Valentine Heart Puzzle

We or I should say "I" cut out a bunch of hearts in different sizes. I then cut them zig zag down the middle. The kids had alot of fun, working together actually, :) to put the 2 halves back together. It kept them entertained for awhile :)

Cold Weather Bites!

The actual temperature is negative 6 and the windchill is negative 32....so that means going outside is out of the question. The boys are going stir crazy, I think it's national "time-out" day as many as I've dished out today, and its not even nap time yet! It's supposed to warm up to the 30's this weekend. I really hope it does, I need some fresh air!!! I guess it's another "craft day". I'm running out of Valentine crafts and games. I'm about to move on to St Patricks Day :)

Long Week, Short Weekend!!

Last week was a very long week and I didn't get all of my "to do" things done so I feel like I'm already behind for the week and it's only Tuesday. The snow storm just threw the whole week into a tailspin. We did get some sledding in and fort/tunnel building in Sunday before the weekend ended. I had a migraine all weekend so I forgot about a baptism I wanted to go to. I felt terrible. Then I had an appointment Sunday for a lady to come by for a walktrough/interview for daycare. I waited and she never came. That always pisses me off when they don't bother to even call. I cleaned and just waited for her to come. Then I thought forget it and took the boys outside to play with the neighbor boy. We built a fort/tunnels out of the enormous mountains of snow from the snow plows.

My Baby is 3 Today!!!

I am so surprised how I am feeling today. There's a house full of kids and I'm completely sad my son's 3 today??? I am the one who is usually happy they're growing up and hitting milestones, but today it hit me hard and I'm just sad he's getting older. It probably doesn't help that we're in the middle of a snow "event" as the weather people keep calling it. I have the boys coloring construction paper for birthday hats. They're having fun with that. Better go start taping them together.

This day just wont END!!

It's 1030pm and I just want to pass out in bed but have a huge list of things that I really should do before morning, should being the most important word :) The house needs picked up, dishes need done, there are 6 loads of clean towels/clothes that need folded, should shovel the sidewalk/driveway and I NEED to take the trash & recycling to the street. Something is telling me that the last thing is the only one that's getting done tonite. We got home late from a birthday party at Chucky Cheese. My boys had never been there so they thought it was great. The party seemed to be moving so slow, could have been the fact that I was hoping to get out of there by 8 so I could drop the boys off at home with my husband and run to Toys R Us for birthday presents for my son's 3rd birthday tomorrow. I was ready for Christmas months ahead of time, but his birthday always sneaks up on me for some reason??? Tomorrow is going to be another long day with the kids wanting to play in the snow, but I don't know how cold it is going to be so we may have to stay inside. It is supposed to snow all afternoon and into the nite they're saying. I've said it a few times already, I WANT SPRING. I want green grass, my flowers to be in bloom and no snow!!! It's weird the birds and squirrels just reappeared at the feeders a few days ago. It gave me a false sense of spring being around the corner so I think that's making it more difficult. Well the toys aren't picking themselves up off the floor so I guess I better get to it....

Is this day over yet??????

Today is dragging on forever and there are hours left in it. My husband and I decided at 630 last night that I was going to pull up the carpet in the master bedroom too. It was a little too late to start but oh well. We did it because he was taking the other carpet to the landfill today and we thought we would "save a trip".  I think I made it to bed at 1130 and didn't sleep well at all! And today is just a poop of a day, literally. 2 little ones pooped through diapers because they're teething and they're cranky too. And I just looked out my window and it's starting to snow. They are forecasting 15+ inches of snow now through Wednesday. Good Lord if your listening,,,,,I WANT SPRING!!!! Now I'm going to need to get up a good hr and a half earlier the next 2 days to snow blow the driveway for the parents and kids. With all this bleeeping snow it better at least be wet snow so we can make forts and snowmen. All of the snow lately has been so dry it doesn't stick at all. Well, better go wrap a birthday gift for a party my boys are going to tonight. I guess I'm a procrastinator :)

Yeah no more carpet!

I spent most of Friday evening pulling up the carpet in my almost 3 year old's bedroom. Luckily it was great hardwood floors underneath like all of the other rooms have been. I will say that if I ever get my hands on the moron who tacked down the carpet padding I just may strangle them. There were waaaay more staples than neccesary, they were in super deap (almost flush with the floor) and in a random pattern around the room. You would think the person would have been standing facing one wall, so all of the staples would be lined up the same way, but NOOOOO this person must have been spinning circles or something?? Oh well. Only 1 boo boo that used like 6 bandaids and still hurts. But it was worth it. Now to wait for the wallpaper border. I ordered it from Ebay, but didn't pay attention to the part that said it shipped from Korea.....so I'm gonna be waiting much longer than planned. My fault though. It will give me time to do a few other things like curtains and stuff. Can't believe my baby is going to be 3 years old in just a few days :(

Ohhhhh Bananas!!!

I noticed a few bananas on the kitchen counter Friday when I grabbed the bread for lunch. They were definately past ripe. Normally I would probably just toss them out but I'm an avid couponer and love to save money so just throwing away something seemed wrong. We decided we would make some banana bread. Something I've never done, but I love to bake so figured it would be easy. I found the following recipe and it turned out great. One note from my husband is that I need to make sure to COMPLETELY mash up the bananas. I'm not a banana bread fan so I had no clue???

2 cups Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups mashed bananas (I just used the 4 bananas I had)

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt.
In a seperate bowl cream together butter and brown sugar.
Stir in eggs and mashed bananas.
Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture.
Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.
Bake for 60 minutes.

The boys had fun and I didn't waste the bananas. All in all it was fun.

TGIF!!!!!

It has been such a long week this week. It was to cold to go outside, each kid had a runny nose I think and I felt like crap on Monday. I'm hoping all the kids go home a little early today. It seems like everyone stayed a little late yesterday which made the day just that much longer.
I think I'm going to pull up the carpet in my son's room this weekend. I did my oldest sons a  few weeks ago. We have awesome hardwood floors under the carpet, not sure why they covered it up. Then if I feel really energetic I need to take down the wallpaper border and paint. My baby turns 3 on Tuesday so we need to update his decor a bit. He wants Disney Cars and we're half way there with the bedspread, but the jungle animal wallpaper border and stickers really isn't helping 'the look'. My 4 year old got an awesome Thomas the Train room. I will post pics of both rooms when I'm done. I love to decorate their rooms. Soon they'll be old enough they wont want my input :(

Birthday Time

It's always fun when one of the kids has a birthday. They get to pick the meals and snacks (within reason) and get to pick all of the activities. Today the birthday boy tried to say there was no nap time....that request was denied :)

What a mother really wants!!!!

Well I finished shampooing my couches in my basement family room/toy room. I also am ALMOST done with the 6 or 7 loads of clean laundry that just needed to be folded. I have one basket left of miscellaneous socks and under things. I'm really not thinking it's going to get done, but if I don't then I will just stack another clean basket next to it and the process will start all over again!!!I really want a maid.....or better yet a fairy god-mother!!!! PLEASE

I thought weekends were for relaxing???

I've been up and going since 630 this morning when my bright eyed little boys looked at me like why aren't you already up and dressed! I'm not much of a morning person if you haven't noticed. We hung around the house for a little while doing some odds and ends cleaning and then we were on our way to pick-up my mom's carpet shampooer. I had decided I just couldn't live with the spots and odor (that only I noticed) coming from my living room couches. We ran a few more errands and stopped at PaPa's for a visit. After we got home they had free reign to make whatever mess they wanted, I WAS GOING TO GET THAT COUCH CLEAN!! 3 tiring hours later my couch was soaking wet and I wanted to vomit from the color of the water that I kept dumping, I wonder if having a brown couch made the water that color???? Well I am happy that it is now dry and so beautiful and clean and smells wonderful.

The first person near it with any liquid or food loses a finger!!! (Just kidding, I think)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well despite a huge mess in the kitchen, we did get cookies made yesterday. The kids turned it into a learning lesson as always. We had a chocolate chip counting/quessing contest. Winner got to eat a cookie....actually they all got a cookie :) Only a few left already.

Go Away Winter Blues !

Ok, I'm the first person to start getting the annoying winter blues. It seems like all the kids have it to a certain degree to. It is -3 degrees with a windchill of a ridiculous -25 degrees or higher (or lower??) I found this article helpful in trying to combat the blues especially if you can't go outside but really really want to.


Go Away Winter Blues ! DoItYourself.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The goal today is to make chocolate chip cookies. I'm pretty tired since it's Friday but we're gonna try!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Buying Supplies

I wonder what people think when they see my cart sometimes at the store. I buy a lot at once because I simply don't have a lot of chances to shop. So I will buy 3 cases worth of wipes, hand soap, cleaners and craft items. I am a coupon clipper on crack so when I have to pay full price for something it KILLS something inside me :) Sometimes with coupons its actually cheaper to buy the smaller tubs of wipes with a coupon (in multiples), than a big case. So I may have 50 tubs of wipes, but you better believe I will have 50 coupons too!!! Most checkers don't mind and I warn anyone who gets in line behind me that they may want to get a different lane, or wait. I do order some craft things from the Internet but I watch the school supply clearance at Target like a hawk and stock up on everything that I can. Just remember to watch what your spending. A bigger package is not always (usually not) a better deal if you can use coupons!

Tax Time!

Yuck, tax time is here. I just thought I would point out that you should make sure to get with your provider and get a form with the total amount of daycare fees paid for last year. Here is the form that I use. I keep one copy for myself and the parents get a copy. That way everyone is using the same $ amount and the tax people like it when things match :)

           Annual Child Care Income Report (W-10)

Provided here is a report of the annual amount paid to me for Child Care services provided for:

____________________________________________________

   First                                     Last                                                       DOB

____________________________________________________

  First                                      Last                                                       DOB

   

My records show that a total of $__________ for the year ______  was paid to me by one or both of the following:

_____________________________________________

  First                                Last

_____________________________________________

  First                                Last

The above total yearly amount was paid to:

Provider Name      

Business Name

Address               

SSN or EIN          xx-xxxxxxx

You will need to sign and date this form and return one copy to me and keep one for your records. It is important to me that the amount we both report to the IRS match.

If you find that your records indicate a different amount, please notify me of the discrepancy

Parent Signature _____________________________ Date ____________

Parent Signature _____________________________ Date ____________

Provider Signature ____________________________ Date ____________

Words and Rhymes

Since it is 3 degrees outside and I have no plans of taking the kids out in that we did words and rhymes today. Each child got one color of cardstock and we went around my house naming things and things that rhyme with them. I almost needed a dictionary a few times....I wonder what my husband is going to thing when we have a label on EVERYTHING!!!

The Color of Play-Doh

I don't care if you mix 3 colors together or the big mega pack of 24 colors together, this is always the same color that results. Yes, It does look like poop. I've even been almost fooled with, hey there's poop over there on the floor. I must say 3 and 4 year olds think that is hilarious, I however don't. Maybe I should lighten up some??

Life Size Self Portraits

We did life size portraits of each other today. Some of the boys did better than others but they had lots of fun trying to match the clothes they were wearing with crayon colors.

Thank You to the Person Who Developed Washable Paint!!

My son was being very quiet during painting time today. I should have know something was up when he was trying to get me to help the other boys.

Lightning did come clean after some scrubbing :)

Breakfast Time!

I was getting breakfast ready for the kids and a new little one said he only eats hot dogs for breakfast! I was a little puzzled and said hot dogs and chips?? He said yep and that's all he was gonna eat. (I guess I will be asking his mom about that later) His bowl of cereal is still sitting at the table waiting for him. I'm not sure how long he's going to wait before he gives in. I will give in to some things like a pb&j or something somewhat healthy, but hot dogs and chips just isn't going to happen.
On another note, it's 8:30am and the time-out count is at 3. I think I dished out 30+ timeouts yesterday. Must be the phase of the moon or something!!

Late Pickups!!

I don't mind if parents are going to be late, but please remember that the daycare provider is expecting you at an approximate time. If your going to be 2 hours later than that, a quick phone call would be courteous. I was expecting a parent to come and finally I called and they said they were out running errands and would be here shortly. I just wish I had known. It helps plan activities if I know who is going to be here and when. It just drives me nuts because it's just a quick phone call!!

Snow Fun

We went outside for about a half an hour today because we had some new clean snow from last night. This is what my bathroom looks like trying to dry everything!!

Diaper Rash Rant!!

Ok, I do not understand how some parents don't seem to care if their child has a diaper rash??? How would they like to be that uncomfortable?? In my contract they are supposed to supply ointment as needed, I wish I could specify which brand though. I have one little girl who always has a diaper rash. I change her often and use my ointment because they send A&D (if they send any at all) and personally I hate that stuff. My personal opinion from wiping and putting ointment on a lot of tushes, A&D and Boudreax's Butt Paste do NOT work on anything other than a barely there rash. Triple Paste is so hard that you really have to rub it hard on the tush to get it to stick and with a soar butt, I could never do that. Desitin does work, but you need to apply it very often to get it to work. The only cream I use with my kids now is Extra Protective Cream by Smith and Nephew. I came across this at the NICU when my youngest son was born and wont use anything else. I haven't found it in a local store so I've ordered it from medical supply companies. It's a bit more expensive but worth every penny because you can get rid of the worst rash with 1 or 2 applications before bed time. They also have a cleanser spray that is awesome. It helps between those dirty diaper changes so you don't need to rub much at all to get cream off. I'm not getting paid to write this (that would be awesome though :), just my personal recommendation to those who are having diaper rash issues with their little ones.

Craft Time

Along with our "school time" as the kids call it, we always do different crafts. Today we painted and learned to use scissors. This would be the 3rd pile I swept up after the scissors lesson. I think they had fun :)

Preschool Books

After several hours of sorting and 3 hole punching this weekend, they're done!! I'm very happy with how they turned out. I'm going to let each child decorate their own cover today. It has Shapes, Numbers and Each Large and Small Letter with extra pages to practice handwriting. As you can see my son started with R and Q today...At least he knows what order they are supposed to go in :)

Preschool Learning

I have spent a better part of 2 hours photocopying sheets to put together binders for the older kids. We are going to start working on handrighting skills next week. I have a huge stack of papers and binders to put together. That will have to be a Saturday project because I have a feeling my helpers would put them together in their own order :) I will post a pic when they're done. I'm very proud of my self for them. Need to get them done along with all of my tax stuff too. I really would like some free time!!

Filling Spots in a Home Daycare

I just found out I am losing 2 boys today because one of their parents lost their jobs. I feel completely terrible for them because I've been in a situation when you suddenly lose and entire income and don't know what you will do. I wish them all the luck to find a new job fast and that it won't cause too much stress for them. I now have also lost a significant source of income too. Now to start the process of advertising and walk-through's again. I must say walk-through's with perspective clients is the worst part of this job. I feel like my entire house is on display and it needs to be completely spic and span clean. My house is normally clean but I feel like I need to over clean before each visit to "impress" them. I'm not trying to give them a false sense of clean, but I guess if I went through a house I would want to see clean too. It's just difficult when they want to come right at the end of the day when my house seems to me to be the messiest. I have had a few calls already so hopefully I will fill back up quickly :)