Another week flies by

After a busy week and Maisie’s meet on Saturday, I thought that my girl would want to sleep in a bit Sunday morning but Maisie was up early as she wanted to go to the gym and watch some of the other teams compete.  She had fun watching and at the end of the first session she, along with a few other girls, got to hand out medals during awards.  Afterwards Alyssa came home with us where the girls played for a few hours, doing lots of gymnastics and running around before settling down to watch Wreck-It Ralph and gobble down some popcorn. 

Monday morning at practice Coach Hardy had Maisie on the strap bar where her first attempts at her free /clear hip were quite impressive.

Monday evening huge storms passed through the area and I arrived home 45 minutes after the storm ended and the hail that remained was still quite impressive.

Poor little Maisie Miao Miao hasn’t been feeling well for quite a while and though it’s rare, sometimes my little Energizer bunny just stops and that’s what happened Wednesday morning at gymnastics practice.  After warm up and one or two turns on the bars Maisie just laid down on the mats saying that her tummy hurt and she was done.  Maisie at the gym is never done so for her to just stop, well I knew she really wasn’t feeling well.  I brought Maisie home, emailed her teacher and said she wouldn’t be at school and she crawled into bed and napped and played her touchpad for the remainder of the day.  She finally crawled out of bed at 5:45 to take a short walk and eat some dinner and then was back, sound asleep for the night at 7:30. 

Thursday morning Maisie said she was feeling somewhat better so she went to school and then later in the afternoon she went to gymnastics practice but she didn’t last and soon was sitting on the floor clutching her tummy, again saying that she was in pain…my poor little girl. 

Thursday was a rough night, between her tummy pain and her ongoing sinus problems, she got very little sleep.  Even after her adenoid & sinus surgery last April and her more invasive sinus surgery last July, Maisie continues to have sinus issues and it just happened that I already had an appointment with the ENT scheduled for Friday afternoon.  We’ve been dealing with her gastro issues for months & months too, but her appointment with the Gastro doc wasn’t until mid April but as she’s been having such pain and problems lately, I put in a call to the Gastro doc to try and get her seen.  Her doc is unfortunately out of the office until this coming Friday but he sent us down to Children’s Hospital to get an x-ray which he was able to see and he got her started on some meds and a treatment plan until she sees him this coming Friday.  After our morning at Children’s, Friday afternoon we saw the ENT where he did an exam and sinus scan and it was determined that Maisie will need to have another procedure on her sinuses.  This one is very minor and for adults it can be performed right in the office but children need to be sedated in a surgical setting… so another, though minor, surgery for my wee little girl.  She’ll most likely have it done at the end of her spring break in April, certainly not as fun as spring break in Florida like last year. 

Just as she began her week, little Maisie ended her week on a good note with her bestie Alyssa.  The girls went to cheer on the NMGC girls competing at the Level 7 – 10 USAG Georgia State Championships.  So proud of the North Metro girls, every one of the level 8 & 9 girls who competed, scored and ranked high enough to make Regionals and tomorrow the level 7 girls will hopefully do as well. 

Between Maisie not feeling well, I haven’t been feeling well and our unseasonably cold weather, well soup was a must and the one I craved was my Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup.  As it worked out, this past Thursday was my Improv Cooking Challenge day and all month long I had been racking my brain trying to think of what I wanted to make using the two assigned ingredients of carrots and peas.  It wasn’t until I was writing out my shopping list for the soup that I realized it had peas & carrots so a perfect hearty-help-us-get-healthy soup and entry into this month’s challenge.  Please click on the picture or the link to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe. 

Other delicious soups on Cook Lisa Cook include:  Loaded Potato Soup, Cheaters Chicken Soup, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Mango Gazpacho, Caribbean Clam Chowder with Corn, Fire Roasted Tomato and Chicken Tortilla Soup, Strawberry Soup, Lasagna Soup, Vanilla Scented Melon Soup, Creamy Tomato Soup Florentine, Cioppino, Tom Kha Gai, Red Curry Soup, Roasted & Curried Veggie Soup, Roasted Poblano Corn Chowder and Mulligatawny Soup.

Enjoy

Irish Jig 2013

My A-Maisie-ing number one girl!

And as fast as Maisie’s USA Level 5 season began, it’s already over!  Yep, Maisie started training for USA level 5 at the beginning of 2013, she competed in her first level 5 meet last weekend in Savannah at the Courtney Kupets Pink Gymnastics Invitational where she did oh-so well, and this weekend she competed in her second and final meet of her season, where she rocked it at the Irish Jig.  Maisie generally competes in the Fall season, August through December, so when I looked into taking her away in April & May I never thought that it would interfere with any competitions.  But in December when she finished her Level 4 season, the opportunity was there for her to compete Level 5 in the spring but starting towards the end of the season as she needed some time to learn the routines.  As it worked out though, I had already booked us on a trip for April and into May so, she was only “available” to compete at two meets and would miss the final meet of the season and state meet.  We decided to give the two meets a shot and see how she would do and if she could make the scores which her coaches wanted and WOW, did she ever do it!!  Maisie easily qualified for state meet (though she’ll miss it due to our travels) and she made and exceeded the scores her coaches were looking for her to achieve.  Personally I’m totally impressed, but then I always am.  At both meets Maisie competed against girls, most of whom have been training for a full year or more, doing as well as she did last weekend in a huge meet and then this weekend she competed in a smaller meet where she medaled in all four events and took first place all-around, well not only does she just amaze me but she makes me oh-so proud. 

This weekend Maisie competed at the Irish Jig with approximately 50 other USA Level 5 girls from five gyms.  What can I say, I am oh-so proud of my A-Maisie-ing Maisie, first place on vault, bars & floor, third place on beam and first place all-around, a great way to end the season.

Obligatory hands in the air pictures and scores:

Maisie with her four medals and first place all-around trophy.

Vault:  First place (tied) 8.6

Bars:  First place 9.325

Beam:  Third place 9.0

Floor:  First place (tied) 9.2

All-Around:  First place 36.125

NMGC Level 5: First place team award 

Maisie loves competing and adores being with her friends and teammates.  This meet was especially fun for Maisie as she was not only with her Level 5 teammates but many of her old Level 4 teammates (the ones still competing level 4) were there too for the same session, so lots of hugs together.

Alyssa & Maisie

Level 5 teammates ready for the meet to begin, Rebecca, Sarah & Maisie.

Maisie and some of her Level 5 teammates, waiting to warm up on vault.

Mia and Maisie after the meet, waiting for awards.

Maisie & Lindsey.

Alexis, first place USA Level 4 All-around champion and Maisie, first place USA Level 5 All-around champion.  Congrats girls and to all the NMGC girls, you all rocked!!

Something else that totally rocks, my amazing Pressure Cooker Balsamic Collard Greens.  While the picture may not totally impress, the flavor will knock your socks off and as these don’t contain any bacon, ham hocks or butter, they’re super diet friendly.  Click on the picture or the link to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe.  Don’t forget too, tomorrow is the last day to enter for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Certified Steak & Seafood.  Click {HERE} to enter.

Other vegetable & side dishes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include: Buffalo Cauliflower, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Potato Salad with Bacon, Long Beans with Walnuts, Aloo Gobi, Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, Long Beans with Garlic, Red Chinese Long Beans with Peppers & Red Curry, Fig & Watermelon Salad, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad, Southwest Pasta Salad, Copycat “KFC” Coleslaw, Aloo Tikki, Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic Sour Cream, Creamed Corn with Cheese and Cilantro, Chang-Style Brussels Sprouts, Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, Thai Cucumber Salad, Cauli-Rice, French Fries Hash Browns, Bacon & Cheese Zucchini Fritters, Fried Green Tomatoes, Crispy Zucchini Chips, Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar, Maisie “safe” Bacon & “Cheese” Zucchini Fritters, Broiled Tomatoes, Slow Cooker Ranch Mushrooms, Cauliflower with Seared Peppers and Caramelized Onions & Garlic and Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes. 

Enjoy!

Courtney Kupets Pink Gymnastics Invitational 2013

Thursday Maisie I made the long drive to Savannah, GA so that she could compete in her first USA level 5 meet.  We arrived at the hotel just minutes before some of her teammates and once they saw one another it was like they hadn’t seen each other in years, hugs all around and then within minutes we were out the door and off to dinner together.

After a late night we slept in a bit then had a leisurely morning, breakfast at the hotel with some of Maisie’s teammates, a nice soothing bath, quiet time in the room and then I did my best to get her hair up into the required bun, always an “interesting” struggle.  

We headed off the to venue where cutie-patootie NMGC gymnasts Alexis, Maisie, Briana, Aspen & Autumn enjoyed hanging together before the competition began.

This was a large meet with 95 Level 5 girls, from 14 gyms, from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina & Ohio competing.  Maisie’s been training level 5 for only the past 3 months and I am so proud of how well she performed, especially considering that most of the girls who competed have been training for a year or longer.  She did have a couple of rough spots, landing her first vault wasn’t pretty and though she’s been so solid at practice, she was very wobbly on the beam today but she hung on and no falls so all is good.  Maisie medaled in three events and All-Around.  She is my A-Maisie-ing Maisie!  

Vault:  8.75  4th place

Bars:  8.55  10th place (tied)

Floor:  9.05  7th place.

All Around:  35.2   10th place

The North Metro Girls rocked and the team took first place!!  Notice that Maisie isn’t wearing any of her medals.  She does not like wearing them and after each medal ceremony promptly rips them off her neck, hands them to me and has absolutely no interest in ever seeing them again.  All her medals sit in a drawer at home, maybe one day she’ll want to look back and see all of them.

After the competition we watched the Level 6 girls compete and then headed out to dinner with teammates Aspen & Autumn before calling it a night…and a late one at that!  Looking forward to taking my sweet little gymnast to River Street Sweets in the morning where she’s looking forward to picking out some delicious Maisie “safe” treats to enjoy on the drive home. 

Speaking of sweet, check out the sweet giveaway I have going on over on Cook Lisa Cook.  I am giving away a $50 gift certificate to Certified Steak & Seafood.  I have made Steak au Poivre using their gorgeous prime filet mignon and Maisie especially loved their Sea Bass when I prepared Sesame Ginger Sea Bass.  Check out the Certified Steak & Seafood site and pop on over to {THIS POST on Cook Lisa Cook} for your chance to win the gift certificate. 

For another delicious recipe, check out my most recent Secret Recipe Club entry, which won most popular recipe, Loaded Potato Soup.  With the cold winter weather we’ve recently experienced, this soup was just what we needed to warm us up and it’s totally delish!!  Click on the link or the picture to be taken to the recipe.

Other delicious soups on Cook Lisa Cook include:  Loaded Potato Soup, Cheaters Chicken Soup, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Mango Gazpacho, Caribbean Clam Chowder with Corn, Fire Roasted Tomato and Chicken Tortilla Soup, Strawberry Soup, Lasagna Soup, Vanilla Scented Melon Soup, Creamy Tomato Soup Florentine, Cioppino, Tom Kha Gai, Red Curry Soup, Roasted & Curried Veggie Soup, Roasted Poblano Corn Chowder and Mulligatawny Soup.

Enjoy!

Shurley, Petting Zoo Party & Massage, oh my!

Wow another week has passed, I swear that time is just flying by.  So what’s been happening in the life of Maisie?  Well my girl loves pulling out her white board and playing teacher.  She especially loves teaching me math and Shurley English.  For the time being I’m still able to keep up with her math but she’s already ahead of me with the English.

Last Sunday Maisie attended her teammate Laila’s 10th birthday party.  The party had an amazing petting zoo which included a mini zebra, pony, camel, spider monkey, lemur, baby pigs, porcupine, a hedgehog and even a kangaroo. There were more animals but I can’t remember them all but Maisie had fun and it was a gorgeous day.

Maisie’s back has been bothering her and we’ve been treating it at home with ibuprofen, epsom salt baths and sports cream rubs but it just wasn’t cutting it.  Then Monday morning at practice she said that she was in too much pain to tumble so I made an appointment for her to see Tony, my massage therapist.  Her coach wanted her to take a little time away from the gym to rest her muscles.  So Monday afternoon and Tuesday she was home from practice and Tuesday afternoon she had her massage which thankfully really helped loosen up her back muscles.  Wednesday afternoon she returned to the gym for TOPs and today she returned to her regular practice.  Maisie’s scheduled for another massage next week so hopefully by next Friday, for her first USA Level 5 meet in Savannah, she’ll be feeling good.

New recipe posted over on Cook Lisa Cook for Thai Massaman Curry which was a wonderful holiday meal for Chinese New Year and also a perfect meal on a cold winter night.  Click 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, 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!

新年快樂 Year of the snake / Valentines Day and catching up

I am so far behind on updating this blog it’s just crazy so here’s a catch-up post.

This year we passed on all of the Chinese New Year celebrations and instead, Maisie spent the day doing what she loves best, being upside-down doing gymnastics with one of her besties.  Not a traditional way to celebrate CNY but oh-well, lots of fun for my girl.

We also didn’t do anything special for Valentine’s Day.  Maisie did make a flying butterfly love box for her school party but on the the actual day I dropped Maisie at school at 8:30am, she went home with a friend then straight to her gymnastics practice and by the time that was over and we walked back into the house it was 9PM.  We did exchange cards and Maisie got a jewelry box but that was it.

Of course Maisie has spent lots of time with her favorite people & at her favorite place, with her teammates at the gym.

Last Friday after morning practice we went out for brunch with some of Maisie’s teammates and their siblings.

Sunday we spent the entire day watching the USA Level 7 & 8 girls compete at the Mardi Gras Invitational.  Maisie loved watching and cheering on the girls and sitting with them waiting for awards.

Below are two quick videos from Maisie’s practices.  To see her you’ll need to open the videos up in a full screen and view in HD.  

Maisie practicing cast to handstand on the pit bar.

Maisie practicing back handsprings on the high beam.  She’s in the back, far right corner.

Today I posted a new recipe over on Cook Lisa Cook as it’s my Improv Cooking Challenge reveal day.  This month we were challenged to make anything of our choosing using the ingredients Hearts and Flours.  Thankfully we didn’t need to use actual hearts, we just needed to make something heart shaped or photographed on a heart plate, but we did need to use some sort of flour.  Anyhow, I made some totally delicious and super simple Three Ingredient Fudgy Nutella Brownie Bites.  Click on the link or the picture to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe and in less than 15 minutes you too can be enjoying these totally delicious treats.

Other sweet treat recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include: 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!

Chani is six!

Yesterday Maisie attended another one of Chani's awesome birthday parties.  I’m telling you, Kathy is the Queen of birthday party planning and all the children had a fabulous time.  When the children entered the lab they first signed in, had a retinal scan and the computer verified their identity and by name, welcomed them to the lab.  The next step was finding and putting on their lab coat, goggles and credentials.

Dr. Maisie and Dr. Briana ready to perform their lab experiments.

Maisie making molecules with marshmallows and tooth picks.

Birthday girl Chani, Briana & Maisie.  Three bespectacled cuties.

The dessert table.

Such a creative cake and one of Kathy’s beautiful bows decorates the table.

The food table, also decorated with Kathy’s bows.  (check out her website Kathy’s Bows)

The front of the lab.

The set up at each child’s place.

My beautiful little lab scientist.

Following along and performing the experiments.

Maisie and Briana, so cute in their lab coats and goggles.

Ewwww…slime!  In the end the children performed ten experiments:  color blending, swirling milk, drops on a penny, invisible ink, instant snow, slime, magic sand, fizzy balloons, elephant toothpaste & exploding sandwich bags.  All the children had a great time, Chani’s parties rock!

Check out her past parties here:  Chani’s Mane Event (5), Mickey Extravaganza (4), Colorful Crayola (3), Bouncy Fun (2) and unfortunately we missed Chani’s first birthday as we were sick and didn’t want to spread that “love” to anyone else.  Already Maisie’s looking forward to Chani’s 7 year old party and I’m looking forward to seeing how Kathy outdoes herself yet again.

Happy birthday Chani, wishing you a wonderful year of being six!

The other day I posted a new recipe over on Cook Lisa Cook for Lemon Almond Biscotti.  These crunchy little treats are just perfect and sort of a little fresh taste of summer sunshine on these cold winter days.  We enjoyed these biscotti paired with nice hot cups of tea & coffee.  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: 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 and Baked Bananas.

Enjoy!