It's Been A Great Run!

Well, I haven't blogged here in several years, since it's so much easier to put a quick photo and caption up on the facebook page.  However, I think this website is still linked to the state information form, so I wanted to put up something new in case it takes them awhile to remove me.

As of April 20, 2018, I am permanently closed.  It's been almost 16 years and over 120 kids.  I've loved this job so much and it's been an amazing opportunity to be home with my own children as they grew.  However, they're now about to be in middle school and high school.  We have never lived in our house as a family of four without babies in their rooms and toys everywhere.  It's time to move on.  I'm a little sad, but I'm SO excited at the same time.

I feel like the timing of this worked out just about as perfectly as it could have- two were scheduled to move on this month anyway, one is moving soon, and there's just one to find a new place for.

THANK YOU for the precious chance to help your babies grow.  I've loved this experience and all of you.

Bye!!

Baby Life

Well, it's certainly been different around here the past few months.  It's a little quieter, except the minutes that are very loud.  Life with infants is like that.  :) I have three adorable little girls right now and only two of them have picture permission from their families, so I don't have a ton of things to post.  When I was keeping bigger kids, it was always easy to come up with more anecdotes and funny things they said, and talk about crafts and curriculum.  With my littles, we snuggle.  We sing.  We stack up blocks.  It's pretty repetitive, and not as snapshot worthy every single day.  I'm loving it a whole lot.

I've got a new little girl scheduled to arrive in February and another of as yet undetermined gender around that time as well.  Maybe we'll break up this girl streak and maybe not!  Then we'll be settled in here til probably July or August 2017 before my biggest little flies the nest.  :) It feels weird but nice to have my crew locked down!

What's Going On- the Long Version (and nothing to worry about)

Okay, so... things around here have been under constant mindshift for me the last few months.  Some of you know pieces of what's going on, and some of you don't, but I thought I would just lay it all out.  I do better with honesty- I don't so much see the point of not keeping you informed.

I've been doing this job for 14 years.  It's been my favorite full-time job.  (I still have a strange love for retail, I know it's weird.  But I've never done that full-time.)  This gig was an enormous blessing when my kids were little and I could be home with them and pour everything into them and have built-in playdates every day.  The past year or so they've started to complain more and more loudly about how they feel like this job puts them last now.

I've built this business around the idea that I want to be SUPER reliable.  I put out a calendar in January for the entire year and I really work hard to have no extra closings.  I'm here when I don't feel 100% great.  I'm here when I'd really like to be at my kids' field trips.  I'm here all summer and all spring break when they are forced to sit in the living room and do nothing but too much electronics that give me mom guilt because their rooms are full of sleeping babies, I can't take them anywhere, and none of their friends want to come over into the baby chaos.  We don't take summer vacations because I felt guilty being closed a whole week and I was afraid that people would pull out their kids and not come back.  I worried so much about having a consistent business that I stopped putting my family first.  It started to make me feel trapped, and I started to forget all the things I love about this job.

In the fall we were completely full, and all of a sudden we dropped enrollment from 11 to 5.  It happens- I know there's an ebb and flow to this business.  It's always been one of the downsides.  People move, they find care closer to work or cheaper or offering a different program, or they age out... it's not a big deal.  But we weren't getting any new calls, and I was starting to panic about feeling the additional personal responsibility of Anna not making her bills.  Five kids wasn't enough for us to both make a living.  (And to be clear, she never asked me to freak out or said anything to make me feel like it was really my job to be her financial advisor.  But when it's at my house, I feel the pressure to make sure everyone is getting what they need, and I panicked big time.)

So I thought this might be a natural time to think about shutting it down, and about going back into teaching.  I thought about how great it would be to close the daycare at the end of this school year, take the summer off to hang with my kids, and then go back to school with them.  I told Anna that was the plan.  She started looking for another job.  I started going to interviews for office jobs too, in case I didn't get a teaching job.  And then she found a job super quick.  And I didn't.

She's really enjoying her new job and it gives her health care, which I love for her.  She seems like it was a really good move for her, so I don't regret the way that ended up, even though it's weird here without her.  Now that it's just me with five kids here though, I've been rethinking the entire situation.

I've decided I definitely don't want to teach.  It has been 15 years since I've been in a classroom.  They weren't even doing the STAAR the last time I taught.  It would be like being a first year teacher again, and if I'm getting out of this job to create more family time, I'd want a job I could do and love while I'm there and then LEAVE it there.  That's not teaching.  And all the interviews that I've gone on either don't make my heart sing, or don't offer enough money to make it worth closing down.  Doing this job does cost quite a bit.  I run the dishwasher at least twice a day and I feed a whole bunch of extra people and I run the AC.  But there are a lot of write-offs and I don't have to pay for afterschool care for my own kid.  The amount of money I'd need to leave here isn't what entry level jobs are offering.  Not to mention that I never wanted to leave this because I hate it.  I still love it.  The more I looked into other things, the more I realized everything I'd miss.

I really enjoyed working with Anna, and I am kind of weirded out by the way this turned out.  I feel like it looks like I told her I was leaving when I wasn't actually planning to, or that it was some kind of passive-aggressive way of firing her without having the guts to say so.  And that's totally not the case.  But since she's left, I've gone over my budget, and I've settled into a calmer, quieter day with half the amount of kids here, and I've decided that I'm not in the market to close down as soon as I thought I was.

Figuring out what I want and letting go of the guilt I had about different aspects of the situation has been pretty freeing.  I feel a renewed joy in this job and I'm enjoying switching little things around to suit the new smaller crew.

My first love is the teeny littles.  My goal is to graduate earlier and keep the tinies.  I'm working toward an 18 month graduation age.  By then they are BIG KIDS and are definitely ready to move on to something with more action.  I want to focus on cozy comfort and a little slower pace.

I'm still going to be reliable in terms of not having sudden closures.  That won't change.  However, I'm giving myself permission to take a couple more days off throughout the year.  I hope that all my families can understand that a full-time professional job of 14 years deserves a couple more paid days off.  And if not- it's okay if we're not a good match.  :) There are lots and lots of home daycares in this area.  I know some of them maybe take less paid time off than me, but I know for a fact that many of them take a lot more time, so I'm okay with bumping it up a bit to do what's best for my family.

And just because I've never said it and if I'm spilling my guts here, I might as well......  I have spent years and years feeling super guilty about that SMALL percentage of families who have in fact pulled their child from my care and moved them elsewhere because I had to call to say I was vomiting uncontrollably for one day, or who asked in a very rude and put-out manner, "Well why are you closed?  What am I supposed to do?"  Um, I like to go to the dentist and the doctor and just take a day off sometimes like everybody else.  I have never once said "You had the day off today?  Why didn't you spend the day at home with your kid?"  You know why?  BECAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS A BREAK SOMETIMES.  And also because I get that you are paying me whether you bring your child or not, and it doesn't really matter to me what you're doing while your baby is here.  You pay for them to be here, and you do what you need to do during the day.  I'd love the same courtesy and understanding when I'd like to take a day off.  I know that not everybody has family in the area and I know that sometimes it's a pain.  It's why I give you as much notice as I possibly can.  But in order not to burn out, and to be able to recharge and do the very best job with your babies that I can, I need to put on my oxygen mask first a little more often than I have been.  (And it goes without saying I hope that the grand majority of my families have been absolutely awesome in this area.  Isn't it the way of life though that the one or two who aren't awesome are the ones we judge our success by?)

Thanks for giving me this job.  Thanks for continuing to trust me with your babies.  And even though my kids complain, I'm grateful to be here when they get home and to have the life that we have.  I'm happy I took the opportunity to explore leaving, so I have a renewed appreciation for the greatness this is.

Policy Change- Animals in the House

Hello all!  I'll be talking to each of you individually with any questions or concerns you might have regarding this issue, but the state standards, 747.3703 to be specific, say that I must provide information in writing as well.

My children have wanted a pet for years.  I don't want anything like a cat or dog that's going to be underfoot or leave hair around to make daycare difficult.  We'd like to get them guinea pigs for Christmas. (So please wait to discuss it with me until they are not around!)

Guinea pigs do not require any vaccinations or a statement of health from the vet- I've done all the research to make sure I'm still in compliance.  Here are the rules:

If you choose to have animals on the premises while children are in care, you must:
(1) Notify parents in writing when animals are or will be present;
(2) Ensure the animals do not create unsafe or unsanitary conditions;
(3) Ensure that children do not handle any animal that shows signs of illness, such as lethargy or diarrhea
(4) Ensure that caregivers and children practice good hygiene and hand washing after handling or coming into contact with an animal and items used by an animal, such as water bowls, food bowls, and cages.

We will be keeping their cage very clean, and I'm not going to allow my kids to take them out of the cage while the daycare kids are here.  There really won't be any contact.

The cage will be in the living room, so your kids will probably just wave at them on the way in and out every day.  Other than that it won't affect them much at all.

I want to find a scenario that makes all the families comfortable and still allows my kids this- I can't wait to surprise them on Christmas morning!!  Please talk to me with any questions or concerns you have so we can get everything worked out before the holidays.  Thanks!

Buddies

So many fun things going on around here all the time!  And as usual, life goes by too fast to blog as often as I'd like.  In the world of 140 characters and soundbites, an actual blog post is harder to come by.  I have been trying to post photos and little snippets on the fb page more often, so hopefully that's at least something.

Maid Marian has graduated.  We got some cute pics of the big girls together on her last day.

Pearl and Bubbles are both almost/mostly walking!  There will be days where they both still crawl a lot, but they're up on their feet and trying and it's super cute.  Makes me happy.

Mowgli and Baymax are either home for summer or part time, just depending on the week.  (Mowgli is here today though and he's rocking the man bun which is SO FUNNY!!  He keeps moving and I can't get a good pic of it though.) It's odd to just have one full-time boy here.  I end up calling him Little Dude a lot.  Cinderella has started calling him that also.  She can't say his name very well and I think Dude is easier.  He needs a blog name.  Little Dude makes me think of Ratatouille, but I've already used Remy for somebody else and Linguini just doesn't seem awesome.  Still thinking on it.  He's a sweet kiddo- needs a good name!

Cinderella and Violet are best friends these days.  Whenever C gets up from her rest, the first thing she says is "Where Violet?  Up nap?"  Yesterday I had to tell her Violet had already left.  Oh, the big huff and the stink eye I got from that one!  "HMPH.  Violet bye bye?.... HMPH.  *big sigh* Where Pearl?"  At least she's willing to play with the other girls when Violet isn't around.  :)

Today I put them down for a nap in the same room for the first time.  They were both yawning and staggering around.  Somehow they found a second wind and had Dance Party Central instead of sleeping though.  After an hour of hoping they'd settle on their own, I went in with my stern face.  It's time to lay down and rest.  No more jumping.  They were less than thrilled.  But I think now they finally are sleeping.  At least I don't hear squealing and giggling like a slumber party anymore.

Cinderella is very quick to throw her buddies under the bus when it comes to who made the bad smell.  If she's clean and I ask who pooped, she'll back up to me and stick her bum out so I can check to be sure it's definitely not her.  If she's the culprit, she immediately tells me, "VIOLET POOP!"  Which is pretty much code for "it's totally me but I don't want to admit it."

She also thinks she should sit with Anna all the time, now that Maid Marian is not here to fight for the space.

Whatcha doing?  Email?  Looking at cute pictures you took of me?  Can I take another selfie?

Pearl is in the giggliest stage right now.  It's fabulous.  You just look at her and she busts out laughing.  She and Bubbles are both giving really good hugs these days too.  So much fun.

We have a new little girl who started this week- she's about the same age as Pearl and Bubbles.  Such a dolly girl.  She has Disney princess eyes- the kind I used to say nobody in real life actually has, because they're so big and wide and pretty with gorgeous lashes.  I take it back that no real girl has those.  I love them.  SO cute.

She's very smiley for us except when we try to take her picture.  :)  I haven't gotten very many happy shots yet, but she's a cheerful one- settling in and getting to know us.

Next week we have a teeny new bitty girl starting too- I can't wait!

Happy Mothers' Day!

We decided to try a new tactic with the girls and crafting this morning and it worked really well.  Usually I take them one at a time and let them create their own project, which is great except for the fact that all the others stand around and cry because it's not their turn, and the one who's working DOES cry when her turn is over.  So this morning we needed to make five Mother's Day gifts and we all worked together on all five of them.  They all got to craft for a long enough time that they felt okay with cleaning up when it was time, and I think it was helpful to discuss each mama as we went too.  "Okay, we're making this one for Maid Marian's mommy, isn't it pretty, do you think she will like it?  Bolt's mommy will love this one- look how fun it is to all help each other…" and so on.  

It involved ripping, which not a single one of them can do on command.  You don't usually think of tearing paper as a skill that needs to be learned, especially if your kids have ever gotten hold of an important paper that you DIDN'T want ripped up.  But it is a taught skill.  They were trying to Hulk Hogan the papers, you know, grab them by the ends and pull till they broke in the middle.  There's good motor skills involved in learning to hold it by the top and gently rip.  So I apologize if they got the hang of it too well…  :)  But it was fun to have them all circling around, and really I ended up doing most of the ripping anyway.  

After we finished all the papers, I showed them what the small brooms and dustpans in the playroom are actually supposed to be used for.  It was super cute to see them trying to brush the floor.  They stink at it, of course, but they try so hard to be helpful.  Even if it takes a lot longer than doing it yourself, it's so fun for them to get to do big kid stuff and help with grownup chores.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  I'm not showing you the finished product so you still have a little surprise this evening.  Make sure you take your paper from the folders by the door!

FAQ: Coxsackie

We're having a little bout of the coxsackie virus right now, also known as hand, foot and mouth disease.  This is something that can sound really alarming to parents if you aren't familiar with it, and my experience has been that "Dr. Google" can sometimes make things worse or confusing, depending on which site you land on.  I thought I'd just lay out a bit of our personal dealings with it to hopefully make you feel more at ease.

*Please keep in mind that I am *not* a medical professional of any kind, and that you should of course check with your child's pediatrician if you feel that your child would benefit from such.*

• First off, it's a virus, so meds won't really help.  There's no antibiotic or anything that will make it go away quicker.  It's got to run its course.  
• We haven't found that calamine lotion or benadryl helps much with the blisters either, but sometimes tylenol or motrin does seem to make them feel more comfortable.  Also helps with bringing the fever down if they have one.  It seems like about half the kids I see with it have fevers, and the other half either don't at all, or it's very mild.  Conflicting and frustrating.
• It's terribly contagious, and we've been told that the contagion lingers for up to five days after blisters appear.  This can be super hard to judge because if they get the sores first inside their mouth, sometimes you don't see it right away and have NO idea they're contagious, and they run around sharing it with all their friends.  Also, sometimes the blisters are mild and you think it's not coxsackie, but really it is and they're contagious for four days or so AFTER you think they're better.  This can make it very hard to shake it off because if multiple kids are at different stages with it, it just hangs out and makes itself at home.  It also has an incubation period of 3-6 days, so sometimes they were exposed almost a week ago and can pass it along before symptoms pop up.
• It's contagious through bodily fluids and also airborne.  Good times.  And it's allergy season so many of them have runny noses anyhow.  

The good news is:

• it doesn't seem to be terribly bothersome to the kids unless they have a really severe case and feel itchy.  
• we have good handwashing and sanitizing habits as a rule anyway, and are doing extra spraying and cleaning just as an added preventative this week
• just because some kids who come here have it, that doesn't mean your child is bound to get it.  It's a fickle virus that flits around and doesn't land everywhere.  Please don't panic- if your child seems clear, they probably are.  We just want to educate you here, not make you feel fearful.  :)  I remember once when it turned up about two and a half years ago, only one child caught it.  Then six months later she caught it again and was still the only one.  Viruses are weird and unpredictable.  It's nothing you're doing or that we're doing- knowledge and prevention are our best tools but aren't always perfect!

The bad news is:

• it can be very hard for us to get rid of it here if you come back to school before it's gone.  I know it's terribly inconvenient to take time off work or have to make other arrangements for multiple days, but we really can't have them back at school until they're no longer contagious.  This is where going to the doctor may be helpful.  Although it is a virus and you probably won't be given medication, they will have more expert knowledge on what stage the virus is likely in and can probably give you a better date on returning to school than we can.  We're practiced in dealing with it but we're not doctors.  If you choose not to take your child to the doctor but you're pretty sure it's coxsackie, please observe the "five days of contagion after spots" plan because that is what we've most frequently been told.

We are doing our best to help keep your babies healthy!  :)  Thank you.

Friday Focus: Bolt

Bolt is a good name choice for this girlie.  She is so fierce and tough and independent, but she still rocks her pink bows.  She makes me laugh every day.

 

She's on a wicked nap boycott lately- just doesn't feel like she needs to sleep much.  Some days she refuses to nap at ALL and yells at us when we try to put her to bed.  No tears, not sad,  The chick is angry.  Just yells.  The minute you get her up she's all sunshine again and just goes and goes.  She's very much The Little Engine That Could.  Much more than meets the eye.  :)  She's one that I could easily see being an Olympic gymnast.  She's wiry and strong and so determined.  Nobody's gonna tell her she can't do something.

And she's so snuggly and koala bear when she feels like it.  She settles in and holds on tight around your neck and just grips harder if you act like you're putting her down.  It's especially fun to snuggle her in her pink bear suit.  It's full length and has ears and feet and the whole shebang.  Pretty awesome.

Being as independent as she is, feeding her has been interesting the past month or so.  She would rather die than let us spoon anything into her mouth like a baby.  Although she sees no problem with eating oatmeal with her fingers… we sometimes do.  :)  It gets pretty messy but she has such a good time and it makes for really fun photos.  I didn't realize how many I have of her eating!

Not a fan of kale the first time we tried!

Her name is one that's pretty easy for the other kids to say and so she's kind of like Norm from Cheers.  She comes in and everybody yells her name.  When she gets picked up in the afternoons, Maid Marian will yell "BOLT!" and then run to her and pat her on the back, just to make sure that her dad knows which kid he's supposed to take with him.  It's hilarious.  The other day MM was out and he joked that he wasn't sure who to pick up without her help.

She just adds so much fun to our days!  We love you Miss Bolt!

Stuff and Things

• The big girls will eat TONS of bell pepper and cucumber if I'm willing to just hand it to them a slice at a time while I'm standing at the chopping board.  They mill around my feet saying MORE and I just keep passing it out.  The minute I put them in chairs with a tray, they throw all the veggies on the floor.  Every single time.  Yesterday Cinderella ate twenty pepper slices and Violet ate five cucumber slices before they sat, and both ate nothing while sitting.  They do this every time so now I just do a first veggie course while we all stand in the kitchen.  It's weird but it totally works.
• Our snow day policy says we are closed if schools are closed.  Really I wrote that thinking that there would not be two in a row, because even after living here 25 years I forget how quickly this state shuts down for a tiny bit of weather.  My feeling is this: if there's one snow day, I'm good with being closed.  Usually a lot of your offices are closed as well and it's just kind of fun to have an unexpected day at home for everyone.  If it runs over into more than one day, I'll be open.  Anna may or may not be able to get here, depending on what her apartment parking lot is like, but usually on a second day there are enough people still staying home that I'm in ratio alone, or else hubby is home too still.  
• I'll also always post what's going on as my facebook status for Giant Steps- it's a public page and you can go like it if you haven't.  I can't invite you to like it unless we're already fb friends on my personal page.  (Also you can let family and friends know so they can see pics and stuff if they want to like it too.)
• We have many new babies who need blog names.  I know one of the boys will be Mowgli but I'm still mulling over the others.  I spend a ridiculous amount of time on this but it's one of those small things that makes me happy.
• Bolt's mom texted me accidentally the other day to ask me to put the trash out and tell me she loved me.  So I asked dad if he put the trash out when he came to drop Bolt off and the look of panic on his face was just really great.  I promise I'm not stalking y'all and I wouldn't know when trash day was otherwise, and it's okay that you forgot.  You didn't actually get the reminder, and anyway your trash can't be as stinky as mine is!  :)  
• I've had forty blog posts rolling around in my head and now that I'm writing I can't think of anything else.  And this much has been in draft for a week.  Since there might be more snow coming, this could be stuff you need to know, so I better just post!

Friday Focus: Russell

I've had this post in draft for months because of the picture issue.  I just think posts are more fun with pictures.  But it's taking forever to work out the bugs and Russell is going to be leaving us soon, so I have no more time to wait.

He's getting a nanny that will come to his house!  I will say, one of my favorite non-baby things about this job is the zero commute, so I totally approve the idea of having one less place to go.  It'll be super easy for them to not have to trek over early, especially on rainy days.  We will miss him though.  :(

Russell is such a happy kid!  He's got the most awesome goofy grin and he just wanders around finding  stuff to do on his own.  He's mobile and pretty independent and he's perfectly fine to figure out his own entertainment.  I love when they do that- it's really fun to watch his mind at work.

Oh and of course, now that I try the pictures one last time, they work.

He really likes to put his head down on the girls' backs while they're trying to crawl.  He could pin them down pretty easily if he put his mind to it, but usually it's more like a fierce hug.

See?  Such a great smile.

He falls asleep in his breakfast on a semi-regular basis.  He eats fast and gets tired of waiting for his friends to hurry up and finish, so he just takes a snooze on the tray.

Nothing bothers him  So happy.

Sharing a toy with Mufasa.

This monster poncho pleases me so much.  I think, far more than it pleases him.  He looks so cute with it on though and he always gets compliments when I take him up to the school to get O'Malley wearing it.

We love you Russell!  Have a great time in your next adventures!

2015 Closings

Here are our closings for this year.
Updated: no week off in summer.  New additions in red.

Friday, March 20- personal day

Friday, April 3- Good Friday

Monday, May 25- Memorial Day

Friday, July 3- 4th of July observed
Friday, July 17- closing at 3:30
Monday, August 10- personal day

Monday, September 7- Labor Day

Monday, October 12- personal day (Columbus/Fair day)

Wednesday, November 25- personal day

Thursday/Friday, November 26-27- Thanksgiving

Thursday, December 24- Christmas Eve

Friday, December 25- Christmas Day

Monday-Friday, December 28-January 2: closed for the week

Eating the Good Stuff

Right now Russell and Pearl usually split a jar of food for breakfast.  Anna fed Pearl this morning but Russell fell asleep in his chair eating kix, so I didn't get to give him his official breakfast til he woke up.  I got his out of the fridge and started feeding it to him, carrying on my running conversation like I do.  "Look Russell!  Yum!  You're eating pineapple, pear, and avocado."

"WHAT?!? That is so weird," says Anna.  I ask her if she even read the name of it this morning, since she was the one who got it out to feed to Pearl.

"No, I just checked to see if it had acid and that's all."

"Wait.  Wow, that sounds awful.  Like we drug the babies!  Oh no!"  Silly things make us laugh, and it's yet another example of something that is totally normal in this job but would be extremely odd in another setting.  Pearl's been having a little trouble with citrus lately and so we check to see if there's added citric acid in the jars.  There wasn't, by the way.  

I'm having trouble getting pictures on here lately, which is part of why I haven't posted in so long- I like to put them up.  Too many posts with no pictures make me feel like it's just Too Long: Didn't Read.  Also I've been busy, and also lazy.  Let's just be honest.  Anyway, I'll try to be better with little anecdote stuff, even if I can't figure out the picture issue for a bit.

Lunch Lady Success

I say lunch lady because all the ladies loved this dish.  All the boys pushed it around their plates or threw it on the floor.  But at least it was a partial success!  I have a hard time getting Violet to eat lately and she loved it so that made me happy.  Cinderella and Maid Marian chowed it down too.  It's nice to find healthy things that at least some of them enjoy.

It's Tuscan Chicken Skillet and it's just a random one I found on pinterest awhile back.  I do take issue with the fact that it says it takes one dish, because it keeps telling you to take things out of the skillet and then put them back in, so I did get about four bowls dirty.  :)  But if that's the biggest problem with the food, I think we're good.

I left the sundried tomatoes out because I didn't have any, and I just put regular diced tomatoes instead of fire roasted.  Using up what's in the pantry!  I"m sure it's even more delicious if you make it like it says to.

Enjoy!!  Recipe is here.

Yearly Inspection

It's over for another year, which is good.  It seems like I run around trying to get everything in order for a month or so before they arrive, and STILL always forget something.

We got a new licensing rep this year- the last one was around for five or six years and they like to move them around to different areas every now and then.  The last gentleman would offer me pointed advice like, "you know, my clients who are organized do things *this* way...."  I will say in my defense that I've gotten much better with the paperwork over the years, and that they never have to get on to me for health or safety or ratio issues.  The paperwork system does elude me from time to time though...

I told the new lady that he used to tell me that, and she said, "Oh, so what you're saying is that I should go back to the office and tell him you didn't listen to a thing he said?"  Smiling, but still.  Oh well.  It's hard for me to not get flustered when you're not sure what they're going to ask for and every new person inspects in just a little different way.

In any case, we made it through.  There were a couple things they talked to us about- she doesn't like the food-grade disinfectant we use to clean the toys and diaper changing station.  (This is one of those things that I'm not sure if it's due to having a new rep, or if the codes have changed, but in twelve years everyone else has been okay with what I use.)  She wants me to use bleach water.  Honestly I'm not comfortable doing that.  You have to mix a new bottle every 24 hours because it breaks down and becomes worthless, and it's toxic.  If I ever mixed it too strongly it could cause more of a health issue than not disinfecting at all.  I want to be more natural and healthy here than just spraying bleach on things.  I'm going to look into some other options.  I definitely want to follow the rules AND also disinfect the way that is best for the kids.

O'Malley had a playdate that day and she wanted to see the paperwork for the friend.  I can totally see why- I am a licensed business and am supposed to have records for every child in residence.  However, as a mom, it's a little awkward to ask for shot records before my kid can have somebody over to play for an hour after school.  I always make sure that we're not full and that playdates don't mess with our ratios, but my kids have to give up so much by having this daycare in their home.  I hate to deny them the occasional social time bc of paperwork.  Anyway, she didn't write me up for that, which made me happy.  He's not somebody who's here regularly, and if he was, then I would get all his papers in order.  :)

Anna and I worked really hard to make sure that we got all our training hours accounted for and were ready with our paperwork for that.  However, I totally forgot that there's an online training course that we are supposed to retake every year.  She did say she was going to mark that as a violation, although I haven't seen it pop up in our file yet.  If she does, it will likely say that we haven't had SIDS and shaken baby training.  That doesn't look so good for the file, but I've taken it eleven times and just forgot to do it this year.  Hopefully that makes it a little better- it's an oversight in renewal, not that we don't have knowledge on the topic.

Anyway, I just like to be honest and upfront with the things going on around here, so there you have it.  Much better to explain everything than have people surprised by it.

Fall!

Sometimes when I haven't written in a long time, it feels overwhelming because there is a lot to catch up on, so I just put it off until there is SO MUCH that I feel like I can never write again because it just isn't fair to skip over so many things.  Argh.  I will just do what I can, when I can, right?

Updating the sidebar- Miss Olivia F. has moved on, since she was just our summer girl.  (she wears her flip flops.  When she lets her hair down, the party never stops!  I get that country song in my head every time I say summer girl.)  In addition, sweet Vanellope has moved out of state with her family.  We will miss her lots!  She got to spend the night with me while they were getting ready to go and we went to a cub scout cookout in the park with O'Malley's den, so I have some fun jammies and marshmallow pictures that I don't usually get during daycare hours.

Dancing outside with Flynn, and working inside with Big Red Barn flashcards.  They're getting really good at all the animal sounds!  Flynn's donkey noise is my favorite.

And we've gotten FOUR new babies that I don't have names for yet.  Some of them have been with us for several months and aren't really new anymore, but nonetheless, I can't discuss them properly without names.  One boy, three girls, all fabulous.

And later we're getting twins!  I just got word they were born on Friday, so they'll be hanging out with momma and growing fat for a few months, and then start with us in the winter along with another little boy who is scheduled to be born at the end of the month.  Lots of fun stuff.

Okay!  Names.  Our boy is seven months old, deliciously chubby and super laid back.  He's very mobile and pulls up on everything, then just lets go and falls back like a tree.  It surprises him every time he hits the floor.  He's drooly and smiley and fun.  I think I'm going to call him Russell after the little cub scout in UP!.  It just seems to fit.

I'm having a terrible time coming up with a name for this cutie.  Her family calls her Little Bitty, which I think is adorable.  She takes really good naps here, even more when she was new and super tiny, so I think maybe that's why it's been hard to think of a name- we just didn't have as much time to hang out with her while she was awake.  Now that she's a little older, she's with us in the playroom more and giving us lots of smiles.  Hopefully inspiration will strike soon.

Then I have a cutie pie whose family doesn't want pictures posted, but she's super cute.  Blonde and blue-eyed.  I'm going to call her Cinderella.  She's still getting used to us so we haven't discovered all her likes and dislikes yet, but she's fitting in nicely and giving us smiles. 




Last but not least, our other four month old girl is going to be Bubbles.  She's got these pretty big blue eyes that she opens wide all the time to look at things.  It makes her look excited and a little surprised a whole lot of the time.  And sister loves to dance- you put on the music and she gets going just like this little fish.  I'll find some cute pictures to post of her next time if I have approval.  :)

So that's our fall roster.  Oh!  Also there is Bolt.  I started out calling her Jasmine, thinking of the section where she says "I am not a prize to be won!"  She's one of the more opinionated princesses, and I figured that's where our girl would fall.  However.... she's barely six months and she's crawling like lightning and trying to pull up on things and never cries when someone bothers her and is already trying to sit on people bigger than she is.  Jasmine just wasn't going to cut it.  She needs a name that's a little more fierce and fast.  So now she's Bolt.  :)  I think he was a boy dog but she could run circles around him so I don't care.  

Hanging out with Little Bitty.  I really do like that name- maybe I'll just keep that one even though it isn't Disney.

Bolt, Russell, and LB all heading for the camera.

Deciding how best to pounce.

She's going to eat Flynn's snack, or perhaps climb up in his lap and try to sit on his head from there.  Going places in a hurry, this one.

Friday Focus: Violet

It's Violet! Her mama decided pictures were okay after all, so you get to meet her officially.  She's not so sure about the idea, but I like this picture.  Shows off her gorgeous eyes.

She cracks me up- I'm convinced there are actually two Violets.  There is the one that her mama knows, and then there is the one who comes to daycare.  Both are fabulous, but they act so differently that it's comical.  Every time I say something about what she's doing, how she acts in different situations, the things she likes to eat, the way she sleeps, ANYTHING, it's almost always the exact opposite of what she does while she's at home.  I'm always so surprised to hear about her evenings and weekends, because I never get to see most of the things that she does there.

Here she's very deliberate and kind of serious.  She gives out big smiles, but I think I've only heard her laugh once or twice, and she's cautious and careful.  She gets her feelings hurt pretty quickly and will be upset by people coming too closely, even if they don't touch her or knock her down.  Rather a large personal bubble.  :)  And at home, she sounds really giggly and carefree.  Of course, Mufasa is never at her house trying to crowd her, so there's that.

I've never had anybody do this before and I think it's the cutest thing!  I bet her mama will be the kind who puts cute notes in the lunchbox every day.  I always think I'm going to do that at the beginning of the school year and I never actually do it.

Friday Focus: Maid Marian

Maid Marian has turned one recently and is ready to attack the world with both hands. She's such a sunny little kid a majority of the time.  Lots of fun to hang around! 

She's pretty much always willing to do the cheesy poses.  I can't remember if she put this hat on herself or if we staged it, but she loves having the camera in her face either way.

See!  I will come closer now and show you my cuteness!  Also can I have a bite of whatever you're eating please?

Again with the hats.  I didn't realize we have multiple pictures of her in headgear but apparently that's how we've amused ourselves this summer.

She's not been wildly enthusiastic about making the transition from hand-fed by us to doing it herself.  I could never get her to eat a banana, until I remembered a little guy I took care of years ago who refused to eat cut-up food.  Sure enough, she's the same way.  I mean really, who wants to eat broken food?  It needs to be large so she can drag it home to her den and gnaw it to death.  Clearly.

Uh, no thanks.  Little pieces are for babies.  I'm all grown up and I am far too cool for this stuff.  But check out my snazzy accessories!

She loves being able to pull up and just come stand next to us if we're on the couch.  She does that a lot while I feed one of the babies.  Sometimes she wants to try to sneak a sip of the bottle she's no longer getting, and gives the most pathetic and dramatic lower lip when we tell her no.  Anna says she's a graduate of a bad actress school for babies.  It's so true.  Or maybe soap operas in her future?  Such overblown gestures and melodrama.  I can't help but laugh at her every time.

She's also getting into the stage where suddenly things are scary that never were before.  Highly suspicious of park swings, this one.

She's just full of life and love.  So happy.  I read an article somewhere on facebook (and of course now I can't find it anywhere) that talked about the shifting of balance in the way we talk to baby girls.  There's been that whole thing where you're not supposed to start off by telling them they're pretty because then they think that defines them, and how we should focus on what they DO and who they ARE, not what they look like.  All true.  However, this particular article focused on a study that was done with dads and their daughters.  It found that girls who had dads who regularly told them that they're beautiful ended up more confident in themselves and tended to believe it more.  Even if they roll their eyes and say, "Oh come on dad, you're the only one who thinks so", there's a sub-conscious connection there that does super good things for their brains and the way their self-image is shaped.

Maid Marian's daddy, every single morning without fail when he drops off, tells her "daddy loves so you much baby girl, you're so beautiful.  So beautiful."  She smiles like the sun every time she hears it and it makes me all gushy inside.  You can tell she's hearing it in her brain, not just her ears.  Daddy thinks she's beautiful, and so she is.  I love it so much.

Swings

This week the AC is out in the playroom.  I'm really REALLY hoping that tomorrow when the service tech comes, he will say it is an easy fix and that it won't take six weeks like last year.  That unit had to be replaced, and this is now just a year old, so fingers crossed on that.  Luckily this summer has been a bit cooler than last, and it's actually more comfortable to take the kids out in the mornings instead of trying to herd them in the living room all day.

My kids have friends here this week, so even though we're officially full numbers-wise, it's two eleven year olds, a seven year old, and a six year old along with the regular roster of infants and toddlers.  That makes life infinitely easier for walks!  The big kids are super helpful.  Anna stayed home with the three youngest while they napped, and the rest of us headed out.

I'm sure we look like quite the spectacle marching down the street.  At least today nobody stopped to ask me if all nine of them are mine.

We have to cross a wooden bridge over a little creek to get there, and we saw a mama duck with four ducklings.  I think listening to all the kids quack at the ducks was my favorite moment of the day.

The swings were largely a success.  There's just one baby swing at our park, but it's pretty wide and has leg holes in both sides, so I set two of them in there back to back and it worked nicely.

Vanellope cackled like a hyena the whole time.  I love when the wind gets in her hair.

Mr. Flynn enjoyed himself immensely too.

 Miss Olivia, somehow managing to still look shy even while laughing.

Mufasa! King of all he surveys.

And then.  Then there was Maid Marian.  I know that child loves her some swings.  I've seen facebook posts that her mama puts up with all kinds of smiles and swing loving.  That was not the case today.  She freaked out and acted like it was the worst and scariest thing that ever happened.  I even tried to sit on the big swing and hold her and go very slowly and she still was having none of it.

So we decided at that point it was time to head out.  On the way home it was hot and my kids ran Olivia and Vanellope through our neighbor's sprinkler.  They laughed so hard!  It was really fun to see.

Then we came home and Anna said we smelled like sunshine, which is her way of saying we've been outside and smell like stinky puppy dogs, but still, it's the nicest way I've heard to describe that particular smell.  Lots of fun!

Friday Focus: Miss Olivia Flaversham

I've been having a little trouble coming up with a good blog name for our summer sweetie.  I finally hit on Olivia from the Great Mouse Detective.  Then I wasn't sure if I should use it since the style doesn't really match- doesn't sound like a Disney name, and it's such a popular name right now that we might have an actual Olivia at some point.  But madness lies down the road of second guessing everything, and that little mouse girl is SO cute and I think her personality really matches so there you have it.  Olivia she is.

Olivia is extremely shy if she thinks you're looking at her performance or might be about to comment on it.  If you look right at her and say hi, she usually drops to the floor and hides her face, peeking out from between her fingers every now and then.  It took her over a week to get used to circle time, but now that she's got the routine down, she's right up in my lap with everybody else singing on our story glove.  It's pretty cute.

She's fairly petite, but eats like a truck driver who's been on the road three days straight.  It's comical.  I don't know where she puts it all.  I do know that I would dearly love to have her metabolism.

She's a great snuggler and spends lots of time in our laps.

And she has no problem giving us the serious face if she doesn't approve of our silliness.

Sad we only get her for the summer, but it's been so nice to have her!