Wednesday, February 24, 2010


Gaby and her page from her silly poem book for school...



This just made me smile... Gaby's schedule! It cracks me up that she is 8 years old and makes a list, she so gets that from me!
I really like the "help mom, help dad" part.

Oh... to be a kid!

dental day...

Believe it or not... this is one of my favorite weeks for preschool lessons.
I love dental week (but I HATE the dentist) because I have the coolest prop ever for this week.

The big teeth and tooth brush!!! LOVE IT! It makes me happy, smile, and the kids love using it with circle time.
okay... onto our day...
We made mouths. We cut pink paper, clued marshmallows inside, and colored tongues.
Of course our mouths have nothing but bright white teeth from brushing them everyday!

Above: KK showing off her teeth...

Here is my second group doing their mouths too
They all turned out so cute, this project is a keeper.
We finished up our dental day by doing a color page

random thoughts...

More random thoughts coming you way... I have been up since 4:30am. Not because of Baby Kendal, just because I couldn't sleep and my mind is going a mile a minute. I was thinking about summer plans, spring break, New Moon comes out 3/20, first day of Spring 3/20, Kendal already being 5 weeks old, remembering to call the dr. for another appointment for her, March lessons for preschool, wondering if Mia really needs "that" shirt I saw but didn't pick up... at 4:30 in the morning, this is what I am thinking about!

Yesterday we had a weight check for Kenni, she is 6lbs 5oz. She is gaining, slowly! They want to see an oz a day but she is doing 1/2 of an oz instead. So, until she is up to that point, we have to keep going 1-2x a week. Yesterday I really didn't mind going. I know she is doing good and I know she is perfect so why stress. I look at it as a short trip that gets us out during the day and a time when we can bond. And when she is 5 years old I will look back at this time and think, "where did it go?"

Last week I was referred to as the babysitter. Man oh man... I hope most people that know me or have been apart of my program know I do much more then babysit. I say I run a program because I do. We do a lot of activities in my home that you would get in a childcare center. So, it is a program. I love what I do. I do it for my kids, my husband, and the families I serve. There are days when the kids are all just going crazy and I am counting down the hours until the day is over but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have sworn off pop. This is huge for me. I am trying to cut back on my bad eating habits that I started while being pregnant with Kendal. However, this morning, what did I do... at 4:30 this morning? Drank a nice cold Dr. Pepper. Yep! That was me. And it was yummy! Now, I just hope that it was enough to move on and get back to drinking my water.

I have been wearing a lot of "workout" outfits lately... because it is all I have that fits. I have 2 pairs of jeans and workout clothing and that is about all. I am not buying anymore clothing until I am done a size. Plus, I don't want to buy winter stuff. So, I am hoping by not giving in to the size I am now, it will motivate me to loose the few extra pounds. Plus, all of my new spring summer stuff is a size smaller too- so unless I am going naked in a few weeks, I better get going!

So, because I don't want to go around naked this spring per last paragraph, I am working out again! And boy does it feel great. I am aiming for 5 days a week. It takes a lot of planning on my part with G and K having a lot of activities in the evenings. But, I am ready to start this new weight loss adventure again!!!

G and K (and myself) are ready for outside play. We so desperately need some time to run, play, ride bikes, get out and walk ect. We are all counting down the days til Spring is here! Until then...

I am getting my hair cut and colored Saturday morning... at 8am. This isn't the relaxing hair appt. I had hoped for but it meets my needs since the weeknights are pretty crazy. I am also trying out a new place. I would never be soo picky to keep on my mission to find someone who can cut and color my hair the same way twice or make my hair funky and new when I am ready for a change. (which is a lot- I like being a hip momma as much as I can)

I am waiting to the yuck to melt away from my yard and the sand to disappear from the street and driveway. I have Stanley Cleaners on speed dial for a carpet cleaning but haven't scheduled anything until the yuck is gone (aka snow). Yes, I know I can clean my carpets myself, I actually have a carpet cleaner. However, the wear and tear my floor sees it is well worth the time and money spent for them to come and work the stains out and make my carpet look new.

I need to find a dentist. I have a tooth that has been giving me troubles for almost a year now. I didn't want to go while we didn't have insurance, then I didn't want to go while I was pregnant but now I don't have any excuses expect for the fear that I have. My tooth is getting worse and now the time has come and I need to make an appointment! I hate the dentist!

Mia is walking... it is so crazy. In the 5 weeks we have had Kendal home, Mia has grown into this big girl toddler. This makes me sad but also happy! I knew it was coming but now I know she is growing, changing, and is no longer an infant but a big girl. She was supposed to be our last but seeing her milestones this last month, I am glad I get to go through this process with one more child. I am bless to have a big family.

I am so behind on scrapbooking. My favorite hobby and I haven't touched it in forever! I have a plan... so I hope I am able to stick to it and get this pictures into albums. I love doing it but it gets the shaft when it comes to getting laundry done and the house cleaned.

Speaking of cleaning the house, I am still blogging. I need to pick up a few things and get my morning started. Gaby needs to get ready for school, make my "to-do" list, and open the door for daycare! I hope the day is going well for anyone reading this and check back for more pictures, updates, and daycare activities!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Taking care of me week...

This week we are exploring dental health, germs, healthy foods, and much more!
Above: A and J are working on putting YARN on our letter of the week "Y".

Staying with our Y theme and healthy theme, we made "Yogurt" freeze pops.
Each child helped out by pouring and measuring the yogurt, juice, and vanilla.


Then we put sticks in them and froze them...
They will be a YUMMY "Y" treat for sure!

Our healthy Yogurt and our Y

We also had a science experiment. Everyone was given an Oreo and an apple. First, everyone ate the cookie, having nothing to drink... we got to see how unhealthy snacks make our teeth look and feel. Dirty!

More dirty mouths from our unhealthy snack...

Then, we has some juice and ate a healthy snack, an apple.
After eating our healthy snack, we has some clean teeth and our smiles were very happy!

We passed around a mirror so everyone could see the difference between snacks. What a fun way to show what happens when we a) don't brush our teeth daily and b) eat unhealthy snacks.

We also talked about germs and how easily we spread germs. Each child made faces on a paper plate and then we painted our hands on different paper. We cut and glued our hand print over our mouths to illustrate what we should do when coughing.

Keep checking back to see more on our "Taking care of Me" week....

Thursday, February 18, 2010


Our shape art is drying, we hunted for treasure (where X marks the spot), we followed the "eXtrea" special leader on our X on the floor. We made "eXtremely" yummy X out of dough and spread jam on them for snack.
What a day...

Playing following the leader and tracing the X
What's this??? Is this us outside???
Why YES! it is!

We got to have some fun time running around outside, playing on the deck, and dusting off some toys!
Just a cute picture of Kenni... 4 weeks old and growing like a weed!

Kadyn's check up...

My middle (oldest) Kadyn, needed to get her 5 year check up and shots for school.
Here she is pretty excited to go because she knew after the shots she would get a stuffed animal.

Waiting for her exam... she had to get a gown on and she replied, "this is just like dress up".
Our little girl is only 35 lbs (25%) and isn't even on the charts for height.

This is after shots... what a sad, sad face! She was tough though and got lots of stickers, a toy and hugs when it was finished!
KK did come home and drop her pants to her daycare friends to show them her 5 band aids.
That's my girl!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010



Life is grand...

Even though I am adjusting to having an infant (and a toddler) in the house at all times, I am blessed to have my hands full with this little cutie.

She makes me slow down, not get my "to-do" list finished, operate on 3 hours of sleep, share a bedroom with her, by more clothing, not blog as often, not shower as often...

But, life is grand!
This week we have moved on to letter X. Since X words are hard to come by, we are using words/actions that have the letter X in them!

Today we did some eXercises. I started to lead them and the kids had a change of plans. I told them to run in place and my darling child Kadyn replies, " Can I have the Wii remote so I can run with that?" Then J replies, "Yeah Laura, we can play Wii Fit and exercise". Who can argue with that logic... So, we exercised with the Wii fit. We ran, we did strength training, and ended with hula hoops.

We updated our calendar, then Mia took the numbers off during art... so we are back to the 11th of February, thanks to her.

Then we continued with our shapes theme. Today we made Mr. Square. It has circle eyes, heart nose, and square body and feet.


I thought they turned out super cute...

Friday, February 12, 2010

Today's party!



We started out our Valentine's Day party decorating our Valentine card holders...

Moved on to dancing, singing, blowing up balloons, and playing...

Then we passed out all of our Valentine cards and candy...

Ate yummy snacks and played some more...


Then we ended with a special Valentine lunch from McDonald's...
Happy Meals for the Happy Children!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

trying on Kendal for size...

And, I think she makes a great addition to my outfit for sure...


This is my favorite part...

Looking down, having her close to me, and still having a free hand!
I think Kendal is the perfect size!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

dress up, shapes and letter W...

We started our morning out with some good ol' dress up fun!

I am not sure why, but the princess is getting arrested. Don't ask, don't tell. They had a blast and it is amazing how dressing up can really make each child work on self help skills and independence... while having fun!
Here are our love bugs. We made the bodies out of hearts. Then we took it one step further and used shapes to decorate their wings! I think these little creatures turned out so cute!

Our letter of the week is "W". Today we water colored on our W cutouts!
We also had a birthday party! Mr. C is 4 years old today! He brought some wonderful cookies to share for his b-day treat and we made a crown just for him to help make his day special!
Happy Birthday!

This is what...

happens when Gaby gets the camera...

I wanted to download our daycare pictures from today and saw some funny pictures Gaby must have taken over the weekend...
I am so proud to have this silly girl as my daughter...
Yes, I will claim her... she has a little more of her momma in her then I care to admit!
But, at least she can have some fun...

And, yes... she is wearing a swimsuit in the middle of February!

Monday, February 8, 2010

In case you were wondering...

Yes! I have 4 sets of dresses, 4 pairs of socks, 4 sets of hair bows, and 4 sets of shoes bought for Easter... and I got a killer deal.

Yes! Mia is walking now... I thought the day would never come.
She still is crawling more then walking but now we know she can do it!

Yes! Kendal is 3 weeks old today. Thursday would have been her due date!


Yes! This is the coolest invention for nursing moms... "the hooter hider". Really, I just like saying the words. It is a great light weight cover up for nursing in public. I am in love with it!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Wednesday fun...

playing dress up

working on our shapes by gluing fruit loops and cheerios

making a caterpillar out of circles and bright colors


kitchen center time

Monday, February 1, 2010

what's this??? A daycare post....


Yes, yes it is...

Today we have a new letter of the week, theme, and lots to catch up on...
Here are my preschoolers working in their workbooks, writing the letter V.
V is for veggies. We stamped pictures of veggies on our V.
Our them this week is shapes... we made circle art. We also discussed sizes of the circles, colors, and we even coutned them as we stamped them.
Our proud letter... V