Busy Busy Fun!

Sorry to have dropped off the blogging bandwagon! We've been very busy around here.  For Easter, we had a small egg hunt in the backyard - it was such a treat to find all the eggs in and around the playground. :)  For Mother's Day, we made a DVD with pictures and video.  Now it's the beginning of June already, and I'm trying to figure out where Spring went!?! Summer came HOT and QUICK.  But, we manage to stay cool.  Here are some pictures from today's water play fun. :)  It was Caleb's first time having water play at Maggie's house!

Tiny Tim

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We've been talking a whole lot about farm animals around here! We're learning their sounds, what they look like, how they walk, and what they do for us.

So, isn't it befitting that we managed a trip to the Deanna Rose Farmstead today! To truly appreciate this field trip, you should know that trips do not happen without a wee little bit of planning. On field trip days like today, the following three ring circus must take place in the morning:

Pack snacks

fill water bottles/sippy cups

pack diapers/wipes/hand sanitizer/kleenex/change of clothes

check first aid kit

install extra car seat

take the wagon apart and stuff it in the trunk

change diapers/visit potty

apply sunscreen and bug spray

get camera, cell phone, emergency backpack that has children's important records

load STUFF into the car

load the kids into the car one at a time, while the kids who are left to wait their turn are crying and sad because they're not currently being loaded into the car nowrightnow

buckle everybody's seatbelts and crank the air conditioner, check fuel level, scan tires/car's condition and GO!

And then, once arriving at the destination - almost all of the previous is reversed in a specific order:

Unload the wagon, and assemble

Unload the STUFF (backpack, snacks, diaper bags, etc.)

Put camera and cell phone in easily accessible pockets.

Unload the kids one at a time, while the kids who are left to wait in the car for their turn are crying and sad because they're not currently out of the car and in the wagon.

Pass out ice waters because it's hot and humid out.

Load kleenexes into easily accessible pockets.

Check car for random contents (Rebecca's shoe, how did I get her from the car to the wagon without noticing that one of her shoes fell off?)

Lock the car, pull the wagon in and have fun!

It should go without saying that trips outside the home that involve someone else's kids are exponentially more stressful. Not necessarily as in hard-work-stress-me-out kind of stressful, but stressful in that I worry more about my performance. Am I driving carefully enough? Did I apply enough sunscreen? Will we have any major injuries? What if someone gets sick? It's hot and humid - did I pack enough water? Will we SURVIVE?

Our trip today to the farmstead was 150% worth the preparation, prayers, and sweat that went into planning it. We had a wonderful time! My favorite part was hearing the roosters crow. I think the kids enjoyed seeing the cows give milk. It was magical being at the farmstead with two toddlers and a preschooler. I love it when they are all experiencing the same things and I love seeing how each child is gaining something unique from the experience.

Julia made more of a connection between animals and humans. (We use the animals for food and shelter.)

Rebecca learned the "real" sounds that animals make. A cow doesn't actually SAY "moo" ... it kinda goes, "mrrraahhhhhhhh." (that's fun to type!)

Noah loved show off his vocabulary the whole time we were there - and we practiced saying the names of the baby animals (lamb is a baby sheep? kid is a baby goat? foal is a baby horse?) ... this is especially meaningful as Noah is going to have a baby brother in his house soon!

Ahh - it really was such a blessing of a trip. I absolutely loved today.

After the farmstead, everybody was wiped out. Julia loved being my assistant, and helping me keep the toddlers awake in the car so that we wouldn't spoil their naptime. She was naming stuff that she knew each child would like - pointing out trains and big trucks out Noah's window - and finding airplanes and birds out Rebecca's window. Things were going so well - I couldn't resist stopping for happy meals on the way home. I didn't have to cook, I barely had to clean up after lunch, and right now the kids are happy, safe, sound, and content from today's trip as they are sleeping at naptime. I really do love this job.

Check back soon for pictures of the trip - I will get them uploaded some time this weekend!

Cuteness Overload

The Hippo Song books (full of artwork and song lyrics) are almost finished! As soon as I get the ink cartridge for my printer that I ordered *forever* ago, I can put the finishing touches on the books and send them home! :) I can't wait for the parents to get them. I'll blog a presentation of the Hippo Books before letting them leave the house - it was definitely a project I want to do again and again in years to come!

Click image to enlarge :)

Time to show off with new videos!

Julia had a whole week off of school because of Parent-Teacher conferences. During her time off, she taught the toddlers many tricks. (Sorry parents, about the ones we'd rather not be teaching!)

Here's one cool trick we're learning... how to put our coats on by ourselves! Watch as Julia demonstrates:


Oops - it landed on her upside down. I could have corrected her before she did the flip, but I wanted all the kids to know that it's okay to get it wrong sometimes. Here, Julia demonstrates how to get her coat on correctly:


And now, Noah demonstrates that, while he was listening - some skills will come at their own time :)


Yesterday, we got back into the comfy old routine, and everybody was excited to see the bus come wisk Julia off to school. This morning, I got footage of Noah and Rebecca saying goodbye, as we do every morning. It's really very sweet. Enjoy!

Field Trip to the Mall!

Good News! We finally got a new camera!

We have finally replaced our ancient camera with a nice, pretty, new Canon Elph - so you can expect to see pictures appearing here more regularly now! This is excellent news.

One of the things I strive for is help the kiddos' parents feel like they have been a part of the day here. I know how hard it is to leave your children in someone else's care... I did that myself for the first six months of my oldest daughter's life.

So, while I keep a daily journal, send home artwork frequently, and have wonderful conversations daily with parents, I now can keep including them in our days through photographs on the blog!

To celebrate, here are some of December's pictures that came off our old camera. :) Enjoy!

Noah wanted to make his mom a Happy Birthday card.

We had a pajama party here - all the kiddos came in their pj's for one day. :) It was fun! (I may be biased since I got to hang out in my pja's all day long, too!)

Noah surprised us with a gingerbread train for Christmas! We put this together on one of Savannah's last days. The kids really enjoyed it. Even Noah got to put some of the finishing touches on it.

Recent Pictures

Some days, I'm just better about having the camera handy. Today? Happened to be be one of those days!

Passions

Working with kids is a passion of mine. It's something I love and look forward to doing every day of my life! Everybody has a passion - if you don't know what yours is, perhaps you will find inspiration in the passions of my friends:

Savannah: Savannah is passionate about baby dolls and doctor's toys.... together. She loves to play doctor! She is always checking a "heart beep" and taking a temperature. She also is passionate about cutting and gluing. One day, she spent a whole hour at the art table just cutting pictures from a magazine and gluing them into a blank piece of paper.

Julia: Julia is also passionate about baby dolls. She loves to take them for walks and read them books. Especially now that she is developing phonic skills, she just loves to pretend to read. She also likes to have her babies on her lap while she writes up a "grocery list" with a pen and pad of paper. "Mom? What does broccoli start with?" I respond with "a 'B' honey" and she will then spell broccoli on her little pad, telling her baby doll "you make a B by first drawing a straight line down, then two bumps on this side, okay baby?"

Paityn: Paityn is passionate about jewelry, princess crowns, dressup clothes, and music. She's quite the dancer. Paityn is a "girly girl" ...and I mean that in the most loving way. She's cuddly and sweet - always offering kisses and hugs. She loves to dance and parade about with her fun beaded necklaces and dress up shoes!

Noah: Noah is passionate about eating. Hah! Okay, and care routines. He loves to demonstrate how to do things. Wiping tables, wiping faces, washing windows... cleaning floors those are all right up Noah's alley. He absolutely LOVES brushing his teeth. And, he loves anything related to trains, fish, balls, music, swinging, slides, and more. Come to think of it, Noah's a pretty passionate person. When I find something he's interested in, he's obsessed about it for weeks!

Rebecca: Rebecca is passionate about talking. yak yak yak yak she'll gab on and on for days on end. She talks about anything and everything there is to talk about. She makes a short story long. She sings and talks and discusses and conversates. She just loves to talk. Wonder where she gets that from?

And there you have it - our passions. Check back soon, these things change as quickly as the weather does around here!

Thursday Thirteen

For my previous Thursday Thirteen post, please click here.

Here are thirteen things that I consider to be noteworthy (out of a billion, gazillion!!)

1. It's adorable how Noah is stabbing with a fork now. Today, we had peas and coin carrots. He got the carrots okay, but was frustrated at the little green peas that were not stab-able!
2. Noah knows fingerplays and songs very well. Once in a while, a new one will come to my mind that I don't think I've done with these kids in a long time (recently, it was 1 little 2 little 3 little Indians - except I use "boys and girls" instead of "Indians" to be politically correct, hehe) and he catches on every single time. I think he has a really great memory and a love for all things music!
3. Noah's favorite thing to do when he's here at Miss Maggie's is to swing. I think it's impossible for the child to get pushed on a swing and NOT laugh. He giggles every time and I adore it!
4. Savannah is growing into a beautiful little girl. The waddling toddler that I once knew is now wearing "big girls" all the time and loves "write letters" with Julia.
5. Savannah's belly laugh is contagious. When she gets to laughing, everybody gets to laughing, and that just makes her laugh even more. It's hard to NOT have fun when she's in a giggly mood!
6. Savannah would have me read her books all day long every single day if she thought I would do it. She loves story time, loves picking out books, loves guessing plots by analyzing pictures, and enjoys hearing the words read.
7. Julia is starting part-time preschool this August and is very nervous! She tells me, "mom? I am only going to go to school on the days when you are going to come there with me, k?" Sweet Julia, mommy passed preschool long ago, and now it's your turn. You'll be fine without mom.
8. Julia is taking dance classes on Monday nights! Sometimes, during our music and movement time, we practice dance moves - from ballet to tap and even tumbling. It's fun!
9. Julia has her mom's sarcastic sense of humor. She loves it when we pretend and play opposites. "Mom? Is it not okay to eat my green beans?" she'll ask with a coy smile... "am I gonna be in time out if I eat my green beans?" She wants me to play along and say - yes, dear - you'll be in BIIIG trouble if you eat those veggies!
   
10. Rebecca is crawling everywhere and loves to walk with her walker. Just this week, she has started "creeping" along the furniture. She'll be catching up to Noah in no time - a feat she very much looks forward to.
11. Rebecca is learning a lot of new sign language. It's great how quickly she catches on!
12. Rebecca does not care for water play. Well, I take that back... she LOVES when we have water play - but wishes to sit on the sidelines watching everybody else, rather than jumping in and getting wet.
    
13. I love my job. This week, it has been hard because I've been so tired. Vacation Bible School at the church is coming to a close tonight - and I am looking forward to getting to bed a bit earlier each night next week. But, even when I'm exhausted and have so much to catch up on with journaling, blogging, putting laundry away, and everything else - I still love my job. And I wouldn't trade it for anything!

There are many, many pictures that need to be uploaded. Perhaps this weekend I'll steal an hour or two from my family and update the flickr page. I'll be sure to let you know when they're up! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're having a great summer!

Staying Busy

As always, we've been staying busy here. With the summer upon us, it's hard to resist trips to the park and play days in the pools. Luckily, we have a fairly flexible crowd - it's usually easy to keep everybody entertained.

Yesterday, we played in the pools - but it wasn't the same without Noah and Rebecca (They were snoozing - perhaps they figured it better to nap than deal with the heat?). Savannah and Julia had a blast, though - and I was surprised at how quickly they "jumped" right in despite the freezing cold water. I have to admit, it does feel pretty good since it's been so hot and humid around here. I even got wet up to my knees. :) Fun!

Today, we took a walk to the park. Cornerstone Park isn't that far from here, but I prefer to venture to the park at the Greenbelt. It's a bigger park, tends to be less crowded with field trips (Cornerstone is right by the swimming pool) and sometimes we see a class from our old friends at Open Arms there. When we do run into old friends, it's great fun to play with other kids and it's wonderful for me to get some adult conversation! Plus, the extra walking is good for all of us, and it gives us a chance to appreciate nature a bit more.

Unfortunately, we didn't stay at the park very long. We had snack and then played for just a few minutes. I got worried about the weather moving in. Despite the great forecast, the sky was darkening and I could smell rain. So, we jetted out of there quickly. The girls were good sports - even Savannah picked up the pace a bit and we enjoyed talking about weather all the way home. It's too bad, really, because by the time we got halfway home, the sky cleared and it was hot and sunny again! Oh, well. Better safe than sorry!

There are tons of new pictures up at flickr. Enjoy :)

Oh, by the way - we are going to visit the Deanna Rose farmstead tomorrow, and then I'm hoping we'll get to the library for story time next Thursday! Busy fun!!

Summer Fun! Pool days

We had SO. MUCH. FUN. today! It was our first water play day, and it was a blast! I have to admit, I was a wee bit nervous about it... who wouldn't be with an 8 month old, 11 month old, 2 year old and 3 year old? But, everything was smooth sailing and, did I mention? It was SO MUCH FUN!! I wish I had the time and patience to give you lots of details - about Savannah and Julia's pretend play - about Rebecca's quick retreat from the water, about Noah's splashing ... but, alas, I have work to do. Here are more pictures to oogle at! And, feel free to check out the other pictures from today over at flickr. :) God has blessed us with another wonderful day!

More pictures!

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words... That's good, because I haven't had a lot of time to jot down many words!

Sounds from the Playroom

The girls were playing around Noah, who was sitting in the middle of the floor minding his own business:

Savannah: (Takes a double-take at Noah, and continues walking. Then, goes back to Noah and gets right up close to Noah's face to inspect...)
Me: What's the matter, Savannah?
Savannah: Noah?
Me: Yep, that's Noah - are you going to play with him?
Savannah: Oh. He looks like him dad.

I had to giggle wondering if she thought maybe that was Noah's daddy sitting in the middle of our floor?


Later...
The girls have discovered imaginary wings, and have been flying around the playroom gracefully. A few hours ago, Julia commented about how her hard/fast running was making her heart beat really fast and she wanted me to feel it.

Savannah: Ut-oh Maggie (coming to me, sticking her chest out)
Me: what?
Savannah: Ut-oh my heart is beating (putting my hand on her heart to feel)

I assured Savannah that it's a GOOD thing to have your heart beating! I told her I'd like to know if her heart WASN'T beating. :)



Then:
The girls were still flying and Julia stopped to get paper and marker.

Julia: See what I drew mom?
Me: That looks great! Tell me about it?
Julia: That's me! And do you see my wings?
Me: Oh yeah - looks like your wings are right there by your arms?
Julia: No mom, that's my hand.
Me: Oh of course it is. Where are your wings, doll?
Julia: My wings? I'm a girl, I can't really fly. I don't really have wings, mom.

Whew, I'm glad she cleared that up for me! ;)

Videos!

I went a little camera crazy on Leap Day. I had this idea to try and capture a little bit of every part of our day... so that you could get a full picture of what one of our days is like. (I wanted a shot of breakfast, then circle time, then snack, then playtime, etc. etc....) but that was way harder than I imaged it to be! So, when I had the time, I shot as many pics as I could and I know you'll enjoy them! (See post below!) Also, my camera has a video feature on it... while the video isn't the best quality it definitely catches some great moments. The most frustrating thing about my camera, though, is that when I'm recording video, it stops recording at random times... so I might be shooting something REALLY good (like the girls singing or like Noah on the move) and it won't let me catch the whole thing. GAH. Oh well :) Enjoy the clips that I did capture!



In the next clip, you'll see how close Noah is to crawling! He moves from sitting to all fours very easily!



In this next clip, you'll get a small taste of what it looks like when Noah goes backwards. He has very strong arms! He can go from one end of the room to another (as long as there are no difficult obstacles, hehe) in about 15 seconds!



And finally, this clip will give you a sneak peek at just how stinking. lucky. I. am. to. be. playing. with. kids. for. a. living!!!!

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

President's Day!

Yesterday, Savannah's older sister had the day off - so she came over here to play with us! Here are some pictures that we wanted to share with you to help us tell you about our day...

Here we are painting. This was part of our "President's Birthday" celebrations. We painted after we sang Happy Birthday to President's Washington and Lincoln.



Part of our afternoon routine is dancing in the living room. We always crank the music and dance while we wait for parents to pick up. Almost always, this includes Julia's camera toy - a little camera and microphone that hooks up to the TV so that the girls can see themselves dancing. It's a lot of fun to be a part of!

Julia is learning from her cousins, Majesta and Braxton, who are in Karate. They teach her new moves that she likes to incorporate into her dance routines. Here, she demonstrates the Jumping Jack. :)


Here, the girls are doing the Hokey Pokey. Samantha is running around silly and you gotta watch the clip so you can see Savannah's booty shake! ...Absolutely adorable!


Looking back at the pictures from yesterday, I'm sad that I didn't catch more moments with Noah and Rebecca. I'll be sure to record more of them in the coming days. They are growing so fast and the two of them are becoming great friends... always keeping an eye on what the other is doing.

We are so blessed to have such great friends share our house everyday!!

Ball Paintings

On Friday, the girls and I were ready to craft! We looked through some of my idea magazines and books and decided that it would be fun to paint with balls! So, the girls picked the colors out (Julia wanted pink and Savannah picked yellow). We put the paint on the balls and a little extra on the paper plate, and then I invited the girls to start painting...


Neither one of the girls wanted to touch the painted balls and get paint on their hands, even though I assured them that it would be okay. The floor was covered with a plastic tarp and I had paint smocks available if they wanted them. But instead, they opted for rubber gloves. Hah! Funny how the messiest of projects are intimidating, but the projects that I think will be less messy turn out to be very hard to clean up!


Savannah enjoyed wearing the glove more than she enjoyed actually painting!

But, she did give the painting a try. She "oooh'd" and "ahhh'd" when she made her first trail of paint down the tray. But, on the second go-round, her ball flew off the tray and onto the floor. She then decided that she was done and didn't want to paint any more. I think she was really worried about getting the paint off the floor! (Really, it was just on the tarp, and I tried to talk her into continuing, but she said "no, you paint it") heheh - I did enjoy finishing the painting while she looked on...

Julia, however, would not put stop with the project. I think she'd STILL be ball painting if it were up to her. She had paint completely covering her paper, but she did not want to stop. She enjoyed every moment of the project - ESPECIALLY the moments when the balls flew off and landed on the table or floor. Funny how different the girls can be!

I throughly enjoyed this project, as I enjoy all the projects we do. I wish I had the time to document all of our projects we do. You are missing out on so much around here... Noah is coloring with crayons, and I believe that he will be crawling soon. The girls are developing more in-depth pretend play. Julia is spelling things, and Rebecca is getting stronger in her back and neck and will be sitting up soon.

The time is going by way too fast, and I just can't catch it all on camera! I so wish I could!

By the way, we are still looking for two playmates! If you know any kiddos ages 2 1/2 to 4 years old that need tender loving care, I'd love a referral. I'm not going to advertise the spots, I'd love to fill them just by word of mouth. Thanks for checking in!

More Pictures

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. We've been keeping busy here, as usual! The weather is so crazy, we really enjoyed the nice, warm days and are very much ready for spring to come! I can't count how many times Julia has asked me if it's warm enough to paint the sidewalk yet (with her sidewalk paint that she got for Christmas!). Soon enough we'll be slathering the sunscreen and complaining of the heat!

Well, here are some recent pictures to tug at your hearts! Thanks for stopping by.


Twister is a great way to teach colors and shapes, as well as improving memory and learning body parts. For Julia, it even introduced right and left. :)
Noah is the happiest, most easy going kid I've ever known. And I've known a lot of kids!
Rebecca is almost five months old already!