30 posts in 30 days

And not one wordless day!  On this Saturday, my 30th day of posting, we enjoyed gorgeous warm weather and a laid back day.  Eammon worked a bit in the yard and lounged near the water, Maisie played outside in the pool and sunned herself and I cooked, even creating a new and wonderful dish which I’ll blog about soon.  Overall just a lazy easy day.

Maisie just hanging out enjoying the day.

I did it, 30 posts in 30 days, WOOHOO!!!  I participated in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days and I can’t believe that the month is over, it seemed to fly by.  I’m hoping that this little challenge gave me the kick in the tush I needed to get me back on track with my posting.  I honestly enjoyed posting everyday and I found that there was almost always something going on in our lives that I found blog worthy and on those slow days I had the back-up of questions and ideas from readers which was wonderful too.  I still have a few posts in the works so with those and our busy daily lives I hope to continue blogging a couple times a week.  A big thank you again to everyone who has followed along with Moments with Maisie and we appreciate all the comments and emails.

Dumpling making with the ladies

Last night I met up with some of the ladies from our local FCC playgroup for an evening of dumpling making with Chinese Southern Belle.

Natalie and her Mom Margaret led an interesting class telling us a little bit about their lives, teaching a little bit about tools of the trade, demonstrating some knife skills and how to stir-fry and of course, our topic of the evening, how to make dumpling.

The class was hands on and all the ingredients were brought to our tables so that we could practice making the dumplings.  Here are the first few that I attempted.

Yes, *someone* is in desperate need of a hair cut and getting it thinned out.  Between trying on clothes from my closet to see what were keepers & what needed to be donated and the wind, I was definitely sporting the Roseanne Roseannadanna look!

Learning how to roll the dough for the wrappers.

The evening was good fun, the company delightful and the dumplings & stir fry were delicious.  I’ve made dumplings in the past but now I have some new skills and ideas.  I bought all the necessary ingredients so this weekend Maisie and I will be making some dumplings!

Day twenty-nine, the penultimate day in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  I can’t believe that I have posted so many days in a row.  In the six years and three months that I’ve been posting to this blog, my previous record for highest number of posts in a month was way back in August 2006 when I posted twenty-five times.  Most months recently I’ve really been slacking as I’ve struggled to get posts up and many months not even making it into the double digits with my posts so maybe this Spring Fling challenge was just what I needed to get me back in the mode of posting and keeping this blog, which is my scrapbook for Maisie, more updated.  Thank you to everyone who has followed along with Moments with Maisie and we appreciate all the comments and emails.

Prepared but thankfully not needed

Last night huge tornado filled storms passed through the south causing over 200 deaths.  We spent the evening watching the weather alerts and thankfully we saw the storms come close but skirt around to cities just north and south of us.  This month we have received some crazy huge storms in the area but each time we have been spared the full force of each storm and I’m not complaining. 

It’s just crazy the number of tornados that touched down.

We do not have a basement and we live in a house with seven very large skylights so our only “safe” interior room is our laundry room.  So early last night Eammon and I prepared the best we could in case we needed to take cover.  We put down a mat, had some blankets, a flashlight, hard hats and bike helmets to help protect our heads, Maisie’s old crib mattress and her four panel gymnastics mat to cover ourselves if necessary.  We had our candles, lighters and charged cell phones.  We prepared the best we could and thankfully, none if it was needed.

This morning Maisie went into the laundry room to get her school clothes and she was surprised to see all of her mats and mattress in there.  I’m over all the storms and just ready for some nice summer weather.

WOW, only two days left as I’m at day twenty-eight in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  I think that I’m going to try and post more often than I have done in recent months as I know that looking back it will be fun to see all these posts.  Please help keep me posting and send along suggestions and ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know.  Either leave an idea or question in the comments or shoot me an email. Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Baking cupcakes again…

It is Administrative Assistant Week so today after gymnastics Maisie put the finishing touches on the cupcakes that we baked for Miss. Andrea, the Administrative Assistant at Maisie’s school.  Tomorrow Maisie’s class along with the kindergarteners will have a little party for Miss. Andrea and we hope that she loves Maisie’s cooking.

I’m at twenty-seven days in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  Posting everyday has been interesting and I’m not sure how often or infrequently I’ll be blogging next month but please help keep me going and send along suggestions and ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know.  Either leave an idea or question in the comments or shoot me an email. Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Like a kid in a candy store

Saturday morning Maisie spied some of the school books that I’d recently purchased and she was so excited to see that they were second grade books she asked if she could start them. I told her that she still had three weeks left in first grade and that the books were for next year but she begged and pleaded.  I figured that the beginning of the books was just review work so I relented and like a kid in a candy store Maisie happily spent the morning engrossed in her new workbooks.  When it was time to head out to the big sisters event she took the books in the car with us and worked on them both on the way to the event and during the drive home.  Then on Sunday afternoon it was the same thing, I couldn’t pry the books away from her.  I love that she adores learning and is excited with her new books but at the rate she’s going she may blow through them before the school year even begins.

Day twenty-six in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days. Not only is Maisie’s school year almost over but also my month of daily blogging, only four more days!  We’ve been busy as you have read in all the posts so the month has flown by.  I’m not sure how often or infrequently I’ll be blogging next month but please help keep me going and send along suggestions and ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know.  Either leave an idea or question in the comments or shoot me an email. Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Hand in Hand through Chinese history

Saturday afternoon Maisie and I attended the Chinese big sisters & brothers “Race through Chinese history” field day at a beautiful park which was right along the Chattahoochee.  The children played numerous field day games all with a special Chinese twist.  Each game correspond to a Chinese dynasty and in-between each game they taught the children a bit of Chinese history all while having a super fun day. 

A game of red light, green light.

Getting ready for the three legged race. 

Maisie using the tug-of-war rope as a balance beam.

Learning some Chinese history between the games.

Enjoying a snack.

Maisie and big sister Michelle walking out on the rocks.

Maisie sharing some quiet time with another big sister.

Getting their toes wet in the very cold waters of the Chattahoochee.

Maisie loved playing tug-of-war and she must have participated in a dozen rounds.

Maisie always gave it her all, just look at that determination. 

The Chinese big sister & brother program is a youth led group which connects children adopted from China with Chinese-American teens through monthly gatherings.  I can’t say enough good things about the program and the people and how fortunate we are to have a program like this available to us.  This was the third* event that Maisie has attended and each time it has been such a positive and enriching experience.  The time, effort, thought and energy that the young leaders and put into each program is amazing and all the big sisters and brothers are so welcoming, nice, kind and just wonderful with the children.  Once again a huge thank you to all the big sisters and brothers for a wonderful day and program and we’re looking forward to attending many more events.

* Previous Big Sister & Brother Events:  1st event Pool Party; 2nd event Dumpling Making & Tea

Day twenty-five in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days. I can’t believe that the thirty days are almost finished.  The month has gone so quickly but we’ve been busy as you have read in all the posts.  I’m still open to more suggestions or ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know, so please leave any ideas or questions in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Easter 2011

Maisie awoke this morning and found a trail of mini chocolate eggs leading from the bedroom, through the house, leading her to her Easter basket.

Maisie was just delighted with her basket even though it contained a relatively small amount of candy.  Maisie’s basket included Scrabble, a rail twirler, two Barbie movies Barbie: A Fairy Secret and Barbie in a Mermaid Tail, an Easter bunny PEZ dispenser with a few packets of candy, a Disney Princess Favorite Moments doll & horse and a chocolate bunny.

The biggest hit of her basket was the rail twirler, Maisie just adored it.

We all had fun playing Scrabble and Maisie was great at “seeing” words in the letters.

No Easter is complete without biting off some poor bunny’s ears and declaring them delicious.

Day twenty-four in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  If you have any suggestions or ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know, please leave them in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments and emails.

My homework star

Maisie really is a little star when it comes to her homework.  As a general rule homework is done as soon as we get home from school.  The main reason for this is that on Monday and Wednesday between arriving home from school and walking out the door for gymnastics we only have 75 minutes, so NOT a lot of time.  Then by the time we return home from her three hour practice it’s already 7PM so it’s dinner, washing up and into bed, just too late to be thinking about homework.  Maisie only attends school Monday through Thursday and sometimes on Thursday we’ll have a play date, go somewhere or do something special after school so then homework will get put off until our at-home school time on Friday morning. 

This past Thursday Maisie had her school Easter egg hunt right at the end of the school day and I think that she had a bit too much sugar and hit the wall as she was tired when we arrived home so we decided to put off homework until Friday morning.  Most days Maisie sits down and does her work at the kitchen island while I’m doing my thing in the kitchen.  She likes that I’m around but not right next to her as she prefers to do her homework independently and only calls me over when she has questions or wants me to check something.  Yesterday though she said that she wanted to do her homework in her bedroom so she took everything in there and disappeared.  I was busy working on a few things and then got involved in something else and I realized that I hadn’t heard a peep out of Maisie in a very long time.  I really hadn’t heard *any* noise from her so my first thought was that she had fallen asleep in her room or was playing extremely quietly so I very quietly went to take a look.  I just had to grab my camera because what I found was my little sweetie sitting at her table working away. 

Such a big girl working hard and what I love is that she didn’t notice me until she heard the click of the camera.

Maisie’s class has been working on writing seven sentence two-point expository paragraphs by first writing an outline and then the paragraph but the assignment from Thursday was to write the paragraph without first doing the outline.  The paragraph above is what Maisie handed me when she finished her homework.  Can I tell you how much I *love* her teacher Miss Lisa because Maisie is just learning so much!

In addition to the paragraph Maisie independently completed fifty-four math problems, two short “complete the story” paragraphs, she matched some antonyms and homonyms, read part of a story and answered seven comprehension questions and classified three sentences marking the nouns, verbs, articles, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, object of the preposition, complete object and complete predicate. 

Like I said, Maisie is a star!!

I can’t believe that her school year is almost over, only three weeks until summer break, on my!!

Day twenty-three in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days. I’m really enjoying posting everyday and I know someday when I go back and read through this it will be fun to see so many posts.  I still have some post ideas and I thank those people who have sent questions or ideas but if anyone has more suggestions or ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know, please leave them in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

School Easter party

Yesterday Maisie had a blast at her school Easter egg hunt and party.  A number of her classmates were out or away for the holiday so the kindergarteners joined the first graders for the fun.

Maisie and Maya hugging on each other before the craft began.

Starting to decorate their eggs.

Maisie making her egg girly and pretty.

Maisie proudly showing off her finished egg.

The children lined up and excited to go to the playground to find some eggs.

And they’re off!!

There were plenty of eggs to find.

The children had fun searching the playground.

Playing was part of the fun too.

Once the children found all their eggs they sat down to check out what treats & treasures they held.

After a few treats they sat down to enjoy their bunny cupcakes and juice.  Between the kindergarten and first grade classes there were six students out so only eight little children at the party, but they had fun. 

Maisie only ate the ears off the bunny followed by a lick of frosting.

The children all enjoyed the craft, the egg hunt, the playtime and the cupcakes so another successful party at school.

Day twenty-two in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days. Other than a brief mention in one post about the garden and my having to resort to talking about nits, I think that I haven’t yet fallen to the depths of boring daily pictures or endless posts of seedling growing, so I think I’m still doing well and going strong!  If you have any suggestions or ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know, please leave them in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Maisie & Leah in 75 minutes

Yesterday Maisie’s classmate Leah came home from school with us for a short while between school and Maisie’s gymnastics.  Seventy-five minutes to be exact from the time we arrived home till the time we walked out the door to head to gymnastics and it was a packed 75 minutes.

As soon as we arrived home the girls sat down to do their homework and there was quite a bit for them to do.  They started with a practice spelling test in preparation for the real one today and then they moved on to classifying sentences marking nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, adverbs, prepositions, object of the preposition, complete object, complete predicate…Shoot, I’m glad they knew what they were doing.  Next they had a page of rhyming words and another one of words to which they had to properly add different suffixes.  They then moved on to two pages of math problems followed by reading a short rhyming book of more math problems.  Once they finished math they read a couple of pages of a story and answered comprehension problems.  To end their homework they had to write a seven sentence two-point expository paragraph on their favorite summer activities.  Like I said there was quite a bit for them to get through but the girls rocked through it and still had time for a treat and a little playtime.

The girls taste tested the cupcakes that Maisie and I made for their class Easter party. 

After Maisie put on her leotard and a tee-shirt the girls got silly making pig noses in the mirror.

They did bridges and walked like crabs.

And had a hula hoop contest…all in one hour and fifteen minutes! 

It was a whirlwind of work and fun but all through it the girls enjoyed themselves.  The three of us then piled into the car and took Maisie to her gymnastics practice.  Leah and I watched for a bit and then I drove her home. The busyness didn’t end as I then returned home, got Maisie’s dinner on the table, did a tiny bit of work then was off to pick her up at the gym.  Once home Maisie ate her dinner, she got ready for bed, we did bedtime routine and she was off to sleep.  For the first night since last Friday my intense headache, vertigo and nausea had subsided enough that I actually didn’t get into bed at the same time as Maisie so I was able to get a few things done.  I packed lunches for both Eammon and Maisie, got some things cleaned up and while playing on the computer I watched my recordings of Deadliest Catch, Survivor and House…some relaxation at last!  Life is busy but it’s always fun!

Day twenty-one in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  If you have any suggestions or ideas on blog topics or things you’d like to know, please leave them in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments and emails.