Good intentions....

I swear I have good intentions when it comes to this darn blog! I always tell myself "I just have to take 10 minutes a day to get on here and type up a little update." But then I think of 50 other things that I need to do first and it keeps getting pushed to the side. So I'm sure there is a lot that's happened - some good, some not-so-good - but I'm going to just focus on the good stuff.

Kiegan has been going down to Blm. three sometimes four nights a week for his sessions and I am so thankful that we found this program! His grades have NEVER been so good - he is currently getting all A's & B's with only one C. It just blows my mind! Of course I find myself wishing that we would have put the kids in public schools years ago so that he would have been able to receive this help early on instead of being denied for so long, but I'm thankful he's receiving it now. He has started the reading portion of the program so insurance will no longer pay for any of the sessions b/c the reading issues are not directly related with his Auditory Processing Disorder, but it's still an area that he needs help in. We of course said that we would just pay for everything out-of-pocket b/c it's absolutely worth it and it's obvious that what he's done so far is helping him. My concern now is that his special needs teacher that he goes to see every day - who has also played a HUGE role in his improvement - is suppose to be cut this next school year. I'm not sure how that will affect him next year if he is unable to get the daily at-school help that he needs. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

A couple of months ago I received a letter in the mail from our local Child Care Resource & Referral Network (CCRRN) that they were sponsoring a one-time-only project for family daycares. They were only going to select 10 daycare providers from 5 counties to be a part of the project - each daycare would then be assigned a mentor, have their daycare evaluated in a bunch of different areas (safety, toy variety, organization, etc) and each provider would have to attend some trainings. In return for all of this, each daycare would receive a $1000 grant to be used to improve the areas they scored low in during the evaluation. To be considered, the daycare providers had to send a letter explaining why they should be chosen, etc. I definitely wanted to be a part of it, but one of the required meetings was the weekend that we were all going to be at the indoor water park in Indiana so I didn't bother applying for it. A week or so later (after the deadline had passed), I was talking with one of the girls I work with a lot at CCRRN about a class I'm taking and she asked me why I hadn't applied for the project. She said they had already chosen 9 of the 10 daycares and were saving the 10th spot for me b/c they thought for sure that I would apply for it. I told her that I didn't apply for it b/c I was going to have to miss the first meeting which was a requirement and she said that they could easily work around that and to send her my consideration letter over email ASAP - so I did and was immediately accepted!! I was SOOO excited! I've been to a couple of trainings already, have worked with my mentor (who I am so thankful for) and have started my list of things I would like to purchase with my grant. I think I'm going to get the following:

1. 10-section wall locker
http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/NewDSS/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=26377&keyword=angeles%20value%20line%2010-section&scategoryid=0&CategorySearch=&Brand=&Price=

2. Safari Book Shelf
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Guidecraft-Safari-Book-Display/10200295

3. 20-Tray Hide-Away w/ Clear Trays **This one I am MOST excited about b/c it will help me so much at quiet time. Currently, I have to pull everything out of the dining room into the living room to make room for the cots. With this cabinet, I can simply close it and move it up against the wall!**
https://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=485436&minisite=10104

4. Little Tykes School Bus Activity Set
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3987666\

5. Step 2 Sand & Water Table
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3004163

6. Stuffed Animal Storage
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=536392&cmSource=Search

7. Puzzle Storage
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=608&cmSource=Search

I feel extremely lucky to be a part of this project!!

I also have an all-day training coming up on Saturday to learn how to care for children with special needs. I don't currently have any with special needs, but I guess I could have one in the future! I'm also trying to finish up an on-line class that I'm taking for childcare. Most of it's basic knowledge stuff, but I have learned TONS of ideas from other daycare providers that I would love to incorporate into my own daycare. I keep telling Travis that I would LOVE to turn the basement into a daycare/preschool (easier said than done) or he can build me a building in the backyard that I can use solely as my daycare/preschool. I doubt I'll be getting either of those!! I do feel very restricted with what I could do and what I want to do with my daycare b/c I'm using our home and we obviously need the space for our family as well. Maybe in the future....

Travis & I had our 2nd anniversary this past Monday. We gave each other some beautiful pictures to hang up on the wall in our living room. Maybe some day the two of us will be able to go on a date or something - that's not something we have much time for anymore!! LOL Joanne & Lexi also celebrated their birthdays. It's hard to believe that in one more year Lexi will be a teenager....SCARY!! She wants to go shopping for her birthday so I'm hoping we can do that on Sunday. I have Market Day to pick up Friday night plus I want to hit some garage sales, I'll be in a class all day Saturday so that just leaves Sunday!

As usual our calendar is pretty full - we've already been able to go camping a couple of weekends which is nice, but I find myself very stressed out when we come home on Sunday. The house just basically gets left in whatever state it's in Friday afternoon so I have that to deal with plus cleaning out the camper, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. to get done in just a handful of hours. We've got 3 weddings coming up, bachelor/bachelorette parties, showers, graduations, etc. So spare time is not even in our vocabulary anymore! My laptop has a "sticky notes" program and I've been using it to keep track of my to-do list and my entire screen is filled with colorful sticky notes! Every now and then I can delete one or two, but it's a slow progression. It also doesn't help that I keep thinking of more things I need to do every day.

The boys have been planting all week and are hoping to get the corn done by the end of the week if the rain holds off long enough. They're about a month ahead of schedule according to when John started planting last year. They're also licensed seed sellers for LG Seeds - so spread the word if you know of a farmer needing seed come next year!!

I'll post some pics in the next blog....