A Crazy Period of Adjustment

This has been the longest - and the shortest - three weeks of my life: Adjusting to working outside the house, with adults, away from my home and kids again...

I was so prepared, or so I thought. I had my plan figured, my lists written, my schedules made. And the first week was dream-like. I mean, really - it went like clock-work! I got up early to exercise, kept up with the house and the laundry and the kids, played catch up a little bit in the evenings, but for the most part the evenings were family time. Bliss.

Then came the 2nd week - and SNOW. Lots and lots of snow. Enough snow my office was shut down early, we had a scary, treacherous drive home (which I haven't had to do in over 13 years!), a couple times of nearly getting stuck driving to work the next day and cold, cold, cold. It was during this cold that we had a (quickly fixable, thankfully) furnace issue and I had to miss half a day of work to deal with it - In my 2nd week! Aaarrrgggghhhhh. So, I had a late evening at work and a couple days of working through my lunches to make up for that.

Then - the unthinkable. The Friday of my 2nd week at work, I get the phone call that my Grandma passed away. Wow - so hard to juggle my feelings there, but thankfully I was busy and it helped me to get through that day.

Then I spent that Friday night and all day Saturday in Kansas City at a conference Tyler and I had planned on going to for months. Distraction was good. Sunday was still crazy as I tried to play catch up again from being gone all weekend, that and get groceries and do laundry and ironing and so on and so on.

Part of Monday afternoon and Tuesday I was gone for my Grandma's funeral. It was then that my funk began - I was just down and could barely function - I gave all I had during the day at work and was simply exhausted come evening. I did nothing but fix dinner and fall asleep on the couch in front of the tv.

And today, today it caught up with me. I spent all morning cleaning up after my week of sloth-li-ness. And it was not fun.

So, I vow - from this point on - I will get back on my list-making, schedule-keeping routine, staying on top of things and loving doing it. I will find the good in every day and not let the funk get me down! I WILL get back on top of things and get back to blogging and talking with my friends and playing games with my kids.

There's a lot more to say, but for a later time. I'm off to finish fixing dinner for us and enjoy an evening with my family!

To All My Daycare Families - Past & Present

This is the end of an era.

Kinda dramatic, but that's how I feel....

It's been a wonderful, crazy, amazing, blessing of a 12 year journey. I am so thankful for the time I've been able to stay home and run this child care. I've learned a lot, I'm proud of the way I managed it, I've had a lot of fun and I've grown as a person.

I am so blessed to have been able to be home with my own little ones - when they come home from school and before they leave in the mornings, when they're under the weather, during the summers, when they headed off to kindergarten, as we did pre-school lessons together and I was so happy to be their first teacher, as they were rambunctious, ornery toddlers, as they learned to walk and to talk, when they were infants.

I am so blessed to have come to know and love so many incredible, amazing children and their families. I have more wonderful memories than I could ever recount. Looking back through the pictures we've taken over the years brought all those memories rushing back...

These are just of the few memories I can put pictures to right now - there are so many more!

Baby Smiles











Loving on such cute little ones...
And seeing them grow up into amazing "big" kids! (Also many, many more pictures of little ones I've been lucky enough to watch grow into wonderful big kids, but couldn't match up that many pictures!)









Learning Together

























Playing Together















Sharing Meals Together



Peaceful Naptimes







Snuggle Times




Lots and Lots of outside time































Birthdays











Halloween Parties









Our Christmas Late Night Tradition





Watching Friendships Develop



















I consider myself honored to have worked with you and taking this step is bittersweet. I'm so excited about the next step for me, but I will certainly miss making memories with all of you. Thank you for these 12 years - for trusting me with your children, for being my friends, for helping me grow and allowing me the opportunity to be the mom I wanted to be, as well. I love you all!