The bunny garden

The bunny cupcakes that Maisie and I baked yesterday are decorated and ready for Maisie’s class party tomorrow.  I hope all the children love them.

I’ve received a few questions about the silk dyed Easter eggs that we made.  Questions regarding how I store them and long they will last.  Let me start off by saying that we are not, nor were we ever going to eat these eggs because the dyes in the silk are not food safe and I wouldn’t take any chances with it leaching through the shell in any way.  So that being said, I have kept the eggs in a vase on my kitchen counter since we made them almost two weeks ago and they are fine, no odor, they’re exactly how they were the day we made them.  I have read that the eggs, as long as the shell is completely intact, can last years as the insides of the egg will sort of petrify.  I don’t know this to be true from experience but I’m thinking that after Easter I may pop the eggs into an egg carton and store them in our extra refrigerator and see how they do.  If I do decide to keep them, I’ll let everyone know how they fare. 

My twentieth post, two-thirds of the way done in my quest to post 30 days in a row as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days and I’m still 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.

Easter baking

This Thursday Maisie’s class will have their Easter party and egg hunt and we’re bringing cupcakes for everyone.  Since Wednesday is a busy day with school and gymnastics and Maisie loves helping in the kitchen especially when baking, we decided to bake the cupcakes today so that they could cool completely and we wouldn’t be rushed in decorating them.  So after school and homework Maisie and I baked the cupcakes and tomorrow we’ll decorate.

Maisie’s a pro at cracking eggs.

She helped measure and add the oil & water to the strawberry cake mix.

Mixing everything together.

Maisie giving the batter a taste test.

We got the cupcakes into the oven and Maisie went off to change out of her school clothes.  I wanted to give Maisie a little instant gratification treat so while she was out of the kitchen I took the little bit of remaining batter and put it in a greased custard cup.  I put it in the microwave for two minutes on high and instant cake!

I popped the little cake out onto a plate and within minutes it was cool.  To decorate it Maisie picked out some white cookie icing and heart sprinkles which were left over from our Valentine’s day baking. 

Ready to give her cake a try.

Delicious!!  Maisie gives it thumbs up and said that her classmates will love the cupcakes. 

Nineteen posts in a row!  I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days and I’m still 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.

Neighborhood Easter egg hunt

Yesterday afternoon I took Maisie to our neighborhood Easter egg hunt and it was a perfect day for the little ones to be outside and searching for treats.  This is the first year that we’ve participated as other years we’ve either been away or the hunt had been cancelled due to bad weather. 

Maisie on her way to the egg hunt. 

Maisie finding a new use for her Easter basket and spotting some of the eggs. 

Before the hunt began and while waiting for everyone to arrive, there were some fun crafts for the children.  The children made bunny bags which they would fill with treats at the end of the afternoon.

All finished making her bunny bag.

The children also decorated foam eggs with stickers and markers.

In addition to the crafts the children could also play bean bag toss.

Next the egg hunt began! 

Maisie had fun finding eggs but she was very particular in which ones she would choose.

Finding her final eggs.

After the hunt there was a nice snack table of cupcakes, treats and drinks.

Maisie enjoying her cupcake.

Some of the children having fun playing in a cherry tree.

Maisie and friend checking out their haul.

It was a fun afternoon and Maisie’s now looking forward to her next egg hunt.

Day eighteen in my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  I’d love your suggestions on blog topics .  If you have any ideas 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.

Sweet!

A picture of a sleeping child is always sweet but what makes this one even sweeter is that this picture was taken at 8:54 this morning.  Considering that my little energizer bunny who believes that she doesn’t need sleep when one can keep going and going because she doesn’t want to miss anything little girl rarely sleeps to 7, well I’m just one happy and rested Mama today.

What caused this sleep-in?  Well yesterday Maisie had a fun and busy day with pals K&A as she played with them in the morning and then went with them to their school’s 30th anniversary party for an afternoon of fun, games, activities and food.  They next went to A’s baseball game and then Anne made a wonderful dinner which Maisie and Eammon thoroughly enjoyed and they didn’t return home until just before 10PM, so a very late night for my girl.  Me, well I had an enjoyable and restful day lounging and dozing on and off in bed all.day.long.  A big thanks to Anne & Steve for taking Maisie out for a fun day and also for making dinner. 

Seventeen days completed in my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  I’ve had numerous requests for recipes and cooking ideas so when I cook something interesting I’ll post the recipe.  Also, if you have questions, anything that you’d like to know or would like me to blog about, please either leave it in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Maisie’s request ~ Popovers

Maisie put in a request for popovers and I obliged.  We all love them warm and buttered and if we have them at breakfast time we’ll sometimes add a bit of jam or honey.  Given the opportunity Maisie can and will eat all six in one day so I’ll often make a double batch as they stay for a couple of days and are easily reheated to bring back the crunchy outside whilst keeping the inside (well what little of it that is there) soft.  These are super simple to make as you only need a blender and a muffin tin, regular or non-stick it doesn’t matter.  Served for breakfast, with a bowl of soup or as individual Yorkshire Puddings with a roast, they’re always delicious.  Go check out my easy Popover recipe on Cook Lisa Cook.

Today is day sixteen in my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  I’ve had numerous requests for recipes and cooking ideas so now that the fun of spring break is over I’ll be posting more of those.  Also, if you have questions, anything that you’d like to know or would like me to blog about, please either leave it in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Half way to goal

Today has been a *very* long and rough day and it’s not even noon!  I’m home and snuggled in bed with Maisie & Eammon taking good care of me.  Later on Eammon will take Maisie to her gymnastics practice and after dinner she’ll come snuggle with her Mama again and hopefully we’ll both get a good nights rest.  Thank you to everyone who sent along good thoughts, wishes, prayers and emails they were all very much appreciated.

Fifteen days in a row blogging, who’d a thunk that I’d make it this far in my quest to blog each and every day this month as part of M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days. The last time I posted fifteen or more times in one month was back in November 2010 because it was a wicked busy month with play dates, our four year referral anniversary, Maisie’s Abe Lincoln presentation, two friend’s parties on one day, our final vegetable harvest of the year, Maisie’s third and final USA level 2 gymnastics competition, our totally awesome visit to Rock Ranch,  a school field trip & making Pilgrim hat cookies for her class, Maisie’s musical water cycle presentation, dressing up as a Pilgrim, enjoying a reindeer high tea, another friend’s birthday party, Thanksgiving, the return of Mortimer and a message from Santa and school pajama day.  What a fun month, no wonder I posted so often.  Not that we don’t always have fun months but some are just more chock full of fun than others. 

Again a big thank you for all the comments, keep them coming as we love reading them and knowing that you’re enjoying Moments with Maisie.

The naughty Easter bunny

For about a week some odd things were happening in our house.  Items were mysteriously moving around, all the fingertip towels in the guest bathroom kept being relocated from one towel bar to another, my shoes would be swapped out for others or end up in strange places, Easter eggs would move about the house and little displays of toys would magically appear in odd spots.  Each time I asked Maisie about it she would smile and without a second thought say that it was the Easter bunny being naughty.  I have to say that I’ve been quite impressed that she’s been so creative and has been keeping this prank going for so long without letting on that she’s behind it. 

Finally I guess the secret got to be too much for Maisie and she let on that she was the one moving everything around and that there was no naughty Easter bunny in our house.  I then asked her if she thought the Easter bunny would bring her lots of candy this year to which she told me that it’s the parents who hide Easter eggs, put out candy and fill Easter baskets for children and that there was no such thing as the Easter bunny.  Hmmmmm, not sure I was ready for that one as I thought she still believed in the Easter bunny.  So just to test the rest of her belief system I asked, “do you think maybe Santa will bring you something?”  to which I got an eye roll and a very exasperated and resounding “of course not Mama, Santa only brings gifts at Christmas.”  I’m telling you, my five year old tells me off and sets me straight all the time!  So, the Easter bunny is a fraud but Santa exists. 

Fourteen days and only one more post to be halfway through my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  A big thank you for all the comments, keep them coming as we love reading them and knowing that you’re enjoying Moments with Maisie.

Dick and Jane

I’d have to say that it was soon after we first returned home from China with Maisie that I saw Dick and Jane and Friends in a store and just had to buy the book.  I had such fond memories of learning to read in the first grade using the Dick and Jane books and with my new baby girl, I just had visions of sharing this book with her and watching her learn to read with Dick and Jane too. 

The stories were so simple and sweet.

And the illustrations, well I still love them.

When Maisie first started reading I pulled out this Dick and Jane book.  On and off over a few months she read almost the entire book to me and though I thought the book charming and sweet she found it downright boring and at the very opinionated age of 3.5 years old she put her foot down and told me she needed a different book as she wasn’t going to read Dick and Jane anymore.  Since then this poor Dick and Jane book has languished on the book shelf, neglected.  Honestly it’s only because of sentimental reasons on my part that the book hadn’t yet been relegated to the Goodwill pile.  Now at five years old Maisie’s reading 150+ page chapter books so it’s time for Dick and Jane to move on.  

I told Maisie that one of our bloggy friends was just learning to read and that her Daddy had memories of learning to read with Dick and Jane and how nice it would be if she would pass her book along to someone who would really enjoy reading it.

So Maisie sat down and took a look at her long neglected book and quickly read a few pages.

It didn’t take long for Maisie to make a determination about the book as she quickly signed *BORING* to me and happily agreed that the book should be passed along to someone else.

So earlier this week the book was packaged up and is now making its way to a new home and a little girl who will hopefully enjoy spending time with Dick and Jane and their Friends a lot more than Maisie did. 

Post number thirteen and other than having to resort to blogging about nits I’m still going strong in my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  We love all your comments so please keep them coming!

The Deadliest Catch

Great, just great…

And yes that is a strand of Maisie’s hair that her teacher sent home with two nits…lovely.  Yesterday one little girl in Maisie’s classroom was found to have live lice in her hair and after the school checked everyone, Maisie along with a number of her classmates were found to have nits. 

Maisie was not happy but last night we treated and thoroughly combed her hair.  I also did mine as she sleeps with me and better to treat both of us than for me to find later on that I have them and have to do it all over again.  All the bedding, linens and recently worn clothing have gone through the high-temp sanitary cycle in the washing machine as well as the anti-bacterial dry cycle, I purchased new bed pillows (it was probably about time and this was a good excuse) and all the mattresses as well as the upholstery & rugs in the house and car have been sprayed and treated.  All the floors have been vacuumed and mopped and now I’m just hoping that I got everything and that this is our first and last time that we’re going to have to deal with this.

On to the real Deadliest Catch, the new season starts tonight and I am wicked excited!  I have watched the series since the beginning and have seen every.single.episode and some more than once.  Last week while Eammon was away I recorded and watched the best of Season 6 and it just got me psyched and ready for season 7.  While watching the best of I experienced the same emotions as when I watched the shows originally.  For instance, even though I knew the outcome my heart stopped as I watched the Jakes in their survival suits being returned to their ships after they finished working on each other’s ship and realized that I was holding my breath until they were safe.  It was sad to watch the whole death of Capt. Phil again and it should be interesting what happens this season on the Cornelia Marie with her new captain and the Harris brothers.  I’m happy that the Hillstrand brothers will still be at the helm of the Time Bandit as they are such characters.  With two new ships and three new Captains, I can’t wait to see what season 7 brings.

Day twelve and still hanging strong in my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  If you have questions, anything that you’d like to know or would like me to blog about, please either leave it in the comments or shoot me an email.  Thank you for following along with Moments with Maisie and we love all the comments.

Ruh-roh, Raggy

The very first words that Maisie spoke this morning were “Mama, which would you like first, the good news or the bad news?”  Yes my heart skipped a beat but almost immediately I realized that nothing could be all that bad as it was only 6:15 and the girl hadn’t been out of bed yet.  One to always get the bad out of the way quickly I opted for the bad news first.  Spoken in a whispered tone with sad eyes and furrowed brow “today is the last day of spring break, how sad is that?”  So cute my girl and “bad” news like I can handle.  I then asked for the good news which was, “I get to return to school and regular gymnastics practice and spend all day with my friends again, yay!!”  Even with all the busy and fun activities of the week, it’s been since about Wednesday that Maisie has been ready to return to school, her regular schedule and to be with her friends & teammates again.  Maisie’s one very excited girl for her return to “normal”.  I’m telling you, the girl can say something to make my heart stop but then she just makes me smile. 

We laid in bed for quite a while (mainly because I was SO not ready to start my day and get out of bed at 6:15 on a Sunday!) talking about our week together.  Even though we didn’t travel anywhere, which was unusual for us, Maisie thought it a pretty awesome week and honestly, so did I.  Maisie had two stand out favorites for the week. 

Visiting with the horses at the stable where she’ll attend horseback riding camp this June was her number one favorite activity of the week.  I had no doubts that this activity would rank right up there as all she’s been talking about for weeks and weeks is going to horseback riding camp.  I’m pleased that she’s so excited and I hope that once she’s there she absolutely loves it. 

The other standout for the week was going bowling and spending time with Kelley.  The two girls really had a great time together, it was a fun day and Maisie’s really looking forward to playing with Kelley again.  

Me, well my favorite part of the week was all the time I got to spend with Maisie.  It was just girls as Eammon was in Houston for the week and we had fun, did whatever struck our fancy, had special treats eating out, played together, did crafts and spent time with some friends…a perfect week!

In other news, one week since starting our seeds and we have some seedlings.  Butternut squash (pink), watermelon (orange), gala melon (yellow) & long beans (green).  The peppers haven’t yet started sprouting but I’m sure it won’t be long before they begin.

Hard to believe, post number 10 and that I’m 1/3 of the way through M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  Shoot the last time I was able to get more than nine post up in an entire month was back in November 2010 so I’ve impressed myself and hope that I can keep going without having the blog read like you’re watching grass grow or paint dry!  Thank you to everyone who is commenting, I love reading your comments and it’s nice to know that people are reading and enjoying Moments with Maisie.  Also I appreciate the blog post suggestions, please keep them coming as I still have 20 posts to go this month.

Silk dyed Easter eggs

I think it was last year when I saw someone post about silk dyed Easter eggs and I really thought that they were neat and wanted to give them a try but Easter came really early and I just never got my act together.  Shoot I was lucky to get Easter cookies made and buy already stuffed plastic Easter eggs for Maisie’s school party and egg hunt.  This year though I planned a bit better and had it in my mind to make the eggs with Maisie over spring break so that we would have them to display for a few weeks before Easter. 

I started the process by visiting the Goodwill store to find silk ties.  You must use 100% silk ties and the more vibrant the color the better as the soft pastel colors just don’t transfer as well.  For example, in this picture the light blue and beige tie, third tie down from the top, didn’t transfer color at all, absolutely nothing.  Also the light blue polka dot tie second from the bottom barely transferred the blue back ground but the darker blue and grey polka dots did transfer.  

I spent about an hour with a seam ripper breaking down all the ties.  I opened up all the seams, removed the interfacing and the lining and cut the ties into pieces large enough to wrap around medium sized eggs.  I was able to get about four workable pieces from each tie. 

We then placed our piece of silk, right side up on the counter and placed our raw egg, centered at the edge closest to us.

We then rolled the egg up in the silk sort of like how you’d roll up a carpet. 

We then twisted each end and secured the twists with small rubber bands.  I think that next year I may use plastic twist ties as it would be easier for Maisie to secure and open at the end.

I placed the eggs in a very large stainless steel pot and covered them with cold water.  I added 6 Tablespoons of white vinegar to the pot and brought the water to a boil.  I then reduced the heat and simmered the eggs for 30 minutes. 

After the 30 minute simmer I put the entire pot in the sink and ran cold water, cooling the eggs a bit.  We then unwrapped the eggs to see our creations.  It was quite exciting to reveal our beautiful eggs and see what transferred.

This is Maisie’s favorite egg.  She said that she loves it because it’s pink and swirly.

I absolutely love this egg, to me it’s very modern and I find it striking.

I knew that this would be one of Eammon’s favorites as it looks like outer space.

The green and paisley are so vibrant on this egg and the detail of what transferred is pretty amazing.

It may be the way that we wrapped the eggs but the patterns really seemed to stay in tact.

I think that the ties which had black in them really made for good transfers as it gave good definition and lines on the finished egg.

I just adore the polka dots and to have the blue and yellow behind them is just adorable.

I can’t get over how well the flowers transferred, just so pretty.

This was a light blue tie with darker polka dots and the back ground light blue barely transferred but still, a pretty egg.

I love the stripes and the texture in this egg.

I wish that this one was a bit darker as the colors are so pretty.

This one almost looks like it has denim on the print.

This was another soft colored tie but the pattern is still pretty and nicely detailed.

This was a cream colored tie with these squares of color and it almost looks like these squares were stamped onto the white egg.   

This pattern didn’t transfer as sharply as others but still makes for an interesting egg.

The thicker silk didn’t always stay tight against the egg but even the eggs where there were big gaps in the fabric leaving white spots were still great colorful eggs.

This was a fun, easy and pretty mess-free project and we’re all happy with our beautiful eggs.

It’s my understanding that the silk can be used over again but I’m not saving the silk as it all looks a little grey and dingy from the colors running together while the eggs were cooking.  I’m thinking that next year I’ll get Eammon to weed through all the ties he no longer wears and I’ll hit up Goodwill again if needed.  We will NOT be eating these eggs as the dyes that are used for fabric are not food safe and I’m not taking any chances with those chemicals transferring through the shell.

If anyone makes these wonderful eggs please send me a picture as I’d love to see your creations.

Post number nine and still going strong in my quest to blog each and every day this month as I’m participating in M3’s Spring Fling! 30 posts in 30 days.  Thank you to everyone who is commenting, it’s nice to know that people are reading and enjoying Moments with Maisie.  Again, a big thank you to those who have commented or emailed blog post suggestions.  I will be posting some recipes, cooking tips and bentos after the fun and busy days of spring break end.  Please keep the ideas coming, I love all the suggestions.