Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from us!

Once again, couldn't get a decent picture of Little Man, but my mom did so maybe she'll send it to me ;)

 Sweet Pea was a "cute witch", Babydoll was Rapunzel, and Little Man managed to agree to wear a pirate vest... but wouldn't pose for me.

I really have no idea why we don't get trick or treaters

 Little Man made it about an hour before Spence took him home for a pack of M&Ms and bedtime.  The girls made it another half hour or so before they told me they wanted to go home because their bags were too heavy!  I don't remember that EVER being a reasonable excuse to want to go home!  I remember my mom trudging through a few feet of snow with me and my sister during a huge blizzard 20 years ago! I also remember coming home from several hours of trick or treating, in the freezing cold, with friends feeling like a popcycle! I don't EVER remember coming home because my bag was "too heavy".  I was pretty sure I had birthed them both until tonight.

Little Man told everyone "thank you" after getting his candy, and only a few times asked for more :o).  One girl handing out candy said, "yep!" after he thanked her, and he kind of looked at her like why didn't you say your welcome? and told her very cheerfully, "thank you, welcome!"

It's Funny Now, but at the time it was NOT

I've talked before about how much trouble we have getting a good picture of our kids together for the annual Christmas card, yet I still try to get that picture!  I've given up on trying to get a "perfect" shot of them together, and will settle for another compilation if I need to, but I was hoping today to get a "good" picture of them all together.

It was a beautiful fall day, with lots of leaves, and enough clean kids clothes to put together a fall color scheme for some outdoor shots.

Tell me... which of these gems screams "Merry Christmas" to you?

Asking for Your Creativity

I'm thinking about making a change.

I've been blogging for 22 months now, and although the past several months have been pretty irregular, I still enjoy it.  But I'm thinking about changing it up a bit, particular in the name of the blog.

A lot of this blog has been about daycare, and that was my intention, but the stuff I'd really like to put on here regarding my job would be inappropriate to share.  I don't feel comfortable even sharing cute stories about my daycare kids - even if I were to leave out their names and pictures.  While I could certainly keep the daycare kids/families anonymous, people know who I am and who my daycare kids are, so it wouldn't be totally anonymous.  It doesn't seem right to blab about someone else's child no matter how positive the story is, unless I got permission to share.  And would I want to ask my daycare parents every time their kid does something funny if I can put it on my blog, send it to them for approval, and then post it?... Probably not.  And the tangents I could go on about the less wonderful side of the job... would be wrong.  Sure I could go completely anonymous and safely spill it all, but my blog isn't anonymous and I like it that way.  Although I really like reading this anonymous blog which is by a Canadian daycare provider, helps me remember I'm not alone. :o)

So the result of all those personal restrictions on talking about my job, my blog is not super daycare-y.

I will still be talking about the same stuff I have in the past, but I'm thinking a blog name that better reflects what goes into this website is in order... but I'm stumped.

Same blog, same content, same style, new name!

The actual web address would stay the same, but the name of the blog would be new.

So here is where I'm asking for a little help.  If you have any ideas for a new name, put them in the comments section!  Please be kind and respectful, but creative (or obvious, whichever).  THANKS!

Fall is FUN

Gymnastics Craze

Babydoll has now had 6 gymnastics classes.  Whether it's a phase, or a lasting passion, she's having a blast!  Ever since she started gymnastics she has been practicing constantly at home.  Every day she watches youtube videos of gymnasts her age doing tricks and routines at their gymnastics schools or on their home gym equipment, and then runs off to try to do it here.  The only problem is that there is only so much she can practice in the living room at this point.

She spent the whole day searching the house and yard for things she can use for equipment.  Stacking nap mats, propping pillows and blankets under them to make a wedge to practice her forward and backward rolls, using the board that edges the wood floor as a balance beam, and doing a thing on the couch where she runs at it, puts her hands on the cushion, and then kicks her legs up.  She also practices her tuck jump and straddle jump pretty regularly.

She wants a gymnastics bar pretty badly.  She wants to be able to practice all the flips and things she sees the more advanced kids at her gym, and the kids on the youtube videos, doing.




Problem is, they are really expensive.  Even to buy used.  I've looked up a couple how-to's on building one but neither of us know our way around a wood or metal shop, and I'd really hate for my daughter to fall on her head because the cross bar wasn't secure and fell off or something.

I found a balance beam (the short kind for practicing) on craigslist but the ones that weren't super expensive looked pretty crappy.  And for now the board in the living room, though it's a tiny bit too narrow, works fine.

So unless I can find a practice bar somewhere she will need to content herself with weekly gymnastics classes.  And we will continue to support her love of the sport by propping up cushions, messing up the couch, spotting her when she needs it.

We're just so glad that after watching her sister do activities and sports for years, she has something she loves to do, and is pretty dang good at!

Our Little Light at the End of a Nasty Tunnel

My baby girl will turn five years old on the 24th.  It is really hard to fathom how it can feel like she was just born yesterday, and at the same time it's kind of hard to remember my life without her here!  A year and a half ago I shared the story of how hard we fought, and how many tears we shed, to get her here.  I decided to put it on this blog because I wanted anyone that has gone through what we did, to see that not only are they not alone, but that at the end of that dark and nasty tunnel, there can be a pretty spectacular light!

So in honor of our little girl's upcoming birthday, I thought I'd link you to the beginning of her story. Click Here.

Random Read

Some random stuff

1. I don't like candy corn.  I used to think it was a really weird thing to not like candy corn, until one October when Moose A. Moose on nick jr. sang a song called "I don't like candy corn" and I felt validated.   By a cartoon moose.

2. Little Man is back in diapers.  It was going really well for a few days, and then he stopped cooperating.  And started peeing randomly a lot.  So we'll try again soon.

3.  I have a "Confessions of a Cookie Addict" post ready to be written up... but it's a bit embarrassing.  Not that that has stopped me before!

4.  I love the smell of autumn!

5.  I need a full time housekeeper to keep up with my kids and daycare... and husband... and self.

6.  My oldest daughter brought home math homework and I was at a loss for how to help her with one of the problems. Great.

7.  Babydoll arriving at gymnastics class is like taking a little super ball and throwing it hard into a tiny room.  Lots and lots of gleeful bouncing.

8.  I'm a "tavern lady" for Halloween this year.  I bought the costume several years ago but haven't actually gone out anywhere for Halloween in costume in a LONG time!

9.  I could really use a new camera, one that the kids will not be allowed to touch.

Renaissance Festival

A little over a week ago we went to the Renaissance Festival like we do every year.  The girls have always dressed up like princesses or fairies, or fairy princesses.  We didn't have anything to dress LM in so he went as a futuristic boy.

As soon as we got there the children's theater guy asked the girls if they wanted to be in the Pied Piper play that was about to start in a few minutes.  Sweet Pea did this same play 2 years ago and played one of the towns children, this time she played a mouse.

Direct quote from Babydoll as soon as she got up there, "I'm a children!"

She was the only one of the "children" who put on the hat. They didn't know what they were missing!

BD rode a llama

LM and I rode an elephant.  I was so glad he got to sit right up front, it's the only way to really get to feel the  elephant's skin.  He really liked petting it's ear!

Riding the butterflies

The giant horse and pirate ship swings were one of the few things that excited SP this year.  She was bored for some reason.

Also her and BD were arguing a lot.

Also LM was whining a lot and having tantrums about everything.  What had started out as a fun family day was quickly becoming stressful and not fun!

At one moment of hightened stress, we were also trying to traverse through a particularly crowded area with a stroller filled with angry two-year-old and all our crap.  Spence was getting mucho frustrated.

Come on hun, smile!!

 I'm glad we went, but I think we're ready for a Ren Fest trip without the kids for once!

It was exhausting!

Confessions of a Cookie Addict

I've got another one for ya.

Last Friday was Spencer's spike day, mine was the next day.  Friday night he ran to the gas station to by some junk food to snack on and came back with a pack of those big M&M cookies.  I immediately declared my spike day was starting a night early.

He took one out to eat, I took two.

After a little while (like maybe 10 minutes) I asked him to pass me the cookies, which he did, but not before taking two more out of the package for himself for later.

He knows me so well!

Recap

Snapshots of what we've been up to lately:

Sticker math

Practicing printing with shaving cream

Color mixing project

Trip to the dentist

Playing with trees

SP joined Girl Scouts

and got her math badge!

Went to the Renaissance Festival (that'll get it's own post)

And dressing up brothers.