Pranksters in My House

2016 has eased into 2017, and I've done my traditional reflecting. The popular feeling seems to be that 2016 was a year we'd all rather forget--unless, as my nephew, Brad, pointed out, you're Laurie Hernandez. Not only did she win Olympic Gold in Brazil, she also took home the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy on Dancing with the Stars--go, Laurie! While I may not have won any shiny medals or trophies, I still feel like 2016 was pretty good to me. (Okay, there's that whole election debacle, but that's another blog entirely.)

Awesome Greg's and my "Borrowed Baby," our "Imaginary Granddaughter," Jordyn, came to stay with us in June, and she's completely changed the dynamics in our previously empty nest. We couldn't be happier!

Ever since she was tiny, Jordyn has loved to play tricks, and Greg has always been a favorite target. She used to delight in sneaking up behind him while he was working at his desk, and scaring the hair off his head by yelling "Boo!" then giggling uncontrollably. What is astounding to me is that no matter how many times she did it--sometimes twice in one day--he never expected it.

But now she's older. She has better skills, and a larger repertoire of pranks. She likes to bake. Especially cupcakes...

This one was from the last batch she made. When Greg saw that there were sprinkles involved, he said "Leave one without sprinkles for me, please."

"Okay."

I then watched as she hollowed out the top of a cupcake with a spoon, filled the crater with sprinkles, and then frosted over it. I wish we had a picture of Awesome's face when he bit into that mouthful of crunchy sweetness, but I'm afraid we were both laughing too hard to be concerned about capturing the moment.

But Greg likes pranks, too...

Jordyn planned her 14th birthday party in November. One of her primary activities was going to be making s'mores over a grill. She enlisted her buddy, Greg, to help her find suitable marshmallow-roasting sticks in the woods behind our house. Greg, however, had other plans for his Saturday, and they did not include whittling and carving 20 sticks--if they were able to find that many. He slipped out of the house while Jordyn and her friend, Kinsley, were still sleeping. A quick trip to Lowe's, and he was home with five packs of clean, beautiful sticks. Not wanting to deprive the girls of the thrill of the hunt, though, he went out and taped the packages randomly to trees, then came in to wake them. They donned boots and jackets and willingly headed out...

"Hey, what the...?!"

"Look what we found!"

And the real chocolate on the graham cracker was that during the party, which was held in the parking lot of an apartment complex, a neighbor (another prankster, perhaps?) called the Fire Department. A truck arrived, lights flashing and siren blaring. Fortunately, the guys just laughed when they saw the group of kids and a couple of adults roasting marshmallows over a grill.

Happy birthday to Jordyn--one I'll always remember with a smile.