Sinus surgery #3

What a way to finish up spring break…with sinus surgery!  This was Maisie’s third surgery; her first surgery was right after spring break last year and her second surgery was last July.  The first two surgeries provided some relief and actually helped in that she has not had a major sinus infection since the second surgery but, my girl still couldn’t breathe properly.  We decided to switch ENT docs and the current doctor felt that the problem currently is that Maisie has very large and obstructive turbinates so today he performed a bilateral submucous resection of the inferior turbinates.  

The surgery went easily and quickly and Maisie did really well…and yes, I wear the same Alaska sweatshirt every.single.time one of us has surgery or a procedure, it’s my oversized, comfy, feel-good sweatshirt.

Maisie’s home now and sleeping comfortably, hugging her emesis bag as she’s petrified that she’s going to throw-up like after previous surgeries…but that usually happened within an hour of her surgery and today thankfully it hasn’t happened yet so maybe she’s in the clear.  We are all keeping our fingers crossed that this is her final sinus surgery and that once she’s healed she’ll be able to breathe!

Today over on Cook Lisa Cook I posted a very special recipe which has been a huge, HUGE hit with Maisie.  Because of Maisie’s allergies to wheat, egg and dairy, it has been near impossible to find bread that is even close to being palatable.  Trust me too, I’ve tried, purchasing every.single.ridiculously.over.priced.bread that I could find, only to have them end up in the rubbish because they were … well… dry, heavy, thick, tasteless and downright inedible… disgusting!  Thankfully though I recently found a recipe and adapted it so that it’s not only gluten free but also egg and dairy free and it’s totally deliciously edible.  My A-Maisie-ingly Wonderful Gluten, Egg & Dairy Free Bread is so good that I have made six loaves already.  Maisie finished off the first two loaves in three days and when both Eammon and I tried the bread, we could not tell that it was gluten, egg & dairy free, we both thought that we were tasting just delicious, yeasty, fresh from the oven bread.  Click on the link or the picture to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe. 

I've really never been much of a bread baker but I do love to bake so check out these delicious cookie recipes posted over on Cook Lisa Cook:  Tri-color Cookies, Oatmeal Coconut Raspberry Bars, Mrs. Ogle’s Tarts, Chocolate Mint Brownies, Lemon Squares, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Piggy-Out Cookies, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Zucchini Lemon Cookies, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Lime Jewels, Walnut Roca Squares, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Biscoff Fudge, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Glazed Lemon Squares, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Mini Cheesecake Bites, S’mores Granola Bars, Sweet Potato Cranberry Nut Cookies and Lemon Almond Biscotti.

Enjoy!

Spring break week 2013

I wish that I could say that we had an amazing spring break week like last year when we were in Naples or previous years when spring break was busy, busy, busy with friends & activities but alas, that just wasn’t the case this year. 

Maisie started her break on Friday at the doctor having her pre-op appointment for the sinus surgery which she’s having tomorrow.  This will be her third and hopefully last sinus surgery.  Keep your fingers crossed that this takes care of all her sinus issues and that she’ll be breathing normally very soon!

Saturday Maisie spent the day hanging with Tia, cheering on the gymnasts at the 2013 Excel State Championship Meet.  Looking at these two, they have been friends and gymnasts together since they were 2 1/2 years old, I can’t believe how much they’ve grown!

Early Sunday morning we were down at CHOA at Scottish Rite as Maisie’s been having ongoing stomach issues and her gastro doc ordered an ultrasound.

Sunday improved though as she attended her classmate Reid’s birthday party at Sky Zone.  Ten of the twelve students in Maisie’s 3rd grade class attended the party and of course all the girls had to sit together for pizza and cake.

Maisie had a blast jumping on the trampolines.

And of course doing a few flips.

Maisie just seemed to fly from one trampoline to the next, she had good fun.

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday Maisie was scheduled to be at gymnastics practice from 9:30am – 4:00 PM and I was having some workers at the house doing some work inside and out so we couldn’t really plan anything fun.  It’s good that we were hanging close to home as Maisie ended up having some major stomach pain, her knee was bothering her and then her back started acting up.  After speaking with her gastro doc Monday morning, I stopped at the gym at noon to bring her some medicine he suggested might help and she was done, totally not feeling well.  I took her with me to my doctor’s appointment and then once home she crawled into bed and spent the rest of the day napping and watching movies on her touchpad.  Tuesday morning she said she was feeling better so I brought her to the gym for 9:30 and after talking with her coach, chose to see how she did that day, but decided that I would keep her home Wednesday to give her a rest until normal practices resume on Monday.  She didn’t last long though, as just before 11:00 I received a call that she was hurting and done.  We had a repeat of Monday, Maisie just wanted to lay low and relax.  Wednesday I scheduled her with Tony for a massage to help work out some of her tight muscles and then later that afternoon we ended up running out to see Maisie’s GP as she’s been so congested and started with a cough and her ears were blocked, so as she’s scheduled for surgery on Friday, they wanted to check her out.  Thankfully she’s not running a fever and doesn’t have any infections so they think maybe a little cold on top of her sinus issues and even though she doesn’t have pollen allergies, with our pollen count being so high, that could be causing her problems too.  So surgery tomorrow is still on.

Today, Thursday, was a quiet day as we never left the house.  I spent the day doing some cooking and Maisie was happy to just play inside, lay low and relax…that right there lets me know that she’s really not feeling up to par.  Also, I wouldn’t allow anyone to open the windows or doors or go outside as the pollen count was an outrageous 8,024.  Late in the afternoon we got some rain which helped wash a lot of the pollen down.  Check out the pollen floating in the pond between ours and our neighbor’s yards…crazy!!

This past Monday was Secret Recipe Club reveal day and I posted a wonderful recipe over on Cook Lisa Cook for Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake which was much more than good-enough, it was totally delicious! Big chunks of cinnamon coated apples surrounded by a moist, not too sweet cake...perfection!  This cake was also the most popular recipe of the reveal!!  Click on the link or the picture to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe.

Other sweet treat recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include:  Three ingredient Fudgy Nutella Brownie Bites, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Piggy-Out Cookies, 24-Layer Crêpe Cake, Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Nutella Crêpes, Mango, Lime & Chile Spiced Ice Box Pie, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Welsh Cakes, Lime Jewels, Walnut Roca Squares, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Thin Mint Irish Coffee, Caramel Apples, Mango Upside Down Cake, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Dumplings, Apple, Cranberry & Rhubarb Crisp, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Biscoff Fudge, Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Glazed Lemon Squares, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart, Dark Chocolate Dipped Candied Lemon Peel, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake, Malted Pretzel Crunch, Apple Pancakes, Health(ier) Peanut Brittle, Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Strawberry Soup, Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothie, Dried Cherry Almond Tart, Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, Mini Cheesecake Bites, S’mores Granola Bars, Marshmallow Pops, Crockpot Baked Stuffed Apples, White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark, Sweet Potato Cranberry Nut Cookies, Creamy Mints, Baked Bananas and Lemon Almond Biscotti.

Enjoy!

Maisie as Anne Frank

Today Maisie and her 3rd grade classmates did a living history museum and each student presented as a famous person from history, using the books in the Who Was book series.  Last Thursday each child picked a book and Maisie chose to read and learn about Anne Frank.  Maisie read the book Who Was Anne Frank, she also watched Masterpiece Theater:  The Diary of Anne Frank (a good version for the younger set as it doesn’t get too graphic though it tells the story up until they were discovered in the Secret Annex), this past Tuesday we visited the local Anne Frank in the World Exhibit and last May when we were in Amsterdam, we toured The Anne Frank House, visiting the Secret Annex.

Maisie really got into her project and has had endless questions about Anne Frank and wants to learn even more about her.  For their project today, the children had to read their book, make a poster and then dress up & present as their person.

The children did one presentation for just their teacher and classmates (the one I videoed) and then they opened up the “museum” and using just their posters, did a shorter presentation for the children in other grades as they passed through.  The video is a long one but IMHO, totally worth watching to the end as I think my girl did an A-Maisie-ing job!  Enjoy!

One of Eammon’s favorite meals is Chicken Tikka Masala and I found a wonderful recipe that is made super easily in the slow cooker.  The only problem with this recipe is that the smell of it cooking all day long drove us crazy anticipating the meal.  Check this one out by clicking on the link or the picture to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe.

More curry recipes on Cook Lisa Cook include:  Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad, Curried Shepherd’s Pie, Mom’s Curried Chicken Salad, Thai Massaman Curry, Home Style Chicken Curry, Shrimp & Vegetable Madras Curry, Lamb Curry, Red Curry Chicken, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Red Chinese Long Bean with Peppers & Red Curry, Red Curry Soup, Hearty Beef Curry, Roasted & Curried Veggie Soup and Curried Israeli Couscous.   

Enjoy!

Easter Bunny fail

I’m admitting it, I was a total loser Mom this year when it came to Easter as the bunny failed to show up at our home.  Shoot, I was a loser with Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day too…just couldn’t get it together this year.  Thankfully Maisie didn’t miss out totally as she participated in an Easter egg hunt at school.  It was a cold day here in Georgia but Maisie, her classmates and the other classes bundled up and had a good time gathering eggs.  Oh and on Easter Sunday, I wasn’t feeling well and slept until 1PM.  Maisie got up, got her breakfast and played happily not even remembering that it was Easter…until 3PM when she must have remembered and asked if the Easter bunny had come.  Eammon and I looked at each other, made up a lame story and let her pick some candy treats from her candy drawer.  She was happy and Easter was done.  Maybe by Christmas I’ll have my act together again!  (Above, Maisie and most of her classmates waiting for the egg hunt to begin.)

And they’re off to pick up eggs. 

Maisie, finished gathering her eggs.

 Maisie and classmate Rose, being silly.

Third graders checking out their booty.

New and delicious recipe posted over on Cook Lisa Cook for one of my favorite take-out foods, Dan Dan Noodles.  My version has all the wonderful flavors and spice of what we get at our favorite Szechuan restaurant but with a lot less calories and carbs as I used turkey in place of the pork and Shirataki noodles in place of wheat or rice noodles.  The first time I made these Dan Dan Noodles Eammon thought I had stopped at our favorite place, that’s how authentic they taste.  Bunny hop on over to Cook Lisa Cook for the recipe, just click on the picture or the link.

More delicious poultry recipes on Cook Lisa Cook include:  Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Copycat “KFC” Original Recipe Fried Chicken, Chinese Five Spice Wings, Chicken Satay Noodle Salad, Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Thai Massaman Curry, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Red Curry Chicken, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, “Rotisserie” Chicken, Cheaters Chicken Soup, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Fire Roasted Tomato and Chicken Tortilla Soup, Tom Kha Gai, Chicken Tenders, Grilled Thai Chicken, Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad, Mom’s Curried Chicken Salad, Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Home Style Chicken Curry, Texas Chicken with Lime Butter, Texas Chicken Sandwich, Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Oriental Chicken Salad, Thai Peanut Salad Chicken Dumpling Patties and Loaded Buffalo Chicken Texas Toast.

Enjoy!