Here is the 'Word Play' Answer

SHRIMP ON THE BARBIE!

Playing with words - or my food?

Yes, I am weird. I have a weird sense of humor. I've been working on it but sometimes I loose the battle. And then stuff like this happens......
.....What am I saying here?

Arbor Day Craft from Momtastic.com - Upcycle your old magazines!

Talk about a fabulous craft idea for Arbor Day, which is, by the way, the last Friday of April.  I came across this idea on craftgawker which linked to Momtastic.com. The link to this craft is here. What a neat way to use up old magazines and make something new and beautiful. Make your crafts, take pictures, and post it on your website. Let me know when you did so I can make a post with links to your blogs and pictures!

Look who is coming for dinner?

...and lunch and breakfast....

In about a month,  we will have a new family member. We are going to be joined by an Airedale boy who will be just a little younger than what you see in this picture here. We chose the airedale breed because of Missy's allergies, after considering a number of other breeds as well. What we like about this breed is that it is relatively rare and therefore has not quite as many breed specific health issues as some of the other candidates.  We also wanted something larger than a yorkie. One of our neighbors has an airedale, so we had Missy rub her hands into the dog's fur and then rub her face and eyes. There was no reaction!  IT man and I love the mastiff breeds but Missy is terribly allergic to them and with all the over breeding, they do have a lot of issues unless you go with some of the rarer breeds. Due to the allergy issues we were not going to go with a rescue dog, although I visited the local sites frequently and even inquired about one young dog who was an funny and adorable mix of two low allergen breeds. But he had already been adopted. We hadn't planned on getting another dog but the kids wanted one so badly and IT man and I like the security of having another set of ears in the home at night.  Our dogs' barking chased away a burglar once so we know it works.  The kids' age is ideal for adding a dog to the family right now, with Bear going to be six in August and Missy 11½. Airedales are very energetic and smart  (unfortunately also stubborn) and so our life is about to take on another level of crazy :)

One of my favorite kitchen tools - The Misto

I bought a Misto roughly 4 months or so ago and it's become one of my favorite kitchen implements. It is a stainless steel canister with a built-in, easy to prime, pump that you can fill with a bit of your favorite oil.

Why I like it:
a) It was inexpensive. I paid roughly $10 for it.
b) No propellants or additives to my sprayed oil.
c) Because of point 'b' my pans, etc no longer have gummy, sticky, impossible to clean, gunk on them.
d) Because of point 'b' I don't have to wonder what I am inhaling when I use the spray and what I am feeding my family.
e) More economical than regular cooking sprays in the long run.

What I don't like:

Well, only one thing really. I wish it came in different colors because I would love to buy one for other oils that I use. With only one color canister I would get confused and use the wrong oils for my foods if I can't see at a glance which oil I am using.

What do I use it for?

Spray my cooking grates, pans, meats and vegetables, pasta, fish, etc with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

You will LOVE THIS BLOG - I guarantee it!

Last week I came across a blog by Scott Bedford, a father whose sheer creativity is beyond description!

The name of this blog is WHAT I MADE.com.

This is what he is showing today. Just go to his site, download the file, print and follow his AMAZING hand-drawn and written directions and make this for your kids. 

He has so many fabulous ideas on his site and the blog alone is eye-candy.

Joy

Saturday and Sunday blessed us with amazing spring weather. It was sunny and quite warm with temps going into the low eighties even. We cleaned our screened-in porch and yard and enjoyed the outdoors all day long. All the while our doors and windows were wide open and the kids ran around outside all day long playing in the yard. Even the neighbors commented on that.
Now, why would a neighbor comment on that? Because they haven't seen Missy outside in spring for years. Until last year they didn't see her in summer and fall or winter either.  In prior years we had the house bolted shut. Open windows? Not a chance. Playing outside? Are you insane? Bear is so attached to his sister that he never wanted to play outside if she didn't come too.  So, he too, once he left daycare, didn't get much outside time in.
Yes, she'll probably be a tad itchy for the next few days. And it wouldn't surprise me if the inhaler got used a bit more, but it's worth it. The joy of seeing my children play outside is so great I wiped a secret tear of joy here and there. Even now as I see these words take shape on my digital paper.  They replace tears (equally secret) of sorrow when I'd see my little girl stand by the window watching the children of the neighborhood play outside. Or when I'd see her thin, bony, scratched bloody shoulders slump in defeat when I refused to listen to her entreaties of 'Mom, I promise I'll stay on the concrete, I won't touch the grass, please, just one minute, just one minute.' It broke her spirit and my heart.
I guess the treatment is working. She is getting allergy shots. And I firmly believe that removing her from school made a huge difference. Her body no longer had to constantly combat all those  allergens everbody brought to class on their clothing. Her immune system was allowed to calm down. But all that is technical. Meanwhile, I'll gladly have tissue boxes in strategic locations all over the house for my sneezy kids if it means they can play outside like normal kids.