Please Tell Me...

Please tell me this looks like a juke box. Lie if you have to. I have fifty+ people--half of whom I do not know--coming to my house tomorrow for a "Fabulous Fifties" party for my mother-in-law, and this is supposed to be her cake. As cake decorating goes, it is not one of my finer achievements, and the longer I look at it, the more convinced I become that it doesn't remotely resemble a juke box. Randy is no help. He keeps prancing around it, crying, "It's a juice box, Mommy, a juice box cake for Grandma! It is a BIG juice box!"

I added the music notes to hopefully tip folks off. I can just hear myself tomorrow night:

"Actually, it's a juke box."

"Umm..no...it's a juke box."

"Well, it is supposed to be a juke box. You know, from the fifties?"

When the Moon Hits Your Eye...

Like a big pizza pie, that's amore. Abby and Marina cooked dinner tonight. Homemade pizza ....mmmmmmm.

Friday's Photo Journalism

LAUNDRY AVALANCHE TRAPS YOUNG WIFE AND MOTHER

The friend of a local housewife buried alive in her laundry room said she once described her fate as her greatest fear. "She despised the laundry most of all her household tasks," friend commented through tears. "She used to say: 'Laundry is going to be the death of me yet.'"
Jessica Lynn Su______, 31, was last seen on August 21 when a group of small children allegedly witnessed her entering the laundry room of residence at approximately 10:35, investigators told the EightHearts Enquirer.
“We have a lot of clothes. They stay around the house," son Ian stated. "Some big piles. Some little piles. Some middle-size piles. Some piles are dirty clothes and some are clean." First responders report that it appears one of these "big piles" toppled and crushed the hapless woman under its weight.
While rescue efforts are ongoing, hope for recovering the young woman alive is slipping away. Meanwhile, J_____ S_____, 35, K____ S_______, Abby S______, 8; Ian S_______, 6, Marina Su_______,5 Randy S____________, 3 and Cara S________ 1, have been brought in for questioning and may be held on involuntary manslaughter charges, according to jail officials.
Investigators say they don't believe the husband and children intended to lose wife and mother to the laundry. Nevertheless their actions--or lack thereof--resulted in this tragedy.

Betty Crocker on Steroids

I give you the metamorphosis of the blueberry.

The blueberry as God intended it.

Behold the power of migrant--under age--farm labor. Can you believe we got all these blueberries for $25.00? A dollar fifty a pound. I did a little comparison shopping today at W*llMart, and blueberries were on sale for $1.98 a pint (that's two cups), and that was marked down from $3.35. There is nothing I love better than a good deal, except maybe a great deal, and I'm pretty sure this qualifies. (And yes, Carla, if you are reading, that is your son with the bucket on his head.)

Had the brilliant idea to triple the recipe. You see here the result. I haven't made it in a while, and I guess I forgot how much it makes. The original recipe would have been plenty to make two normal size pound cakes. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to triple this recipe, unless of course you have a few extra soup tureens on hand, plenty of time, and don't mind destroying your kitchen in the process.

And finally: the blueberry as the devil intended it. The stuff is positively SINFUL!

Playing With My New Toy

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Trying to figure out smilebox and if I want to use it for my new, all-digital plan for scrapbooking our family memories. Has anyone reading this post actually printed their smileboxes? If so, please comment. I'd like to know what kind of quality to expect, type of printer used and how much ink you go through before paying for the "premium" membership. I'm wondering, when all is said and done, if it would be any cheaper than Creative Memories Storybooks--which I have also used.

Third Time's A Charm?

I sure hope so! Ian came through his third tube surgery and is doing great. He won't even have to miss school tomorrow. Based on his bounciness this afternoon, he could have made it today, but we let him have his day home. As he came out of surgery, I whispered his name softly, and he turned his head toward me. Probably the first whisper he's heard in months.
My mom came to watch the little ones while we were at the hospital. I wish I could keep her here all week. I really could use a second (and third and fourth) set of hands. Life is CRAZY trying to pack up and move in the church building before the end of the month. Monday my mother-in-law and I mopped the entire fellowship hall floor. WHEW! That's a workout, and took almost an hour. I'm hoping that the time it takes to clean that large of an area will be offset by the increased amount of time between cleanings. It seems that I am constantly having to clean this little house, because we have so many people and possessions crammed into too small a space. Surely, a larger space will mean less frequent need? Otherwise I don't know when I'll sleep.
And ya'll have got to help me think of what to call our new abode. No way can I fulfill my wifely duties in a "church building." But somehow, just calling it "the house," doesn't fit either. It has a steeple and an organ for heaven's sake!

Method to My Madness

How do you clean your house? I'm an erratic cleaner to say the least. It bothers me to do the same thing in the same way every time. That's why I didn't make it as a postal employee. But keeping this house even semi-sanitary requires some organization, and here are a few methods I alternate.

1. Room by room-like Mama taught me. Only, then the work was split among the four of us and I only ended up with one or two rooms. I probably use this way the most, but it has definite drawbacks. For instance if you aren't able to complete the entire house, your left with some spic-and-span rooms and some pig-sty rooms. One pig-sty room ruins the entire house.

2. Daycare clean--the daycare period was by far my shining star for housekeeping. People do not want to leave their children in a messy house, even if their's looks like a tornado went through. You have to keep everything tidy to please your parents and everything must be bleached to please your licensing agent. Following every meal, I swept, immediately cleared and washed dishes, put away food and disinfected tables, chairs and counter tops. Each day after naps, everyone--toddlers and up--put toys away, threw away trash, and followed me from room to room while I vacuumed and dusted. In the evening, I mopped and scrubbed toilets, my own children were not allowed to play inside the house, because they might mess it up before daycare. This method takes discipline and stamina. You must be satisfied with HAVING a clean house, not LIVING in it.

3. 10 Minutes To Clean--The kids and I love this method. We set the timer for 10 minutes and clean like crazy. When the timer stops, we're done with that room and reset the timer and attack the next room. I must resist the urge to continue with the few undone items left. Rules are rules, and if Mom is breaking them, chances are the children will clue in that they are actually working, not playing. The kids are all amazed at how clean the room is after "just 10 minutes." I really ham it up with comments like, "On your mark, get set, clean...." and "Two minutes and counting..." etc. If you use this method occasionally, you will have enthusiastic helpers like I did two Saturday's ago.

4. Lavern Clean-Named after the master's best friend's mother. Who, according to my sources, upon hearing that guests were expected, would pull out large hampers and begin filling them with clutter and mess. Dirty dishes, dirty clothes and all manner of household items were dumped in the hampers...fast. The full hampers went in a closet, and when the door was closed, PRESTO, clean house. I think the drawbacks to this method are obvious, but I've had to use it more times than I care to admit. So if you ever drop by the house on a few minutes notice...don't open any closets. Steer clear of the garage, too. You've been warned.

I'd love to hear your tricks.