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!

Savannah

Savannah was Childcare by Maggie's first enrollment back in November of 2007! I can't believe how much I've seen her grow up in the last year. This truly is a testament to how quickly they change!

When I first met Savannah, she was barely toddling. Now, she is an avid runner, jumper, and has started skipping everywhere. She is potty trained, weaned from her "binkie" and drinks from a big girl cup. More importantly, she is cuddly and loving - at least once a day she will randomly tell me that she loves me. And she'll do that for the other kiddos in care, too. She's extremely affectionate and caring. She loves loves loves books and right now, will spend an hour or two at a time cutting and pasting at the art table! She also loves dress-up, swinging, cooking projects (especially baking!) and play-doh.

Because of my technical difficulties, I only have a few photos to share. Savannah's story could take a whole series of posts, just because I've known her so long and have so many milestones to share! Alas, this eye candy will have to do. Enjoy!

Savannah and Julia often dress up and put on a fashion show of sorts...

If she was able to, I think Savannah would swing all day and night every day of her life!

Savannah is painting with cars! She loves art projects now, but she never cares to get her hands very messy.

Play-doh is another all-time favorite. Here, she's working it into a pancake. We spent many hours of the summer on the back patio making play-doh pancakes!

Water play is never boring with Savannah around!

Lookie! My hands are green!

I just had to include this picture - see how enamored Savannah is? She's like that with all the babies! Poor Julia looks left out in the background here.... but I'm sure that Savannah turned around and gave Julia a big hug after this shot was taken!

Sadly, the kids grow up so fast. Savannah is such a blessing to have here! Being the oldest daycare kiddo we have, she sets a great example! We love her!

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!

Painting Day!

Everybody is in a good mood this morning, and our routines/schedules worked out just right that we had some time for painting! Enjoy the pictures below!









Even Noah got in on the action!

MLK Jr's Birthday and Other fun Pictures!

On Monday, we had Savannah's big sister over to play for the day! Here, the girls are looking through magazines to cut pictures of people out... we looked for all kinds of people! The girls found a BUNCH and enjoyed cutting them out.

And here's a group photo with the finished project!

And in this photo, Noah's wondering, "Let's see... what kind of trouble can I get into with this one when I start crawling next month..?"


Here's a picture from yesterday with the girls coloring so well together. They LOVE to sit at the table and share the crayons/markers. Savannah will usually try to copy the speed and grace that Julia colors with - so I try to play music during free-art time to inspire some variety in movement! Such fun!!!

For my birthday

I got two beautiful things for my birthday today!

1. I got to spend the day with these gorgeous kids (sorry, HANDSOME, too, Noah)
2. They all (ALL FOUR OF THEM) slept from noon until 2:30!

I'm so lucky.

Teacher's Secret

Do you know how to....

• Clean your tables and chairs (and pretty much anything else) to a spotless shine
• Fragrant the room to cover up diaper pail smell
• Promote social skills and creativity
• Encourage sensory building
• and have fun

all at the SAME TIME?

It's easy! Just get out the shaving cream!

Outside play!

When it's 50 degrees outside just 4 days before Christmas, you gotta take advantage!! The girls ran off a ton of energy while Rebecca slept and I got to enjoy Noah's company in the Snugli infant carrier. It was a blast. ...I had to play with the camera timer so you could see cute Noah in on the fun. Enjoy!