Pandora Treasure In A Chinese Take Out Box

Hello!

Remember Pandora's Chest?

Well, according to the

Greek Mythology

Pandora opened her chest

releasing all the evils of the world....

BUT...what you 

MAY NOT KNOW

is that when she closed it she left

HOPE inside.

Where did the HOPE go?

Well, at our school fund raiser

that HOPE went right into

these Chinese take-out boxes.

What are you HOPING for?

Well, you are HOPING you win 

this!

MyHero and I sold the boxes for $15 each.

There were only 50 boxes so you had a

one in 50 chance of winning a Pandora piece.

Last year it was a bracelet.

This year it was a Pandora watch valued

at $150.

Inside each box were gift certificates

worth at least $10-

if you didn't win the watch.

The boxes were left on the table 

until all were sold and then all

opened at the same time while

the emcee made the announcement

of the winner.

My daughter, Ms,T, did a 

wonderful job

organizing the school benefit.

A World Tour

They sold food representing each country.

Look where our booth was...

And it was on St. Patrick's Day to boot!

This was Ms T's second year heading it up.

Last year was the largest fund-raiser

they ever had.

We won't know how much this one

raised for a couple of days.

There were all kinds of donated gifts

for silent auctions.

There was a live auction later.

Look at this!

It's a rather large canvas.

SweetCheeks' class made it.

it is made of their thumb prints.

SweetCheeks thumb print is red.

This sold at the live auction part

for almost $1400!

(names are blurred on purpose for the blog)

A great night all the way around.

And this?

Well, MyHero thought he was going to

sell kisses.

He had his chapstick ready to go...

AND his breath mints.

He was a little disappointed that

they put him the Pandora's Box area.

Too bad, buddy!

There's always next year...

maybe you will have your

own booth then.

Meanwhile- you can practice

puckering up!

I'll be in the booth on your

right selling these....

Sign up now, ladies...

you know how long those

lines can get......

A Belated Irish Blessing

I should have posted this yesterday

when Irish Eyes were

all on beautiful Irish things.

However,

better late than never.

I was not blogging

when my youngest daughter

got married 6 years ago.

My older daughter

(who was carrying SweetCheeks

just under her heart in this picture)

posted this the other day

and I just had to share it.

My oldest son is missing from this

sibling picture.

BUT----Here is:

Mama's Boy, Mimi & MomtoSweetCheeks

I wish my father could have seen 

this beautiful  girl.

He would have said she looked like

an Irish road map.

And so she does.

She is Mom to the two thumbsuckers...

They look pretty Irish to me themselves~

Have a wonderful Monday

and I hope none of you drank too much of this celebrating St. Paddy's day.

and...if you did.....well....

God bless your wee headache!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I grew up in a small 

Irish community in the 

mountains of Pennsylvania.

I don't remember the 

first time I ever heard

this but I heard my Father say

it many, many times over the years.

For all of you that have never

heard it- I think it just might

give you a laugh-

image from here

Ready to smile?

Did you ever walk into an

Irishman's shanty

where money is scarce and whiskey a'plenty?

A three legged stool with a table to match

A door on the shanty without any latch.

Walk into the entry

you're up to your knees,

Walk into the parlor 

you're covered with fleas,

Walk into the pantry

and look at the pies

and see the green maggots

roll up their red eyes.

And with THAT happy thought I will leave you.

You get a five point bonus if you 

can find the maggot....lol

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Remember- If you are lucky enough to be Irish

you are lucky enough!

I. Am. Lucky. Enough.

Three Flu Over The Nana Nest

Remember the old movie

with Jack Nicholson

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest?

Well, we have kind of a

cuckoo thing going on here.

Too sick to go to school?

Have to stay home for the day?

Ummmm...What is the password?

Mom, I want to stay at

Nana's house.

You know- Things really DO

happen in threes.

Case in point.

Thing One......

Down for the count....

Followed by Thing Two...

This one insists she is NOT that sick

when I pick her up from school

but pukes in my car just as we

pull into the driveway

splashing clothes, shoes, car seat.

Thank you, Lord, for Resolve and

Frebreeze.

Not to be outdone,

Thing Three claims her spot

on the sofa a little later.

Now-WHY do they want to come here

when they could stay home with Mom?

Could it be they get to control the TV?

Or could it be I cater to their

little taste buds as they start to feel better?

Or...could it be that they just 

LOVE the way I take care of them?

Just call me 

Nurse Ratched!

Don't know WHO Nurse Ratched is?

You can read more about her here.

Feeling sick, are ya?

Come on over Nurse Ratched 
Nurse Wretched   Nurse Nana

will be glad to take care of you...

heh heh heh

That Was Thumb Thrifty Deal

My daughter, Mimi,

made me drive

about 2000  100 miles yesterday

to meet her in a town called

West Bend to hit the thrift stores.

Let me tell you.

I should have saved my gas.

Who the heck is in charge of pricing

at St.Vincent DePaul and most

thrift stores lately?

I saw old sofas in bad shape that 

were priced at $200.

Are you kidding me?

And there were dressers that needed

extensive work like this one...

Price check- $129.00

WHAT???

Well...like I need one more flipping

dresser or sofa anyway...

Pfffffftttttt

So....What did I get?

I bought a skirt!

Yes! You heard that right-

I drove 3000  100 miles to buy

a skirt for $2.99!

Am I going to wear it?

No.I.Am.Not.

But....

LOOK at this fabric- Will ya?

Do you love it?

It's one of those big full skirts of the 1980's

AND it is Ralph Lauren fabric.

I see some pillows in my future.

If I can drag my butt down 

to the sewing machine

that is.

What was the highlight of the day?

Well....mostly it was driving

1,000,000  100 miles to spend the 

day with these two little

thumb-suckers!

Can you see the eyelashes on 

Thumbsucker #1?

Don't you just hate that?

Imagine those with a bit of mascara on them....

Oh-Waiit----

Nevermind-

Daddy won't like that thought one bit!

My new name, thanks to BigBoyE,

is Big Banana Head....

must be the hair......

Flower Power To The Max

I grew up during the

Flower Power years.

Anyone remember those?

The late 60's/70's

were the years of

Love and Flowers...

and a whole lotta war and

civil unrest.

Anyway, I have always

LOVED flowers.

This Spring finds me dragging out

the flowers...

There's the canvas print above

my stove top-

Then-there's

The Real Thing

in my kitchen window.

Dressed with a bunny card from a friend.

How about the printed flowers 

on my Marjolein Bastine calendar?

Or the fake faux flowers in my foyer...

What kind of flowers flour don't I like?

How about this one?

Never stop to take a picture of an accident

because when you do

SOMEONE who shall remain nameless

finds joy in stepping in it.

Now, I am no detective but I am thinking

that looks about like a child's 

size 11 footprint.

Any ideas WHOSE that might be?

Anyone?

anyone...

anyone....

I'll be late visiting today-I am off

to meet my daughter for a day 

of thrifty nifty goodness- 

Catch ya later-

Good Clean Fun

One of the things the 

girls look forward to when 

stay overnight is a

BUBBLE BATH

in my jetted tub.

I have a bench in there

and I sit and watch while they play.

Sometimes it is all three girls

but last time it was

SweetCheeks & Ria.

I love the giggles and snorts of laughter 

as bubbles fill their nose.

They insist something is moving around

under the bubbles!

Do you want to know 

what I use for a

SUPER DUPER BUBBLE BATH?

Can you keep a secret?

Promise?

OKAY! HERE IT IS!

Put it in a pretty decanter

and you are all set.

Here's what is great about Dreft.

It is made for sensitive skin.

It will not cause a rash.

Some bubble baths are linked

to urinary tract infections

but this is not an irritant.

It smells GREAT.

You can use it for shampoo

and your little one will

smell fresh and sweet

and their skin feels like silk 

after you rinse them off.

THE BONUS?

LOTS OF BUBBLES.

Which reminds me....

I better go check on those two.

It's getting deep in there.

Whew- almost drained-

just a few bubbles left.

WHAT?

WHO ARE YOU AND
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

~Look how hard he is trying to look innocent~

Maybe those girls were right-

Maybe there WAS someone moving

around in there!

The Twins

With all that has been going on

these past few weeks

I decided to scale back

on my Easter decorating.

However,

as I went down into the storage

area  I heard some tiny

voices calling my name.

For just a second I was just

a tad spooked.

Screwing up my courage

I walked back and opened up

one of the bins.

The noises in my head abated

when I saw these sweet babies

waiting for me.

Keeping them company was 

ANOTHER SET OF TWINS

I tried to keep them separate

but they wanted to be together

so I couldn't resist.

Aren't they sweet?

They do make me smile....

Speaking of twins...

There is another set...

My Hero and his best friend, Mikey.

They are scheduled to have their

heads separated soon.

It is hard for them to sit a seat

apart in the movies while they

are in this condition.

Looks like a difficult operation,

doesn't it?

I think I should take out 

a large insurance policy, don't you?

Give Me A Smile SweetCheeks

When a photographer

asks SweetCheeks for a smile

she flashes a natural looking

big ole smile.

When I ask for a smile

this is what I get~

Ready, SweetCheeks?

Yep!

C'mon...just one smile...

OKAY!

Ready?

Yep!

SweetCheeks!

That isn't even funny.

Just ONE smile for my blog, okay?

Okay. I'm done here.

Nana- I'm just kidding...

C'mon....

Okay...Ready?

Yep!

Was that a STOOPID looking smile?

Yes-It was and I'm done.

C'mon....I'm just kidding...

I was just pracktissing before.

Just one more, Nana.

Okay...

Why didn't you do that in the first place?

Cuz I juhst like to joke ya a little bit.

Yeah...consider me joked!

Nana?

I gotta go to the bathroom.

Do you wanta take a picktshure of me in there?

No.I.Don't.

Thasss good cuz I was just joking you again.

 Uh-Oh.....

I think all my 

"joke training"

is coming back to haunt me.