

5. I can't tell you how much I love our school. Shout out.... http://mychristianschool.com/ ! (McKenzie is on the website. On the main page there is a picture show, I believe she's in picture #5) Heather, Patty, Lisa, Steve, Mary-Beth, Rod, and Jason...you guys are the best! I was in the office yesterday morning talking to our Secretary, Heather Hall. I was just chatting about this's and that's, and she truly cared about us. Was actually concerned, and told me everything would be alright. Jacob's teacher, Mary-Beth Bouma, overheard the conversation, and when I went out in the hall...she hugged me. Hugged me! Last night was Father's Night at school. Mr. Goose Poop took the 6 school kids up there for the evening. He came home saying how awesome the teachers are! So today I am also thankful for them. For all the support they give our family without even knowing it!

These are the two boys that are going over to their buddie's tonight for the sleep over. Would it be embarassing if I packed them those matching pj's?!?

Whistle while you work...

So, as you know, Halloween was a couple nights ago. We came up with the perfect costumes this year. It couldn't have been more perfect!!






Snow White and the 7 dorks...dwarfs, I mean dwarfs!! Snow White and the 7 dwarfs! C'mon, could it have been more perfect??! The original plan was Mr. Goose Poop and I were supposed to be Snow White and Prince Charming, and all the kids were supposed to be dwarfs. But, frankly, McKenzie didn't want to be a dwarf and I wasn't really keen on the idea of dressing up. So we switched it up a little bit. McKenzie was, of course, Snow White, Jonah was Bashful, Jacob was Sneezy, Dylan was Grumpy, Carter was Happy, Christian was Dopey, Tyler was Sleepy, and Mr. Goose Poop was Doc!! Aren't they cute?

By the end of the night, Sleepy got, well sleepy! He was tuckered right out and Doc had to carry him the rest of the way home!

It was a great night with the kids. The big kids were such good sports about it. I can imagine being 8 and 10 and having your parents tell you you have to be a dwarf for Halloween, probably isn't the most exciting thing in the world. But they sucked it up, and went with it. Maybe they even enjoyed it a little bit once they saw how much attention they were getting!

Off to go raid the kids' candy...oh wait, I mean...off to go go thru the kids' candy to make sure it's safe. And maybe one little Mounds Bar, or two. I mean, what kid likes Mounds or Almond Joy?!?