Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Fool's Day, Oh how I love thee!

I love April Fool's Day! I'm a big fan! Now, I do not like pranks where people feel bad or are embarrassed - just the good natured prank! And I really can't take credit for the gags I pull. I get most of my ideas from Family Fun Magazine. They have some really good ones.

This year I moved a sleeping Drew from his bed and put him into Mallory's empty crib (she has been sleeping in a toddler bed for two weeks). He was quite befuddled to wake up in the middle of the night to unfamiliar surroundings.

I squirted a couple of drops of blue food coloring in Elizabeth's empty glass this morning. I asked her if she wanted a drink of water. She said yes, and I had her watch me as I filled it with tap water. She was so confused at seeing the clear water coming from the faucet turn dark blue in the glass!

I also pulled some good ones on Edward. I filled his Jeep with inflated balloons. He woke up to a party in his car! My favorite, though, was another idea I got from this month's Family Fun. I blew up a balloon but didn't tie a knot in it. I carefully held the unknotted end and closed it in the door leading to the basement. As Edward opened the door, in the dark at 6:00 a.m., to exercise, he was blasted in the chest with a deflating balloon. He said he about wet his pants. Oh, the thought of that has made me giggle all day.

And of course I've been hearing things all day from the kids like, "Mom, you have a spider on your shirt!" and "I have a really sore throat" followed by "APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!" Ross really got Edward this afternoon after the kids' dental check-ups. Edward asked how it went, and Ross replied, "I have two cavities, Elizabeth has three, and Drew has one." MY sweet husband that hates to spend money was VERY annoyed. He was quite relieved to hear, "April Fools." Elizabeth told her speech teacher today that I was going to have a baby. Her teacher excitedly grabbed her and yelled, "What!?" She about had a heart attack when Lizzy informed her, "April Fools." I thought that was a pretty good one.

In years past I also pulled that one on Edward. I had saved a positive pregnancy test (don't ask me why - I've since pitched it) and presented it to Edward one year when Drew had just turned one. Again, he was relieved to hear, "April Fools."

Another one of my favorites was the time I took a message for Edward when he was gone. I told him a Mr. Lyon had called and asked for him to call him back. The name didn't sound familiar to him. He didn't think it was a client. So he called the number I had written down and heard, "Hello, St. Louis Zoo. How can I direct your call?" Luckily he didn't have to ask to speak to Mr. Lyon before he figured it out. ;)

My favorite prank of all wasn't actually on April Fool's Day. My sister's family had been in Nashville for the weekend visiting her sister-in-law's family. While they were gone, I took a queen size white sheet and spray painted in big red letters, "WELCOME HOME ANDREA AND TOMMIE - 2005 NASHVILLE SQUARE DANCING CHAMPIONS." We snuck over to their house about an hour before they were to arrive home, and we hung it up on their house for all their neighbors to see. Later that night, I got a call from a hysterically laughing Andrea telling me, "Guess what our neighbors did?!?!" She proceeded to tell me about the sign, thinking all along it was their next door neighbors. At that point I just had to go along with it and laugh too. She hung up with me, and I decided I wouldn't fess up if she didn't figure it out. A few minutes passed, and she called me back, laughing even harder, asking if it was us. I confessed, and she told me after she called me the first time, she called her neighbor (thinking she was the culprit) and said excitedly, "Bonnie! Guess what? We just got home from the Nashville Square Dancing competition, and we won first place!" A stunned Bonnie just said, "Oh?! Um, congratulations." It was then that they figured it wasn't the neighbors. I don't think I'll ever be able to top that one! It was priceless.

Happy April Fooling!