Unwanted guest

So today is a beautiful day to be outside...Esther and I were playing in the driveway while Graceyn napped. Our friend Lynne walked down with her cute little kiddos Ella and Jack. We decided to go in to the back yard and I had to wipe off the swings with a towel on the back porch. As I threw the towel back down, I saw it. A fat snake at least a yard long! It was about 3 inches away from my feet on the back door mat right in front of the door where I let the girls go out by themselves to play all the time! And it was HUGE! I of course very calmly screamed my head off and danced off the patio. Lynne did basically the same thing when she saw it. Fortunately, Topher the Great works only a few minutes from the house. He came right home on a white stallion with a giant sword to slay the fire-breathing dragon! Actually, he calmly coaxed it into a trash can as if that is what he does for a living, but I think as I watched him I saw more of the first story taking place! When Esther saw it, she said in her sweet little voice, "Oh, how beautiful." Needless to say we are having lots of conversations aobut how dangerous snakes can be and that we don't ever ever touch them! Lynne's question was, "How did that get here? Where did it come from? I mean this is a neighborhood!" She's so funny! Lynne's husband Matt came down to see what all was going on. While Topher held the snake down with a metal rod, Matt reached into the trash can and picked it up by it's head. They said, after looking into its mouth, that it wasn't poisonous, but that didn't really make me feel better about the situation! Anyway...such is the ho-hum day of a stay at home mommy!