Fish Stick Frenzy!

Jesus fed thousands of people with a few fish and a few loaves of bread.

Our fish sticks aren't going to ever be that effective, but they have certainly lasted longer than we ever expected!

This morning we awoke to find yet another story in the local newspaper and another reference in a blog called elevating a generation. We still haven't heard a peep from the high bidder and I'm not sure if we will.

But we did get a message through eBay from Melissa. She was listening to Mix 97.1 in Columbus, Ohio and they were offering a prize to any listener that could get the "Fish Stick Lady" to call in. We called in and did a short radio interview and they gave us an invitation to the spring SHOEGASM which includes breakfast from Supper Thyme USA and a $200 gift certificate to DSW, at the Easton Town Center.

Free Lunch - Thanks Paul!

I got a free lunch at my day job today. Our group had pizza from the Rascal House to celebrate Paul's 35 year anniversary with the company.

Paul started as a shipping clerk, 2 years later became a computer operator, and has been a programmer now for 31 years. He shared some amusing anecdotes about the early days of computing and things like punch cards.

In other news, Victoria has had a newspaper and 2 TV interviews in the past 2 days over the Good Friday Miracle Fish Sticks she has listed on eBay! All of them approached her. The newspaper reporter actually contacted her through eBay. The first TV reporter contacted her through the newspaper reporter and the 2nd one contacted her through our church. The church secretary laughingly forwarded the message.

Finally, if you are a college basketball fan, hop on over to my pizza blog and join the free NCAA basketball tournament pick 'em contest. You could win a free pizza!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween for us started on Saturday when Brooke, Rachel and I went to the trick-or-treat party at the local community college. Basically we waited in line for about 45 minutes before parading through several campus buildings where students passed out candy in the halls. At the end the girls colored pictures for a coloring contest, then Brooke got in line for a balloon animal while Rachel showed off her pirate costume on stage for the costume contest.

Later on Saturday we carved pumpkins. We take our pumpkin carving seriously at the "family of 9", using patterns and special pumpkin cutting tools. Below are this year's results:




Victoria did an awesome job on this skeleton fish!







Nathan carved a pirate face.








Brooke made a wise owl.








Jacob made his pumpkin into a lizard.







And Rachel, with her dad's help, made a scary wolf.

Luke didn't carve a pumpkin this year since he spent most of Saturday at a friend's birthday party.

On to Wednesday. Dad rearranged his parenting time schedule so that he could pick up the girls and bring them trick-or-treating. Luke stayed and went to church with his mom, and Nathan was ill with asthma. Jacob went with his cousins D & D.

Rachel again wore her pirate outfit, while Brooke was a dead princess and little George dressed in a warm Tigger suit. Even Dad got dressed up, walking along with the kids in his Anderson Varejao wig.





One of the houses we stopped along the way was local radio personality Bob Frantz, who moved into our neighborhood about a year ago.

We had a talk before we started and the kids followed my rules:

1. Stay on the sidewalks, don't walk on people's grass.
2. Say "Thank you" when someone gives you a treat.
   
3. Say "Trick Or Treat", don't just hold out your bucket.

It took us the full hour and a half to walk our neighborhood, including both sets of clusters off our main road. The weather was nice and everyone was friendly. By the end, the kids baskets were overflowing into the little green wagon that George rode in part of the way.

George's basket was so heavy he could hardly hold it, but he wasn't about to let go of it!

As you can see from the final picture, the kids made out pretty good.

Scott tissue Cloggiest Moment Contest

Well, Scott Tissue announced the winner of their Cloggiest Moment contest. It wasn't us, but I think our entry is just as funny.

A Very Impractical Joke: the adventure of the toilet squirter

With 6 children in the house, we have a LOT of cloggy moments. One Christmas, our son got a practical joke kit. Along with the fake gum, spoon with a fly on it, and bar of soap with a hidden spider, came the now infamous toilet squirter. A toilet squirter is a little rubber ball you fill with water and set between the seat and the bowl. A clear pipe extends from it and when you sit down, it squirts your bottom.
He tried to play the toilet squirter joke on his 13-year-old sister. The prank failed miserably when the squirter was jarred loose, she didn’t see it, and it got flushed. The squirter and some toilet paper remained jammed in the toilet for days. We drained and removed the toilet. My husband tried everything he could think of to knock it loose, all with no luck. Finally, our friend lent us his plumbing snake and that did the trick.
Much to the dismay of our children, Santa never again left anything quite so cool as a toilet squirter.

Pizza Blog Hosts Contest

My other blog, Pizza Delivery Stories, is hosting a free basketball contest for the ESPN Tournament Challenge. Check it out!

Vote For Me!

Local Girl at An Island Life is having a photo contest. Please check it out and vote for me, WeekendsWithDad, if you are so inclined.

Thanks!