2011 ~ A year of Maisie

January brought a lot of snow here in the south and Maisie and her friends enjoyed an extended snowcation as Atlanta was essentially shut down for over a week because the roads were impassable with built up ice and snow.  During the snow break Maisie had fun painting & baking, throwing snowballs, playing in igloos, warming up with loaded hot cocoa, dressing up and playing Wii.  Maisie also have a fun trip with friends to the Fernbank Museum followed by lunch at The Varsity.  It was then welcome, warm and fun to head down to Florida as Maisie and her schoolmates attended classes at Disney as part of their Youth Education Series.

February was a busy month with multiple birthday parties, Valentine’s and Chinese New Year celebrations with neighbors, friends and at school.  There were also play dates with friends, lunch with others and even a school field trip to a fire station.  For a short month it was packed with fun.

March was spent playing with friends, being a fairy, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, making Leprechaun hat treats for her classmates, doing puzzles and taking Chinese dumpling and calzone cooking classes.  Another super fun and busy month for one very happy and energetic little girl.

April brought Spring Break which meant a bowling play date,  playtime with friends, time at the gym, lunch and special treats with Mom and the highlight of her week, visiting the stable where she would attend horseback riding camp.  Maisie also got crafty and made some gorgeous silk dyed Easter eggs and then attended our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  After her break she was ready to return to school but not to an outbreak of lice.  She did though enjoy baking special Easter bunny cupcakes for her classmates.  To finish out her fun and busy month Maisie  spent a day with the big sisters, always a fun time.  Something very memorable for me in April was, Maisie and I were walking through a store and for the first-time-EVER she asked for toy so I had to buy it for her.  The toy was her horse Sparkles and though she’s never really attached to or enjoyed playing with any toy, she has spent many, many hours playing with her horse Sparkles. 

May was yet another fun and busy month.  Maisie and I worked in the kitchen as we made dumplings so to keep her favorite treat in the freezer.  Maisie was finishing up first grade and was the homework queen.  She loved her teacher Miss Lisa and so for Teacher Appreciation Day she made a cute teacher gift.   Maisie kept busy with gymnastics, field day and a fun final school field trip with her classmates.  In May Maisie attended two banquets, one for her Chinese big sisters and the other with her gymnastics teammates.  Once school ended Maisie helped plant the garden had fun attending a teammate’s birthday party, enjoyed super fun & long play dates and kept herself busy at home doing and enjoying summer bridge books. 

June was a month of camps.  First was gymnastics team camp then VBS and finally horseback riding camp. We traveled to Florida to celebrate Grandma & Grandpa’s 50th Anniversary and though she starting out being sick she still managed some fun times.  June also included lots of time at the pool having fun with friends and learning from the lifeguard how to test the water.   Gymnastics, play dates and a birthday party rounded out yet another busy month.

July was a hot month and the last month of summer vacation so we made the most of it with plenty of time playing in the pool and even quiet lounging in the pool.  Maisie also hibernated from the heat when needed so we did projects together like baking, baking some more and even no-baking cookies.  At gymnastics Maisie worked on her routines and mastered her mill circle, which she had been working on and was desperate to learn.    Maisie had pretzel & pottery painting, play doh, day at the barn and just fun and acting silly play dates.  Maisie found different and unique ways of sitting and relaxing.  To finish the month Maisie had a mock meet at gymnastics where she totally rocked the mock and finally a fun dinner with friends.

By the beginning of August Maisie was missing school and decided to become my teacher.  At the gym she was invited to start TOPs training which she just adored.  She attended a friend’s bowling birthday party and kept us entertained with her piano.  Maisie discovered a new love for bacon and being my little girly girl she also discovered make-up.  Maisie was amazed with some late night dining right before her first day of second grade.  We did have some rough sleep but thankfully it wasn’t long lived.  Maisie had a blast at her first USA Level 3 meet of her competitive season, Summer Fun Meet and afterwards dinner at the Diner.  We got crafty making Sharpie t-shirts and she ended the month attending a teammate’s birthday party.  Busy and fun, the life of Maisie.

September started with a fun science project as Maisie wanted to see if she could grow gummy bears.  She then competed at the Cobb Kick Off where she had a great meet.  Maisie and I shared special Wednesday afternoons where we did pottery painting together and we also enjoyed a stay in our p.j’s & cooking day.  Fun times as she had playtime with friends and then competed at her third meet of the season, Metro Retro.  After all the busy times it was nice to finish the month with a relaxing cruise

In October we met some new friends as we went up to Tennessee for Maisie’s first travel meet where she rocked the Wilderness.  Maisie turned six and enjoyed some wonderful birthday celebrations, cupcakes with both her Level 3 and TOPs teammates as well as a pottery painting with her girlfriends and to finish her birthday celebrations, her favorite dim sum meal with Mama & Baba and then a science party at school.  At the gym Maisie hurt her back doing dozens of back handsprings but managed to Rock Roswell, her final meet of the year before States.  Maisie had fun at home when she got crafty and then made her first caramel apples.  Maisie had a blast when she performed gymnastics at her school’s fall festival with two of her other school & gym mates.  We ended the month with our traditional and always fun trip with friends to the maize maze followed by a Halloween party and of course, Trick or Treating.

In November Maisie was a little socialite attending multiple parties where she sipped fancy drinks and ate great food.  At home she had fun as she learned to made pottery instead of just painting it.  Poor little girl had to endure multiple dentist appointments but she was a trooper.  Maisie qualified for and competed in the USA Level 3 State Meet where once again she had a blast.  We found out that Maisie is allergic to wheat, dairy and egg whites so we found a new way of cooking and baking allowing her to feel better. Girls having fun play dates, a letter from Santa and a new scooter rounded out November.

December seemed to fly by as Maisie enjoyed time with teammates and enjoyed her fifth year in Aruba.  While in Aruba we celebrated our five year Gotcha/Family Day and then returned home in time to celebrate Christmas Eve with friends and a quiet Christmas day at home.

2011 was a great year for Maisie and all of us and we’re looking forward to more fun and interesting times in 2012.

Since this is an all about Maisie post I’m posting her favorite recipe of 2011 from Cook Lisa Cook which was Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon and luckily for her, it’s “Maisie safe” so she can continue to enjoy it.  Just click on the picture to be taken to the recipe:

Other recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook during 2011 include: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Aloo Gobi, Mint Lassi, Red Curry Chicken, Lamb Curry, Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, Baked Egg Cups Two Ways, Thai Peanut Salad, Holy Guacamole, Cantaloupe Agua Fresca, Wallaby Darned, Piggy-Out Cookies, Wicked Good New England Lobster Roll, Long Beans with Garlic, Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad, Grandma’s Teriyaki Steak, Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Red Chinese Long Beans with Peppers & Red Curry, 24-Layer Crêpe Cake, Fig & Watermelon Salad, Grilled Chèvre & Fig Panini, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad, Grilled Prawns, Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Pesto Pita Pizza, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Nutella Crêpes, Mango, Lime & Chile Spiced Ice Box Pie, Roast Beef & Garlic Herb Cheese Sandwich, Layered Crespelle with Bolognese, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil, Jamaican Jerk Meat Pies, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Velvety Mac & Cheese, Welsh Cakes, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Lime Jewels, Southwest Pasta Salad, Walnut Roca Squares, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp & Grits, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Copycat “KFC” Coleslaw, Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Thin Mint Irish Coffee, Caramel Apples, “Rotisserie” Chicken, Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Mummy Hotdogs, Mango Upside Down Cake, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Aloo Tikki, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Dumplings, Rum Cured Salmon, Apple, Cranberry & Rhubarb Crisp, Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic Sour Cream, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Texas Chicken with Lime Butter, Biscoff Fudge, Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter, Creamed Corn with Cheese and Cilantro and Potato Crusted Pork Chops.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, fun and healthy 2012.

Enjoy!