First Grade Pajama Day

On the last school day of each month, if all the children in Maisie’s class have done their homework each and every day during the month, they have a special day at school.  September they had an ice cream party, October they had a cookie and dress-up day and this month was pajama day.  Last year Maisie wasn’t too thrilled to wear her pj’s to school but this year she was super excited.  So excited that this morning she ransacked her pajama drawer deciding which would be the perfect pj’s to wear to school.  How funny that she chose the exact same pj’s that she wore when her kindergarten class had pajama day!

Maisie this morning with classmates Olivia & Rachel all looking cute in their pj’s.

After school today mimicking the picture I took on pajama day last year.  These are the exact same (size 3) pajamas but the purple socks are new and the shoes, though they look the same are a size bigger as she’s now almost in a size 9!!

Maisie last year hamming it up for the camera before Kindergarten pajama day.  She looks so much taller this year but these pj’s still fit and have held up great!  I was asked  last year about them so here it goes, they are Carter’s brand and they’re that microfiber fleece.  I bought them at Costco about 2 years ago and they have held up great through hundreds of washes…gotta love them!

Mortimer made his report

Mortimer made his appearance Friday morning and must have reported back to Santa that night because Saturday morning there was an email and video from Santa to Maisie.

It’s amazing how much Santa knew about Maisie, Mort must have told him a lot!  Maisie must have watched her video from Santa two dozen times…at least and was totally thrilled each and every time.  Take a peek at her video and if your child hasn’t received one you should make it happen.

Today at gymnastics the girls received their little gift bags for State Meet.  Each girl on Maisie’s team received a water bottle, a little silver gymnast charm and a fun tee shirt.

Maisie loves that the names of her teammates are on the back of the shirt.  All the girls on Maisie’s team qualified for State (each gymnast had to achieve a score of 32 or above at two or more meets) which is very exciting especially for such a young team.  Maisie and I are a bit sad that she’s going to miss State as we’ll be basking on the beach in Aruba but we wish the North Metro Girls lots of luck and we’ll be thinking about you and can’t wait to hear the results.  Go North Metro!! 

Thanksgiving and more

After a fun weekend of partying and boating we’ve had a nice Thanksgiving week.  Our week has been filled with fun activities and of course lots of delicious food.  Monday I had a doctors appointment in the morning and Maisie decided that she wanted to go along with me so she tagged along and then I took her out for a little girls lunch together.  Once home Maisie had a bit of playtime with K & A before we headed to the gym for her gymnastics practice.  Because it was a holiday week her practice was later than usual, starting at 4:30 and ending at 7:30, just a few minutes after my parent’s plane landed at Hartsfield so once Maisie was finished we headed straight to the airport.  Maisie was very excited to see her grandparents but exhaustion won out and just minutes after my parents got in the car Maisie was fast asleep.  Once we arrived home though Maisie was up again so it turned into a late night as she was happy to have her Grandparents here and didn’t want to miss out on anytime with them.

Tuesday morning Maisie had a swimming lesson so my Mom and I went along and watched.  Once home Maisie had lots of playtime with my parents and even played school with my father with her being the teacher and teaching him all about math.  Come mid-afternoon the late night caught up with Maisie and she was completely knackered and asked if she could just rest instead of going to gymnastics…so I knew she was really tired.  

Wednesday was a major cooking day for me as I didn’t want to have much to make on Thursday so Maisie spent the majority of the day playing with my parents.  I started cooking just after 8am and I don’t think that I finished and sat down until close to 9PM, thirteen hours of cooking but I got a lot accomplished.  I made an appetizer of chicken liver pate as well as sides of sweet potato casserole, corn soufflé, shredded brussels sprouts with bacon & walnuts, apple cranberry slaw, sage & onion dressing and for dessert dreamy apple pie with hard sauce and I didn't even cheat with the crust as I made that too!  Then if that wasn't enough cooking for one day I also made roasted garlic potatoes, oatmeal coconut raspberry bars (one of my faves) and then Maisie, my Mom and I made eggnog meltaways.  While I was so busy, to get out of the house Maisie and my Dad took a nice little walk together (something that they love to do together everyday when we’re in Aruba) and then after lunch I dropped the two of them off at a local playground where they stayed for quite a while before making the almost 1.5 mile walk home.  (I would have picked them up but Maisie wanted to walk)  Late in the afternoon K & A came over as I had a craft for the three of them to do.  My Mom helped Maisie, K & A make cute little Pilgrim men & women as place markers for the Thanksgiving table. 

Thursday morning we all slept in a little late…well 7:13 is late for Maisie!!  Once up Eammon played with Maisie as I finished up the Thanksgiving cooking making a spiced rubbed turkey with cognac gravy which made the house smell wonderful and also produced a gorgeous looking bird.  Just after noon we headed next door to Anne & Steve’s house where the eating fest began.

Thursday was a gorgeous and warm day so we spent a few hours enjoying the appetizers and watching the children play outside before we sat down at the table for dinner.   

My turkey looked gorgeous when it came out of the oven.  I would definitely make this recipe again as the turkey was super moist & juicy and the flavors were wonderful and I don’t even like turkey!   Yes I roast my bird dark meat up as I find that roasting it that way produces a much moister and juicier bird.

Shredded brussels sprouts with bacon & walnuts.  Oh my gosh were these wonderful and I have never enjoyed brussels sprouts before…but then again if you sauté anything in bacon fat it’s bound to be good!

This is one of Eammon’s favorites and he always requests it, onion & sage stuffing.  Everyone said that it was wonderful but I’m not a stuffing person so I’m just glad that everyone else enjoyed it.  Funny as I’m writing this post I realized that I do a lot of cooking of things I don’t actually eat.  I don’t care for turkey, I don’t really enjoy gravy, I’ve never liked brussels sprouts and I don’t like or eat stuffing…hmmmm.  I did actually make some things that I do like.

I have been making this corn soufflé for years as I just adore it but I limit it to once or twice a year as it’s definitely not low fat, low calorie or particularly healthy but oh my is it delicious.

This sweet potato casserole is another one of my favorites and I have been making for years as it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.

This apple cranberry slaw was a new recipe for me and it’s different and we really enjoyed it and I’d make it again.

This apple pie is appropriately named, dreamy apple pie as it truly was dreamy and the hard sauce which I made a wee bit lot harder really put the pie over the top.  This was also the first time I’ve made a pie crust from scratch and it was easy and turned out flaky and delicious.

So you see all the food that I brought over to Anne and Steve’s but what I didn’t photograph were all the appetizers, the butternut squash soup with shrimp, the traditional turkey, gravy, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, string beans, yams with marshmallows, sweet potatoes in bourbon & butter and salad (and probably a few other dishes that I’m forgetting) which Anne made!!  To say that there was a lot of food would be an understatement but no one went home hungry!  It was a fun and delicious Thanksgiving and it was great spending the day with family and friends.

Today Eammon and my parents had a lunch of leftovers and my Mom made sandwiches for them to take on the plane.  I then packaged up six “Thanksgiving” meals to put in the freezer for Eammon to eat while Maisie and I are away and with the bird carcass and the bits remaining I made turkey soup for Eammon, some of which will also end up as freezer meals that he will eat.  I ate the one remaining slice of dreamy apple pie and now all the Thanksgiving food is done, finis, finito, terminado, 完成, klaar, päättynyt,  outta here, so long, sayonara, see ya again next year.

This morning Maisie woke up and spotted a friend waiting for her. 

Mortimer has returned.

Maisie was excited to see her elf sitting high up on top of the curtains.

This morning Maisie’s gym had a “shop till you drop” gymnastics play day so she had fun playing with her gymnastics friends and I enjoyed a bit of quiet time.  Thankfully I’m finished with my holiday shopping so no black Friday drama for me!

After gymnastics Maisie and my Mom did a craft project together.  They had fun adding sticker decorations to to a pink & purple foam tree.

They then made a snowman garland to string on the tree.

Maisie & Grandma with their completed tree.

Grandpa joining in the picture.

Maisie enjoyed her time with her Grandparents and will miss them as very early tomorrow morning I take my parents to the airport as they’re heading down to Aruba.  But it will only be a week as next Saturday Maisie and I fly down to join them for two weeks!!

Hope that everyone had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving.

A turns six

Saturday we celebrated A’s 6th birthday with a fun birthday bash at his house.

A K & Maisie waiting for the guests to arrive.  (Tiff, notice the ever present book in her hand)

The back yard was set up with the party table and lots of games for the children to play.

Maisie took her job of making name tags very seriously.

Maisie running to give nametags to those who snuck by without putting one.

There were bouncy ball races.

Steve showing off his egg juggling skills.

Egg on a spoon race.

Maisie not taking her eyes off that egg as she walks along.

Maisie hopping high in the potato sack race.

All the party-goes together in a rare still moment.  

A blowing out his candles on the ice cream cake that Steve made.

After the party ended and all the little party goers went home it was just a few of us hanging out, eating, drinking and listening to Tim play some great music. 

Rod played along too and it was a fun and relaxing evening.

Maisie cuddling with me and relaxing to the music.  It was a fun party and a great evening. 

Today was another gorgeous day, sunny and mid-seventies, hard to believe that it’s the end of November!!  Steve and Anne took the kids out in the boat, another fun day.

Tomorrow my parents arrive and Maisie can’t wait to spend the week with them so it should be a fun week.

From Pilgrim to Reindeer

Yesterdays Pilgrim outfit has been replaced by reindeer antlers today.  Either way Maisie’s adorable!

Friday is Mummy & Maisie day so after a bit of work this morning we went out for a nice girls high tea.  Maisie finished an entire bowl of carrot-ginger soup before digging into tea sandwiches and pastries.  At the tea house Maisie received many compliments telling her that she was the cutest reindeer around and all that attention made Maisie smile.  After lunch and a bit of rest, Maisie had her swimming lesson and then it was playtime with K & A.  Maisie really enjoyed her day and is now fast asleep resting up for another fun day tomorrow.

Pilgrim Maisie

My adorable little Pilgrim girl.  Maisie had a great day at school, a Thanksgiving feast, making and wearing a Pilgrim outfit, sharing her Pilgrim hat cookies with her friends and also making an “enter with a thankful heart” turkey door hanger, a very fun day.  Maisie loves Thursdays because her afternoons are a play date with her favorite pals K & A.  It was a fun and tiring day so now Maisie’s sleeping soundly, yeah!!  We now have a fun weekend ahead starting tomorrow with a Mummy & Maisie tea  followed by Maisie’s swim lesson, then on Saturday it’s A’s 6th birthday bash!!  The fun will then continue though the week as Monday night Grandma & Grandpa arrive so Maisie will be super happy to have them here, spend time with them and do fun things together, should be a good week.    

The water cycle presentation

Today, Maisie’s school science project was to have a diorama and do a presentation on the water cycle.  She of course was very excited to do another presentation as she loved doing her social studies Abe Lincoln presentation so she was a happy and excited girl today. 

Last Friday she and I worked on her diorama, we discussed the water cycle, decided what she wanted and needed to show and we drew out a plan.  Maisie then did almost all the cutting, coloring, gluing and labeling and I helped by stringing the “rain” beads.  We then decided that a song would be a good way to do the presentation so I did a bit of looking around on the internet to see what others had done.  While I was surfing I was on the phone with my friend Judy so we were chatting about it and she thought that putting the words to Pop-Goes-the-Weasel would work so she and I brainstormed a bit and worked out Maisie’s presentation.  Thanks Judy for your help!

Maisie presenting her diorama and the water cycle song.

As I said, Maisie was very excited to do her presentation and when the class was asked who would like to go first, Maisie was the first to jump up and yell ME!!  So from last the previous time to first this time.

Once again Maisie kicked booty with her presentation, way to go Maisie Miao Miao!!

Maisie has a spelling test tomorrow and then her class is making a special Thanksgiving lunch.  She doesn’t have school on Fridays and then she’s off for Thanksgiving week, she then returns for four days of school before she and I head off to Aruba and then by the time we return it’s Christmas break so she won’t return to school until classes resume in January!  Hard to believe that she only has five classroom days of school left in 2010, the year has seemed to fly by.

Monday & Tuesday

I can’t even think of a blog title as I.am.tired.  I’m suffering with major insomnia again and the ~maybe~ three hours of sleep I am getting each night is just not enough.  I guess since I can’t sleep, I’ll blog and post about the fun little things we’ve been up to. 

Monday I chaperoned Maisie’s class as they did a field trip to one of the local libraries with their 6th grade reading buddies.  Both the first and sixth graders got a general tour of the library and then the sixth graders went off to see things more appropriate for them and the first graders were given a tour of the children’s department.

I look at this picture of Maisie with her classmates and realize just how small she is compared to everyone else but I’ll tell you, the girl holds her own and neither her size nor her age inhibits her in any way.

After the classes took their grade specific tour they gathered together to listen to a couple of stories.  Both in kindergarten and now in first grade the classes have had reading buddies and Maisie really enjoys that time with the older students. 

Yesterday was a miserable rainy day so it was good that the children had a field trip since it gave them the opportunity to get out of the classroom and do something different.  For me it was a day of driving in the rain.

• Round-trip home to school for morning drop-off:  20 miles. 
• Round-trip home to school to drive for field trip:  20 miles.
• Round-trip school to library for field trip:  10 miles.
• Round-trip school to home after field trip:  20 miles.
• Round-trip home to school to pick-up Maisie:  20 miles.
• Round-trip home to gymnastics to drop-off Maisie:  20 miles.
• Round-trip home to gymnastics to pick-up Maisie:  20 miles.

130 miles in one day, in the rain!  So glad I have my Prius as it probably only cost me about three gallons of petrol.

 Tuesdays after Maisie finishes school at 1:20 our afternoons are activity free so we always try to do something fun after Maisie finishes her homework  Today we made Cranberry Cinnamon Chip Bars which were super easy to make and other than melting the butter Maisie was able to measure out and do all the ingredients and layering herself.  It was a great teaching lesson too as she’s learning fractions in math so working with the measuring cups helps to reinforce what she’s learning.  The bars are very good, super rich from the butter and a bit sweet from all the chips and when I make them again I’ll most likely cut back a bit on the chips (to 3/4 cup of each) and add more cranberries (3/4 to 1 cup) to give them that extra tang.

Before we could move on to our next project Maisie decided that she needed some make-up but only on her eyelids, lips and one cheek, love my funny girl.On Thursday Maisie’s class is making a special Thanksgiving meal at school but one thing that they’re not making is a dessert so Maisie and I decided to make Pilgrim hat cookies.  It was a lot of fun and Maisie could do almost all the steps herself.  Here she is covering a bamboo skewered marshmallow in chocolate.

Sliding up a fudge stripe cookie which will be the brim of the hat. 

Sliding out the skewer to make the hat.

Once the chocolate hardened I just piped on a frosting buckle and we were done.  Maisie ate one and decided that they were delicious and that her classmates would love them but then felt it necessary to eat one more…just to make sure.

Tomorrow Maisie has to do a science presentation on the water cycle so please send good thoughts that she does well.  I’m always nervous when she has to do a presentation so that will probably add to my insomnia tonight…oh well at least Maisie’s fast asleep.