"Tricker Buddies" The Megow Art of Pranking

In our house, being a part of the “Tricker Buddies” is a big deal. It’s the most prestigious organization to be a part of in our house. There are a few others, but this one is the one everyone strives to be a member of. Stevie sort of runs the club and is in charge of admitting new members. Currently, it’s just her, me and Titus. Neela still has “pledge” status. Gaining membership to the Buddies is similar to the “Finer Things Club”. If you don’t know this reference, you are missing out on my favorite shows of all time.

Neela's Animal Rescue Club is my safety.

Speaking of the “The Office”, let’s get down to what the Tricker Buddies is all about… PRANKS! Ever since I was little, I loved playing pranks on people. One of my earliest memories of pranking is that I remember that right before we left lunch in school (probably 1st grade); I shoved all of the rest of the food (sandwich, chips, and fruit snacks) and chocolate milk in my mouth. Right after lunch, we all went to the bathroom and then out to recess. So I spend about 15 minutes swishing all of that food and milk in my mouth. When we got out to recess, I remember sitting by the swings and continuing to churn this food in my mouth until I got a nice chunky texture. Then I ran in front of my teacher and pretended to puke up all of that stuff right in front of her. Hahaha. I remember just laughing and running away. She just stared at me and didn’t ever say a word. Secretly, I think she thought it was hilarious and was trying not to laugh.

So naturally, it got kind of passed down to my kids. Stevie is normally so sweet and serene; however, I can pretty much guarantee, that if you give each of my kids a dollar and let them pick out a cheap little toy, she will be the one that picks out a squirting flower or whoopee cushion. She’s always up for a prank.

The classic “snake in the cinnamon rolls” for our guests :D

Her favorite and most classic pranks is probably setting out fake cockroaches. Stevie loves setting them out on the counter, putting them on people’s food, or placing them on sleeping people. We always kind of encouraged her little harmless pranks. I mean, I teach her when to let off or who is “cool” with pranks. Some people just don’t like it. But she ALWAYS loves it.

The fake roaches she likes to use

One of Stevie's other favorite pranks is borrow someone's phone, to take a screenshot of the home-screen, put that picture up to view, and hand the phone back to them. She thinks it's hilarious to watch them click the picture of the home-screen waiting for apps to open up. She actually thought of that one herself. ;) Proud dad moment. 

Titus would legit spend every penny he owns on prank/magic toys. Anything from a piece of shocking chewing gum to whoopie cushions, that kids freaking loves to get people. I have to say that I've been pretty impressed by the amount of work, he will put into pulling a prank. Two years ago in school I had a parent teacher conference with his teacher. He was just learning to write. She was and is amazing; Titus and I both adored her. Anyways during the conference, the teacher showed me an assignment Titus had submitted. The project was for them to write what they did over spring break. This was what Titus turned in...

"I went on the potty. I poop."

As she slid it across the table, I of course had to fight back the urge to guffaw. I look over at him and he's has his head down on the table dying laughing. So biting my lips trying to be super serious, look at him and tell him that this isn't an appropriate thing to submit at school. So after wrapping up the meeting and walking to car, I look at him and ask why he turned that it. He looks at me confused and said, "Uhhhh... because it was hilarious. I totally got my teacher." That's one thing about growing up with a single dad. Poop jokes are always hilarious and a part of life. 

On April Fool's Day 2018, this was Titus's prank. I thought it was ingeniously frustrating. hahaha 

Or this one he pulled last Christmas season...

Speaking of Christmas, something about the holidays really brings out the pranksters in the Megows. I used to love to prank my Mimi’s Christmas party. I haven’t done it lately because most of my family moved away, and also I don’t really have a current adult partner in crime. But back to Mimi’s Christmas, I think we pranked her Christmas three years in a row. One year, I switched out her popular banana pudding for an identical one I made the night before but substituted salt for sugar. I remember sneaking into her house so I could match the container and topping perfectly. Holy crap, it was disgusting and hilarious. The year after that I remember that during the middle of opening presents, I sneakily turned off all the lights to make it pitch black dark, blasted Carol of the bells by the Trans-Siberian string orchestra, flipped on a big black light, and took of my shirt to reveal that I drew a giant Christmas tree all over my body. I kind of just danced around the room as a blacklight Christmas tree while my family just sat confused and wondering why I was so weird.

Before the blacklight kicked in...

And after :D hahaha.

This junk was so funny to me

But my favorite prank that got pulled at Mimi’s Christmas was when we switched all the gifts. I remember sneaking over in the middle of the night and “borrowing” the same rolls of wrapping paper she used to wrap her gifts and sneaking it back to our room. We stayed up the night before wrapping up random and pretty awkward gifts. Anyways, before the Christmas party started, I hid the real presents for my fake ones. At Mimi’s Christmas, the gift opening is a big deal, so everyone all sits around Mimi and opens the presents she got them. I can’t find the pictures (ughh, they are hilarious), but I remember giving my dad a purse from Mimi, giving my cousins shoulder pad sweaters and canned vegetables, and my favorite my mom opened up some kind of sexy flavored lotion (from her mom). I freaking died. The reason it was really funny is that some years at Christmas she can’t get out shopping and buying the gifts, so she gives her home assistants money and haves them buy the presents. Everyone just kind of believed these were their actual gifts from Mimi and so did she. HAHAHAHA. When my dad opened that purse, I think that’s the hardest I have ever seen him laugh in my life. When everyone figured out it was just a joke, I just blamed my sister. Of course, everyone knew it was me, but I enjoyed poking fun at Claren (my sister) being the mastermind behind it. Love you Claren :D (Side note, my sister is getting married!! So a big congratulations on the soon to be Ben and Claren Stickley)

You can bet your butt that I'm switching out some wedding gifts ;)

Probably one of my favorite pranks is to swipe people’s phones, switch my contact name in their phone, and delete our past text messages. That way you can text them and you can choose who you want to be in their phone. So when you text them, you come up as someone else. I remember doing this one year on Thanksgiving morning to my mom. She had a friend that recently moved to another state so I snuck her phone, changed my contact name to be her friends name, deleted our olds texts, and sneakily placed the phone back. After a few minutes, I sat in the next room over and started having some fun. (Now remember, my mom is pretty much a gourmet chef. She takes her cooking and events VERY seriously. So a small change of plans can kind of derail the event in her mind.) Considering that I just couldn’t resist. Hahaha. It seems I’m apologizing a lot to my female family members. Love you too Mom!!  You’re the best! :D Thanks for putting up with my dumb crap all these years. Anyways, here’s kind of how the text conversation went:

Remember I was pretending to be her friend from out of town and this was about 11am before a 2pm Thanksgiving lunch. If you have ever met my mom, you will really be able to find the humor in this ;)

Me: Hey Denise

Mom: Hey

Me: What are you doing?

Mom: Just cooking thanksgiving lunch for about 14 people. Pretty busy.

Me: Oh really. Ok I will let you go.

About 15 minutes later

Me: Hey Denise, would it possible if I came to your Thanksgiving lunch? I don’t have anywhere to go.

Mom: Ummm… I guess so. I think I will have enough food for one more person.

Me: Great! However, my car is broken. Can Tom (my dad) come and pick me up? (She lived about 3 hours away)

Awkward pause in texting. My mom is yelling to my dad “You’ll never believe what _____ is texting me right now!” and I’m just dying laughing in the next room over.

Mom: I don’t think that’s an option. We just don’t have the time to drive that far. Feel free to come next year though. Ok. Really busy cooking. Got to go.

Me: Ok. I understand. Talk to you later. Hope you guys have a great thanksgiving.

I wait another 15 minutes until things really start to get busy in the kitchen

Me: Hey Denise

My mom loses it

Mom: Yes?

Me: Good news. I found a ride. Could you feed more than just me if someone brings me?

Mom: I suppose… I’m really busy cooking.

Me: Great. I called the women’s group from my church and they all agreed it would be fun to take a trip up in the church van and eat with your family.

Mom: What? How many people?!!

Me: I think there are 10 of us.

Mom: Ok. This isn’t going to work! I don’t have enough food for that many people NOR places for them to sit!

Me: Ok.

Waits another 10 minutes

Me: Hey Denise

Mom: No Response

Me: We decided that we will still just make the trip up and just share one big plate and just eat it in the van parked in your yard.

Now, my favorite part of this prank is normally people get so frustrated they usually just end up calling this person who keeps texting them this crazy stuff. The sweet thing about smart phones is that they can do that straight from the text messages screen. So they just click “call” and it dials your number! :D hahaha.

So I hear my dad coming in trying to calm her down, and he suggests she just call her and call the whole thing off. She when I hear this, I walk into the kitchen and when she calls my phone rings and I answer it by saying “This is ______” in front of her. HAHAHA. She didn’t immediately find the humor in this prank. But I’m pretty sure, she thinks it’s a classic thanksgiving memory ;)


Be Blessed and Be a Blessing
Seth

"Our Dirty Table"

Occasionally when people see our dining room table for the first time, they do a double take and say something like "Hahaha. Pretty evident you have kids, huh?" What they are saying is that my table is pretty messy. It's covered in dried paint, superglue spots, dents, sticker remnants, scratches, permanent marker drawings, etc.

I'll admit when the kids were little and this table was brand new, I was pretty paranoid about it getting messed up. I wanted it to be perfect and clean since it's one of the first things people see when they walk into our house. However over the years, I've really grown to love its unique look.

A few nights ago I couldn't sleep, so I was just walking around the house praying/thinking as I sometimes do, when I sat down at our table... After sitting there for awhile, I began to pick out certain little spots and remember the craft/activity/project associated with each one. It was probably about midnight at that time and to be honest, I was getting a little emotional thinking about all of the good times we've shared together sitting around this somewhat cheap piece of wood from Big Lots.

As I continued to just sit and inspect the little stains, I couldn't help but smile. Specific memories started to flood my brain:

The birthday party spot

Megow mecca for art

 

The "more than occasional" location to check out new critters 

Science Experiment Headquarters

 Princess tea party castle

"School permission slip torture night" buddy

Bible time table (my fave)

Late-night friend sleep over snack station

Seasonal Central

 

Easter Eggs are my favorite activity!

Making crystal Christmas tree ornaments

 

   Pen pal shipping/receiving dock

Where I witnessed each 

of them learn to read

THE spot to build fun costumes

 Where the first Megow kid original story was penned 

A cast member in the best Mannequin Challenge ever

  Homemade toy creation warehouse

Nature Invention Center

 

 

  Family Meeting Location

 

 Doug (our dog)'s first adoption party

 

A runway to unveil new fashion trends 

And finally a trap to catch Bigfoot

That quiet time at our table was a great reminder to not get stressed about how perfect or clean my house might be. It was also something that helped remind me that other people's perception of certain things in my life shouldn't define how I perceive them. Although some might see this as a piece of furniture that needs to be replaced with a nicer, newer table, I love the fact that all of these stains and imperfections bring me joy. I am super thankful I paused a moment and was reminded to be grateful for not only the wonderful memories the kids and I made together, but also all of the blessings that have been afforded to us to make those memories. I'm so grateful for our dirty table :)

 Isn't it so neat how God plants these tiny little seeds of joy and encouragement for us to discover as they bloom?

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
Seth

Soccer!

I grew up playing soccer. I wasn't really that good, but my parents were super supportive and always signed me up, drove me to practices/games, and cheered from the sidelines at every game. I mean I was decent on defense, but I'm just not blessed with hardly any athletic ability at all. Also, I loved the idea of being the team morale support officer/bench entertainment. I viewed my job as critical. When all of the good kids were on the bench resting, I could help them relax by cracking some sweet jokes, pretend farting, or something similar. I remember one childhood soccer memory super vivid:

I was picking blackberries by the edge of the woods near the soccer field and I start hearing people screaming my name (not in a good way, haha). "Crap. I remember I was supposed to be playing in the game," I think to myself. Then I sprint back to the field, but I didn't want to lose my blackberries that I was picking and holding in the bottom of my jersey like I basket, so I kinda kept holding the bottom of my jersey up to keep all of the blackberries from spilling out as I ran to the field and jumped back in the game. It was then I realized that I probably wouldn't fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a professional soccer player... 

So all of that being said, when I told my parents I was going to coach Titus and Olive's soccer team this year, my mom fell out laughing. hahaha

This was not only my first year coaching, but it was also Titus and Olive's first time ever playing. I mean we've kicked the ball around in the backyard, but that's it. Titus was kinda pumped about it, but he loves basketball much more and viewed this as a placeholder until b-ball season started again. Olive on the other hand was mega excited! It was fun that they could play on the same team, plus their age group was the "non competitive" league which I loved. My goal as a coach was to make sure all of the kids learned about the sport, enjoyed the sport, and got to play the sport. I'll 100% honest that I wouldn't be a great "play to win" coach. I would much rather have the kids when they are young and get them excited about playing. So my plan was to balance the learning aspect with the fun aspect. Also, this league didn't have goalies and the coaches got to run around on the field with the kids. It just all sounded super fun and good exercise for me too. hahaha

Long before the season started, I wanted us to be "The Thunder" simply so we could blare 'Thunderstruck by AC/DC' as our official team anthem. I picked yellow jerseys at the coaches meeting because duh...  I also thought it would be fun to make a team flag and have all of the kids sign it. So before the first practice Olive and I built a flag out of felt, some paint, and PVC pipes. It worked out pretty great and all of the kids on the team enjoyed it too! Another fun idea was to get giant banners for the team to run through every game. So each game we had a decorated banner for the kids to bust through. Sometimes, we had kids volunteer to make the banner and bring them to the next game (which I thought was the funnest idea EVER!) In my head, I knew we wouldn't be the 'best team', but I wanted us to be the 'fun team'. Each game the captain of the team got to carry the flag through the banner and around the field after the game. It was super fun!!

The Team!!!!

A banner made by a player

One of our banner run-throughs!!! 

The kids on the team were seriously so so great. I really got attached to each one of them. They all tried so hard each game. Another minor (and secret) coaching achievement I set in my head was that I wanted each kid on the team to score a goal, and they did it! I believe our team record was 3 wins, 2 ties, and 2 losses. I'm not ultra sure, but I do know it was a great season.

One more thing that made it extra great was the support our team had more the parents and also our TEAM SPONSORS!!! We were the only team in the league to have a sponsor and I'm so thankful we had them. They were Chris and Jami from C-Tech Water Solutions (check them out here for more info). Besides being legit the kindest people I have ever met, their daughter was one of players as well. I liked them from the very beginning. Their company bought equipment for the team, brought snacks/drinks to practices, paid for every kid's trophy and meal at the end-of-season-banquet. I needed some extra eyes on the field during practice and had to miss one game at the very beginning of the season, so I asked Chris if he minded being assistant coach and filling in for me that game as well.  BEST. DECISION. EVER. Coach Chris was amazing. I freaking love that guy. (Probably not as much as the kids though!) He was always smiling and eager to help. Truthfully, I think Olive liked him more than me. Hahaha.

Also, Coach Chris came up with our official team slogan 

"FEEL THE BOOM!"

Like I said earlier our team record was 3-2-2, but what I didn't say is that didn't count our last game. Right before our last match of the season, we figured out the other team didn't show up so they gave us the option of just playing ourselves. Since we had 8 players that game, we just did 4 on 4. I took half and Coach Chris took half. That "game against ourselves" was probably my favorite moment of soccer I've ever experienced in my life. I think it was 40 minutes of straight laughter from the entire team, sideline of parents, and the coaches. The very last quarter of that game, we did coaches vs players. It was just pure, wholesome joy on the field. It topped our season off with just the best experience ever for everyone involved.

Players vs 'Crabwalking' Coaches

We had our team banquet at a local pizza place/arcade (shout-out to our team mom for organizing that and the snack schedule for each game!!!) Each kid got a trophy (courtesy of C-Tech) and an award from Coach Seth. The awards were super silly and fun.

Here's the award Olive won. hahah

Seriously though, aren't these two just so cute :)

I would love to keep coaching every season in the future; however, time just doesn't permit it. One day when my kids are grown and gone, I'm just going to be a little kid soccer coach each season. It's really such a fulfilling experience that I think everyone should try at least once.

Be Blessed, Be a Blessing, and GO THUNDER!!
"Coach Seth"