Week of March 26-30

After a great week away in Mexico we are back, well rested, relaxed and ready to get back into the routine!  We had a fabulous time snorkelling, deep sea fishing, and taking in all the sights and sounds of  beach life!  The boys have a lot of stories to tell about the sea turtles they swam with every day, the 5 foot barracuda that snuck up on Logan and I snorkelling inches from our faces, the barracuda Aidan caught while fishing and many more exciting things!!!

This week we are jumping right back into things finishing off our March theme of "Growing Gardens."  There are a few crafts activities left that we have yet to do!

Thursday we will be going to the Como Conservatory on a field trip.  I have my mom and Erin coming with to help as chaperones.  I may be in need of one or two more car seats, if I need one that is weight appropriate for your child, I may ask you to leave one in the morning for us to use. 

The cost of the Field trip will be $5 to cover the donation into the conservatory and gas costs for other drivers.  Please bring the field trip money by Wednesday pick up time so I know we have it all before we get ready to leave.  We will leave by 9:30, so make sure your child is here and ready to go by 9:00.  PLEASE WEAR TENNIS SHOES. We will be eating lunch when we get back to daycare so no need to send a bag lunch.  If we have time we may  look at a few of the animals or play at the park.  Hopefully the weather cooperates!

Wednesday we have Travel Tots with Ms. Jeanette at 11:15.

Also on Wednesday Erin (my regular sub) will be here in the afternoon with the kids.  I have a follow up Dr. appointment.  She is so great and I am very excited to have her back!  She will be starting to be seen more and more around here to prepare for her helping out on a daily basis this summer and after my "Maternity Leave"

And just a quick update on that.  My dr. has agreed to induce at 39 weeks (July 19 or 20) if I have yet to have delivered by that point.  So if it lasts that long, I would deliver on Thur or Friday of that week, with Erin here those days, and then be closed the following week.  Things could still happen before that, but as of now, my July 27th due date means nothing!!!  Just thought I'd keep you updated!  And yes, we did found out at our ultrasound, that there are NO tutus or ruffles in our future!  It's another boy!

Just a reminder also to really check the weather forecast each morning and dress your child appropriately for that day.  We are usually outside the longest in the afternoon, from 3:30-5:00, so dress for that time of day.  The weather can vary so much from day to day and morning to afternoon, that you will have to keep an eye on the forecast for each day or your child may be way over dressed, or worse, underdressed.  If it is not raining, we will go outside.

MENU:
Monday- Chicken nuggets, green beans, mandarin oranges and milk
Tuesday- Ground Beef tacos, corn, grapes and milk
Wednesday- Grilled Cheese sandwiches, fruit cocktail, mixed veggies and milk
Thursday- Meatballs, carrots, applesauce, dinner roll and milk
Friday- English muffin pizzas, bananas and milk

Week of Mar. 12-16

Last week we had such an amazing week playing outside whnever possible, despite teh melting snow and soppy grounds!  We headed to the park one afternoon for a change of scenery!  We also played up on the driveway with the bikes and balls.  Both of these are regular occurences during the spring when the back yard is attempting to dry out!  24 little feet trampling the ground makes for a muddy wet backyard!

Our backyard is snow free at this point.  So as long as the weather stays mild and we dont get any more snow, there is no need for snow pants.  Boots are still recommended since there is still a lot of dirt/mud out there.  They can be rain boots or snow boots, whatever.  And tennis shoes are fine.  Just know they are going to get dirty FAST...so I would not send any new ones you want to stay white!

We also celebrated Talon turing 4 last week.  He loved his birthday crown and of course getting to be the line leader in for snacks and lunch!  He couldnt wait to get home to play with his new power ranger toy!

His cupcakes were delicious!!  Thanks for sharing with all of us Talon!







THIS WEEK AT DAYCARE:
On Tuesday, We have show and tell.  Bring one piece of produce to share.  We will look at them all and talk about the different kind of things we can grow in a garden and them make a yummy snack out of them for all to share! 

Thursday, Chris and I (and the boys!) have our big 20 (actually 21) week ultrasound in the afternoon.  So Jesse will be here from 2-5.  Make sure to introduce yourself to her when you come to pick up.

*PAYMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK OF PAID VACATION IS DUE THURSDAY MORNING.  YOU CAN POST DATE A CHECK FOR MONDAY, MARCH 19 IF YOU WISH OR JUST DO CASH.  IF YOU ARE ON DIRECT DEPOSIT, YOUR PAYMENT WILL GO THROUGH AS PLANNED.

Friday, Jesse will be here all day from 7-5.  If you know ahead of time that your child will not be here that day, be sure to let me know so I can inform her.  Otherwise call my home phone number to let her know.  I will not be reachable until the afternoon, as we will have left very early and won't be using phones unless it is an emergency.  You can write me an email if you need to, but I wont be checking it until late afternoon, or will only respond while on vacation if it is absolutely neccesary.

REMINDER- NO DAYCARE NEXT WEEK!

It looks like we have some great weather ahead of this week, the kids are going to love it!

MENU:
MONDAY- Homemade macaroni and cheese, peaches, peas/carrots and milk
TUESDAY-Grilled Cheese sandwiches, pears, corn and milk
WEDNESDAY-English Muffin Pizzas, carrots, apple slices and milk
THURSDAY- Spanakopita, fruit cocktail, green beans and milk
FRIDAY- Ravioli, dinner rolls, oranges and milk

We are really looking forward to our vacation!  10 days in paradise, relaxing, snorkelling, going on adventures!  We can not wait!  have a great week next week and see you on the 26th!

Week of Mar. 5-9

Last week was so much fun playing in all the snow!  The kids had a blast sledding, building snowmen, having a snow ball fight and making snow angels!  Our March snow fall doesn't really fit with our "growing gardens" theme for the month...but that's okay!



I want to thank Jeovanni's parents Edgar and Jessica for donating blank CD's and Cases for our monthly music!  I really appreciate it!  Making 10+ discs a month really adds up and since the "Mother Goose Time" website charges $10.95 plus shipping for you parents to go on and order it, it saves all you parents a bunch of money by me making copies!  So thanks again for the donation!

This week we have a busy day on Wednesday!  Talon turns 4 years old so we will have a little party for him after nap time!  We also have Travel Tots on Wednesday from 11:15-12:15.  What a fun filled day!







I got great news last week that Erin, my regular daycare sub, is leaving her current Montesorri infant room teaching position and will be back filling in for me on a regular basis starting in April!  She will be the one covering the rest of my Dr. appointments, end of the year school activities for my boys and helping out with the time before and after baby's arrival when I will want someone else here to be with the kids!  For those of you who have been here since last Spring/summer, you know Erin and know how wonderful she is!  For you newer folks, you will learn just how great she is!  She is by far the best sub a daycare provider could ask for!!!  She will be starting some random shifts per week in April and May.  Then begin a couple hours a day in June and increasing in July.  Then be here full time after my week of "maternity leave!"  I am couldn't be more happy about having her back!!!  We will still have Jesse here next week Thursday afternoon and all day Friday since Erin will be on her honeymoon!  It will be nice to have Jesse as an additional back up in case something happens where I need to leave ASAP and Erin is unavailable!

MENU:
Monday-Chicken Nuggets, apples, fresh veggies, dinner roll and milk
Tuesday-Taco Burgers, corn, fruit cocktail and milk
Wednesday- Hot Dogs, baked beans, applesauce and milk
Thursday-Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns, pears, toast and milk
Friday- Turkey Noodle Soup, buns, fresh fruit and milk

Week of Feb. 28- Mar. 2

Here we are at the end of February already!  I just cant believe it how fast time flies!

This week we will be finishing up our February theme of it's a small world.  Then starting up all our new March fun!  The kids will help me decorate for St. Patricks Day as well!

Last week we finally got some snow for the kids to play in!  We made our first snowmen in the yard of the whole winter!

I had my licensing visit on Friday from my worker and it was a huge success, the kids behaved great and we were able to get everything done with flying colors!  Thanks to all that sent in the reviews that she sent out!













MENU:
Monday- Cheeseburger Macaroni hotdish, peaches, mixed veggies and milk
Tuesday- Grilled Ham and Cheese, oranges, carrots and milk
Wednesday- Corn dogs, waffle fries, fruit salad, green beans and milk
Thursday- French Toast Sticks, Ham, corn, pears and milk
Friday- Tator tot hotdish, bananas, dinner rolls and milk




















A FEW DATES TO REMEMBER:
Thursday, March 15- My new back up sub, Jesse will be here from 2-5 since I have a doctor's appointment.
Friday, March 16- SHE WILL BE HERE ALL DAY, WE ARE LEAVING EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR VACATION
MARCH 19-24- CLOSED FOR PAID VACATION WEEK. 

*If you are on direct deposit, the payment will go ahead as usual.  If you are still doing cash/checks, you can give it to me by THURSDAY MORNING, dated for Monday, March 19th when payment is due and my mother in law will deposit them for me on Monday.

Week of Feb. 13-18

OOPS!  I guess I missed a week!  Sorry...blame it on the pregnancy brain!  It was actually saved as a draft!!!

Last week we had a lot of fun in Music class. Tasha, our teacher, had her son who just turned one and has now begun walking along, and the kids loved laughing at him!  She also had her parents in town for a visit, so it was a full house during music class!  We listened to Valentine's Day music, read books and played Heart Matching games!











The week before we also celebrated Marek's second birthday!  We had delicous cupcakes as a treat!  He loved every minute of it, except for when I would try to take a picture...then he'd refuse to smile!!  ;)

This week, we are celebrating Valentine's Day on Tuesday with a little party!  We will make a special Valentine's Day treat, go on a heart scavenger hunt (and sort the hearts we find by color) as well as have heart shaped sandwiches for lunch!

Thursday is Show and Tell.  Bring something, either a souvenir or photo to show your friends somewhere that you have traveled to!

Wednesday we will be having a new substitute daycare teacher here while I run to my Dr. appointment.  Her name is Jesse and she does back up childcare for a number of daycare providers in the area and also helps out on a regular basis at another childcare home.  She will be here Wednesday from 10-12:30.  She stopped by last week to meet the kids and see the daycare set up.  If all goes well on Wednesday, the plan is to have her here on Friday, March 16th so I won't have to close that day as a vacation day (making me closed Monday, March 19- Friday, March 23).  But I will let you know for sure next week.

MENU:
Monday- Tuna Hotdish, carrots, pears and milk
Tuesday- Heart deli sandwiches, apple slices, green beans and milk
Wednesday- Beef Tacquitos, corn, fruit cocktail and milk
Thursday-Scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage links, bananas and orange juice

Friday- Chicken Patty sandwiches, applesauce, mixed veggies and milk

Week of Jan. 30- Feb. 3

To me, January is the longest, most dreaded month in Minnesota.  The full 31 days of typically cold, below zero temperatures, mixed with the short daylight hours usually spells out misery!  But I am so happy to say that January is on its way out and was not too bad this year!  Mild temeratures allowing us to be outside more than usual, even taking a trip or two to the park and a couple walks made for a bearable January!

Now we are moving onto February! The days are getting longer, and the groundhog will soon tell us how many more weeks of winter we are going to have to endure!  I will be sending home our February newsletter as well as music CD by the end of the week!  Lots of exciting stuff in February!

This week we will be celebrating Marek's third birthday on Monday!
Thursday we will have a special Groundhogs Day Party and watch to see what the groundhog tell us!

MENU:
Monday- Chicken nuggets, mixed veggies, pineapple and milk
Tuesday- Spaghetti, Garlic bread, grapes and milk
Wednesday-Pigs in a Blanket, corn, apple slices and milk
Thursday- Meatballs, green beans, mandarin oranges and milk
Friday- Grilled Cheese, carrots, pears and milk

**Your 2011 tuition statements are in your child's cubbies to use for filing taxes**

Week of January 23-27!

Grant's 3rd birthday celebration!

He Loved his pirate action figures!

Last week we had a lot of fun celebrating Grant's 3rd birthday on Tuesday!  He was very excited to get to wear our special button and open up some presents!  The pirate guys were a huge hit and he was the envy of many of the other boys!

We also had a great time finshing off our FRANCE trip with Miss Jeanette from Travel Tots.  We have had a few different teachers over the last year or so with Travel Tots, but I really hope she sticks around because she is great with the kids and really gets them to listen, but is not afraid to let me know when someone is misbehaving and causing a distruption to the class!



Doing the Beauty and The Beast story with Puppets!

I did send home all the children's enrollment folders (unless you have started in the last few months, in which case you are all up to date)  So please review them to make sure everything is correct and up to date.  If not, make the neccesary changes.  If they are correct, just initial and date the bottom of each page.  RETURN THE FOLDER BY WEDNESDAY.  I do have a Food Program Update that I need everyone to sign, but I can just do that at pick up or drop off this week.

Thank you for helping me out in keeping all paperwork up to date!

OUR SHOW AND TELL IS TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK.  THERE WAS AN ERROR ON THE NEWSLETTER!  TUESDAY YOUR CHILD MAY BRING SOMETHING THAT STARTS WITH ONE OF OUT LETTERS OF THE MONTH FOR SHOW AND TELL!

MENU:

Monday- Pizzas, grapes and milk

Tuesday- Sloppy Joes, green beans, oranges and milk

Wednesday- Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, carrots, pears and milk

Thursday- Fsh Sticks, Corn, applesauce and milk

Friday- Ravioli, garlic breadsticks, apple slices and milk