Keeping busy

I can’t believe that over a week has passed since my last post, the days just seem to be flying by and nary a picture taken.  Maisie had a busy first week back at school after our cruise and thankfully we kept up with all her school work and home work as she had tests every.single.day last week.  Mondays test was English where she had to mark sentences with the noun, verb, article, adverbs and adjectives as well as choosing correct word pairs for synonyms and antonyms.  Tuesday was a phonics test where she had to know all the blends and special sounds.  Wednesday she had two tests, a science test on the weather and the seasons and also a math test.  Thankfully Thursday she ended her week with her weekly spelling test.  Every week there’s at least four test, phonics, English, math and spelling and then there’s social studies, science and other various tests thrown in, I’m just amazed.   I’m telling you, I don’t remember all these tests in first grade and I can tell you that I certainly didn’t know what a noun, verb, article, synonym, antonym or anything else of the sort was at that age.  Maisie though is loving school, finding it all easy-peasy and passing her tests with flying colors and just looks forward to being there everyday with her friends and learning new things...Gotta love it!

While Maisie was busy with school and gymnastics I kept myself busy cooking.  After a week of eating three meals a day on the ship I just craved home-cooked, healthy, comfort food so I pulled some of our favorite recipes, shopped for all the ingredients and cooked my little heart out.  I made Summer Shrimp Salad,  Mulligatawny Soup, Red Curry Soup, Roasted & Curried Veggie Soup, Cioppino, Tom Kha Gai, Hearty Beef Curry and a new recipe which I have yet to photograph and post but Eammon just loved it, Scallops, Mushrooms, Broccoli and Udon.  We ate some of everything and I froze a lot.  I love having a stocked freezer especially on those nights when Maisie and I don’t get back from the gym until 7PM and we need a meal in a hurry.  I’m also preparing meals for Eammon to have in December when Maisie and I are away in Aruba for two weeks.

Maisie’s been a little run-down lately and I think that she may be going through a growth spurt.  In the afternoons she’s been falling asleep in the car and some days she has a voracious, insatiable appetite.  That didn’t stop her though because after a busy week Maisie was super excited to spend time with her friends over the weekend.  Saturday Maisie spent most of the day playing with K & A and on Sunday, Maisie and I got together with Ilene, Michael & April for lunch.  Maisie had never been to Benihana or any such place before and though she really wasn’t 100% herself she really enjoyed watching the chef and as always, loved being with and playing with April. 

This week we also have a lot going on.  Maisie has her usual activities and I’m trying to get everything organized and all the decisions made as we’re having our roof, 7 skylights and gutters replaced.  I’ve been so indecisive as to which shingles I like and what color, I just need to make my decision and let the work begin.  I did finally decide on the sky lights and so those are now ordered and will take a couple of weeks to come in so at least it’s a start.  Another big project is that both our water heaters need to be replaced so after lots of estimates I now need to choose and get the plumber hired and have that work done but honestly I’ve just found it all overwhelming and I don’t look forward to having workers in and around the house. 

I did manage to get one little project finished, I made hair bows for all the girls on Maisie’s gymnastics team.  They’re not fancy like my friend Kathy makes but they match the girl’s leotards and to put on their little buns, they should look adorable.  Maisie is super excited as this Saturday is her second meet and it’s the girl’s first away meet so we’ll see how they do in a different gym. 

Guess I should get back to my projects and off the computer.  Going to try and take some Maisie pictures this week…yep, gotta try.