It's already March and today is one of the first days that the weather has gotten into the 60's. I'm so excited I want to get out and start digging in my garden. Early this morning I heard birds chirping by our bedroom window. It made me smile. I can see little buds on the lilac bushes, and this morning I noticed the daffodils starting to sprout. Maybe, just maybe spring will sneak in. Most of the snow has finally melted.

We are in the brown season.....the white snow covering is gone and the grass is a brown mat. The trees are brown, the mud from the melting snow is brown and I'm in a brown mood myself. Spring always brings changes and changes are already starting at the Nest.

Mr. Wonderful has been having some health issues. He has been having some digestive problem for quite a long time but they are starting to interfere with his energy level . I had noticed that he belches a lot and is flatulent frequently. He plays it down and says, "That's just what men do," but he is starting to be concerned himself.

Mr. Wonderful's brother has had some difficulty with chronic fatigue and found out that a gluten free diet helps his energy level and his over all well being. I don't think Mr. Wonderful has Celiac disease but if nothing else he seems to have a gluten sensitivity.

So guess who's learning how to cook again? If you said , "Poor Lazy Daisy" you are right on both counts. For the most part we are eating "whole, unprocessed foods". I am amazed how many foods have wheat, rye, barley or oats in them.

Currently I'm buried in cookbooks and books on being Gluten-Free. I have discovered some wonderful websites and am gleaning some information on how to change regular recipes into gluten-fee ones.

I emptied the pantry yesterday and gave the food to my neighbor. We are still in investigating products and prices right now. One of our local stores is closing out their gluten free products and so we picked up quite a few products that we are trying at half price.

Our big splurge was Lundberg Rice Chips (Honey Dijon.) Wow! I was delightfully surprised at the wonderful taste and crunch! It became an instant favorite immediately! You can bet we will be going back to the store tonight to pick up more at half price.

So looks like we are in for an expensive change for rice flour, corn flour etc. but I ask you....can you put a price on feeling good.

Will keep you posted on our adventures and if we are making progress in keeping Mr. Wonderful healthy.

Labels: Spring changes

Being a grandparent is a great thing and witnessing a child's "first" is a huge thing for me. Since our grands don't live nearby it's harder to be present for a "first".

Sometimes the weather will actually cooperate and lend a hand in creating a "first" as it did for Oscar's first snow man. It has been 25 years or more since Mr. Wonderful built me a snowman but it took no time at all for him to construct one for Oz.

He found enough hardware to help make the face. and I came up with the hat, gloves, and scarf. Every one had a part in creating the snow man, even Oscar .



I think the parents and and grandparents had more fun than Oscar. He learned that snow is cold and that you have to wear so many clothes that you can barely move. I'm sure if he had fallen on his back he wouldn't have been able to get up again. He also found out that Mom takes a lot of pictures and he had the attention of four adults.



Suzy finally put the camera down long enough to finish the face and sculpt the finish piece . We think Mr. Snowman looks pretty cute and well dressed. His face is made of a block of wood for the nose, two black plugs for eyes and a strip of black weather stripping for a mouth as well as a chain saw wrench that looks like a pipe. Of course all of us took the opportunity for a photo with Oscar.




Here we are with the proof of our day in the snow. I have always had a fondness for the fluffy white guys and I must admit it was a fun time for me and made even better getting to share it with my family. Aren't we cute snow bunnies?







Of course we had to get a photo of our New Yorkers. Tim, Suzy, and Oscar with our temporary resident Mr. Snowman. I should tell you that the snowman has had an extended lifespan in my front yard with the unusual cold weather and snow but, as we all know, all good things must come to an end.




This is the picture I took this afternoon of our snowman. Not even enough snow left to make a snowball! Going, going, gone! What a great memory though.

Labels: Oscar's first snowman

Welcome to Mr. Wonderful's birthday party. He turned 60 the day after Valentine's day. He had done some research on the internet and found out that the 60th birthday in China is very important. The 60th birthday is regarded as an important milestone in life and therefore is often a big celebration. After the 60th birthday, a celebration is held every 10 years. (Mr. Wonderful says that's ok with him too!)
In the Chinese culture, 60 years complete a life cycle and 61 is regarded as the beginning of a new life cycle. So I guess life really does begin at 60!

We were thrilled to have Suzy, Tim and Oscar with us over the long weekend and with their help were able to pull off the surprise. Thanks to Andy and Tim we had authentic Chinese New Year decorations from China Town. We were also glad to be able to hear from Andy, Becky and Miss Em by phone.


Mr. Wonderful loves Chinese food so we had Chinese take out from our favorite Chinese place. Suzy and Tim went all out with decorations and I love this picture of my man getting into the swing of the party. He's so adaptable! Suzy had written fortunes that are favorite sayings of his, and quotes the children heard from him while growing up. She painstakingly inserted them into the fortune cookies we bought.

Mr. Wonderful loves sushi (not so much now that he found out you can get worms from raw fish). Suzy came up with a great alternative called "Mock Sushi". It's made from marshmallows, Rice cereal, gummy worms, and fruit roll ups. (It's the only sushi this Daisy would ever eat!) What do you think? It looks pretty close to a California Roll and fortunately no one tried putting Wasabi on them.

















We wish you all could have joined us. It was a fun surprise and a sweet memory that we will both have for a very long time.

Happy Birthday Mr. Wonderful, Here's to a new life cycle with you!

Labels: Mr. Wonderful's Birthday

Guess Who has been married for 5 years now? If you guessed our Becky give yourself 5 points.
Miss you all so much. Hugs and Kisses (wish we could babysit for you!) xoxo

Labels: Happy Anniversary Becky