Pros/Cons of my Job

Most everyone who reads this (if any one does) knows that I have a daycare in our "cozy" home. Due to the set up of our lovely home, the kids are mostly in my living room (no separate area). This can be a bit frustrating when things get spilled or when the same bin gets dumped, picked up, dumped, picked up... (con #1)

Wednesday night Sydney was vomitting - do I call and close for thursday and not get paid or do I wait and see? She didn't end up being truely sick so I could have never told the parents but luckily only ONE parent was going to keep their child away for Sydney (who was thought to have the stomach flu) so I still got paid for most of my day.

Thursday, a parent says they don't know if their husband will be able to get to work on friday (because of their sick child) which means "we won't be able to pay you until monday or so" HMMM ... How would you like it if you went to get your pay check and was told " maybe in a few days you will get the money you were counting on?

That family figured out a way to pay! but then today a friend who brings her daughter 1 or 2 days a week said "I forgot my check book, I will drop it off sometime next week" I hate this part of my job. so I had to say, NO that wont work for me. Her husband just stopped and gave me the cash...

On to the Pros! Today was Sydneys christmas program at school and it was at 8:30 in the morning. I didn't have to ask for permission to go I just made arrangements for someone to come and watch the kids for me. Then when I got home my fill in/friend, Jolene, stayed for the entire morning and visited and helped! Love her! and then another mom brought her daughter to catch the bus and stayed to visit and help until 3:30, Love Bobbie Jo too.

More pros! I can be the one to "teach" Sydney how to act (even if I don't always do a good job) I can be home everyday to get ben off the bus, I can see my husband several times throughout the day (even if I don't always want to :) ). and I get to play a big role in the lives of the children and their families. I hope I remember to show them Jesus! I guess I like my job after all!

Music to a mommys ears!

Monday night was Bens Christmas program at school. So cute! The kids were all dressed up - well most of them. Ben had told me that there was something special planned that he couldn't tell me about and I just figured it was nothing. When the curtains opened all of the kids had wide eyes and were looking frantically for someone they might recognize in the audience. It was half way through the last song when Ben finally found us and he couldn't stop smiling! It was so cute.

The surprise, well it was the cutest red nose. All of the first graders had to hold red paper noses behind their back until just the right moment and then they stuck them on their faces. All of the parents thought it was great!

It seems like only a few years ago that I was singing the same songs. I can't believe how fast its going. It makes me wish I had slowed down years ago and held him a bit longer or played more games instead of whatever I thought I had to do!

Giving Thanks

We had such a great time for Thanksgiving this year. As usual for me, the holiday lasted for more than just thursday. On Thursday we had dinner at my moms house with my brother, Mike, and his family as well as our friends Michael and Mandy and their two children. It was so relaxing. All of the children played so nicely together.

Ben and Sydney made the turkey hats for everyone to wear! It was so cute. (drew didn't feel like being in the picture so we took one with just Ben , Syd, Noah and Olivia.)

On Saturday, we headed to Benton Harbor to be Thankful with My family there. We just hung out and enjoyed each others company. My kids always love to go see Auntie Claretta, she has a wii as well as all kinds of toys that she keeps just in case one of my cousins would give her a grand baby.

I am so thankful for family and friends that are always there for me. I am thankful for our home, our new business and for everything God has blessed us with.

costumes!

Its been a long time! I just really haven't had much to share until now! Here are the pictures from Halloween. We had such a busy day. 8:15 I was at Sydneys school for 2 hours and then back to my house/day care basically for lunch and to lay the chidren down so that I could head off to Bens school for his party! At 4 we were off to my moms work for TorT and then to Papas house to show off the costumes (and get gifts) Papa had a lightsaber and Todo (sp?). Next...a quick dinner and off to RBC for a trunk or treat! why do I do this to myself? I don't even really like this holiday. Anyway meet Anikan Skywalker and Dorothy!

Seven

It's official. My little guy is 7. We had a great time with our family on Wednesday night. Ben has grown to be such a great kid. It doesn't seem possible that he is so old. He had fun opening all of the gifts. He wasn't really expecting the rollerblades that Chris and I gave him but he has been using them every chance he can get!

Almost 7

In the past, birthday parties have turned into big get togethers at which grandparents would come and soon become overwhelmed by lots of kids that they didn't know and have no time with their grandchildren. So in an atempt to change this I have a kid party with a few friends and thena family party for all the grandparents, aunts and uncles...So Today was the kid party! Ben had his heart set on Pizza Galaxy. I wasn't so sure that was how I wanted to spend our money but it turned out to not be so much and Ben and the other children had a blast.

A few close family friends (two of them have been at all 7 of bens parties!) and a couple new buddies from school celebrated with us. Best of all...NO CLEAN UP

my extra babies!

I took a few pictures of my "extra babies" this week - they are cute and I do love them even if I seem stressed sometimes

This is Conner. When I told him to smile he gave me a double thumbs up and a big "Cheese".

This is Maggie! She wouldn't stand still long enough to get her sweet smile.
This was at about 9am - only 8 hrs to go!

Big First Grader

Today was a busy day at our house! Ben went off to first grade!

Sydney just had to get in some of the pictures too!

I also watch two children that go to kindergarten in the afternoons, so today their parents came to see them get on the bus for the first time! Only a few tears were shed.

Ben came home with a smile on his face wanting to read so he can earn "fish bucks". When he earns enough fish bucks he can sit at the teachers desk for a day - how cool! I pray that as he grows I will be able to teach him about the love Jesus has for him so that he can share that through his words and actions! What a blessing he and syd have been in my/our life!

Menu

It seems I have this problem often... Where do you guys look for new meal ideas? Please pass along some more of your ideas. I am trying not to make the same thing every week but my menus always seem to follow the same pattern. None of my family members are any help - ben always wants a turkey sandwich and syd would just like a slice of cheese or maybe "a piece of bread with brown butter please" (she means peanut butter) I would be happy to eat veggies (raw or cooked) but Chris isn't so fond of that idea.

Back to School

Last night Ben and I went on a little date. He gets mad when I call it a date but ... We went shopping for school clothes/shoes. He did get to buy a couple of treats while we were shopping (soda etc) It was so nice to have some time with my little man.

Today We went to the back to school night at Bens school and I had so much fun! (I think he did too) I know several of the teachers now and one of them is a very good friend of mine so, being the "people person" that I am, it was like a night out for me.
Ben will be in first grade and I really like his teacher! He is a bit unsure about staying all day but I know he will adjust quickly.
So on Tuesday he has to be ready for the bus at 7:50 - dressed, fed and ready to go! and then he arrives home at 3:50.
I pray that I will be able to slide into the new routine without too much trouble. I will post some pictures soon!

ponds!

Here are a few before/after pictures of a project chris did a couple of weeks ago!


I can't wait for my turn to have one installed!
There is also a waterfall, but I don't have a good picture of it.

Kids

I wanted to show everyone my little fisherman

Sydney was there too but she usually just eats the bread that we bring for the ducks or sings and dances.

Summer break for me!

I can't believe it has been so long! We have been to the beach, the zoo, fishing, the park, ... and I went by myself to VA for my friend Shelleys wedding! My children stayed with my mom during the week (because Chris has such a crazy schedule) and then Chris had them the rest of the time.

This is me with Shelley and her now husband Ed at a cook out that her mom hosted the night before the wedding. I had such a great time. I REALLY needed some time off. We were on the go most of the time, but it was still relaxing to only be in charge of one person. It had been about 3 years since we had seen each other but we aren't going to let that happen again.

Job #3

So who invented/thought up payroll taxes? well who ever it was - I don't like them. I have been doing an actual payroll for a month or two and that means it is time for me to figure out what to pay, where to send it and which forms need to go where! I may have gotten an A in high school accounting a zillion years ago but that was the extent of my accounting education! My cousin is an accountant and has made a wonderful folder of information for me... Pray that I just do it and then next month and each quarter to follow will be so easy and I will look back and laugh at how much I worried about it!
*In other news - Chris sold a pond install today!!! that's so great because we had finished all of our other jobs and also because he really likes to build/install ponds and waterfalls! I will post a picture when it is finished-

New Addition

Welcom our newest family member - Chelyan -his was born in April and joined our family last weekend! I have really forgotten what it takes to train a puppy! He played outside today and then came in to wet on my floor (that actually happened twice!) but on the good side, we really missed having a dog and he is fun. Ben is really good with him and has a ton of fun playing with Chel and Syd likes to carry him around (for a few more weeks) I just keep reminding myself how much we liked Missy and I know that in a few months all of the training will be worth it!

Dogs!

So about 7 years ago Chris decided he wanted a puppy - ugh !!! I was 8 months pregnant, flat broke and Hot (it was the end of July) Well, as expected we got a puppy (remember I said chris wanted it so...) she was tiny and quite sick and I loved her. How could you not! We were now parents of lil' missy, our yellow lab. Through the years she has made our carpets dirty, chewed our couch and all of those other things dogs do, but we still loved her.
A couple of weeks ago she started to act strange - not eating and breathing funny - so off the Vet we went and they put her on a bunch of meds (one of which made her urinate all over) but, about a week later she still wasn't better and when we woke up last thursday, she had died.

Very sad for our family. I forget that she is gone and start to look for her and then I remember.

Summer Visitors

Caitlyn

Lauren We have been so busy - and everytime I have started a new post, I have gotten interupted. So here goes the update!

My sister-in-law from Florida just left on monday after a 2+week visit. She and the 3 children stayed with my mom but they were with us almost every day. (along with the day care kids - yes 10 or 11 kids in my house. a bit STRESSFUL!)

I was able to take a few days off - one of which we spent at the beach! we had such a great time.

We also went to full blast and it was so fun to watch Ben go up and down the slides a hundred times - They all had fun but our cousins were cold!

update!

Wow It has been such a long time so where do I begin?!?!? This weekend was spent with a sick child! Ben had a fever starting sat morning and then he got worse little by little until Sunday morning I decided I shoud call the DR and make sure he didn't have strep! which he had...poor baby, he could barely swallow and he looked so sad. By monday afternoon he was back to his normal self - I could tell he was feeling better because he would not stop teasing Syd. I don't like my children to be sick but...he was nice to sydney for a day! The rest of us have managed to avoid the illness!
In other news, the business (well bussinesses! ) is/are going well. The day care is about to go through several changes as the summer schedule falls into place. I would love an easy schedule but then the funds are low so....

We are gearing up the the annual visit from my sister-in-law Melissa and the 3 cousins!!!!!!!! (they live in Florida!) She will drive up BY HERSELF and the 3 kids!(7, 5and 3) what a woman. I/we are so excited. Our lives are crazy for the 3 week visit but I love that she makes such an effort to keep our children close.
I will try to post some pictures of our fun!

Well, thanks for listening!

menu block

I am getting ready to leave for the grocery store and I decided that I need some new menu ideas! So, what are you guys making for dinner? It doesn't have to be fancy or vegetarian(I can make adjustments!) just a different idea.

science fair

Last night was the big Purdy School Science Fair. I was so proud of Ben and his first project. He chose to collect items that we found on our walks and titled it Outside Nature Collection - original I know. He found stones, pine cones and bark! oh and the most important - a cocoon! I made him do almost all of the writing on his display board (which was frustrating because it took forever) and he did great. Some of the projects obviously had a lot of parent participation.

what a week!

I stayed up a bit late last night but....I have my billing done for April! How exciting. Now I just hope people are happy with their service and want to pay quickly! ha ha

I had a close friend of my moms come over last night and talk through some of the business process and I think that once I start really working with the accounting it will all fall into place!

As for the other parts of our life...Ben has his first science fair tonight. It was hard to let him do it and not take over but in the end I am very proud of my little genius and I can't wait to go see all of the other projects tonight. I will make chris give up the camera so I can post some pictures!

Business update

So, our desktop computer crashed last weekend and it had all of the business info on it! frustrating yes, but in the past I would have flipped out and let it ruin my mood but this time was different!!! I was calm and I decided to just wait and see! Thank goodness! my info was still there and my wonderful father-in-law is building me a new computer - So this week I have not been able to do any LWLS work but now...the time has come to get busy. Pray that I am able to figure out my role in the company - I tend to try to do it all and let Chris off the hook when there is plenty he could do.

Another LWLS blessing is that Chris sold 4 new mow accounts and he has had at least 4 landscape design appointments!

another day done!

I woke up with a positive attitude today ready for a busy day. Thursday is a very busy day care day for me. I did skip the gym, but I wanted to be rested!(good excuse ha ha) the first child came at 6:45. His grandma brought him and said, " he is acting strange but, maybe he is just sleepy, and I think he feels warm, what do you think?" So, shortly after she left I took his temp (101.4) and then a few moments later I was catching vomit! Needless to say, he was gone by 8am! And that set off my day.
I decided to think about all of the great things about my job!

• I am able to stay home with my children
• I have met and become close to several moms
• I am able to use my education (unoffically) to help families
• I am able to teach little ones about Jesus
• I get to love on little babies and then send them home

When I think of doing something else right now, nothing fits so I need to thank God that I have the ability to care for and love these children. I have a lot of years ahead of me to do all of the things I feel like I am missing out on!

wow- this blog thing is like therapy!

I wanted to post a picture of my family and so I found this one from last winter when we went to Florida . This picture was a Animal Kindgom.

All New

Well, Here I go. I am always looking for a new way to keep in touch and meet other people. I am sure I will spend too much time playing with my new blog. Right now there are 6 children here eating lunch and I am playing on my computer so my first post must end.