Wednesday was April 1st or better known as April Fools Day (or All Fools Day).  A big day in the calendar year for all you jokesters out there to play pratical jokes on your family and friends.  Did you kow that in some countries such as; UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa the jokes only last until noon?  After that anyone who plays a trick on someone is call an “April Fool”.  Of course in the US, Ireland and France the pranks last all day!  So if you’re still in that “prankster” mood check out all the great pranks and gags accessories at HalloweenExpress.com.  There’s something to scare the living daylights out of just about everyone you know!

Today is Friday, April 3rd and there’s only one more Friday (Good Friday) to go before Easter.  Spring is in the air and the tulips are in full bloom.  Another thing in the air is rain – lots of it!  I guess the old adage is true ”April showers bring May flowers”.  It started storming last night and is still raining outside now.  I do love to sleep in a good thunderstorm, though.  I do hate when the lights go out during storms but at night when you’re getting ready to go to bed it’s dark anyway, so I don’t mind if we lose electricity at night. 

Today is also the first day of live racing at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky.  They only have live racing (actual horses running on the track) during April and November.  My nephew goes to the University of Kentucky and a big group of them are all heading over to see the horses and place their bets.  Going to Keeneland is a long running tradition at the University of Kentucky.  Live racing goes through April 24th so if you love horses, love the excitment of the race, and  want to see one of the most beautiful race tracks in the country you have to go to Keeneland!

You still have time to order that Easter Bunny costume I’ve been talking about for weeks to save yourself the headache of waiting in line at the mall for pictures with the Easter Bunny.  Have a family member or friend be your Easter Bunny this year with a great costume from HalloweenExpress.com.

Dr. Seuss’ Read Across America Day is only 24 days away – do you know where your books are?  It’s always held on the first Monday in March and it just so happens that this year it’s on Monday, March 2, which is actually Dr. Seuss’s birthday! 

Dr. Seuss is one of the most beloved children’s authors around the world.  Children everywhere love to read Dr. Seuss.  As a child my mom used to read Dr. Seuss books to me and I followed the tradition and read them to my children and they’ll read them to their children and so on, and so on, and so on…

If you have a lot of children in your neighborhood a great idea is to throw a Read Across America party!  Get all the children together and use the theme of Cat In The Hat to decorate with props and costumes.  Have the children play games and just let them have fun.  When all the games are done, have all the children sit around the room while a mother or father reads aloud from a Dr. Seuss book.   Let them feel like they’re part of it by having them repeat special phrases aloud with you.  

HalloweenExpress.com can help with all your party needs.  Have all the children wear Cat In The Hat Deluxe Hats as they come in the house.  The mother or father who reads to them can add fun to the night by dressing in a Cat In The Hat adult costume.  The children will love it!!  

Dr. Seuss understood how important it is that children love to read.  Now we can do our part by supporting literacy in our own community!   

Well it’s official, Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow…  

According to German folklore, if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the Christian holiday for Candlemas, winter will last another 6 weeks, and that’s exactly what happened this morning in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania at approximately 7:30am.   Every February 2, people gather at Gobbler’s Knob, a wooded knoll just outside of Punxsutawney (btw – Punxsutawney is located in Western Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh), to witness Phil, the groundhog, emerge from its burrow to predict the weather.

I just love the whole idea of this “holiday”.  I’ve always known about Groundhog Day, but never really thought that much about it.  Well that’s not the case in Pennsylvania!  I had no idea that cowds as high as 40,000 people have been gathering together to celebrate Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney since 1886.  And this year they have even more reason to celebrate with the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Superbowl 43 last night in Tampa.  

Here are some more fun facts about Phil the infamous Groundhog:

• His full name is actually “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary”.
• For most of the year, Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library.  He is taken to Gobbler’s Knob and placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out to make his prediction.
• Phil is reported to be more than 100 years old.
• His wife’s name is Phyllis.

Don’t forget that Valentine’s Day is in a couple weeks!  Men, it’s still not too late to pick out a sexy outfit for that special lady in your life.  From sexy to sassy HalloweenExpress.com has what you’re looking for!  And ladies if you want to surprise that special man in your life, well you’ve come to the right place.  Check out all the beautiful Valentine’s Day costumes that will make this February 14th a night to remember!   

I hope everyone enjoyed the month of March – and now we’re heading into April.  Yesterday was the 1st of April or better known as April Fools’ Day!  Although it’s not an actual holiday, people in many countries still love to celebrate it by playing pranks and other pratical jokes on family, friends, neighbors and enemies alike.  April Fools’ Day is a “for-fun-only” day.  We’re not expected to buy gifts or take our loved ones out to a nice dinner and nobody gets the day off work or school.  But no matter how “fun” it is, nobody is safe from pratical jokes.  We’re you an April Fool yesterday?

A little insight into April Fools’ Day around the world:

• France – the person fooled is known as “poisson d’avril” (April fish). This tradition is where you attempt to attach a paper fish to the back of your friends shirt without being noticed.
• Belgium – The Flemish tradition is for children to lock out their parents or teachers, only letting them in if they promise to bring treats the same evening or the next day.
• Poland -  A day full of jokes where various hoaxes are prepared by people of the media.
• United Kingdom – Tradition requires jokes to be played before midday.  If somebody pulls an April Fools’ trick after midday, then the person pulling the trick is actually considered the fool and this rhyme may be chanted:  “April Fool’s has come and gone, who’s the fool that carried on”?

There is a great quote by Mark Twain regarding April Fools’ Day – “The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year”.

With today being February 29, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Leap Day!   Since today’s date only occurs every four years I thought it was worth a mention. 

Ok, how does Leap Year happen?  Well we all know that there are 365 days in a year, but what I bet you didn’t know is that for the earth to make a complete revolution around the sun it takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours.  Therefore, every four years an extra 24 hours has accumulated making it so that one extra day is added to that calendar to keep the count coordinated with the sun’s apparent position.  Pretty wild huh?

Here’s some more fun facts about Leap Year:

• it occurs in years evenly divisible by four
• a person born on February 29 may be called a “leapling”
• a year that is not a leap year is called a common year
• the Egyptians were the first to come up with the idea of adding a leap day once every four years
• the Romans became the first to designate February 29 as the leap day

So there you have it!  Just a little “fyi” on Leap Day that you can think about for the next four years!