The Last April First...

While we were in Utah, our first April Fools Day without G'ma Trudy happened. I decided I needed to have a little reminder sign in the driveway, as the house hadn't sold yet...and we knew everyone would be looking in her yard, out of habit on April 1st. Jerry was a good sport to put up the signs for me ONE MORE TIME. A sweet last chapter to this story.

April Fools--2023

APRIL FOOLS 2023!!! Thirty-five years ago I was iwth G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy when Papa pulled over on the side of the road and cut a twig off of a weeping willow growing in a ditch line. He went home and stuck it in the mud by their creek, and it GREW! This spring they're having to cut this massive willow down as it cracked down the middle during a winter storm. So this year's prank gives a shout out to the ultimate tree propagator, Papa LeRoy, whom we miss greatly.

 

April Fools Day--2022

This year G'ma had a STUFFED ANIMAL SLEEPOVER at her house for April Fools Day.  Kids were invited to bring a stuffed animal to spend the night beside G'ma, in Papa's roomy chair.  So many of the great-grandkids had sent stuffies, and GASB came up with armfuls of animals to join the party.  Next year, if the company comes, someone needs to make sure G'ma has enough cake and ice cream!  :)

April Fools at School

My board eraser thought that this would be a good trick for Friday, 4/1.  I giggled.  I took a few pictures, as this was the last day that my Th/Fri kids would be only mine.  Starting after break, we were able to bring all students back with masks and 3 ft between desks.  So these were my last moments with my "soccer team" of eleven...

Nessa?  Or that witch from the west?

Happy (April 1st) Birthday, G'ma Trudy!!!

Oh, man, this year was fun!  G'ma's birthday fell on April 1st this year!  And the kids at Guardian Angel took a field trip to help her celebrate.  Ha, ha, ha!  Ice cream cake, elementary school well-wishes, and honking cars made the day even better than I ever could've planned!  :)

 

Hybrid and Learn-from-Home days...and Abby turns 17!!!

Teaching days for me...a practice learn-from-home day for the boys...a remote learning day for MS/HS students, and Jeff chose THIS DAY to take a "mental health day" to teach from home...where the Van Sickles came to join the Lochheads in their learning!  While at work, I heard all about (and got calls and texts) Phil the Life Coach took the kids to Chic-fil-A drivethru for lunch...after Bob Ross crashed Mr. DREW Lochhead's English class online!  Oh, my goodness, the fun.

A Fizzie's dinner with GG!

Abby turned 17...we love living close by!!!

And G'ma Trudy's birthday falls on APRIL FIRST this year!!!  Oooh, here comes some fun...
 

Week Three of Quarantine

Heidi and I were comparing kitchen conditions as a result of having everyone home 24/7.  We are always eating and making special treats!

Delicious dinners--Justin brought over some meat for Jeff that he'd smoked...

Micah was busy working on packets and sending pictures to his teacher.

And I was busy planning April Fools Day!  This year seemed to plan itself.  :) After painting posters I met Levi in Rosalia for the pass off...they were so great to put them up for me.  G'ma Trudy was surprised, although she had to be told what TP'ing was...ha!  Also found out that BOTH spellings are correct: canceled and cancelled.  Which one looks better to your eye?  I had to pick the one that most people recognize as correct--I didn't want anyone thinking there'd been a typo on the posters! :)

We sang happy birthday to Lauren on 3/30--lots of creative Pandemic Party options were surfacing...

Homemade pizza and cozy nightime reading

March hailstorms!  We love these.  As long as the crops are okay...

Soba noodles and Battleship

Colin and Linnea happened to be drinking tea in their Ellie mugs WHILE I WAS DRINKING TEA IN MY LINNEA MUG.  For real.

Classic Pandemic work day scene.  Chromebooks, games, tea mugs, crap on every counter.  :)

And secretly this week...we'd been in contact with a breeder in Plains, MT.  After WEEKS of searching and researching, we were ready to make the plunge.  When we inquired if any of the three pups were still available, Dora said they were down to one: Stella.  She wasn't ready to come home for another week or so, but we wanted to lay our eyes on her before we put money down.  So...we made the decision to drive to Plains to go see this cute pup the next day...and spent the rest of the night worrying about what we'd just done...  :)  Our Sweet Nessa was starting to be ours!