The Eensy, Weensy Spider.....

"Spider!"  "Spider, spider, spider, spider, spider!!!!!"  "SPIDER!"

Yeah, that would be how it started. Oh my goodness....put your big girl pants on and get it yourself.

"I have to leave,"  Felix says, "Can you go down and take care of that?"  "Fine!"  I said on the inside and outside.  The big babies.  "I'll be down in a minute!" They can avoid it for an entire minute.  No problem.

I finish up what I am doing and go to the basement.  I get to the bottom of the stairs and just as my toes are gracing the very tippy tops of the carpet, Caleb, Baylee AND Savannah are all screaming, "Stop!  You are going to step on it.  It's a black widow....we're gonna die!!!!!!!"

Drama much?  I look down and see a GIANT spidery-lookin' thing.  It was black...but I'm pretty sure there were more than 8 legs.  I get down and look closer.  Why?  Because I'm me.  Spiders don't scare me.  My older brother had a tarantula as a pet.  So....I get about an inch from the 'spider' and realize...it's a wadded up ball of string.

So I reach to pick it up and the kids all start screaming bloody murder.  I'm not kidding....bloody murder.  I pick it up and Baylee nearly passes out before she turns and runs screaming in the other room.  Caleb and Savannah back up towards the wall as I am trying to unravel the string and explain it's  JUST string. 

Sadly, there was so much screaming it sounded something like, "But........No.......Stop........Screaming.......Wait..........Look.......Chill........"  I think you get the general idea.  I finally get close enough for the three "Screamateers" to see the string I am holding up.  After a minute, Savannah and Baylee calm down and kind of giggle.  I say, kind of, on purpose.   They had worked themselves into such a frenzy they were having trouble calming down.

It was about then I realized someone was still screaming.  Poor Caleb was sitting on the couch, tears streaming down his cheeks, flushed and wailing.

I finally sit next to him, touch him with my hand (so he'll open his eyes and stop screaming) and he opens his eyes, sees the fully extended string and screams even louder as he tries to burrow through the cushions of the couch to protect himself from the danger of the wild string.  After a minute it dawns on him.  He stops screaming, looks at me, looks at the string and says, "Stop chasing me with that thing."

Lessons Learned
1.  I think we might be needin' a tarantula.
2.  Big babies.
3.  Poor things.
4.  Poor Caleb...he needs to not hang out with his sisters.
5.  For the record, I wasn't chasing anybody!