Pictures

Here is a pic of Mr. Kyler outside a couple of weeks ago for mom and dad!
Also, there are a couple of pictures from today while we were having our first half of our Halloween party! We will continue the fun when naptime is over!

Slacking, lol.

Parents:

I am so sorry that I have been slacking on updating my blog for you all! I still have some pictures from our outside time that I have not uploaded yet. I will do that after I finish this update. Today has been fun! We did "Footprint Ghosts" this morning for arts and crafts. They turned out so cute! I can't wait for you to see them. The ground is still mushy from all the rain, so instead of going outside today, we watched Garfield's Halloween cartoon. For lunch today we had corn dogs, green beans, and mandarin oranges.

Tomorrow, our Halloween Party is going to be so much fun! We have fun games planned, and lots of goodies for the kids. We have bought each of the kids a pumpkin to paint and hopefully the weather will be nice and we are planning on going outside to play "Ghost Ghost Witch" it is a Halloween version of "Duck Duck Goose". This afternoon we are going to work on our letter "a" and our number, shape, and color of the week. I am hoping to master these this week, so next week we can move on to something else.

That's all that I have for now! Hope you are all having a great day like we are!

Much love and thanks!
Amanda

Lesson Plan 10/26/09

This week's theme is "Halloween". We have lots of fun stuff planned for arts and crafts this week (all centered around Halloween!). I went to the library today and got books to go with our theme, and also, I am headed to the video store in a little bit to get some Halloween themed cartoons. Don't worry, we won't be plopped in front of the TV all day, but I thought it might be nice to have a little treat during snack time this week. AND... don't forget about our Halloween party on Thursday!

And now for tomorrow's lesson plan!

Fine Motor Skills- Cars and Bean Counting
Gross Motor Skills- Musical Chairs
Group Learning Activity- Flash Cards and Tracer Page (We are doing the letter "a" again because not everybody is getting this alphabet thing!)
Arts and Crafts- Paper Plate Pumpkins
Story 1- There's a Monster Under my Bed!
Story 2- Dr. Seuss's ABC's (Audio Book)

Children's Meal Plan 10/26/09-10/30/09

Hey there parents! Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week.

Mon- B- Blueberry Muffins
S- Toast with Nutella Spread
L- Meatballs and breadsticks with dipping sauce and pineapple
S- Chex Mix

Tue- B- Waffles
S- Strawberry Nutri Grain Yogurt Bar
L- Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwiches with Pretzels and Pears
S- Banana

Wed- B- Oatmeal with Fresh Fruit
S- Orange Smiles
L- Chicken Nuggets with Carrots and Fruit Cocktail
S- Animal Crackers

Thu- B- Scrambled Eggs with Cheese and Whole Wheat Toast
S- Ritz Crackers with Peanut Butter
L- Mini Corn Dogs, corn, and Peaches
S- Graham Crackers

Fri- B- Cereal with Banana
S- Goldfish Crackers
L- Beanie Weanies with Peas and Ritz Crackers
S- Fruit Snacks

Lesson Plan 10/23/09

Fine Motor Skills- Sidewalk Chalk and Baby Wask
Gross Motor Skills- Ride Bikes and the Ants go Marching One by One
Group Learning Activity- Flash Cards and "a" tracing page
Arts And Crafts- Sunflowers
Story 1- Red is Best
Story 2- Alphabet Under Construction
Story3- Audio Book (Dr. Seuss's ABC)

Above is my lesson plan for today. Also, since it is too cold to go outside and play for too long, we will not be going outside both times today. Instead I rented a movie and we are going to have a movie time this afternoon. I rented Elmo in Grouchland so that is what we will be watching. For lunch today we had Dinosaur Chicken nuggets with carrots and green beans and pineapple chunks. Right now it is naptime. When everybody wakes up we will have our snack, today for our afternoon snack we will be having a Strawberry Nutrigrain Yogurt Bar.

We have a new friend joining us on Monday! His name is Bentley. We are all excited to welcome him. He is picking a fun week to start! This coming week our theme will be Halloween. We have lots of fun activities planned as well as some really cool arts and crafts stuff! On Thursday the 29th, we are planning a Halloween Party with the kids from the in home childcare next door. We are asking every parent to bring one "goody" to share with all of the kids. There will be aproximately 10 little ones. It doesn't have to be edible, it could be fake tattoos, or little goodie bag type stuff.

Thats all I have for now!

Much love and thanks!
Amanda

New Schedule 10/22/09

Ok, so I know I am a little late with posting this new schedule, but better late then never!

6-8) Arrival and Breakfast
8-8:30) Table Time
8:30-9:30) Group Learning Activity
9:30-10) Circle Time and Story
10-10:30) Snack
10:30-11:30)Outisde
11:30-12)Free Play and Prepare Lunch
12-12:30) Lunch
12:30-2:30) Nap time/Quiet time
2:30-3) Snack
3-3:30) Arts and Crafts
3:30-4) Circle Time Review and Story
4-5) Outside
5-6) Free Play and Pick Up

New Curriculum!! 10/18/09

So this weekend i have been busy! Besides my little "weekender" I have been working on a new curriculum for the kids to learn! I made a new circle time board... a bunch of miniature flannel boards to use during story time and table time. We have a new schedule also. When I get the schedule tweaked just right, I will post it here for you guys to see. We will continue to learn one letter, one number, one color, and one shape a week. We will, however, be starting over with "a" and "1". We will have a theme each week. Next week's theme is Autumn.

Thats all for now!
Can't wait to get all your kiddos back tomorrow morning! See ya then!

10/16/09 Missing our friends.

Today we are short two kiddos. My brother and sister pair are out today, they went out of town for the weekend. We miss them, the house feels so empty without them here, lol.

As for today, we just finished lunch. We had Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and pretzels. I know guys, it's not on the menu... but we ate lunch with our friends today (Angela's kiddos). All of the kids really enjoyed their food, they devoured it!

We may or may not be doing arts and crafts today. It all depends on how long everybody naps. We will be laying down for naps in about 5 minutes. After naptime, we will see what time it is, then determine our course of action. I really want to take the kids outside today because it is GORGEOUS outside! The sun is shining (finally) and the ground is finally dry after all of the rain we had. The perfect day to let the kids roll down the hill and play on the "bikes". I'll take some pictures when we go out for you parents!

I really love having this blog! This way the parents can stay up to date on everything we are doing and see pictures of their "babies". I don't want the parents to ever feel like you guys are missing out on anything.

Thats all I have for now, gotta get the little ones down for the count!

Much love and thanks!
Amanda

Children's Meal Plan 10/19/09-10/23/09

Here is the weekly meal plan for the kiddos for next week. I know I am a little early putting it up, but better early than late like this week, lol. Remember, that if your child is under the age of 2, some foods may be hard for them to eat and will be substituted with something a little easier for them. AND... as always, you will be able to see exactly what your child ate on their daily communication log.

Mon- B- Waffles
S- Mini Rice Cakes
L- Pigs in a blanket with pears
S- Graham crackers with homemade cream cheese fruit spread

Tue- B- Egg Sandwiches on whole wheat bread
S- Vanilla Sugar Waffers
L- Ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with ritz crackers and jello
S- Pudding cup (vanilla or chocolate... your child's choice)

Wed- B- Oatmeal and fresh fruit (whatever looks good when I grocery shop!)
S- Goldfish crackers
L- Spaghetti O's with meatballs and fruit coctail
S- Popcorn (Smartpop, plain, no butter)

Thu- B- Pancakes
S- Animal Crackers
L- Grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with french fries and peaches
S- 100% fruit juice fruit snacks

Fri- B- Blueberry muffins
S- Peanut butter on whole wheat toast
L- Homemade pizza with pineapple chunks (because we didn't have it the previous week)
S- Nutrigrain yogurt bar (strawberry)

Oh what a day! 10/14/09

We had a full house again today! Well, almost, we were missing Mr. Kyler but with three 3 year olds and one four year old we were still pretty busy, lol.

Today we went and played with the kiddos that Angela keeps. They had so much fun! Lance got a busted lip, but he is fine now.

We played flash card games today. The kids loved it and Brianna was sad when the game was over.

Thats all for now... I have a parent interview to get ready for!

Much love and thanks,
Amanda

Pics from 10/13/09

Our art project from today!


The kiddos being silly!


The kiddos (minus one)

10/13/09 A FULL House!

I got my last available spot filled yesterday. Another 3 year old boy, he started this morning! So far things are great! I have my two daily kiddos (3 if you count mine), my new one, and my part timer is here today as well! So like my title says, I have a FULL HOUSE today!

We had scrambled eggs and toast with butter and jelly for breakfast. For lunch we are having turkey and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread with goldfish.

I really wish this rain would stop! I know the kids are getting restless being all couped up in the house all the time, I wish I could take them out to play. I now have too many of them to just take them out on the patio, and it is all wet and muddy so I can't let them out in the grass. BOO!!!

I am going to take some pictures today, so keep your eyes peeled and come back so you can see them!

Thats all for now!

Much love and thanks,
Amanda

Activities for the week of 10/12/09-10/16/09

Here is our list of arts and crafts activities for this coming week! Got some fun stuff planned!

Mon- Gummie Fish Aquariums

Tue- Paper Plate Tambourines

Wed- Macaroni necklaces

Thu- Free drawing

Fri- Wax paper stained glass

Children's Meal Plan 10/12/09-10/16/09

Here is next week's menu for you guys! Remember, if your child is under 2 some foods may be hard for them to eat, thefore we will substitute that food with something a little easier for them to manage. AND, as always, you will be able to see exactly what your child ate on their daily communication log!

Mon- B- Blueberry Muffins
S- Vanilla Sugar Waffers
L- Meat balls with marinara dipping sauce, breadsticks, applesauce
S- Yogurt Cup

Tue- B- Scrambled eggs with cheese and whole wheat toast
S- Nutri Grain Bar
L- Turkey and Cheese Sandwich on whole wheat bread with goldfish and jello
S- Animal Crackers

Wed- B- Whole Wheat Toast with Jely
S- Pudding Cup
L- Homemade Pizza, pineapple chunks
S- Popcorn

Thu- B- French Toast
S- Peanut Butter Toast
L- Chicken Nuggets, tater tots, peaches
S- Goldfish

Fri- B- English Muffin and Egg Sandwich
S- Nutri Grain Yogurt Bar
L- Mac and Cheese, fruit cocktail
S- Breadsticks with marinara dipping sauce

A fabulous day! 10/09/09

We had two new friends join us today! We all had a great time. It was really cold today so we couldn't go outside and play for too long. We did however, go out on the patio for a few minutes. The kids played on the seesaw, wrote with sidewalk chalk! I have some real artists here guys!

We watched a movie today. I know, we don't usually do that, but today just felt like a movie day! We watched "The Bee Movie" everybody fell asleep during the movie, but that's ok, we had a busy day!

For arts and crafts today we made paper plate handprint ducks. We folded a paper plate in half and glued it shut. Then we cut out a circle for the head, traced our hands and cut them out for the tail feathers, and cut out orange feet! The kids got to draw on the face however they wanted.

But now, the kids are gone, and Lance is in bed sound asleep... it is now Amanda time.

Talk to you all later!

Much love and thanks!
Amanda

Activities for the week of 10/05/09-10/09/09

Here is a list of the arts and crafts activities that we will be doing this week!

Mon- Egg Carton drawing. We are going to push crayons through styrofome egg carton and move them around in different directions to make a special drawing!

Tues- Hand Print trees. We are going to trace our hands and make trees with them in pretty autumn colors!

Wed- Paper Bag Scarecrows. We will take a paper lunch bag, blow it up and tie a ribbon on the end and then glue on the hair, and facial features!

Thurs- Hand Print Duck. This uses our weekly "shape" and a paper plate!

Fri- Paper bag puppets!

Children's Meal Plan 10/05/09-10/09/09

Hey there parents! Here is our meal plan for the week. As always, if your child is under the age of 2 some things may be substituted for things that are easier for them to eat. You can see EXACTLY what your child ate, and how much on their communication log!

Mon- B-Banana Muffins, and milk to drink
S-Hard boiled egg, white grape juice to drink
L-Fish Sticks, vegetable, and whole wheat toast, water or milk to drink
S-Cheese cubes and crackers, water or juice to drink

Tue- B-Whole Wheat Toast, Apple Sauce, Milk to drink
S-Pepperoni slices, cheese, water or juice to drink
L-Chicken Salad, crackers, peaches, water or milk to drink
S-Carrot Sticks with dip, water or juice to drink

Wed- B-Scrambled Eggs, Whole wheat toast, water or milk to drink
S-Banana muffin, water or milk to drink
L-Tyson Chicken Nuggets, green beans, water or milk to drink
S-Nuitrigrain Yogurt Bar, water or juice to drink

Thu- B-Homemade granola, yogurt, water or milk to drink
S-Peanut Butter Toast, water or juice to drink
L-Ravioli, Jello, water or milk to drink
S-Celery Sticks with dip, water or juice to drink

Fri- B-Crescent Rolls with Strawberry Spread, water or milk to drink
S-Graham Crackers, water or milk to drink
L-Cheeseburger macaroni, vegetabke, water or milk to drink
S-Goldfish crackers, water or juice to drink

YAY for PLAY! 10/06/09

So my first arrival today is in about 5 minutes. I went this morning and bought the kiddos a "My Little Kitchen". I have it all set up! I am excited for them to see it! My son is already playing with it!

It is raining again today so more inside activities instead of outside play today. I am thinking about getting the puzzles out and all of us sitting down at the dining room table and playing puzzles. Also, we have the ABC board game which would be both educational (as always, lol) and fun!

During our learning time today we are going to focus on the letter "B", the number "2", the color "red", and the shape "circle". We will be getting out the flash cards and the little ones will help identify which one is which. We will also be naming things throughout the day that start with "B" etc.

Right now, I have on some morning cartoons while my son eats breakfast. When Kyler gets here, he will eat, and watch cartoons, then after this show is over, the TV goes off and to Circle Time we go. Today we are going to do "The Ittsy Bittsy Spider".

Later today, during naptime, I will post the weekly activity schedule and meal plan so that you guys know whats going on!

Thats all for now!
Much love and thanks!
Amanda

All about our day! 10/02/09

Alright Parents, I know I am a little late with today's update, but we have been busy busy bees's!

This morning for circle time we sang The Wheels on The Bus. We incorporated everybody's name into the song, so everybody had their own special verse! My son's verse goes like this "The... Lance on the bus says Let me off, let me off, let me off, The...Lance on the bus says let me off.... all through the town!" Our daily helper today was our new friend Kyler! He got to help set the table for lunch, and take everybody their sippy cup. We were all very proud of him as he did a terrific job as the special helper today!

We went outside and got to play today! Next week we will have a new outdoor toy to play with as I am purchasing our slide tomorrow! I cannot wait to see the kids faces when I bring it out for them to play on!

Thats all I have for now! Talk to you later!

Much love and thanks,
Amanda

Arts and Crafts 10/01/09

Here are some pictures from Arts and Crafts from today... There are only pictures of my son as I need photo releases from parents to post pictures of the other kiddos! There is also a picture of the Popsicle Stick Picture Frames we did on Monday!

Do you know what today is? 10/01/09

By the way parents.... today is.... Homemade Cookies Day! No seriously though, it is. And not just on my calendar. So in honor of this day, we will be baking homemade Peanut Butter Cookies. Our recipe is listed below, and don't worry... we will only get one each!

Amanda's Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

1C Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy)
1C Sugar (white)
1 Large Egg

Mix together and bake for 7 minutes at 350 degrees.

Rain Rain Go Away! 10/01/09

Thanks for coming back to see what we are up to!

Well, today it is raining... :( BOOOO! We will not be able to go outside to play on the hill today. So sad, the kids love it! I do, however, have some fun inside stuff planned for today! We are going to play musical chairs, and go "camping" in the living room! We are going to get out all the blankets and pillows, and build a fort in the living room! It's going to be a big job, but in the words of The Wonder Pets... TEAMWORK! We will learn about working as a team today! So, if your little one comes home singing The Wonder Pet's theme song, you'll know why, lol.

Today for arts and crafts we are going to make Rice Art Pictures. I did not forget to color the rice last night, lol. It is all dry and ready to go come arts and crafts time! This is a great sensory project for young ones. Helps them learn about colors and different textures!

During circle time this morning, we did the "Hokey-Pokey". So much fun! And for story time today we are going to read "I'll Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. This is a very special book that I hold very close to my heart. My mother used to read this to me when I was a little girl and even as I got older, she would still tell me, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be!".

That's all I have for now! It's almost snack time!

Have a great day! I know we will!

Much love and thanks,
Amanda