April Fool's Has Gone To The Dogs

April Fool's Day is a glorious excuse to play really good practical jokes on my family and friends. Usually, I don't bother trying to "get" Mike because he knows me so well. So I had pretty much assumed that pulling the wool over my hubby's eyes was impossible. But not this year. Oh I got him so good!!! Read on if you appreciate a good practical joke, are a fan of April Fool's Day or just want to hear about Mike gettin' tricked!

April Fool's Day was on a Friday this year. So, on Thursday I started talking about this dog I "found"on KSL.com. It was a little Pomeranian, so cute, it had all of it's shots and I really, really wanted to go pick it up...plus it was free to a loving home. Mike of course says, "No." Meanwhile I keep talking it up like it was a good idea and I made sure to leave the conversation open, hoping he understands just how much I want this dog.

The day before I had talked to our neighbor down the street, who happens to own a cute, little Pomeranian. I asked her if we could "borrow" her dog around 5pm on Friday for a twenty minutes or so, just long enouch to convince Mike I had got a dog. She said I could and agreed it was a pretty good trick.

Friday comes and at 12:30pm I call Mike. This is how it played out:

Me: "Hi Honey, call me before you leave work today because we have a surprise for you."

Mike: "Oh. Okay then this is me calling you because I'm leaving early today."

Me (to myself): "Oh crap - I hope the dog's available."
Me (to Mike): "Okay see you soon."

I run down to see if I can get the dog earlier than expected now. Thankfully he was available but only for the next few minutes because the owner was leaving soon. We just barely made it!

Mike pulled up and I pretty much dragged him to the backyard to witness the surprise. While he was on his way home the kids and I had enough time to work up a little story: "This was our new dog, it's a girl and we named her Peaches. We picked her up this morning while he was at work and she was free." The kids did a great job of playing along.

Mike was beside himself! This is how the rest of the joke played out:

Mike sees the dog: "What is that?!"

Me and the kids: "It's our new dog, Peaches."

Mike: "No. No. It has to go back! You did this with the cat Gail!"

Me: "Mike it will be fine. It's a little dog, which means little poops. The kids and I will take care of her."

Mike: "No. No. NO! I don't want a dog! Ya, little poops which means you don't see it until...oops too late, you've stepped in it. NO. NO. NO."

Me: "Kids, what were we supposed to tell Daddy if he got mad."

Mike (finger pointed at me and in a hushed tone): "Don't suck them into this..."

Me and Kids: "April Fool's! That's not Peaches it the neighbor's dog, Pippin!"

Mike (red face now erased, vein in forehead back to normal size and not pulsing anymore): Oh, that's Pippin. Come here Pippin! Good dog."

We're still talking about it! It was a pretty good trick. In fact Mike saw our neighbors walking Pippin the other day and he shouted out his window:

"Hey that's my dog!"

What's Wrong With This Picture?!

Moriah! You've already had a bath!

Doesn't the expression on her face speak volumes?

This didn't happen on April Fool's Day

BUT it really should have...it really should have!

All the kids have done this very same thing at one point or another in their

babyhood/toddler years. And though I'm tired of messes like these, I still have to run for the camera because I know I'd regret not capturing this moment in time.

Besides, how would they ever believe me when I tell them what

little stinkers they were if I don't have photographic evidence?

Birthday Bowling

Her face says it all...Yes, we had a great time. Happy Birthday Wes!

This is my "little" brother Wes, I use the word "little" sarcastically because this boy towers over me like a skyscraper. He recently turned 32 and my sister organized a little birthday bowling outing.

Thanks Co!

Here are the highlights:

Another Strike!What a cute smile! "It's not too heavy..."

Ramps! Highly Recommended, even for some of us "grown ups"

Death To The Bunny

That dreaded day finally arrived...

A couple of weeks ago Emma came upstairs and announced she needed to speak with me in private. I calmly agreed we could talk right after I got the other kids their breakfast, but inside I was freaking out a little, "What's going on now!? Why does she want to talk in private?! Will I know what to say?!" We sat down on my bed and she sheepishly began, "Mom, is the Easter Bunny real?"

INSTANT sigh of relief on my part. I mean I thought she was going to tell me that her little boyfriend kissed her or she found a strange lump on her body or she snuck out of the house the other day. Whew! I can handle a little Easter Bunny confessional, namely because I know him very well...(hee, hee).

So I said, "What do you think Honey? Do you think he is real?" Emma - "Well, I want to believe he's real, but I was in your room the other day, (snooping) and I found this stuff with Easter stuff inside, (yes, the box in my closet that I didn't hide very well - in truth it was an open box in my closet, on the floor, with a blanket thrown over the top of it - nice going Mom)...

Emma continues - "I wasn't trying to find Easter stuff, but I did and now I'm wondering if you and Dad are the ones who..." She trails off but looks up at me with a curious wonder.

Mom - "Mike you'd better come in here!" At this point in the story Mike is just as curious and panicked as I was but he's been outside wondering just what in the world Emma has on her mind. He was probably pacing too.

We all sat down and had a very logical discussion about bunnies who leave eggs, fairies who collect teeth, and yes, even the beloved Santa Claus. She took it well, very well in fact. Especially when we announced that now she could be the Easter Bunny's helper.

At one point in the conversation she boldly stated she wanted to give us each $20 for all the fun things we've given her in the past while working under the false identities of E.B., Tooth Fairy and Santa.

Mom - "Oh no honey, you don't pay us for those gifts, it's just something parents like to do for their children and when you're a mommy you'll do it for your kids."

Dad - "But IF we were settling any "debts", it was a lot more than forty bucks!"

Growing Pains

I'm having growing pains. Not personally, thank goodness. I'm all done growing physically (I hope) in fact I'm working on making my body smaller, not bigger. My Children. I kind of touched on this a little when I was posting about Emma's birthday. I'm having a hard time with just how quickly life seems to be traveling these days. I mean one minute I have a baby, then suddenly I have 4! How did that happen? Okay, before I get any weird e-mails, I know how that happened! I just mean, how did that happen so fast. One minute I'm overjoyed because my baby learned how to crawl, the next minute I'm reading her book reports! One minute I'm coaxing my son into his nursery class, the next minute I'm watching him run off to kindergarten without even a wave goodbye! One minute I'm holding Bekah on my lap, the next minute I'm still holding Bekah on my lap...but she's a lot heavier, (she's 4). One minute I'm giving birth to my babiest baby, and then next minute she's telling me "NO!" See what I mean? My father-in-law warned me this would happen! After Emma was born he said, "Now don't blink, because the next thing you'll know, she will be graduating." My mom always used to say, "...just wait 'til they start school, then it will really fly by!" And to tell you the truth I thought they were both full of it! But we all think that as brand new parents don't we!? I mean, we're sleep deprived, our schedule, our life, our "normal" has been totally turned upside down and inside out by this small creature, there's poopy diapers around the clock, toys now invade our living space and I'm supposed to "treasure these moments" because they'll go by fast?! They didn't seem to be going by fast enough at the time! What are all the grandparents smoking? Okay, okay! Now I believe you. And though I'm not too eager to go back to the newborn phase, I am taking in every moment I can with Moriah, our babiest baby. Because now I believe you, mom, dad, aunts, uncles, everyone that warned me this would happen. I understand now, you weren't lying, you weren't just being nostalgic. It really does go by fast! Thanks for the warning, even though it seems very hard to believe at the time the warning is given. I'll try to cherish the next phase of life even more!

GOAL! Well, Not Really

I like to ensure my children have opportunities to try many new things. To help promote that endeavor we signed Bekah up for indoor soccer. She promised to play, seemed very enthusiastic and we even invited her friend to play too. Well, we learned that Bekah doesn't like soccer very much, (not right now at least). Here are some highlights of the two games she played before we let Emma finish out the season, (on an older team of course).

Warming Up Taking a Break

"Cheese"

Getting ready to kick the ball.

And we're done...

I Don't Know Much...

You know the lyrics to that song: "I don't know much...but I know I love you"? I must admit, sometimes I feel that way as I'm raising the next generation. I don't always understand everything they do, I don't know why they do what they do, (other than creative imaginations and to get a good laugh out of mom and dad). BUT I do KNOW that I love them! Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I told Aaron to go get dressed and he came back wearing his pants on his head and he had stuck his legs in his shirt sleeves and wore that like pants-slash- skirt. Did I let him leave the house like that? No way! But maybe I should have...some lessons would be better learned if I didn't protect them from the natural consequence. Like people staring! I did manage to take a few pictures though, for the blog, and future blackmail when he's a teen. Hey, I may not know much, but I do remember the teen years, I will be well stocked with plenty of embarrassing material to coax them into doing my bidding.