Our morning

Our morning was spent learning about spiders... we talked about the topic yesterday as well.
We made spooky spiders that we could eat!!!

We had chocolate chips for the spooky eyes.... then we got to eat them!

Our writing center...

Playing around...

time for play dough... the last time we played with it we didn't get the lids on tight so it was all dried up. The kids were excited to see lots of new colors to use today.

I was even told, "waura, you are the best".... Little things like new play dough makes them happy!

This week in a nutshell...

Another week has come and gone- yet no daycare observation. It HAS to be next week. We are running out of October days. I am not stressing over it anymore... okay, maybe a little stress. But a line from one of my favorite songs comes to mind, "Strength will raise as we wait upon the Lord". I have changed the words... "Strength will raise as I wait for my inspection". Today... I feel strong. Not like physically but mentally too! I feel like I am ready as I am going to be and what you see is what you get. I can't coach the kids to wash their hands any better then they are, I can't hang up anymore art work in my dining room, and I can't have anymore parent meetings or socials then we have had. What you see is what you get!

Today I was down on peanuts at daycare- 2 are out sick with totally different things. I hope they get better soon. Dustin was sick earlier this week too- again totally different then what the other peanuts had. Based on his day- he said it was a food issue not a flu or stomach bug issue. I'll take it. It still made for a long day- by the time we got home from Awana, he was up and feeling better. He even got the kids to bed which I was grateful for. I hate this season due to all the yuckies that go around. I want my summer back!

Because I was low on peanuts, my mom stayed and watched the kids for a few minutes. I had to get to the bank. I had already started cleaning the kitchen which gives me no motivation to cook lunch. So, on the run to the bank and I stopped at Sonic. I got the kid's lunch to end our fun movie day morning. I choose Subway... I'll get into that in a minute. One thing I like about our Sonic is their trash cans... they have a trash can right before the drive thru window. I love picking up all the little trash around the seats while I wait- it's so nice. And I feel productive... got lunch and threw away all my trash in one stop! Thank you Sonic for the placement of your trash cans.

While I was driving this week, I heard a Bryan Adams song on the radio... wooza! That took me back to when I was in middle school at Becky S's house. We played in the basement singing this song into her mirror. Oh come on! I know I wasn't the only one... any guesses on what song it was???

I choose Subway! I made a good choice today. But I haven't this week. It was a good week but I didn't get my runs in or workouts that I had hoped. I have been in prayer about this so I can live a balanced life that includes working out and weight loss. Are you tired of hearing about my weigh loss issues? Well, you should be... I am tired of typing about them! I start the week off really good. Then life happens and I don't work out, or I'll eat poorly. Then by the end of the week I am so far off the wagon I can't even see the wagon anymore. I don't want my failure of losing weight to keep coming up as a topic. I don't want to be at this weight anymore- I want to finish what I started. I just am at a loss for doing it right now. I can't blame our activities or family lifestyle, we have always been this way. As I watch the Biggest Loser I think, it must be nice to drop everything and go to a place that almost makes losing weight impossible. If you want reality, bring Bob Harper to my house to help out with a family of seven, daycare, Awana, Church, activities, and so on and then teach me how to work out and eat right! That is reality.

Moving on... :)

While I was at Subway, I had the best service I have had in a long time. The guy asked me, "what can I get you , young lady?". Oh, to be called a young lady... that seems so 11 years ago before I was married, had 4 children, wiped butts and runny noises for a living. I loved it though. It made me smile and kinda made my day. Great service says a lot. He even toasted my bread with a smile. So... thank you Subway guy for making my lunch a happy one.

I posted about Gaby on FB Wednesday night. Her Tnt group at church had a talent night. She wanted to do a song on her violin. She just started learning this instrument in September. When she told me about the show, at first the over protective mom side wanted to protect her. I was thinking, " she doesn't know any songs yet, kids will laugh at her". I sorta hoped she would back out. Luckily, she didn't. She practiced her "plucking" and had Mary had a little lamb ready to go. She told me it went well. She made a joke about being new and for no one to "hate". That is my Gaby. Nothing gets her down. I am proud of her. I don't know that when I was her age I would have had the strength and courage. I so love that about her- I don't know where she gets it but she is something special!

That is our week in a nutshell... I could have typed out a novel. I love to ramble, I am sure you know that by now! Have a great weekend and check back soon!

classroom time

Today during classroom time we did our Weekly Readers.
Our first one was about "Fall Fun". We learned about activities we do in the fall like playing ball, throwing leafs, watching leafs change colors, and baking pumpkin pies.

Our second topic was about Pumpkins....

We learned about the different sizes, shapes, and colors pumpkins come in.

After our relaxed classroom time, we watched a Halloween movie that a friend brought today!
Yay for Friday's!

A new thing for me...

It took a little longer then it probably should but this is my first time to a staff schedule! But I am happy to report that I have November's schedule for church finished, typed out, and ready to print! Whew!

A night at Cubbies...

My little Cubbie Mia, who is ignoring me during her hand book time.

Here are some pictures from our Cubbie Meetings on Wednesday night. A little overview to what we do. These are so out of order compared to how our meetings go...

We have four areas that the Cubbie rotate into... games, crafts, handbook, and snack. The above picture is game time.

Each Cubbie group has 20-25 kids and we currently have 4 groups! It is so motivating to see all these kids come every Wednesday night! Big hi-five to the parents that get them there... it's no easy task!

Snack time... while the kids eat, we had a visit from Mr. Paper, the talking paper and Mr. Bag, the talking plastic bag! We have awesome leaders! The leaders are not paid. They give over 2 hours of their time each week to make this program work. We have over 30 workers on average to make this thing tick!

Mia during snack time...

Another group... craft time! Each week we have a small craft that goes with our story or verse.

Another group at snack... we had cheese balls and lots of orange hands. My snack leaders went above and beyond and made sure hands and mouths were cleaned using bowls of water! Little details like this really make a huge impact.

Handbook time is where the kids say their verse to their leader. Parents and leaders sign it off and then these gals enter it into our Cubbies program (which we had a parent/leader totally write for our church-- way cool). These ladies have a crazy job of entering all the signed info into the computers, giving patches, and making sure everyone is caught up!

This is our big group time. At the beginning of our meeting, we start out in this room. We begin with our Cubbie song. Then we have two leaders teach us our verse to music. Again, we had a parent/leader volunteer to put our verses to music to make it easier for our Cubbies to learn their bible verses each week. The Cubbies LOVE this. After music time, we have puppets, and story time.

It takes an army to pull off our Wednesday nights. I have to say, this evening is full of energy- the kids come in so excited and wound up. But it is so worth it. Each kids is being exposed to God's word, His stories, and through programs like Awana, we are able to lead people to Christ.

This is just a snap shot view of our program. Cubbies is only for 3-5 year olds however TBC does offer Sparks for K-2nd graders, and TnT for 3-6th graders.

On a personal note, I have gained so much from Cubbies as an adult. I see the kids have such enthusiasm when they get to say their verses, or when a leader knows their name and holds a conversation with them. Their energy truly catches on.

Cubbies has also brought some great connections and fellowship for me. I have loved getting to know all of our leaders and their families. I have made some fabulous friends through this process and for that I am grateful. Cubbies is for 3-5 year olds but it certainly has done wonders for my soul as well!

Web Wonders...

We are learning about Spiders this week...
This morning, the kids made spider webs from yarn and liquid starch.

We are also learning about the Letter F, black and orange, and numbers 4, 5, 6.

They also payed with blocks....

We also dance to "Itsy bitsy spider" and crawled around like spiders...

It was a "F"antastic day!

Yesterday we wrapped up the fall seasons... making a blowing leafs!

Our book for this week...

the littlest peanut is on the move...

After nap time, Grammy read a story to everyone...

The peanuts really enjoyed Grammy's story.

Peanuts home from school...

Today my kids are home from school which is great for me because I get a break from the crazy, "get ready for school", yell at everyone, run up and down the stairs a million times all before daycare starts, type of morning. Plus, I love having them at home, I truly love their company and having them around.

As much as I enjoy having them home, I know they don't always care for the daycare rules when they are here though. It was a great surprise when 2 of our friends from summer wanted to come back and visit since they were out of school too. The four of them play very well together and again I so enjoy their company- it's a fun change to have them.

We threw on our jackets this morning and headed outside. Our backward is covered in leafs and is quite the fall sight right now.

The big kids asked for rakes... I swear, I had no prompting in this. They spent a lot of time raking and picking up leaves....

The little ones played as the big ones gathered up more leaves...

Kadyn taking a break...

All the hard work paid off when they got to do this...

and this....

especially this...

after all the leaf playing was over... the young peanuts came inside for handwriting time.

we updated our journals and added our stickers

Then the wee peanuts had their turn too... I put the glue down and demonstrated how to put the tissue paper on their paper. They did great!

We just finished, "pat, pat, pat" with our leafs...

Our fall projects for the wee ones...

Pumpkin Patch time...

On Sunday we went to a birthday party at the pumpkin patch. One of my peanuts was turning 4. It was a great afternoon full of family, friends, and yummy cake!

We went on a hay rack ride... C, Mia, and A.

Kenni...

Kadyn and her BFF Josh. I know I have blogged about my love for this boy but really is this not the cutest thing ever? They have been friends since they were 2 years old. I love him for many reasons but mainly because he is such a great friend to my daughter.

Mia and Kendal on the train... family tradition for all the Fluke children.

Again... Kadyn and Josh. I love their faces. It makes me smile.

Mia and Kendal jumping off the hay toys...

After the corn maze we went to the pumpkin patch and picked a pumpkin.

Playing on the hay...

Another tradition...pictures by the "how tall" sign... Kendal

Gaby Goo

Kadyn

And Mia...

We had had a fun time celebrating a friend making our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! We ended the trip with popcorn and apple cider slushes...