Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

This morning our daughter got baptized at church.  This was all her idea, and the idea came to her a couple of weeks ago, we are so incredibly proud of her!  I wanted to celebrate a little bit and make a weekend out of it.  So yesterday she wrangled a couple of friends and we took them to a movie.  When we got back they wanted to stick around awhile so we said sure!  The more the merrier.  Well after awhile of enjoying 3 teenagers, I decided I might be a little more comfortable relaxing in my nice quiet room, watching reruns of Full House.  (Cause that's how I do Saturday Night.) While I was relaxing it got strangely quiet in my house, but I didn't think anything about it.  Now, there is a park right behind out house - totally open to the public.  I am used to hearing noises from people behind our house at all times of the day, but for 9:00 on a late August night, usually it is quiet.  So, you can understand how terrified I became when I heard a woman's scream right outside my window.  And that is how I came to write tonight's post about getting scared.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

When my husband and I had been married 3 years, we had a baby girl.  My due date was in July, but she surprised us by showing up at the end of May - Memorial Day weekend to be exact.  They put her in my arms, and I thanked God for our miracle, and then I thought, "This time of year is such a great time to throw a birthday party!"  And it is!  For the last 13 years we have had some doozies - each one more fun as the years go by.

For her 2nd birthday, we had a party at home and invited all of our closest friends.  Many of them had children who were all playing together in our living room.  Our living room had a big picture window showcasing the front yard.  One of the kids took a break from playing to gaze out the window long enough to notice a wild rabbit that had hopped into our yard.  "A bunny!"  the child exclaimed.  To which every other child hurried over to see it.  As they were all watching the rabbit in sheer joy - our siamese cat Oliver sprinted over to the rabbit and proceeded to kill it in a very gory bloodbath.  Of course all the kids were devastated - some even crying.  I think in the end I was able to persuade them all that Oliver and The Bunny were only playing - and re deirect their attention as a friend ran out and threw the carcass out of the children't sight.

I Want Candy

The most popular room in every house is the kitchen.  I know that personally, when I am in the kitchen preparing food, I am never alone for long - even if I would rather be.  Our kitchens serve as the hub of our home, as our food is being prepared, people in the house follow their noses which lead them straight to the warmest, happiest room in the whole house.  The kitchen is where we make meals for our family, snacks, cooking disasters which fill the whole house with smoke - especially if you are expecting company right then.  At our house my kitchen is where our dog and cat, Finn and Lucy, eat their meals, stalk me in the kitchen while I cook for the humans.  I cook three meals a day and prepare thousands of snacks.  We make sweets at Christmas time and big pots of chili and hot chocolate in the fall.  In the spring I boil dozens and dozens of eggs for easter, and then prepare lots of bowls of colored vinegar to dye those eggs.

I don't know if I would say that I love to cook - but I certainly am used to cooking.  I love the memories that come along with it.  Memories like:

Don't Eat Stuff Off The Sidewalk

Around here, our home houses a daycare, and my family gets to spend our days with adorable toddlers and kids from ages 1 to 13.  It is August now, and we have just seen the bigger kids start school again, leaving me and the really little ones here all day.  Every summer when the "big" kids come back they kind of push the little more vulnerable ones aside so when they go back to school, I feel like I am getting reacquainted with the little ones.  No older child is there to push them aside.  I love, love, love the big kids, and cherish my little bit of time a year I get to spend with them.  But now that they are back in school, I  am having so much fun with these mini people - Sunday's post was about kids who talk and the words that come out of their mouths.  Tonight we are going to focus on the ones who cannot talk yet.  These are their stories.

Here is a countdown to why small toddlers are so cool:

6.  Attempting to throw a ball in any way, shape or form.  The ball often goes behind them, or just straight down.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

 I was on my laptop today, procrastinating starting to write this post, when I came across a quote.  "When I Was A Kid My Parents Moved Around A lot, But I Always Found Them - Rodney Dangerfield.

I suddenly knew what I wanted to write about tonight.  I run a daycare out of my home, and on average, I hear about one hilarious thing a day from the little kids.  There are no dull moments with small children around.  They constantly keep me on my toes, with all of their questions and comments.  And everything is completely unfiltered.This summer I have had some extra kids at my house and  I have heard some real gems - so I decided to dedicate tonight's blog to Funny Kids Sayings.   Here are some highlights:

Oh, I Was So Embarrassed

 I would love to say that I was a perfect person.  Ladylike at all times, always graceful, never got pimples or cavities.  Every day I had perfect hair and make up.  But in reality, there are all sorts of opportunities for embarrassment.  Common wardrobe malfunctions, any kind of singing in public ever - especially if you are trying to match the singer on the radio.   Those are more along the lines of my life. Tonight my husband and I went out to Taco John for dinner, and he brought along a fancy notebook and expensive pen combo.  I used the back of the receipt and his special pen to jot down some thoughts for tonight's post.  What could I write about, I wondered.  Then I realized that the lid which probably cost more than our entire meal, had fallen off when I had dropped the pen on the floor.  I had to lean my entire body, hair on the floor, off the seat to move the table around and around to find that stupid lid.  And hence, we have a post that was very easy for me to write, about embarrassment.  Here are my tales.

My earliest embarrassing moment is locking myself in a restaurant bathroom and having to yell and bang on the door through the whole restaurant until my parents finally heard me and came and somehow got the door unlocked from the outside.

10 Ways To Distract A Toddler

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but this post is a day late, and I'm sorry for that.  Runny noses have been popping up around here.  Kids can get a runny nose, and just bounce back and not even really get sick.  I however, have a good 35 years on them, and end up on my deathbed for a day or two when I get their "runny nose".  AKA - yesterday I was sick, so I am just now getting down to write.  My apologies.

Which brings me to tonight's post about those precious runny nosed toddlers.  Every day I plan things to do with them that should enrich their lives in some way.  Art projects, educational games, pretty much anything that will make them use their brains.  But normally, something I set out on the side ends up being much more fun and interesting and will entertain them for the whole day.  I work 11 hour days, so these thoughtless things I casually set out with no planning, will keep their interest 10 hours and 55 more minutes longer than the things I actually spend time planning for them to enrich their lives.  This blog shares my secrets.

10 ways to distract a toddler.

Happy Anniversary!

Let me tell you a story.  Once upon a time,  11 years ago, I was working in an office as "office help."  I didn't mind the job at all, or my colorful co-workers.  (One of them cussed like a sailor and chain smoked right outside the door. )  What I did mind was leaving my baby every day to go to work.  I began to pray that God would lead me to a way to bring some money into our household, but also not have to leave my baby to do so.  Then a good friend told me she was having problems with her babysitter, and would I consider quitting my job (!!!!!) and babysitting her baby every day?  YES I WOULD - I WOULD LOVE TO DO THAT!  was my very nonchalant, cool answer.

So...that is how it all began.  It started out with just my sweet 2 year old, and this precious 10 month old girl.  I remember how the most exciting time of the whole day was when the opening tune for Elmo's World would come on.  Let me tell you - those girls would fly into the living room, and watched transfixed for 15 whole minutes.  It was so cute.  I would brush their little teeth every morning and we would get strapped into my brand new fancy double stroller, and finding little adventures in the neighborhood.  After a while, I started getting calls from other mothers wanting to know if I could watch their babies too.  I was so excited to get a real daycare off the ground!

This week marks that time - 11 years later.  I have so many memories from all the babies from those 11 years...

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year (Back To School)

Around here we watch Frozen a lot.   For those of you who may have seen it before, remember the scene where Anna wakes up the morning of Coronation Day?  At first she wakes up thinking it is just another day, but then she remembers that it is a special day.  She sits up and says, "It's Coronation Day!"  Well that is how I felt when I woke up yesterday morning - I woke up thinking it was just another Saturday when I would have to do all my Saturday morning errands.  But then ---I remembered that this was the day we were going shopping - for items to go BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

In the spring, the thought of summer seems so wonderful.  Having more free time, not having the strict schedule of school, not having to go to as many activities, ect.   But the reality is that I run a daycare out of our home.  I absolutely love my job.  I love children, and I really feel that God has put me right where I belong.  Having said that, I also feel that God has a sense of humor.  Otherwise known as my summer.