And the bento prize winner is...

Once again I want to thank everyone who voted for Maisie's bento in the Not Exactly Bento contest. Out of the 111 people voting in the contest, 37 voted for Maisie's bento so thank you, thank you, thank you!

As I promised, I am passing along the original bento prize with some items that I have added to the pot. This morning Maisie pulled the lucky winner's name and the winner is...MENDY!!

So what does Mendy's prize include? The original prize of an oshibori and container, the Clickity Click rabbit triangle onigiri container and a matching bag. To the prize I have added the Clickety Click lunch box rabbit belt, Clickety Click rabbit two tier bento box, Clickety Click rabbit snack container, cute animal food picks, silicon animal cups, rabbit & bear boiled egg molds and a smiley face nori/seaweed cutter/puncher.


Mendy, please email me at LisaShanahan@gmail.com with your address and I'll get your bento items in the mail. I hope that Mendy enjoys her prize and maybe she'll start making bento for her little cutie Joleigh and maybe even for her Jacob too. Who knows, she may become as addicted as I and we'll be seeing bento piccies on her blog! Thanks again for your vote and enjoy!

Sporting the team colors

Maisie and her team mates received their team leotards and when all the little girls tried them on, they all looked so adorable! You can't really see the logo but it says NMGC Fire Flies. (North Metro Gymnastics Center) When they were passing out the leotards, they all looked the same and all but Maisie's were the same size.

All the little girls were able to fit into size 2-4 but Maisie is so small they had to order an xx-small and it just about fits still leaving her plenty of room to grow.

From the mouth of Maisie

Maisie's recently come out with some real corkers and for prosperity sake I'm posting about them.

These first two comments are generally said in the car when we're stuck in traffic or when Maisie's feeling the driver's frustration:

Move your tush you muppet*!

Oh come on, what'ca doing sunshine**?

Maisie is very competitive with both Eammon and I, so many times we're racing around seeing who can do something first. For example, we may all be in the bedroom and Eammon will say, "who's going to get to the kitchen first?" I'll shout "ME" and as Maisie pushes by both of us she'll shout "We shall see!!"

Back over the summer we were driving around one day running errands and we passed by the church where Maisie attended camp. She pointed and said "that's Maisie's church" to which I replied, "no, that was your camp but other people go to church there." Then we passed by her school and she pointed and said "that's Maisie's church" to which I replied, "no, that's your school but other people go to church there." Then close to our house she pointed at yet another church and told me it was LiLi's church to which I replied "yes, that is LiLi's church." After thinking for a moment she asked "where's Maisie's church?" I just casually said to her "we don't have a church, we're just heathens." By that point we had arrived home and the conversation ended and I totally forgot about it...until about two weeks later. We were in the middle of a crowded Target and Maisie was in the buggy looking around then blurted out loudly, "Mama, you're a heathen." I looked at her stunned and she then said, "Maisie's a heathen too!" Oh yeah, we got some looks! I really have to watch what I say around that girl.

Tuesday we were out and Maisie needed to use the bathroom so off we went to what turned out to be a multi-stall room. We walked in and Maisie right away said "Whew, somebody dropped a real big stinker in here!" Yes she said it very loudly and the poor person who "dropped the stinker" was still in the bathroom. Unfortunately I couldn't just turn around and walk out as Maisie really needed the bathroom but I was thankful that Ms. Stinker finished and left before Maisie was done so I didn't have to look her in the eyes! This little gem of Maisie's I'm blaming on Eammon as it's not something I say and I can't imagine where else she would have picked up such a comment.

Today we had our first morning where it was actually cool and comfortable outside, hallelujah! I was so happy to dress Maisie in this top and skirt as I feel like I've been waiting years for it to finally fit her. I find Carter's brand clothing to run really big but when I purchased this outfit I thought it would surely fit her last autumn as it's size 12 months! Here we are a year later, Maisie's just about to turn three and the outfit is almost fitting her. The skirt is still a little big around the waist but I figure it's now or never on this outfit and I think it's so cute I just have to have her wear it.


* "Muppet" is Eammon's "swear word" in the car
** "Sunshine" is my "swear word" in the car.

Neglect

This poor blog has been so neglected lately as here it is again, over a week since my last post. It's so easy to take piccies of Maisie's bentos especially in that they are still and other than a brief description there's little to explain. But capturing images of my little mess making, demanding, opinionated, wear your Mama out, whirling dervish love bug AND finding the time to write about all that is happening in the world of Maisie takes much more time. I'm going to try and be better about Maisie piccies and posting more often and though I've said it before, I promise again to try.

Those who follow along on Maisie's bento blog know that we're still alive and kicking as I've been good about posting over there. For those who want to know more than just what the little girl's been eating and for the non bento blog followers, here's what has been going on in the world of Maisie and family since my last post?

Wednesday I was so proud of myself for getting all of Maisie's birthday invitations out. Most of the invitations were done by evite but I didn't have email addys for her 11 school mates so I purchased cards, wrote out the invitations and placed them in each child's bag. Yeah, oh so proud until Thursday when one of the Moms informed me that I forgot to put Maisie's name on the invite...duh!!!

Friday night Eammon was out with his workmates at a leaving do, his! This past Monday was his last day working for the company he'd worked for since immigrating to this county. Tuesday he started with a new company, no rest for the weary. Hopefully he's going to love his new position as it's only the first week and he's already doing late nights.

Saturday we gathered for dinner with other adoptive and waiting families. It was fun seeing all the little ones and how much they've changed since our last time together. Having an evening out with friends was great fun too.

In addition to school and gymnastics, Maisie and I have had some play dates and we've spent time playing outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. Our activities have been a little limited as I've been trying not to drive anywhere beyond what's necessary due to the fuel shortage.

Who would have thought that almost two weeks after hurricanes Gustav and Ike passed through the gulf, that here in Metro-Atlanta 9 out of 10 petrol stations would still be without fuel. In addition, even with EPA clean fuel regulations relaxed, there are reports that it will be another two weeks before fuel levels return to normal and gas lines will a thing of the past.

On that note, don't drive around the metro area in the right lane as you might easily find yourself in a fuel line. I've seen gas lines as long as 1/2 mile long with officers directing traffic. In addition I also know of people who have waited at dry stations because there was word of a fuel truck due to arrive within a few hours!

Also for the people who only run on premium grades, they have been doubly s.o.l. as in two weeks I have yet to see a station that has anything other than regular and diesel.

Today was Clifford day in Maisie's classroom so all the children were to wear red and bring in their favorite Clifford animal and/or book. We don't have anything Clifford nor has Maisie ever seen Clifford but that wasn't a problem as her teachers had extras. The exterior of their classroom door was decorated like Clifford's dog house and Miss Mary Jo & Hope shared Clifford with fans and newbies alike. Each child not only made and wore big red ears but at the end of the day they each got to eat a Clifford cupcake too!

When I picked Maisie up this afternoon she looked adorable with her little brown nose and big red ears. So cute in fact that she was able to pull the look off brilliantly wearing the only red item in her wardrobe, her Thomas the Tank Engine shirt! Maisie was the only child that had no interest in eating her cupcake so we brought it home for her after nap snack. I think she had no interest because she was full as she ate every single crumb of her bento. Her bento was cute but the hard boiled eggs that I had attempted to dye red in honor of Clifford instead came out bright pink, but she loved them.

I have the names all written out of the 38 people who voted for Maisie's bento in the Not Exactly Bento contest. Once I receive the prize, which is being mailed next week, I'll have Maisie draw a winner and I'll announce what I'm adding to the pot. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to vote and if the winner is not already packing bento, I hope that the prize package inspires them to start.

Expanding her food horizons

This past week I made chicken korma and Szechuan chili ginger garlic shrimp, both served over Jasmine rice. Much to my surprise and delight, my little fussy bunny Maisie loved them both and scarfed down her meals even asking for seconds! Both meals had a good spicy kick but my little spicy girl didn't seem to notice and really enjoyed her meals. I'm so happy that I've found a way to not only get her to eat chicken and shrimp but also rice. For some reason Maisie has never liked eating rice which is sort of a pain since Eammon and I eat it quite often. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get her to enjoy fresh fruit and veggies beyond broccoli and carrots.

Maisie and I of course have had a busy week thus far, but what else is new there. My big accomplishment for the week was getting a venue booked for Maisie's upcoming birthday as well as ordering her cake and getting out all the invitations!! A month ahead and I'm so prepared, I just can't stand it!! I can't believe that she's going to be three in just a month, where has the time gone? She's growing up so quickly...boohoo...but honestly every new stage she enters is so exciting and fun and I love viewing the world through her eyes.

I've been looking at furniture for her big girl room which is oh.so.fun! I sort of feel like Maisie's room was decorated and waiting for her for a longer period of time than she'll have actually used it. I'm ready for the change though and so is Maisie. She and I have picked out her big girl bed and we sometimes go to the store to visit it and test it out. I think when the time comes to transition her from the crib to the bed she'll be quite prepared and hopefully we won't have a problem. Keeping her in her bed and room, THAT will be the problem! Do they make crib tents for beds? I'm going to really miss that crib tent and the security of knowing that she couldn't get out!! Maybe she'll love her bed so much that she'll want to go to sleep without all the stalling tactics that she's already quite skilled at and maybe too, she'll become a good sleeper. One can always dream!

Time for bed as my little monkey will be up bright and early...Ta.

And the winner is...

Thanks to all of your votes, Maisie's bento was the first place winner of the recent contest hosted by Not Exactly Bento! I really appreciate all my readers, friends and family taking the time to vote and also for following along on Maisie's bento blog. You can check out the other winning bento and if you missed it, all the bento entries.

I'm going to get the names together of all the people who voted for Maisie's bento and we'll have a little contest of our own with Maisie picking the winner. The prize being, the one you helped me win plus something that I will add to the pot. I will get this done in the next couple of days so keep checking back for the prize winner announcement.

It's difficult to believe that it's been eleven days since my last post and I truly appreciate all the comments wishing us to feel better and the emails inquiring if we're all right. With my back being out, just keeping up with daily life has kept me more than occupied. In addition I like all my posts to have some sort of piccie and trying to get a picture of the busy Maisie has been close to impossible. I'm happy to say that Maisie is 100% better and active as always, my back is about 75-80% better, having both it's good and bad days. I hope to get back to my regular couple of times a week or at least once a week posting now that I'm moving better and off the wonderful, addictive, make my head happy who cares about the stinking pain, I hope you don't expect me to do anything productive or be coherent percocet.

TGIF and win the prize

This has been a long week and I'm so thankful that it's finally Friday and that this weekend we can all be together as a family and hopefully we'll all get some good rest and be healthy. Even though last weekend was a holiday weekend, Eammon had a tremendous amount of work to do and in the end, spent all but a couple of hours working. So Saturday I decided to take Maisie out in the morning and run a few errands. She was dragging a bit and being extra clingy but otherwise she seemed okay.  Then at one point when she snuggled up to me I thought she felt a little hot so I made a point to remember to take her temp once we got home.

Towards the end of our errands Maisie needed to use the restroom and I went in with her. She thinks she can do everything herself and proceeded to completely melt down when I told her that I needed to stay with her in public restrooms as she not only wanted me out of the stall but out of the room completely. It was just a bad, bad scene so I went to pick her up to leave the store and in a somewhat less than graceful move, managed to twist just so, that I pinched my sciatic nerve. With a lot of pain and a screaming child I managed to get us both in the car and home. Eammon helped me get Maisie ready for her nap and I took her temp to find that she was running a fever of almost 103F.

She napped well but for the rest of the day was sort of like a limp rag wanting to snuggle and lay on me...just like she did when we first met her. Since I was in pain and she wasn't feeling well we spent the afternoon snuggled together, watching Thomas the Tank Engine, Max & Ruby and Charlie & Lola. We read books and we dozed together. Sunday and Monday were more of the same as the only thing Maisie wanted to do was snuggle and nap on me. She started complaining that her throat and tongue hurt and they must have really hurt because by Sunday night even her favorite extra-special treat foods like M&Ms and squirt cream went uneaten.

We kept her hydrated and I gave her some meds for the pain which also helped to bring down her fever and the two of us in pain, made it through the weekend. Tuesday morning I called Maisie's doc and got an appointment for that afternoon. They performed a strep test and looked at her throat and said it was probably something viral and that her throat would be sore for a few days and to keep doing what I was doing for pain relief. When I mentioned that she hadn't really eaten anything in three days the doc suggested ice cream and milk shakes. We gave that a go but she mostly ignored or refused to eat or drink most of it. Poor little girl was really miserable and for four nights she wouldn't sleep alone and only wanted to be with me so poor Eammon got relegated to the sofa and/or guest room.

Thankfully by Wednesday morning Maisie had turned the corner and was getting back to her normal energy levels...Unfortunately after having her on me and lifting her too many times, I couldn't move. We made it through the morning together...barely. Eammon came home just after lunch, stopping at the pharmacy to pick up some high-dose meds for me because what I had in the house wasn't cutting it. Maisie and I were in bed napping when he arrived home and it was there where I stayed until Thursday morning. Eammon did great with Maisie though, cajoling and playing and getting her to finally eat some real food. By Thursday morning my meds had kicked in and though I wasn't walking upright or anywhere near pain free I was able to move around within limits. Maisie was full speed when she awoke so I decided to take her to school as that would give me three hours of down time and she could be active and have some fun. She did great at school but it totally wiped her out so she took a nice long (for her) nap. For this morning I had scheduled for her to go to the New Playroom for drop-off care just so I could give my back some more down time. She had a blast playing with her friends, doing crafts, jumping on the trampoline and into the foam pit.

Last night for dinner Maisie wanted dumpling sandwiches and instead of me drawing some lame face on them, she wanted to decorated them herself.

Making the sandwiches herself made them more appealing and she ate almost three. She wanted them again for her bento today so she did another great decorating job this morning, just check out her cute bento.

I'm still begging asking for votes in the bento contest. The person with the most votes wins one of two bento box prizes. If you vote for one or both of Maisie's bentos (#52 &53) please leave a comment here for me letting me know that you voted. If by chance I happen to win one of the prizes I will do a drawing from all the voter's comments and you could be the winner of a new bento box plus something to be decided that I will add to the mix. In your comment, please leave a way to contact you as so many of the comments don't have a link back to an email address or only go to a blog where there is no email link. So, help me win and you could take the prize. Voting ends Sept 8 so please go cast your vote!!

He knows me too well...

Eammon does not buy, nor is he allowed to buy clothing for himself or anyone else...EVER!! If you ask us why, he'll tell you that it's because I know fashion better, have time to shop and know where to go. On the other hand, I'll bring up the orange shoe incident of April 2000 and with that mention, Eammon agrees to never again shop for clothes or shoes.

I only clothing shop for Eammon once every year or year and an half so when I do it, I do it big. For a while now Eammon's been telling me that he was in need of some new chinos, golf/Polo shirts and button down shirts. Over the summer I was so busy with Maisie's activities and schedule, I just never found the opportunity to shop for him. But Wednesday while Maisie was at school I finally found the time to shop and as luck would have it, everything was 75% off the already marked down price...my fave a sale! Once I returned home from my little spending spree I called Eammon at work to let him know that he'd be doing some clothes modeling that night. I then asked if he was sitting down. He said yes, so I proceeded to tell him that I had just purchased $1,720.00 worth of clothing for him. Without even missing a beat he said, "Yeah, but how much did you pay?" So when I told him just shy of $400.00 he didn't even bat an eye and said "that's not bad."

After trying everything on, only a few shirts and pairs of pants had to be returned. So Thursday morning after dropping Maisie at school I headed to a different location of the same store and noticed that instead of everything being 75% off the already marked down price it was 80% off because of the holiday weekend. After making my $115.00 return I proceeded to purchase $1,651.00 worth of additional clothing costing us a mere $161.00. Of the second batch of clothes I returned $33.50 worth.

So what's the end result of my shopping bonanza after figuring out returns? Original cost of Eammon's new wardrobe was $2,903.97 (plus 6% tax totaling $3,078.21) and the amount we paid was $383.89 or $406.92 including tax. Total pre-tax discount $2,520.08 or a savings of 86.78% Shoot, wish I could pay 13.22 cents on the dollar for everything I purchase!!


So what did Eammon get for his $400?

6 pairs of chinos: Izod & Chaps

14 Polo/golf shirts: Nautica, Polo, Chaps, Alan Flusser & T. Harris London.

7 Short-sleeved button down shirts: Izod, Polo, Alan Flusser & T. Harris London

15 Long-sleeved button down shirts: Izod, Polo, Alan Flusser & T. Harris London.

Eammon cleaned out and organized his closet with all his new clothes and it looks great! In addition he cleaned out his dresser drawers so we now have an enormous pile of clothing ready for donation and Eammon has a smart new wardrobe to last him a year or so until my next mega-shopping-bargain-bonanza.

Cast your vote...Please!

I'm still having a blast making bento for Maisie and she's loving them, eating so much better. Even though I'm still relatively new to making bento and predominately make them for a two year old, I decided to risk all and submit two of her bentos to a contest!!

So here I am begging asking you to go check out all the entries over at Not Exactly Bento's competition and cast your votes. If you happen to fall head-over-heels in love with Maisie's which are bento entries #52 & #53, I would sure love and appreciate your vote!! According to the rules you may vote for up to three of your favorites by leaving a comment with the bento entry numbers (#52 & #53) of your choice, in the post linked ~~>HERE<~~ and just a reminder, in case you missed it or I forgot to mention it earlier, Maisie's bentos are #52 & #53!!

It seems that most of the bentos are geared towards adults and so many of them look delicious and beautiful. But since I'm making bentos for my fussy little girl, I can only look, admire and learn. For now I'll be sticking to Maisie friendly foods but hopefully one day I'll be making more diverse bentos. Thanks for taking a look and for voting.

The bento pictured above was the one Maisie ate today at school. This was a new box for her and she was just delighted with it as anything Thomas is wonderful in Maisie's world. Click HERE to check out the specific contents of her bento.

First day of Wee School 2008

Today was Maisie's first day back at Wee school and she had a fabulous day!!

Oh so different from last year when she was so scared with that deer-in-the-headlights-look.

This year she was excited and smiling, ready to go and take on the day. Last year leaving her in the morning was tear filled for her and heartbreaking for me but this year she walked me to her classroom, went right in and saying goodbye was tear-free and easy for both of us. I look at the picture from last August on her first day at school and can't believe how much she has grown, my gosh she's gotten so tall.

For Maisie's lunch today I packed many of her favorite foods in her new Hello Kitty bento box. (Check out her new bento box and cute lunch at Maisie Eats Bento.) When I picked her up she was in a great mood chatting away telling me all about her day. She told me that she ate all of her lunch and how much fun she had playing with her friends. I'm so happy that she's already enjoying her class and we're off to a good start for the school year.

Cutie patooties

Today we met up with Kathy & Chani for some fun jumping time at PLAY followed by lunch at my favorite little lunch place. In the past I've resisted taking Maisie out to restaurants due to her inability to sit in any one place for more than 17 seconds. But she's grown up so much and did quite well at the restaurant both eating and sitting. Chani & Maisie were so cute holding hands each time we walked around outside. It was a fun morning and we're looking forward to our next play date. Thanks to Kathy for the piccie and more can be found on her blog.

P.I.Z.Z.A.

On our agenda for this morning was a meet-and-greet with Maisie's teachers, Miss Hope & Miss MaryJo followed by a shopping trip to Costco. Maisie took to her new teachers right away giving them each big hugs both hello and good bye. Her class is made up of six girls and six boys most of which were in her class last year so she's really looking forward to school starting on Tuesday. She was such a good girl while I was filling out all the paperwork that I decided to take her out for lunch.

I was a big spender and took her to Costco for a slice of pizza. The amazing thing, she finished the entire giant slice and still managed to taste test every sample given out in the store followed by two fruit leathers on the drive home!!

Recently Maisie has been interested in learning to spell various words and today the word was pizza. She really picks up the spelling and the finger spelling quickly. Her vocabulary that she can spell, finger spell and knows the sign for are: Maisie, Thomas (the tank engine), Mama, Baba, Dena (her coach), Emily (her coach's daughter), stop and now pizza. Sometimes she gets silly and will say "M.A.I.S.I.E that's how we spell broccoli and Thomas" or "T.H.O.M.A.S that's how we spell periphylla*." You can see her mind working trying to figure out funny things to say to the various spellings.

I've put her down for a nap which she is fighting and I'm working on getting rid of a headache so ta for now and hopefully I'll have a new Maisie moment posted soon.

* Maisie has always loved watching fish and can spend hours watching this one this two minute segment of a Blue Planet episode which shows copepods, a pea-sized gigantocypris and her beloved periphylla. It is stinking cute though when the copepods and the periphylla light up and Maisie says her version of "bioluminescence" but she's real close to saying it 100% correctly.

Nope, not going to happen!

Yesterday we met up with Kathy & Chani and Lisa & Briana at DAC Kids. We all arrived just as they opened and we all prepared to go in but as the doors opened, Maisie went into complete meltdown mode and would not walk in the door. What caused her instant meltdown? The sound of the fans on the inflatables which lined the perimeter of the room. Maisie has always had a major issue with loud noises, the vacuum cleaner, too many children being loud, horns honking, lawn mowers, thunder and the sound of the fans on the inflatables*.

I did carry Maisie in reassuring her that it was just noise but for the first hour all she did was cry as she held on to me with a death grip. We all sat in the center of the sand area as far from the inflatables as possible and gradually Maisie joined Briana & Chani playing in the sand and then on the wooden climbing structure but she still wasn't going to smile or truly enjoy herself. When Briana & Chani then wandered over to the kiddie inflatable I held Maisie so that she could see the fun they were having but being that close caused yet another major meltdown.

Kathy had brought along some snacks so we sat the girls down and they were so cute together especially Briana who loves her food and looked for any opportunity to nick treats from both Chani & Maisie. One last meltdown occurred as we were leaving as we had to walk past the inflatables but then Maisie was happy again once we were outside.

We then headed to CiCi's for lunch where all the girls ate well and then had fun playing in the little amusement area allowing Kathy, Lisa and I some time to catch up and chat. It's too bad that Maisie's afraid of the inflatables because otherwise she would have had a really good time playing in the sand and on the climbing equipment. It was great getting together with friends though and next time we'll be going to a place that doesn't have scary inflatables!

*Amazingly and thankfully, Maisie can walk into a screaming loud gym and not bat an eye, in fact she struts into gyms like she owns them.

Fancy Ancy

This weekend was filled with fancy clothes and posh tea parties with pinkies up. We've been having fun reading Fancy Nancy or as Maisie calls her, Fancy Ancy.

We've had a great summer but here we are at our final week. I can't believe that it passed so quickly and that Maisie starts back at Wee School next Tuesday! For our final week of summer we have lots on our schedule, getting together with friends and then on Thursday we have our meet-and-greet with Maisie's new teachers Miss. Hope & Miss. Mary Jo. Of course twice weekly gymnastics continues as does all my fun times with my little Fancy Ancy Maisie.

And from my previous post, after arriving at his office at 4:30am Friday, poor hubby didn't make it home until 2am Saturday only to grab a few hours of sleep before it was back to work. So no posh pinkie up tea parties with Baba this past weekend but hopefully next weekend Baba will join in on the fun.

In her element

First let me say, it $ucks to be my husband today. Poor guy left for the office at 4:30 this morning and here it is 11:30 PM and the guy is still at the office with no end in sight. In addition he's on call all weekend so who knows if he'll get any sleep at all. I'll probably take Maisie out for a good part of the morning just in case he's able to get some sleep.

       
Maisie and I have had another great and busy week doing lots of activities together spending plenty of time at various play places and play grounds as well as doing lots of arts & crafts which Maisie just adores. Today we met up with some of our library friends and went to a new indoor gym and oh did we have a great time there. Of course Maisie spent the majority of her time on the trampoline but also had a fabu time on the rope swing, jumping into the foam pit and playing on the rings and bar.

Me and my girl

Maisie and I have been having a fun week together, much more laid back than the past nine weeks where every day was heavily scheduled with camp and gymnastics practice. The only scheduled activities this week were Maisie's twice weekly regular gymnastics practices and other than those she and I have been having some fun times together. Wednesday we didn't even leave the house until 3:30PM when it was time to head to gymnastics practice. It's crazy to think about it but that was the first weekday, in over nine weeks, where we spent an entire morning home.

Maisie is still being a super fussy eater but has been doing somewhat better since I've started making bento for her. I'm having fun thinking up new and fun ways to present her meals and even sneaking in a few new foods. For the most part Maisie doesn't eat rice, chicken, beef, fish or pork. She's also decided that she doesn't like any fresh fruit and the only veggies she'll eat are carrots and broccoli. So working with a very limited choice of foods I've had to be quite creative. Of course Maisie would be happy if everyday I just gave her noodles, Go-Gurts and quail eggs. You can check out all of Maisie's bentos over at Maisie Eats Bento.

Briana turns two!

Yesterday we celebrated Briana's  2nd Birthday. Being with friends, enjoying pizza and cupcakes, who could ask for anything better!

Maisie 

Chani 

Katie & Andrew

Happy Birthday Bri!

Final day of gymnastics camp

It's sad but true, today is Maisie's last day of gymnastics camp. Her regular twice weekly practices will continue but no longer will she spend 30 hours per week in her favorite place. Poor little girl, I know that next week she's going to have major withdrawal because even on weekends when she first wakes she asks to go to the gym and finds out that it's closed, she's so disappointed.

The gym opens 30 minutes before camp starts and Maisie loves being there during those 30 minutes as she has so much of the place to herself or only sharing with a few other children. So this morning before camp started, I took the video of Maisie doing a flip off the tumble track. She can spend hours just going on the trampoline, tumble track and jumping into the foam pit, she just loves it. There were a few of her camper friends there early too so that's the picture of Maisie with some of her friends.

What amazed me most about camp were the other children, the 5,6 & 7 year old boys especially. They all doted on Maisie making sure that she always got her turn, when she wanted to go to the bubbler one would always escort and help her, getting up onto the parallel bars to reach the rings, they would lift her up and carry her. It was just so sweet how all the older children watched over and helped Maisie. Here was a 2 1/2 year old with children 4 to 11 years old and they never left her out, in fact they went out of their way to include her. Numerous times the coaches had to tell the children not to carry Maisie around so much as they would just scoop her up and put her where she needed to be and she just went along with it. To thank all her fellow campers, Maisie gave them a thank you note today made out of cupcakes.

Tuckered out

Between gymnastics camp and her regular practice, Maisie spent seven hours at the gym today. About five minutes after leaving the gym Maisie was passed out and slept the remaining 10 minute ride home.

From start to finish Maisie had a great day today. She listened and paid attention to all her coaches and she didn't push any limits at home. Tomorrow she has a short day, only at the gym until 1PM so we'll get a nap in and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have another great day...hopefully.

Bento fun

Last week I created five days of bento boxes for Maisie and she ate just about everything I put in the boxes. I did put in items that she favors but for a fussy little girl, she did great in the eating department. I'm having so much fun making Maisie's lunches, it's become my new obsession. I even entered a bento box competition for everyday people packing bento and we'll see how I do as the contest ends on Tuesday. If you're interested in seeing Maisie's bento boxes, check out Maisie Eats Bento.

We've had a pretty good weekend and I say pretty good because Maisie has really been pushing limits. We've had great mornings; Saturday on the spur of the moment I took her to the gym where we had the place to ourselves and she had a blast jumping on the trampoline and into the foam pit and today Eammon took Maisie out shopping and for breakfast. Then there were the afternoons... She was tired and cranky yet fought going down for her naps and even after waking, she was still miserable. Our easy bedtime has also become a test of wills but thankfully she's still zipped into the crib tent so Mama & Baba are still winning. Hopefully once we're back into the swing of the week things will return to normal.

Maisie on the move

Wow, two posts in two days, what's come over me? Shoot it's really five posts as I've made two posts on Maisie Eats Bento of, the lunch that she ate today as well as her lunch for tomorrow. Then because of a couple of requests, I posted to Cook Lisa Cook the recipe for Curried Israeli Couscous, truly simple to make and delicious to eat. The ever present udon noodles with sesame oil and medium sweet soy sauce are just that. One cooked and drained block of either frozen or shelf-stable udon noodles tossed together with about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of medium sweet soy sauce. For the ones that I give to Eammon, I add a bit of sriracha and some toasted sesame seeds for a little heat and crunch. Another truly simple and delicious option if you like noodles and want something fast.

This morning I made a point of taking my camera to the gym so to take pictures of Maisie and as you can see in this post, I actually followed through.

Each morning as soon as we arrive at the gym Maisie runs to take off her tennies and put them in her cubbie, then she takes off, usually heading straight for the trampoline.

Today was no exception so trampoline pictures I have.

I received a couple of questions about why I have Maisie in unitards and not leotards. The smallest leotards and unitards that I can find are toddler (18 months) and children's xxs. While her chest, waist and hips fall at the lower end of the measurement range, her torso length is about 2-inches smaller than the lower end of the measurement range. So, in an attempt to not have my child do a Catherine Tramell peep show, I've found that having her wear panties with the unitard provides more adequate coverage...if you know what I mean. Unitard, leotard, no matter what she wears she's still stinkin' cute...in my totally biased but oh so true opinion! ;-)

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING: SYTYCD spoiler: Are you kidding me, Mark is still there and Will was voted out???? Seriously??? Are you kidding me!!! Comfort, well she needed to go well before her first ousting. But Will before Mark, it's mind boggling!! That's one of my top 3 dancers out. Now I'm pulling for Katee and Joshua. Seriously I'm flabbergasted.

More of the same

Like so many of my bloggy friends out there, I too have been in a bloggy funk. I've been continuously on the go with Maisie as well as cooking a lot of new meals but I just really haven't had all that much new to post about, nor the time. Tonight though Eammon is working yet again, I have the kitchen mostly cleaned up and the DVR is recording SYTYCD so that I can watch it later on commercial free, so I figured I would attempt a post.

Last week Maisie absolutely loved gymnastics camp and just couldn't get enough of being in the gym. When she awoke each morning, the first thing she would ask was about going to gymnastics camp, and on the days when I told her that she only had her afternoon practice, she was disappointed. I swear the girl would be happy living at the gym. Since she loved it so much I decided to try having her go five days this week knowing that Monday and Wednesday could be rough with her afternoon practice coming right after camp, thus no nap. Monday we arrived at the gym just after 8:30a.m. and I returned at 2:00P.M. to make sure that she had a little break, a snack and a bathroom break before her regular practice. I then watched her practice and once it ended at 4:00P.M., we left the gym much to Maisie's chagrin. After 7 1/2 hours of physical activity I thought she'd be worn down but once home she headed straight for the trampoline and continued to jump for another hour.

Tuesday when I picked Maisie up from camp, her coach told me that she won the stick-it competition. That's where they had to jump off the high balance beam and stick their landing. Pretty darn good for 2 1/2 year old especially in that her competition were 5, 6 & 7 year old. After back-to-back busy days Maisie managed to somehow wake up extra early this morning at 5:30a.m. As we had some extra morning time we were able to do a little shopping before arriving at the gym just after 8:30a.m. I was back at the gym at 2:00P.M. to give Maisie a break, snack and bathroom break before her regular practice. As soon as I saw her, I could see that she was starting to wind down a bit but she said that wanted to continue. That was until 3:50P.M. when she hit the wall, stick a fork in it done. I told her coach that she needed to go home and off we went. Less than a minute after being strapped into her car seat she was fast asleep for the 15 minute drive home but once the car stopped she was awake and cranky. She lasted until 6:30P.M. and then she told me she was tired and when I asked if she wanted to go to bed, she actually said yes!! Hopefully she'll sleep well tonight and tomorrow she's only at camp until 1P.M. so a little less tiring.

Even though it's summer and hot outside, I've been doing a lot of cooking and I've been on a bit of a curry kick. Eammon and I have loved all the new foods but unfortunately Maisie is very picky and really hasn't liked anything new. She has an extremely limited diet of foods that she'll eat and left to choose her own diet she would live on noodles and Go-gurts. I think that she still may have some texture issues so I do the best I can and though I introduce her to whatever we're eating and new foods all the time, she rarely likes them so I tend to feed her the same meals again and again just so she'll eat and get food into her. Then she'll tease me with what she'll eat. For example, for a while she couldn't get enough fresh grapes, cantaloupe or apples, but now she won't even put any of them in her mouth. Her new favorite is dried fruit especially apricots, cherries and raisins. As far as vegetables, she'll only eat carrots and steamed broccoli. Protein, that's and entirely different issue, eating even fewer options. So all of her lunches lately tend to include noodles, dried fruit and broccoli or carrots. I have to pack lunch for Maisie to take to camp and starting in less than a month, to school, so that's three to five days a week of providing food that she wants to eat. So, in an attempt to make her lunches more interesting, appetizing and hopefully more appealing, I took a cue from M3 and the adorable bento lunches she makes for her girls. I purchased some bento boxes and supplies and I've been packing bento lunches for Maisie. I pack things that I know she'll enjoy and want to eat but having them packed in a more appealing way has made her want to eat more of her lunch. In addition she gets lots of comments and interest in her lunches so that entices her to eat more of it too. I've started yet another new blog, Maisie Eats Bento, to show some of the lunches that I've been making for Maisie and as I make more I'll continue to update the site. I've also added a link in my sidebar.

In other news, I booked our December trip to Aruba. Maisie and I will be down there for 19 days, the last two weeks of the trip we'll be staying with my parents. Eammon unfortunately can't take that much time, so he'll only be with us for the first 10 days. Nine days on the beach with little Miss Energizer Bunny and no Eammon, OY!! I'm going to be enlisting help from not only Gamma & Gampa but from any and all on the beach willing to chase the girl down!

And since no post is complete without a picture, I've added the most recent stinkin' adorable Maisie pic to this post even though it's a repeat from the previous post. I need to stop taking pictures of her lunches and start taking more piccies of her!

Gymnastics camp rocks!

In our attempt to help spur the economy, we went out and purchased a new television but Maisie's favorite part is of course the box, which still holds center stage in our family room. The box picture was taken just before her first day of gymnastics camp on Tuesday. Maisie had a fabulous day at camp and was so energized and delighted with the entire experience. She was the youngest child by a good two or more years and it was so cute how all the 4,5 & 6 year old girls wanted to hold Maisie's hand, help her when they could and the cutest thing was when they showered her with hugs and kisses when saying goodbye. After four hours of activity she didn't want to leave and for two days solid all she's talked about was gymnastics camp, what they did and her new friends. She did learn more than gymnastics, she came home from camp with a new phrase and it just cracked me up. She was going through the box of strawberry Go-Gurts, setting a couple aside each time saying "ewwww, gross!" before finding the one she wanted. She's such a character. After such a busy morning I was hoping for a nice long nap but noooo..... she was too wired. Thankfully she went to bed early and got a good nights rest.

This morning Maisie was all excited for her second day of camp and she looked so stinking cute I had to take a picture. After a little negotiating she allowed me to put her hair in ponies so to keep it out of her eyes. Surprisingly she kept the ponies in all morning but did manage to lose one of the decorative bands, which is probably meeting up with many other lost items at the bottom of the foam pit. She had another fabulous day and wanted to stay and play with her friends. I've never seen Maisie as energized or excited about an activity as she is when she's in the gym. I'm so happy that she's already found an activity that she loves and looks forward to everyday.

Bows please!

Well that's something I never thought would come from Maisie's mouth but sure enough, she wanted some bows in her hair. I have numerous clips and bows but the few times I've put one in her hair it's been ripped out within milliseconds.

I don't know what got into her today but this morning we were going through her goodies bag from yesterday and she was playing with the numerous toys, books, crayons, duckies, bows, sunglasses, (bubbles put away for outside play) and adorable ribbon flip flops and Maisie actually asked for bows in her hair. What she wanted though were the little butterfly clips that she's seen thousands of times before but never had any interest in wearing. I've never thought that Maisie had a bow wearing look to her but I do have to say that I think she looks stinking cute with the clips and if she wants, she'll be a bow wearing gal.

Maisie also had fun playing with lots of light sticks that I had leftover from the bloggy bash. She made necklaces and bracelets and just had a grand old time strutting around in her pajama top and new flip flops. Ahh, the little things that children find so entertaining.