April 1st, April Fool’s Day, is one of those days that is BIG in our home. It’s a holiday worth celebrating in our books because the focus is on laughter, a great sense of humor, and creativity (which are all traits we find important)! Life is serious enough…so a day like today I, along with the rest of the family, welcome with open arms! This year we seized the chance to throw one on Baylee and Nathan that wouldn’t probably work any other year but this. We gave them “chicken pox!” It was perfect timing because a sweet friend that came over for a playdate over Spring Break ended up coming down with them just a few days after our time together. So, the kids were exposed (although I was not concerned about it at all) and were asking questions a lot and pointing out any blemish or mark on their body asking, “Is this one mommy?” After hearing that question many times, it sparked the idea to give Chicken Pox to Baylee and Nathan. Owen was left out on this one because we didn’t think he’d “get it” so instead, I put Jon’s underwear in his drawer. That move actually made me laugh a lot because Owen commented when getting dressed for the day, “Mommy, my underwear grew last night!” as he kept pulling them up, letting go, and watching them fall to his ankles (over and over again).
About midnight, once Jon got home from work, we snuck into their rooms with a washable red marker. Both Baylee and Nathan were on their sides sleeping which at first appeared to be a challenge. Gently, we put the suspicious dots on one side of their tummies, faces, arms, legs, etc. As if we commanded them to move, immediately after we were finished and baffled on how we were going to pox the other side, each rolled, taking that dilemma away! So funny…so easy!
The kids slept in today. It was torture for me. Finally Baylee woke up. As she appeared at the top stair she said, “Very funny mommy, I didn’t fall for it!” And the laughter began from both of us. In fact, she did “fall for it”…but not for long after she did a quick glance over and thought about it. A few had smeared too, leaving a weird trail along her body. Nathan, on the other hand, once he woke, was convinced that he did have them and very upset he was going to have to miss school. Seeing tears of disappointment in his eyes, I relieved him of his worries apap. Tears and April Fool’s Day are not an okay combination!
When it was time for Baylee and Nathan to ‘de-pox’ before going to school they were in store for another trick on them with their sinks. Jon and I unscrewed their faucets after poxing them and placed those bath colored tablets inside then screwed it all together. So when the kids turned on their water, instead of their normal water coming out, bright colored water flowed down. Hot pink and turquoise filled the sinks pretty quickly which shocked them and left them in awe to figure that one out!
They weren’t safe from Mommy’s and Daddy’s antics when at school either. Inside their lunch boxes, I did a swithcheroo. I bought individual bags of crackers and cookies which was a big treat themselves. However, prior to packing them, I slowly opened each variety, emptied out the contents, switched the treat, then resealed the bags with double stick tape. So, their Oreo bag had crackers and their cracker bags had Oreos. Notes saying, “Happy April Fool’s Day” were inside each bag.
Later that night, before bed we did one last thing. On top of their toothbrushes, instead of their toothpaste, we put cake frosting to resemble a toothpaste consistency. It was a shocker to their tastebuds.
Somehow the kids gave in and didn’t do too much on us. We had heard them scamming about it for months but something clicked in them that convinced them not to do it. It was a sweet way to end our day together.
Do me a favor please? Just pretend that it’s April 2008 (not 2009) as you read this so you don’t think I’m a horrible mom.
(Owen, Cocoa, and Colton)
(Owen and Ross)
(Something real cool...our cousins Jennifer and Zephyr were able to come to the party from California. It was awesome being together!)
(Colton on the bottom, cousin Zephyr, Nathan, cousin Carlie, Sabrina, Ross Jr., Baylee, cousin Blake, and Owen)
(Cousin Zephyr, Ross Jr., Colton, and Owen)
While at Disneyland, Jon received a message on his phone from the City of Gilbert letting him know my brother’s memorial bench arrived and was already delivered to the park and cemented in (way before schedule)! What a gift from God to have something like that to look forward to back in Arizona.
The bench was only possible because of so many generous friends, strangers, and family that donated items for me to sell in a memorial garage sale. I will forever be grateful for that! God bless you all!
(Look carefully at the nose)
God’s blessed us with wonderful friends in our lives that cheer us on, inspire us, teach us, and guide us. The Roberts family is definitely one of those blessings! Before Christmas 2008, on Erica’s blog, she posted that her family established a mascot for them and it happened to be good ol’ Kermit the Frog. So cute! I remember thinking, “That’s a neat idea,” but shortly after the ‘read’, it went to the back of my mind. Months went by and another state. On day one at Disneyland, as the Kempiak Party of Five stood in line at Peter Pan, Jon noticed the Roberts ‘5some’ behind us some ways in line too and attached to their backpack was Kermit. Jon asked me about the green little fella and I explained. Right away Jon insisted that we buy a mascot too (assuming we would when we arrived back home). Without even looking for one, we came across the little critter we needed for our family. I’d like to introduce to you, Cocoa Kempiak (the non gender, ever so cute family mascot). He’s already loved very much and we know he’ll be on some mighty adventures with us, whether on backpack like this trip or in another fashion. Isn’t he adorable? More about Cocoa another time…as life goes on…
P.S. This mascot thing is too much fun! We were even able to find an antenna decoration that looks like Cocoa to us.
