If you've gotten (or thought about getting) the Four Paws product of a ball with a bell in it, DON'T! There is a faulty design to it that creates a suction while it's being chewed on and the poor dog's tongue gets sucked into the hole. Some owners even have to take their dogs to emergency clinics in order to have the ball removed.

This poor dog had it even worse.

Here's the update about poor Chai.

So I get the whole Dr. Horrible thing. That was pretty funny.


...but that doesn't stop me from singing They Might be Giants.



...nor does it get it unstuck from my head.











...someone keeps moving my chair...

I'm amazed I was able to keep this from completely blurring without using the flash. It's a sculpture in the patio of one of the many bars on Bourbon Street. I'm sure there are a zillion photos taken of it since while we were waiting for our Ghost Tour to resume a different tour guide told a little story and had people take pictures of it.

( Audubon Zoo )

( Swamp Tour )


( French Quarter pictures )

Did I mention how strange it was to be there during the week when so few tourists were around? I'd never seen it so quiet and empty before.

I also posted some more pictures of our trip here on baby_mcdonald. I tried to put pictures on there that I wasn't going to post here, mostly pictures of Treyvan and his cousins, but there are two repeats.

Subject: Contraception is abortion?

Hi,

I had to share something with you. Can you imagine living in a place where birth control is considered an "abortion" and health insurers won't cover it? Where even rape victims are denied emergency contraception?

It seems unbelievable, but the Bush Administration is quietly trying to redefine "abortion" to include birth control. The Houston Chronicle says this could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's reproductive freedom and protect rape victims. And this proposed "rule change" doesn't need congressional approval.

I just signed a message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change, telling him: "Contraception is NOT abortion." Can you add your voice to this cause? Click here to sign the message: http://pol.moveon.org/contraception/?r_by=-6139570-_BvBamx&rc=paste

Thanks!

I was reading that making veggie muffins can be a good way of getting a few more vegetables into children. They may not get used to eating vegetables in their whole form, but the way I look at it verity is good. Plus it might be a good way to get veggies in ME too. It also a good way to get me to eat more if I have something like a muffin that is already made and sitting out.

( Kid Friendly Veggie Muffin Recipe )




( Veggie Muffins Recipe )

Veggie Muffin Recipe



Chai Muffin recipe, I think this sounds awesome with some orange slices. ( recipe under cut )

I don't get why there are so many parents that are either against babywearing or just don't have a clue about it.

We went to church last Sunday and I kept noticing all the moms with baby carriers. I absolutely hated using a baby carrier when Treyvan was little. The only time it was ever a good idea was if we went out to eat. I like to sit right up to the table so if I had Treyvan in the sling, I was never comfortable and always thinking I was about to drop food on him.

So anyway I notice one woman within eye line of the front who is having to rock the baby carrier with her foot while she's standing up. The poor baby is sitting in the aisle. And of course the mother ends up holding the baby half way through for the rest of the service. If that woman was using a sling or some kind of wrap or mai tai the baby would have been happy the whole time. Plus the whole "getting into the music" thing that Brien's church does would actually make the baby happy too. Momma close + Momma rocking + Momma's voice + Momma's smell = happy baby.

I used a sling and also a mai tai for ages with Treyvan, so don't even try telling me that they aren't "safe." They are way safer (in my opinion) then a baby carrier. Since it's like holding your baby but still having your hands free. Plus you aren't lugging around 20 extra pounds of clunky baby carrier.

When I was working at the bookstore, I noticed that every single parent that came in with a baby carrier, ended up walking out of the store holding the baby separately and still lugging the baby carrier with the other hand.

And don't bother telling me that babies sleep better in the carrier, that's BS too. I had many times with Treyvan in the sling where he passed out. If I wanted to set him down, I could still put him in the car seat or in the bouncer and slither out of the sling with him never waking up. Yet every time I moved him in the car seat from the car into the house he would always wake up with in 3 minutes of going into the house. Even when I left him in the seat.

Every time I see some parent lugging around a baby in a carrier, I want to have a flier that raves about the benefits of baby wearing to hand out. I'd be like a Jesus-freak, only a babywearing-freak instead. I wouldn't even be trying to sell them anything thing other then the idea. Did I ever mention that I loved the chapter in the Sears' Baby Book about baby wearing. I had it bookmarked for the longest time so I could show people quickly.

( EDIT: Some pictures )

I wish I was having better luck at finding things to do with a less then 2 yr old. ( 3 and up activities )

*We finally got to go see the new Batman movie yesterday. LOVED IT! It makes me sick that they won't be able to go through the original idea for the next movie, and more so that they won't have Harliquin, after all it just wouldn't make sense to have Harli and no Joker. It is NOT a kid movie. There was a 6 year old sitting two seats to my left and I wanted to hit his parents. That poor kid is going to have some messed up nightmares.

*The weekend Batman came out and everyone was trying to make that movie we saw Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. We both really liked it. I think it was by far the best 3d movie today, at least one that will hit normal theaters. You could tell they had the 3D in mind when they were filming, they put in tons of stuff that could dart out into the crowd. I do wish however that they had the focus better, because a lot of that stuff gets blurry the closer to the camera it got so it still looks blurry when it's shooting out at you. Still it was a fun movie.

*I also broke down and bought Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. It's actually pretty good. I think the reason it went straight to video instead of hitting the big screens is because 1)it's still cheesy like the first movie and 2) there were some big movies out in May and there is no way it could have competed. So if you liked the first Lost Boys then you'll most likely have a good time with the new one.

I really wanted to have a bit of a viewing party for it, but we just don't have the money for one. When I think of having a bunch of people over I think of being able to buy food to feed them with. About the only thing I could have done was pop popcorn and have iced tea. Plus we would have liked to leave Treyvan at his Nana's and we don't have the money for the gas to get there and back. *sigh*

*We also watched Unaccompanied Minors from Netflix. That was a cute movie. I good rental if you got a kid in the house, but still funny enough that you enjoy yourself.

This one is super easy and almost boring in it's normality.

I'll admit, this looks kind of interesting.

Steampunk quiz stolen from txwhiterose ( Read more... )

Re-posting this, because it's that damn important.

"The Department of Health and Human Services Monday released a proposal that allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman's access to contraception..."

"...This argument is the basis upon which the religious right hopes to include the 40% of the birth control methods Americans use, such as the pill, the patch, the shot, the ring, the IUD, and emergency contraception, under the classification 'abortion.'"


WTF!


Here is a petition you can sign.

I think I might make this soon... I've taken to coping down the directions to things I really like, because when I don't and finally get around to making it, the site is no longer up. So that is why there are directions as well as the site's address up on this entry.

Asphyxiation on The Anticraft site


( Design Notes )

( Directions )

Did you hear the one about Marilyn Manson?

I was reading a girl's journal on deviantART and she said something about how people are always stealing her work. One guy was even trying to sell prints of an image he'd stolen. She mentioned looking on Google for her work, and that's how she usually finds sites where it's scampered off too.

On a whim I plugged in "halloween beagle" an image of mine that I already know that someone else tried to pass of as their own. Sure enough on the very first page I see my little beagle sketch.


Halloween Beagle by ~xdragonladyx on deviantART


It's on someone's myspace profile in the comments.

What I don't get, is that it's not even that great of a sketch, why is it getting ganked? I spent some time plugging in names of my other images and so far I haven't found any others. It makes me sorta glad that I rarely finish my photoshop images before I post them. I really need to make a watermark to plaster over my pics. I think they are annoying as hell, but it might detour some folks.

Part of me really wants to open a community for recipes using Guinness. I think I'm just bored and sometimes when that happens I think of communities that should be out there, but aren't.


Although, if there were other people that interested in cooking with Guinness, don't you think there would already be a community?

Regardless for my own enjoyment I thought I'd compose a list of websites I've been finding and the recipes they have:


The Guinness Collectors Club ~ http://www.guinntiques.com/recipes/

( list of recipes )


Guinness recipes ~ http://www.karott.com/guinness_recipes.htm

( list of recipes )

gingerbread layer cake with cream cheese frosting and candied pistachios

chocolate stout cake

Ann Vogel: Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

( recipe )


Slow Cooker Beef in Guinness

( recipe )




...then again may be I'm just hungry, and thinking about the beer bread Brien made last night and took to work with him...