It's a Jammie Day!!!!

It is raining out and we thought it would be a great day for a jammie day!!! And it has been!!! We took out our rainy day box and used hoops that we can jump into, through, or crawl in or through ;) The tunnel also came out and there was a lot of crawling through, pushing the ball through, and just plain getting in there and staying, no matter who else wants to get through. There was snuggles, hugs, and books too. It was a beautiful, rainy day!!!

Look at my yogurt face!!!

Scamp is becoming a pro at standing, walking, and pushing... soon it will be running, Oh No!!

Scamp does slow down for a snuggle and hug every once in awhile...

Awwww... a snuggly baby, what more could anyone want!!!

(Thanks Mom & Dad for sharing her with me!!!)

Playing "Stinky Toes"

Sprout loved getting all her animals and toys and playing in the Toddler Garden


Ya like my jammies Shell??
I sure do Little Man!!!

Saying Grace before lunch... is that to precious!!!


I never dread rainy days. There is always a schedule, things to be done, and weather to be taken advantage of before winter comes, that sometimes it is nice to have an excuse to just be. Get on the floor, hug and snuggle the little ones and enjoy the home environment and flexibility of home childcare.

Did You Say... Jammie Day!!!

It is Jammie Day!!! It is a dark, rainy kind of day today... a perfect day for Jammies!!! The kids have been asking for a Jammie Day for a long time, but it has been so nice out I didn't think it was a good idea. On Thursday, I saw on the weather report that a storm was coming in today... so we took a vote at Circle Time and unanimously decided that Monday would be THE day!!!

We started out with Breakfast in front of Sesame Street... Milk & Cereal in the Living Room... one of the kids said, "Are you sure Shell?" Gotta love them. A special day means doing special things I told them.

We all got into the spirit... Little Miss M walked all morning in these "Pretty Shoes"

Clip-Clopping through the house, showing everyone her beautiful toes...

Yes, she wanted you to see them too.

We had lunch in the kitchen today... Pasta and Sauce can be hard to get out of the rug. Then off to nap... Nap with real Jammies on and Kitty's at our side, who could ask for anything more :)

We talked about Mother's Day today... I read Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. The kids understood how much the Mommy loved her little boy, and even though he drove her crazy, made her feel like she lived in a zoo, and they both grew older... Mom always loved her child, and the child loves his Mom. It was a favorite at nap time.

On a special note, our Hairy Potato Head have started to grow hair!!! I am so excited. I wasn't sure if they would since the dirt we planted the seeds in reminded me of the hard clay on the ground (and if you can't tell from my outdoor photos, I have had a really hard time growing grass here!!) So, when they started to sprout... I was relieved!! I didn't say anything to the kids this morning, I wanted to see how long and who would realize it first. I thought Ry would tell all the kids as soon as they got here (he saw them on Saturday) but he didn't. Being Jammie Day kind of kept them busy. But finally Em and the Princess realized that the Hair was growing and let out some great laughter, and excitement!! It was worth the wait!!!

The Kozy Kids Greenhouse is doing great... but it seems the other Greenhouses are taking their time. I know this one took a while too, but I am afraid they aren't getting enough sunlight... especially now that we got a new awning out on the patio... even less light comes to that window. I think we will move them into the Living Room and see how they do there.

Hmmm, I wonder what these could be for??

Just a glimpse of what else was played with today... the Lock Box has had just about everything hidden and locked up.

Some rice in the Sensory Table... the smaller Sensory Table in the Sun room has sand in it. I think we might need some water going on this week too...

The Science Center has some neat stuff one of the kids brought back from a recent trip to the Beach. The kids got a kick out of the Seaweed, shells and the Pine Cone someone dropped in there. It didn't take long for a game of "What doesn't belong" to start.

I borrowed these little 2 piece puzzles from the Smart Start lending library!! I just love that place. Little Miss M was really engaged in this activity today, she didn't have a hard time with the Apple, but some of the others were a little harder, yet, she worked on them until she got them in. Some of the big kids helped, and she would call to me to come and sit with her and talk her through it. (I just loved it, she would call me, then point to the chair next to her and wait for me to sit down.)

Another nice day... we will continue our Mom Theme, and next week we will begin a week of "All Things Baby." The Princess is expecting a Baby Brother soon, and I thought it would be nice to practice feeding, changing, burping, holding, and singing to our babies. She will be a great helper no matter what, but I think it will be exciting to practice and get ready for the Little Man.

Friday Fun

Today we did some open ended learning. I set out the play dough, some alphabet learning mats, lots of blankets for building, and as always all the centers were open to use. We reviewed our rules about how to use our materials appropriately and then spent the morning practicing. The play dough got a lot of use, dress-up was very popular, and the reading corner got a lot of traffic. The kids also took to the steps for a different reading experience.

(Yup, it's upside down again, but she is soooo cute trying to be like the big girls)


If you didn't notice by the pictures... Today was Jammie Day!! We pretended that it was a snowy, cold day and, after all our free play, we arranged a Snack Picnic of Milk and Peanut Butter Cookies. Some friends came by and Thankfully they did because they brought The Little Mermaid... which was a HUGE hit!! What a Great Start to the Weekend.

We are in for that winter storm that has hit so many states, and believe it or not I am actually excited to be "snowed" in tomorrow!! We can have some much needed family time!! We can crack out the board games, hit the switch for the fireplace :) and enjoy the weather. Have a Great Weekend!!!

A Balmy Kind of Day

I know it is snowing in a lot of places right now across the US, but today, here in NC we had a temperature of 57. It was sunny and comfortable. So we did a quick Circle Time, and headed outside to play. The kids got to run, they played Monster Tag, and the most fun of all, of course, was the MUD!!! They found lots of water in buckets and toys left over from the rain we had, found an old spoon in the play house, and they were off!!! They had to transfer some water from across the playground and got messy and muddy. They worked together, problem solved, negotiated, and enjoyed their time outside!!!











During Free Play this morning we found this... it is marker on our Beloved Sand Studio. We know who did it, we talked about it, and tried to clean it... but to no avail. The marker seeped into the cracks in the wood and it seems to be there for good. I thought we were through with the coloring on toys, walls, etc... but I guess not. I hate to have to put our markers and paint up where they have to ask for it again, but I don't know what else to do. This wasn't done by Little Miss M.

I guess I am upset because being a Small Home Childcare Provider it sometimes takes me months to save enough money to get a new item for the daycare. I know these things happen, I even expect and brace myself for it. Yet our Sand Studio can't be painted over, the goo gone won't work, and the marks will have to stay on there... and seeing it on there may lead other children to think it MIGHT be okay to scribble on toys, and at least try it.

So today was a 2 step back kinda day... I hope tomorrow will be a giant leap forward kinda day!! It is Jammie Day tomorrow... Cold weather will be coming back, we will enjoy a picnic in the living room and talk more about the Groundhog... all in our Jammies!!!

Jammie Day

Today was Jammie Day!! I was out grocery shopping last night and my cell phone goes off!!

Me: Hello

B: Shell, can we have a jammie day tomorrow?

Me: Huh, well we haven't had one in a long time.

B: Yeah!! Lets have a jammie day.

Me: Ok!! Let's do it! I'll call everyone, ok.

B: Ok, bye

Come to find out, his Mom was having Jammie Day at school, so he thought we should have one too. I am glad he did. It was a short, cute phone call and I smiled the rest of the way through the grocery store!!

That is what I love most about Family Home Childcare, you can have a spontaneous jammie day!! I text all my friends and today we had a cozy, fun filled, picnic having jammie day!!!

We took out all the blankets and used them for everything!! From forts (of course) to mummy making friends!!! (Gotta love the winter hat)

A little gift wrapping in our jammies (or jamma's as this little princess likes to correct me)

We had a playdate with this little guy today... wasn't he so cute in those jammies pretending to be the teacher!!!

What a nice way to end the week. We have our Polar Express Day planned for next week when the big kids get off school early... so I think it will have to be another Jammie Day, I mean you can't have the Polar Express Day without our Jammies and Hot Cocoa!!