I love April Fools Day.

There were so. many. pranks.  And it was really awesome.

We started by turning the furniture upside down and freezing their bowls of cereal.  Once they discovered the frozen cereal, I gave them new bowls but with food coloring under the cereal, so the milk changed colors when I poured it.  

I also saran wrapped the toothpaste tube and squeezed dish soap on the inner rim of the toilet so it would fill with bubbles when they flushed.  There were a couple other gems during the day, but the last one was our backwards dinner/dessert.  It was so fun!  Dinner was "grilled cheese" - slices of cinnamon swirl pound cake with orange-dyed icing in between.  Then I buttered the bread and grilled it like a grilled cheese sandwich.  Dessert was "cupcakes" - meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top and a cherry tomato.  The kids loved that we got to have a treat before dinner. :)

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We cannot let our suspicions and our doubts run wild, or else we will destroy ourselves.

Icefall

GREEN

Remember how I told you we're (I'm) kind of obsessed with the Olympics at our house?

Well, the same thing goes for St. Patrick's Day.  Only emphasis on the "I'm" - Joel's celebration of St. Patrick's Day is to purposely NOT wear green.  (Don't worry, he always gets pinched.)

Also, do you remember this book?

I thought so!  Eating green eggs and ham on St. Patrick's Day has been my family's tradition for my entire life, so now it's Joel and my family tradition, too!  Well, mostly my tradition.  But watch out, world!  When we have kids, our house will be filled with green eggs and ham!

It's so fun, though.  All growing up, my mom went to great lengths to make sure everything we ate on St. Patrick's Day was green - our water, milk, butter, sandwiches (green bread and green tuna), etc.  It makes everyone jealous when you show up in the cafeteria with a green sandwich - ask any of my classmates - and it's also really exciting to prepare for.  Last night we had some family over for dinner, so in true My-maiden-name fashion, we had green everything!  Normal-colored juice and clementines for those guests who were wary of so much green, and green for everyone else.  

Green eggs, green ham, green toast (I made bread and dyed the dough green), green butter, milk with green food coloring next to it (Joel asked that I not dye the entire gallon, so we dyed our individual glasses of milk), and pie made with green apples.  Yum!  

For those of you whose St. Patrick's Day is corned beef and cabbage,

you're missing out.

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“He is wanting paying for his work, sir.”

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

We want some mo, we want some mo, we want some mo!

This is one of my favorite movies.  I grew up watching it, quoting it, its soundtrack was the first CD I  ever bought myself...  I love it.  It's one of the only movies I could finish and then immediately start over.  One of my siblings' favorite stories, especially when teasing our parents, is about this movie.  Once, when we were younger, all the kids were home and my parents were at the grocery store or someplace.  When we finished our homework / chores for the evening, we wanted to watch a movie.  It was 9:00, though, and we knew that, 1) Mom and Dad would be home soon, and 2) when they got home, we'd have to turn off the TV and go to bed.  But one of us was smart and remembered this movie, which is also one of my mom's favorites.  So we made a non-monetized bet - if we started this movie, even at 9:00, Mom and Dad would let us stay up to finish it.  

They got home at 9:15.

Worked like a charm.

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"In fanciful stories people can talk to the birds freely, and I wish for the moment I could pretend that this was such a story, and say that Peter replied intelligently to the Never bird; but truth is best, and I want to tell only what really happened."  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

stockings

here

One of the current topics of discussion on blogs I read right now is new stocking styles.  I think it's more fun when everyone has their own stocking that never changes than to make/buy new stockings every year to match the decorations in your house.