Reesie's Pieces

A busy couple of weeks

2009-09-24T20:56:00.005-04:00

Okay, to bring things up to date I will start with last Thursday. I had to go to parent teacher conferences for the girls. First was Claire's teacher. She told me how wonderful Claire is doing and how smart she is. She can read over 300 words, and they only expect them to maybe know 100 at the beginning of first grade. She is so eager to learn and is just a sweetheart when it comes to helping out her classmates. Her only criticism was that Claire is too much of a people pleaser and perfectionist. She gets so upset with herself when she can't do something exactly right or if she feels she has upset the teacher.

Next up was Madeline's teacher. She had fantastic things to say about Madeline. She did say that Madeline is very much a fact person, and that can make some of the lessons a little difficult for her. We are trying to get her to think outside of the box more. The teacher told me that Madeline writes incredible stories, and I have to agree. I read one of the stories she wrote using her spelling words, and it was amazing work for a third grader. One of her stories made the wall outside of the classroom for everyone to see. No other stories were out on the wall except hers. I'm so proud of her. Maybe we have a little author on our hands.

After the conferences it was time for Madeline to go to her Brownies meeting. We were to make cookies for the firefighters as a thank you for everything they do. The girls then made cards thanking them. We all piled up in a couple of vans and surprised the firefighters at the station down the street. They were shocked. The girls all stood together and said thank you, handed them the cookies and cards. It was all so sweet. The firefighters were amazing. They were so sweet to the girls. They explained all about firefighting and about the truck and what all of the knobs and hoses were for. The girls got to go inside the truck and the station house. Some of the girls got to try on the fire hat. They were all so excited about everything. Oh and a bonus to the whole visit was that the girls earned a patch for touring the fire station. It was all really cool.

Over the weekend Madeline had to finish a project on a plant or animal that lives in one of the habitats of Georgia. Madeline chose to do the coyote. She did all the research and poster making herself. I take that back. She let me glue down some stuff and paint the coyote. Her idea was to take a stuffed animal that she had, it was a small husky dog, and paint him brown like a coyote. She then cut off some white hair of another stuffed animal and put some red paint on it and around the coyotes mouth. She then had me glue them to the poster and she made trees with facts about the coyote on the tops of the trees. You can see it in the picture up top. She did an amazing job.

Okay, moving on to the next week. Claire lost a front tooth Monday night. She came running into the living room saying, "While I was trying to sleep my tooth started wiggling a whole bunch, and I'm afraid it will come out while I sleep!" She started begging Michael to pull it out. Michael did because he was afraid it would come out in her sleep, she's a tooth grinder, and she might choke on the tooth. He yanked it out and she started laughing and dancing around the room. She was way too cute. So now she has no two front teeth. I told her she looked a little weird, and her response was, "Yeah, but I'm a cute weird!" I said, "Yes, that you are." She is so stinking funny. Well, the tooth fairy came and left her $3. The next morning she told me that she saw the tooth fairy. I said, "Really? What did she look like?" Claire said, "She has brown curly hair, brown skin, wings, a crown on her head and a beautiful pink dress! And I really wanted to reach and take the crown off her head, but I thought that might not be too nice." I breathed a huge sigh of relief and said, "She sounds beautiful." "Oh mommy, she really is!", is what Claire replied. She was so excited to be able to run to school and tell everyone.

Madeline was unfortunately sick Monday and Tuesday as was Maxwell and I. Oh, I forgot to mention all of the rain we got over the last few days. Places were flooding all over. It was awful. They even canceled school on Wednesday. When I told the girls school was cancelled they started planning a party. They said, "Oooh, we can have popcorn, play the Wii, watch a movie! Yay!" Too funny!

Well today was Claire's 7th birthday. She asked me to make tie-dyed cupcakes for her classmates, and I have to say they turned out pretty good. They could have been better, but I say that about anything I make. The kids loved all of the cupcakes and she enjoyed sharing them. When she got home Michael took her on a date to eat Mexican food. She felt so big and grown up. When she came home Madeline had a present she had picked out for her earlier in the week. She opened the gift and they ran off to play with her new toys. She also received a card from Great Granny with $5 inside, a card and gift from Granddaddy, and Mamaw sent a beautiful princess dress and cape for her party and Halloween. It is gorgeous. She also sent some stuff for the party! I can't wait to share the party pictures with you all.

I am sure there are things I'm missing, but I will post again soon. It's late and I'm getting tired, so forgive any typos please.

Night all!

Today

2009-09-07T09:59:00.002-04:00

Okay, today will be a good day. I'm using the power of positive thinking today. Hopefully it works. I just hope the rest of the family is in the same mindset. Wish me luck today!

Open House and Giveaways

2009-09-05T10:38:00.005-04:00

I have stumbled upon this awesome site! She is having an Open House and a bunch of great giveaways! Check it out! http://www.pleasant-home.com/ She has tons of giveaways if you are interested in cool fabrics.

My Adventure with Maxwell

2009-09-05T09:12:00.002-04:00

This week Maxwell decided life was a little too calm around here, so maybe he needed to mix it up a little. I went shopping at Kroger just to pick up a few things. I did not plan to be out long, so I really didn't get fixed up or anything. Also because Maxwell had had a bottle before we left I didn't bring any with us to the store. Well, as soon as we get into the store the thought crossed my mind that I really needed to buckle him when I put him in the front of the buggy. Of course I ignored this thought. I proceed to put him in the buggy and go about my shopping. I turn away from him for a split second and hear gasps and screams and a horrible thud. My baby has fallen out of the buggy onto the hard tile floor of Kroger. My heart sank. The sound of him hitting the ground was horrible. I scoop him up. He was crying, but not hysterically. I was more hysterical than he was. I had a group of people around me trying to find out if he was alright. The manager of Kroger immediately called the paramedics and brought me a chair to sit on so I could wait for Maxwell to be checked out. He was one of the kindest men I have met in quite some time. At this point Maxwell is looking around wondering why people are staring at him. The paramedics get there and ask a series of questions. They say he seems fine, but he really needs to go to the ER to be checked out. The paramedics ask if I would like for them to take him or would I like to drive directly across the street to the hospital. I decided to take him myself seeing as how the ambulance would cost around $1000 to literally go across the street. By now it is 5:30 p.m.

Now I'm at the ER with Maxwell. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had Claire with me too. None of us had eaten dinner at this point, and remember I didn't bring any bottles. This was supposed to be a quick trip to the grocery store. After we are there for about an hour we finally get to go to triage to check his temperature, get the whole story on why we are there. We are sent back out into the waiting room. Maxwell proceeds to vomit twice. I'm scared to death and we are both smelling like vomit. Claire is fidgety and constantly saying I'm hungry. Another hour later I decide I need to call someone to come and get Claire. It was 7 p.m. at this point and she had school the next day. Oh, and as she mentioned about twenty times she was hungry. I called my stepmother since I knew she would be on her way home from work and passing by soon. She gets there and takes Claire to eat and go home. Maxwell is hungry too and getting really fussy. Luckily the lady behind the desk gets some graham crackers for him. I then realize he needs to be changed BAD. I proceed to dig around in my diaper bag to find not only did I not pack bottles, I didn't pack diapers either. I had to ask again for a diaper, and again luckily they have one.

I want to take a moment to say that I think it is freaking insane the people that use the ER as a doctors office. I don't understand these people or why in the world they are seen before a baby that has fallen about 4 feet, bumped his head on a tile floor and vomited twice. These people were bringing their children in after school to get flu swabs and strep throat test. The supposed sick kids were walking around, laughing and goofing off like they were completely fine. INSANE! end rant.

Now back to my story. Maxwell is finally called back at about 8 or 8:15 p.m. The doctor comes in and checks him out. He tells me he needs to get a CAT scan. We are taken back to a room to be scanned, and I'm told I have to strap him down to a board. I understand why, but it was just heartbreaking. He looked like a little burrito. I had to hold his chin still while he went in and out of this machine. He was bawling his eyes out the whole time. We go back to the room to wait on the results. As we are waiting I start reliving the whole incident. I still can hear the thud when he hit the ground. If only I had followed my initial instincts and buckled him in properly. It's all my fault. What if there is bleeding on the brain? What if I have to walk out of here without my baby? What if he is brain damaged? The doctor comes in as I'm crying. He stops in the door way and says, "What are you doing? I was going to give you good news. Why are you crying?." I told him why, and he tried comforting me with the whole it happens to a lot of people, you aren't a bad mom, yadda yadda yadda. I know it's supposed to make me feel better, but I still have a twinge of guilt. The doctor told me he did have a concussion and that I would need to wake him up at two in the morning to play with him and see how he was doing. We finally got to leave the ER at around 9:15 p.m. It was a long, long day at the ER. When I woke Maxwell up at 2 a.m. he looked at me like I had lost my mind completely. Anyway, Maxwell is fine, not even a bump. He has the tiniest bruise I have ever seen. He sure does know how to bring excitement to this family.

In conclusion, I think that I will always feel a little guilty and continue to relive that moment over and over, at least for a while. I can tell you one thing I have learned from this whole experience. I will always follow my first instincts no matter what. Oh, and always be prepared for the unexpected.

It's been a while.

2009-09-05T09:10:00.003-04:00

It's been a while is an understatement. I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts. I am currently in the process of moving to a new website. Also, life with two girls and a rambunctious baby boy is quite busy to say the least. I promise to try to be better.

I will let you guys know when the new site is up and running.

Introducing Maxwell Preston

2008-11-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

Boy has it been a while since I updated this blog. I have been a little busy as you can see.

Okay, on to the big news. Maxwell Preston was born November 14, 2008. He was 8lbs 12oz, 20in. long. It was a pretty rough birth, but we made it through.

He is by far the sweetest, most laid back baby I have ever seen. He only cries if he is hungry or needs a diaper change. I adore this little boy. The girls are absolutely in love with him too. Claire is constantly kissing his head and wanting to hold him. Madeline is a little more stand offish, but I think it is because she thinks she might break him. :) She loves to help go get diapers and such.

Anyway, my little man is calling, so I must go!

I will update soon. (I hope.)

My Sweet Angels

2008-05-26T22:39:00.002-04:00

I have to brag on my two sweet girls. I was cleaning the dishes the other day, and I noticed that the girls had left the table a mess after eating. I asked them to just clean up their places at the table and nothing more. Well, I look around after finishing the dishes, and they are sweeping the entire kitchen floor as a team. Never once did I ask them to sweep the kitchen, but they did it anyway. After they finished sweeping they started scrubbing the table. Claire cleaned all of the knobs on the cabinets. Madeline cleaned all the counter tops. Well, Claire got tired of doing it and dropped out after a while. I told Madeline that was enough you don't have to do this, and her reply was, "I want to help you Momma. And I want to take care of my house. I'm proud of my house." She then proceeded to scrub the floors on her hands and knees while I'm begging her to go and play. She said, "No, I want to be your maid today." Too sweet and cute. I promise you she cleaned for an hour and a half. This will probably never happen again which is why I am documenting it now. They are both just so sweet and try their hardest to take care of their poor old momma.

Dead Dough Showpiece

2008-03-07T22:47:00.003-05:00

Today for our final practical exam we had to make a dead dough showpiece about spring. Dead dough is just dough that is not edible. I had envisioned a giant cross covered in dogwood behind what you see here, but time did not permit. Instead I have a basket to hold bread you can eat, what you see in the basket is lavosh and grissini. I also place a goblet, grapes and faux flatbread and challah. I am thinking of finishing out my original idea here at the house. If I do I will post a final picture, but for now enjoy what I halfway have done.

The Actual Bread Class

2008-03-07T22:35:00.004-05:00

This is from our bread baking class. It was three weeks long and ended today. This is just a sample of what we did. The first is of soft rolls braided and tied. The second is of challah. The third is of foccacia topped with garlic, mushrooms, asiago, artichoke hearts, and peppers. It was yummy!

Intro to breads

2008-03-07T22:25:00.003-05:00

Before moving to the next class, which is nothing but bread, we were able to play with some formulas for certain breads. The first is just of some plain white bread and the second is of rye. I have learned from this class that I should stay clear of rye seeing that I am allergic to it, but it tastes so darn good. :(

Fruit Tarts

2008-03-07T21:53:00.007-05:00

The first picture is of some pear frangipane tarts. They are mini tarts filled with almond cream and topped with poached pears, dusted with cinnamon and sugar and then baked.

The second picture is of a fruit tart. These little beauties were made with a crust from pate sucree, and filled with vanilla pastry cream and finally topped with an assortment of fresh fruit. They were delicious.

More Cookie Pictures

2008-03-07T21:41:00.003-05:00

Cookies

2008-03-07T21:38:00.001-05:00

Okay, I know I promised to post these pictures a long time ago, but better late than never. Seeing as how I finished this class over three weeks ago, let's see if I can remember what I did. :) On the far left are the ever so wonderful chocolate chip cookies, in the middle is the ever so unappetizing (in my opinion) brysselkex cookies, and last but not least my all time favorite pistachio macaroons. This isn't the greatest picture, but you get the point. Now I'm off to see what else I can bore you guys with.

Cookie Hell

2008-02-03T14:42:00.001-05:00

For our first week in the kitchen we are making nothing but chocolate chip cookies, pistachio macaroons, and brysslekex cookies. You would think that it all sounds so simple, but it is so hard. We are not allowed to use the mixers so we have to mix everything by hand, and if any of you know what a macaroon is you know that it starts out with a meringue. Ugh! This took some elbow grease to get done. I am now freakishly strong in one are. :) I can say that on Friday my cookies turned out perfect, which is a relief since they were crap at the first of the week. I got a perfect score on all my cookies. I will post a pic of them later.

Sugar Sculpting

2008-02-03T14:27:00.001-05:00

So, after a week of cookie hell I was excited to go to a sugar sculpting workshop on Saturday. This was my first time ever doing anything like this, so please be kind. We learned how to make a fish by blowing air into hot sugar, and how to make a ribbon shape for the tail. We also learned several other techniques, but I will spare you the boring details. I can tell you that the sugar was extremely hot, so hot that I burned blisters on my hand while I was wearing three layers of gloves. I also burnt the tip of my rubber glove off, and then the instructor burnt another tip of my glove off with a blow torch, and caught my cardboard on fire. It was all totally worth it though. I can't wait until I am able to do more of these kinds of sculptures, but I have to wait until I am further along in school. Anyway, I was just so darn proud that I had to show off my work. I hope you all enjoy. I will try to post more later.

Experimental Cuisine

2008-01-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, I am so excited about what I learned at school this week. I have a rather strange love of chemistry, and learned that I can actually include chemistry in my baking. First, I went to a workshop by one of my chef instructors about experimental cuisine. I was not completely sure what to expect, but when I got there Oh My Goodness I was so excited. I learned about using these really cool additives, some natural, some not so natural, in food. I won't go into everything we learned, because this blog would be way too long. I will just touch on some of the pictures I took at the workshop.
The first one is of all of the cool ingredients he used to make some of the stuff he showed us, such as Poblano Chili Caviar, Peanut butter powder and concord foam.

Here are all of the books that I hope to one day own. They are all so amazing and about how experimental cuisine is being used.

This is my instructor, Chef Reynolds preparing the Chili Caviar. I know it sounds gross, but it is not really caviar. It is actually a mix of poblano peppers, cilantro, and garlic blended into a liquid and made into little beads that resemble caviar. Believe me it was so Yummy.

Here is what the Chili Caviar looks like. They look almost like little peas. Chef has said that this technique can be used with almost any liquid. I am so excited to start testing this out. Well, that is all I have for now, but hopefully I will be posting more soon.

My Education

2008-01-10T10:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know I promised to let you all in on what I am going to school to study. Well, I have always had a passion for baking so I decided that I would apply at Le Cordon Bleu. I was accepted and am now attending every M-F from 12:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. I should be able to graduate in early November. I hopefully then will be a certified Pastry Chef. I will give more details later, but I must rush off to school now seeing as how it is about an hour drive depending on traffic.

Oh yeah, Beth G. if you are reading this I might need your help in pronouncing some of the french terms. I have to know just about every ingredients french name. My head is swimming. :)

Christmas 2007

2007-12-29T00:51:00.000-05:00

For those of you that I did not get a Christmas card to I apologize. This is the picture we decided to use and honestly I did everything so last minute that I'm suprised anyone got a card. Just when I was about to give up on the Christmas card picture and put down the camera, because the girls were not cooperating, BAM a perfect picture. That is what I get for trying to pose them. I should always just let them do whatever comes natural to them, and if you can't tell by the picture Claire was not in the least bit happy that Madeline decided to lay her head in her lap. :)

Anyway, enough about the Christmas card. I just wanted to say that this years Christmas had its great times and it's not so great times. The not so great times are due to my OCD and trying to make everything perfect and everyone happy. (Note to self: You can't make everyone happy. It's impossible.) I don't want to go into all of the stuff that went wrong and all of the crying I did, because as I sat here today I realized just how blessed this family is. We have way more than most. I am blessed to have my two beautiful healthy little girls, a loving husband (even tho I could kill him sometimes :)), a wonderful home, two cars that work, and being able to finish my education starting in January. I look at all of the things we received for Christmas and can't help but feel a bit guilty seeing as how we have more than most. I am not saying we are wealthy and don't live pay check to pay check. I mean we are wealthy in our health and happiness. I just feel guilty in getting all of the latest and greatest gadgets. The gadgets I received this year were an iphone, ishuffle, and a programmable crock pot. Michael's gadgets consist of an iphone, ipod, and an XBox 360. The girls gadget is the Nintendo Wii. I guess living with a husband whose work is computers and things this should be normal in this house. I just feel a wee bit of guilt.

I am happy that the girls got the Wii, because believe it or not it is teaching them a valuable lesson in being good sports. I didn't realize what sore loosers they were. They are getting better about saying, "It's okay, good game." So maybe this will be a good thing for them. They also got a whole mess of Webkinz. For those of you that don't know what a Webkin is, it is a stuffed animal you buy that comes with a secret passcode so you can play with your animal on the computer. It really is a very cute idea and the girls love taking care of them. We have their Mamaw to thank for the Webkinz. Their Granny and Pappy got them the cutest cash registers that actually work. They also sent them money to practice with the cash register. It is a great learning tool on how we have to pay for our groceries and such, and also teaches them about how to pay and receive cash back. They love it. From Grandaddy and Ms. Steph they received a whole bunch of clothes and a swing set. Which is awesome! We needed an outside toy. Last but not least from Santa they received a bunch of baby doll stuff and Barbie stuff. So I guess you can say that my children racked up this year. I hope they don't expect this every year. ;)

I could go on and on about our Christmas, but I will not bore you with all of the other little things.

I will be posting another blog some time soon about me furthering my education for those of you that don't know what I am talking about.

I love you all and hope that you had a blessed Christmas like we did this year. God has been smiling down on us lately.

I knew it!

2007-03-27T05:48:00.000-04:00

When I started this blog back in January something told me I would not update enough.
I promise I will get better, but for now here is a cute picture of the girls dancing in the living room. (please don't mind the clothes in the background, it was laundry day)

Mommy and Madeline Day

2007-01-22T10:26:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday Madeline had a day out together. I felt she needed a little one on one time after she broke down in tears saying, "You and Claire get to stay home together and do fun stuff while I have to go to school. We never get to do things together, just you and me."

Our day started out with lunch at Applebee's, yum! We then went shopping at Bath and Body Works. After all of that we decided to go to the movies and see Charlotte's Web. The movie was great and Madeline really enjoyed it too. I looked over at one point during the movie and saw a tear in Madeline's eye. After the movie she asked me,"Mommy, did you think the movie was sad?" I said,"Yes, did you cry too?" And she immediately replied, "NO!" I began to wonder, when did she start thinking that crying because something truly makes you sad was wrong.

Later that night when Michael was tucking her in bed she started to ask questions about death. One of the questions she had was, "When I die will God give me new parents or will he remake you?" I am not sure what Michael's reply was, but he did say, " Maybe we shouldn't have let her see that movie."

Our next Mommy and Madeline day has already been planned. She has stated that she wants us to get our nails, hair and make-up done. She is growing up way too fast.

Friendship

2007-01-17T22:48:00.000-05:00

After an unfortunate and strange exchange of words between a friend and myself I am left to ponder what I should expect from a person who calls their self a friend. I had a friend that decided to jump on me about something that happened 3 months earlier. Her husband is a Mason and asked if I would consider catering for the 100th year celebration. I said yes. My friend and her husband took me shopping for everything I needed since the Lodge was paying for everything. I also made a decorated cake that would feed 200 people. I take it very seriously when I am asked to work for someone and I give my all, or I feel that I do. I had 2 kids with the flu at home and I had stayed up to 4 in the morning finishing all of the food for the party. I was very excited and pumped. This is what I love. Well, when we start the service this friend is helping me with everything. I thought things went well and continued to think so for 3 months, until one day I had to ask her if I had done something to make her mad, because she had been acting a little strange lately. Boy, did that open a door for her to just rattle off a list of things that I had done wrong, number 1 being that I made her feel stupid at the catering gig. She says that anytime she tried to do anything I came and took over like she were stupid and unable to do anything. My thoughts are why in the world would you not have said something then to me. I had no clue that I was stepping on toes. I just thought it was my responsiblity, and did not want to make her feel as tho she was doing everything. So, I am bawling on the phone as she is rattling off everything, and she informs me that I have quit calling and coming over as much. I am so sorry, but I have just moved into a new house and I love my house. I like staying here and doing things that need to be taken care of here. Also, the last time I checked the phone worked both ways and so do the roads. Anyway, I continued to cry my eyes out while she just sat there stone cold. Never once sounded upset. All she did say is Oh, I'm sorry I made you cry, and are we still friends? I didn't want to start anything else, so I said okay knowing that I would never feel the same about her again. Anytime she picks up the phone to call me is when she needs me to sew something or borrow something. She never calls just to call or drop by just to say hey. Oh, and she did not let me know any of this until after I have sewn, embroidered and helped make all of the Christmas presents she was giving family and friends. And now when she sees me she is just smiles like nothing was ever said or done, but I am still angry and upset about everything. I don't feel as tho I can trust her anymore. I thought friends were able to tell each other the things that are bothering them. I have other friends and our friendships are open and honest. I guess the reason I am writing this is to vent. And to say how angry I am that I fell into this trap. Looking back now I should have known this would happen. She bad mouthed everyone including family. That is the reason I do not want to talk to her, because I know she is saying things behind my back and I just can't face anyone that can behave in this manner.

That is the end of my rant. Thanks for listening. I will try to be more upbeat next time.

I'm Here

2007-01-14T10:38:00.000-05:00

Well, hello everybody! I have finally decided to join the world of bloggers. This is all very new to me, so please be kind. I don't always have a whole lot to say, but when I do I will make sure to share it on here. Thanks and welcome to my little corner of the web.