Pranks and Cake

For the past week or so, Elizabeth has been teasing me by letting me know she had an April Fool's trick to play on me. I knew Brian was in on it, because he had to get something for her and they were only too happy to talk about it in front of me.
Tuesday night Elizabeth asked me if I was going into Fitness Together to work out Wednesday morning, and when I said, "Yes," she wanted to know when I would be home. I thought she was timing her scheme for sometime in the morning, but Elizabeth said she was just asking because she had a paper I needed to sign before she went to school. Yeah, sure, I thought.
So Wednesday morning when I walked into the house after my workout, I half expected a bucket of water to fall on my head. But nothing fell. And Elizabeth approached me with that paper she needed to have signed. Just like she said. No prank. Hmmmmm.
After school, Elizabeth was just as nice as could be. Nothing unusual about her behavior. We talked for a while and then I left to get the boys. Part of me wondered if the trick was to get me thinking there was going to be a trick, and then to not pull anything on me. You know how I enjoy mind games...It wouldn't surprise me if Elizabeth was playing one with me.
So anyway, I got the boys and we walked home.
This time when I entered the house, Elizabeth was sitting on the couch reading and she asked me if I would cut an orange for her. I said, "You mean you want me to peel it for you?" (This is not an unusual request from my daughter. Though it is one I prefer to shrug off. Honey, you can get your own orange.) But she said, "No. You don't need to peel it. Will you just cut it into quarters for me?"
*Insert begging puppy-dog look.*
What could I do? It was not a big request, so I walked over to the refrigerator and got out an orange for my dear daughter. But when I cut into it, this is what I saw:I have never seen purple mold, and the outside of the orange had looked fine, but I was sure there was something seriously wrong with this piece of fruit, and I squealed, EEEEEWWWWWW!
That's when Elizabeth started laughing, and I knew the joke was on me. She came over to me then and told me this was a Blood Orange and assured me it was fine to eat. We finished cutting it up and ate it together while Elizabeth told me all about the work she put into setting up this little prank.
She's such a doll.

As for dinner, we enjoyed our meatloaf cake. See?When I was finished, I said, "Excuse me. I need to go fix the salads." Joshua said he was too full. I smiled at him and said, "That's OK, honey. You don't need to eat any salad. Just finish your cake." And everyone laughed.

Now I'm wondering what the kids are going to think when I make strawberry shortcake for dinner one night this summer. Really. I heard of some one's grandma doing that and thought it sounded so fun. It can't hurt to do it once! So the next time I make cake for dinner, it will be for real.

Go ahead. Call me crazy.