August 31, 2007

Hello Long Weekend

Yay - I've got about 2 more hours and I'm done 'til Tuesday. I only have one little guy right now and he's still sleeping so my afternoon is looking pretty easy. My parents and T2 went out of town for the afternoon. T1 decided to stay home. I need to be working on my daycare policy handbook, but I don't feel like it. I have everything else done but that. I finished my new contract last night and got the whole month of preschool for September done earlier this week. My goal was to have everything done by today... oh well, I've still got tonight.

We don't have any big plans this weekend. Monday I think I'll take the kids to The Children's Museum. We haven't been in a few years and I'd like to go again. Either that or The Zoo. We didn't get there this summer, so that's an option too. Or, maybe just a movie. I'm sure we'll find something to entertain ourselves.

August 30, 2007

America's Cheapest Family

I read an online article about THIS FAMILY today and found their website. I am in awe of them. About as much as I am in awe with the Amish. (I love the Amish!) I would love to be this frugal and I think it would almost be fun. I always try to do the coupon thing, but I get bored easily. I really should try harder. Maybe they'll inspire me to do better.

This morning I was up and out of the house by 8:00. I didn't get much sleep because my lovely doggie (who by the way is FOR SURE back to 100% now) decided at about 3am that she'd like to go outside and just walk around, sniff a little here and there and enjoy herself out in the yard. UGH! Of course after I got back to bed I couldn't get to sleep and it took me until about 5:00 to do so. Then, at 5:45 my neighbor let her dog out, and the only thing that dog likes to do that early in the morning is BARK. So, I did what any nice neighbor would do, I turned my fan on to try and tune it out. I got back to sleep for a little bit, but my alarm rang at 6:42. I'm glad I'm only working until 3:00 today!

I found out last night that one of my daycare parents and her husband are having some problems. It sounded like they might be headed for divorce. That was sad to hear. I've been looking at their little one today and feeling so sorry for him. He's so young, he has no idea what's going on and I don't know whether that's good or bad. I mean if they split up now, at least it wouldn't be a big shock to him later down the line. I just want to hug him today!

I had T1 write an essay yesterday about why he was excited to be starting school again. I was happy to read his outlook on the upcoming year. He said he's looking forward to Math and History the most, and learning about the Presidents and what they accomplished while in office. WOW! I didn't know he was so interested in the Presidents. Watch out Obama!

August 29, 2007

Head Banging

Ugh! I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall with some of my daycare parents. I send home reminder after reminder, I talk to them in person, remind them again of my policies and yet for some reason, after a year of having ALL the same kids and parents, and all the same policies, I'm STILL sending notes home, having little talks at pick-up, etc... IT'S NOT THAT HARD PEOPLE!!!! My dream is to get to the point where I have a long waiting list so that I can just open my front door and shove some of these people out! If you don't want to go by my policies fine, but ya can't stay here.

Other than that, things are good around here. I've decided on a curriculum for the boys and I think it's going to be perfect for them and me. And ohmygosh, it's SO much cheaper than the one I was going to get. I spent about an hour looking through the curriculum online and it went into great detail about what each subject would cover, it was ALL great and ALL very age appropriate. Thanks, but my 10 year old really doesn't need to get into algebra yet. (That's a Academic Standard on the Indiana Schools website and it cracks me up because Indiana Public Schools have HORRIBLE SAT scores and aren't ranking up there academically at all!) I'll take my chances and teach my kids at the level I think they're capable of.

I applied for a credit card yesterday. I got it, but only got a $500 limit. Oh well, that will be ok because I want it to help my credit (not that I need it - but eventually in the next couple years, I'd like to start thinking about buying a house and this will help my credit look better). I haven't had any type of credit card for over 10 years. It will also be nice to take to Florida - just in case we want to splurge a little.

My baby Chloe seems to be doing a lot better today. She jumped out of her cage this morning and ran down two sets of stairs, so I'd say she's 99% improved from yesterday! I'm still going to look up symptoms of dog poisoning. I sure hope that's not what happened and if so, I sure hope I don't meet up with the person who would do a thing like that.

August 28, 2007

Go Miss South Carolina!

Did you see this? Wow! What was the question again???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&mode=related&search

This is our future, people...Yikes!
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I woke up to a paralyzed doggie. My poor little Chloe can't walk or move. I'm not sure what we're going to do. Guess we may be making a trip to the vet this afternoon. This same thing happened to our Yorkie just a few months ago. Weird.

August 27, 2007

Say "No" to Weed... "Yes" to School!

I either woke up sneezing 56 times in a row with watery tears running down my face because I have an end of the summer cold... or it's a nasty case of allergies. I haven't had this much trouble with allergies this year, so I figured it was a cold. But then I check The Weather Channel and found out the weed pollen count in our area is extremely high. Either way I'm feeling pretty good now after taking a few shots of children's cold and allergy medicine. I mean, how perfect is THAT? I can't figure out if I have a cold OR allergies, I go to the cupboard and find a product that covers BOTH. Wow, what a way to start the week! And yes, I am a little high.

Today we really are starting school!! We "officially" started on August 17. We "reviewed" last week. We will be doing more "reviewing" this week. We are waiting on our curriculum to get here.

That is my story and I'm sticking to it...

August 26, 2007

He Didn't Turn Water Into Wine, But Close!

Wow! Miracles are miracles and I don't care if they're "small".

We had Communion at my parent's church this morning. The church is small in numbers, but HUGE in faith. There were 21 people people there. At the end of the service, my father had everyone come up and stand together for Communion. When my dad took off the top of the tray that held the little cups of grape juice, it looked empty. I looked at my mom, she looked at me, we both looked at the tray and looked around. There was not enough.

The lady who had set it up started looking around counting to herself. She was standing across from us and whispered to my mom there wasn't enough and she'd be back. She left to get more cups and juice.

In the meantime, we took the bread, and my father went ahead with what was happening. He took the "wine" tray and starting passing it. He got back around to the end and there were two cups left. One for him and one for the lady who had left to get more juice.

Those who knew what was going on looked in amazement. The lady came back with the juice and my dad held out the tray for her to take the last cup.

She said... "Pastor, I only poured 16 cups!!"

August 22, 2007

Time To Update?

I thought I'd be nice and update since my poor aunt is sitting home bored after having surgery yesterday and I'm sure she's online trying to find anything to keep her occupied.


First and foremost, I MUST mention that I won a contest. A wonderful woman by the name of Mrs. L picked me as the winner for some beautiful aprons. I still have something to send to her and I will, I've just been so busy. Anyway, if you're reading this Mrs. L, thank you so much! Here's a pic of them:

So... what have we been up to you ask? Well, not much other than getting ready for school to start. We started last Friday by going to the State Fair. It was Home School Day and to make a long story short, we never found the place to register and everyone we asked gave us different answers and after an hour of walking here and there in 95 degree weather, we gave up and decided to just enjoy the fair. And we did. More pics:


There are tons more, but I'm too tired to put them all on here and most of them are of animals and let's face it, if you've seen one cow, you've seen them all. And what about my oldest son, you ask. Where is he in all these "Fair" pics? Well, he's too cool to get his picture taken. He's 13 ya know!

On the work front... I'm staying where I am. And God is STILL good!!! I haven't had many calls, but just last week I had a parent of one of my preschoolers ask if she could start bringing her new baby part-time and then just yesterday another parent asked if she could add on an extra day to her week, so it's working out good. I do have one full-time spot I need to fill, but I'm not in a huge hurry and I know God will send just the right family when I need them.

Well, I have to work early in the morning so I'm heading to bed. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!

August 13, 2007

Did I Mention "Nerve Racking"?

I think I did. In the post below I mentioned waiting on God is sometimes "time consuming" and "nerve racking"... yeah. I had a daycare mom come in today and ask about the building I was looking at. I told her which one it was and she told me about the leaky roof and mold and how two people who had leased it prior had had problems. Oiy! I'm so glad she told me, but that puts a damper on things. I'm not getting into anything leaking or moldy!! I thought it was odd when the guy told me that after we signed the lease and he showed me that the pipes were ok and that air conditioner worked that I'd be responsible for everything else while under the lease. I wondered about that. I questioned it. But I thought he was being too nice to "hide" anything, now I'm not sure. On an upside, this same daycare mom wants me to watch her new baby starting next month, so maybe that's a sign to stay where I'm at? Maybe I'll just get a sign for my yard and see what happens. I live in a nice neighborhood and my street is pretty busy... we'll see.

My weekend went too fast. Saturday I had to go get my new Sam's Club card. The picture is absolutely horrible but whatever, it's Sam's Club. I picked up some things... important things like a HUGE box of Yogos, tons of Laffy Taffy and huge pretzels in a plastic barrel. You know, all the necessities. Sunday we went to my parents and went to church. That's about as exciting as it got.

The boys are starting school on Friday. I know, Friday?? Well, we're going to the State Fair and it's Homeschooling Day, so I thought we'd start out with that. Our schools here start tomorrow and although I really wanted to start the boys back after Labor Day, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be better if we were kind of on the same schedule as the public schools. So, if we start Friday we can start off with something fun and we'll only be 3 days behind. We can make those days up on Saturdays easily (educational field trips count as school time to me). Their curriculum isn't ordered yet but we have plenty of review that can be done for awhile. We're doing the dvd curriculum this year and it's suppose to be a good 3 hours of "class". Not sure how much they're going to like that, but it will be good for them. We're going "Back To School" shopping on Wednesday. Wow, the summer break went fast. It will be Christmas before we know it.

August 7, 2007

God's Plan?

If I've learned anything over the last few years, it's that we should want what God wants for our lives. Things are just so much easier that way!

Asking for God's direction and getting a full answer is sometimes time consuming and to be perfectly honest - nerve racking!

The building that I looked at to move my daycare to is still for rent. When I first started looking at it I started praying for God's direction. I knew that the only way I could make up my mind would be if God would give me a sign.

Many months have gone by since I first looked at the building and I really thought I'd just focus on getting one more family and be happy with the little crew I have here at home. (Can we say "safety net"?)

Well, for the last few days (for some reason), I have been thinking more about this building. I got a call from the owner yesterday but I wasn't home. When I got the message, it was too late to call him back. He really didn't say what he wanted, but just to give him a call. I honestly thought he was probably going to tell me someone else wanted the building and that would have been fine with me.

He called again today and I must have been calling out when his call came in because I didn't hear the phone ring but he left a message in my voicemail. His voice seemed to have more urgency and excitement in it, so I made sure to call him right away.

He starts out asking me if I'm still interested in the building or if I had decided against it. I told him that I had actually been thinking more about it in the last few days. He said he wanted to know what was holding me back. I said "Well, honestly... money." He said he was happy to hear that and I thought that was odd. But then he started saying that he figured that was the case and that he had been thinking and he really wants me to have that building and that he is more than willing to bring the lease way down, give me time to pay on the deposit and work up to the original rent figure within a 2 year period. 2 YEARS!! He wants to give me 2 years to get built up and pay the original asking lease price. I was just floored!!

I knew that I needed to tell him that I'd been praying about it, so I did and he seemed happy to hear that. He told me he knew I'd take good care of the place and that he thought I could do really well there.

Then we talked a little about how much I wanted to get the daycare out of my house and how it would be better for my family and how being right in town would give me a bigger opportunity for clients, etc. Then he told me to take some time, think about it and call him, then we'd sit down and figure out a lease together.

So what am I thinking now? Maybe it's God's plan? Maybe I should take a leap of faith? Maybe this is where I get to prove myself? Maybe this is my opportunity to witness to my town? If I claim I'm a Christian and consider my daycare a "Christian" daycare I'd have to walk the walk!! Can we say "accountability"?!

So many things to think about...

August 6, 2007

This and That

Our weekend was too fast. We didn't do much. We ended up going to my parents on Saturday night, then went to church Sunday morning, had lunch, went grocery shopping and came home. Real exciting.

Much of the weekend has been spent taking care of and cleaning up after a sick dog. Miss Chloe has been throwing up since 3:00am Sunday. I think I've figured out the culprit... the rawhide bone she had Friday night and Saturday. I thought she got sick last time we gave her one, but wasn't sure. Then I went online today and was reading about how dangerous they are for dogs. So, after all the lost sleep (I didn't get to sleep until after 2:00am this morning because she was still vomiting) and how sad it is to see her sick, I've decided NO MORE RAWHIDES!!! Ever!

I only have two kiddos today, so it should be an easy day. I have some errands to run, so I'll just pop in the car seats and take them along. Tomorrow will be very busy so I'm happy to start the week out a little slower.

It's suppose to be hot and humid here again this week. This weather is not helping Taylor's asthma any!! He had to use his inhaler twice in the night. I feel so bad for him! I wish I could take it from him.

Well, I guess I should go take the dog's blankets out of the dryer and put the ones in that are in the washer. We went through tons of Chloe's blankets this weekend. It's just like having a sick kid.

OH NO... the dog's throwing up again... I despise rawhide bones!!!

August 3, 2007

$2500 anyone??

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

OK, WOW!! Go enter already!

August 1, 2007

Haircuts, Tipping and Neighborly Love


Her mouth doesn't really look as jacked up as it does here. Chloe got to go to the groomer this morning. Now that she's home, all she wants is to be held. She's such a baby! She should be much cooler in these 90 degrees temp though. Next week it's Andy's turn.

Speaking of grooming. I have tipped my groomer in the past because well, she does a great job and I thought that you were suppose to - just like you would your hair dresser. (Is that an old term? "hair dresser"?) Anyway, I went online today to see about tipping your groomer and I found in a couple of places that if the groomer owns her own salon (which mine does) that it's not required to tip because she's getting all the money. So I didn't tip. But then I felt bad. I hate the whole tipping thing!! I'm a good tipper at restaurants, because I know that most waitstaff do not get much as far as an hourly wage, however, if they give lousy service, they get a lousy tip... you get what you're worth. Well, on Sunday after we got home from our trip, I didn't feel like cooking (big shock!) so the boys and I got Applebees carside to go. I didn't tip the person who brought our food out. I have in the past, but as I was sitting there and sitting there and sitting there waiting, I was tossing it back and forth in my mind and I thought "they're only walking the food out to me" if they had a pick up inside, I'd go in. It's not my fault I have to wait out in my car. But then it bugged me all the way home and so then I went online to a "Moms" group and asked and they all said that they would all tip for this service. I have one thing to say... We Americans:

1. Have gotten lazy
2. Expect to get paid above and beyond for EVERYTHING!
(ok, I guess that was two things)

You want a tip, here's your tip... do something nice for someone JUST BECAUSE!

For example... my next door neighbor who is probably in her 60's, fed our stray cat (even took a box and towels from her house and made a little bed for her to sleep in), got our mail and picked up our two daily papers while we were gone for 3 days. All this just days after her husband has been diagnosed with Lung Cancer. I took a card with money in it over to her yesterday to say "Thank You" and when she opened it, she took the money, handed it out towards me and said "OH NO!! You take this back, I don't want your money!" I tried to step back, argue with her to take it, and even told her I could run faster than her, but she kept pushing it back at me and said "NOPE, this is what neighbors do for each other!!"

It was so refreshing!! Now if we had a neighbor in their 20's, I'm sure the amount I put in the card wouldn't have been enough. Oiy! The trouble with life today.