Menu October 25-30

All meals are served with whole milk.

Monday:
Breakfast- Kix cereal with milk, apple juice
Lunch- Cheese nachos, corn, mandarin oranges
Snack- graham crackers, apple juice

Tuesday:
Breakfast- waffles, banana
Lunch- ham and cheese sandwiches, grapes, baby carrots
Snack- yogurt, multi-grain cheerios

Wednesday:
Breakfast- scrambled eggs, orange juice, toast
Lunch- turkey burgers on a bun, baked beans, peaches
Snack- cheese crackes, apple juice

Thursday:
Breakfast- multi-grain cheerios with milk, apple juice
Lunch- cheese ravioli with marinara sauce, green beans, fruit salad
Snack- popcorn, raisins, peanuts (snack mix)

Friday:
Breakfast- peanut butter toast, banana
Lunch- homemade macaroni and cheese, corn, grapes
Snack- granola bar, milk

The Pumpkin Patch

Here I am with the whole gang ;)

It was chilly- and a lot of us have been sick recently- but we went anyway and we had a great time!! This was my first time visiting the pumpkin patch at Bartlesville and I think it is the best one I have been to in terms of being kid-friendly for the pre-k crowd. There was a large play area and I think the kids would have been happy to stay there all day!




We got to enjoy a hayrack ride up to the patch, the kids thought it was sooooo cool that there was a tractor pulling us! Caitlyn and Connor's mom got to come with us, it was fun getting to chat with her on the drive there and home- plus it helped me tune out the excited talking in the back of the van! :)

Picking out our pumpkins- everyone wanted a small one except for Connor- he ran through the WHOLE patch looking for a big pumpkin, he ended up with a green one which was pretty neat!



Lyshia was lucky enough to have the day off of work so she brought Kaitlyn to the patch too!



I am glad that JD had the day off of work to come along with us ;)


Brayden was very proud of his lil punkin'!

Snacktime at the patch! I made homemade pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cream chease frosting and juice boxes for the kids, they loved them and I only came home with about 6 of them left!


While the kids enjoyed the playground I took them a few at a time to get some nice pictures taken for their parents. There were a lot of really pretty areas with pumpkins, hay, and flowers.



Lucas cooperated and smiled for his photo because he could not stand to miss more than one minute of the play!


I love this photo of Emily! It is so sweet!

Our next field trip is THIS friday the 30th. For the second year in a row I will be taking the children to the Kiddie Parade at Neewollah in Independence, Ks. We will leave daycare at around 3pm and return at approximately 5:30. I will drop off children at home for those of you who live in town! Remember to dress your child in either Halloween shirts or costumes. If you would like to drive your child to the parade and meet us there that would be wonderful, the kids love to have all of their friends with them!

For more information about the Neewollah activities and the Kiddie Parade, visit their website- http://www.neewollah.com/

October News

The Toddler Times
October 2009

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog... so after a long wait here's your October newsletter!

Fall is here! It’s been chilly in the morning but the kids don’t seem to notice at all once they get outside and start playing. We’ve been talking about the leaves changing colors and what “fall” means. The kids have lost interest in the garden for the most part now except for when they see me picking ripe tomatoes, peppers, or okra- of course they are ready to help then! They were really excited to watch our watermelons grow this summer too- but we only got ONE that grew big enough to eat and it was still very tiny, we’ll have to try again next year! I have some fun things planned for this fall and I am excited for Halloween to arrive. We’ll be having a big party again this year and I hope to see everyone here! I plan to take the kiddos on field trips to a pumpkin patch and to the Neewollah kiddie parade, plus they’ll get to help carve a jack-o-lantern and roast pumpkin seeds later this month.

New Additions

We don’t have any new friends joining us right now- but there is room for one more preschool aged kiddo! Pass the word on and if one of your friends or family enrolls their child to my daycare you will receive a 20% discount on one week of child care!

Field Trips
I have two field trips planned for this month. We do not go on many field trips so I have prepared a separate note with all the information for both trips. I know that some children will not be at daycare at the time of the trips and I would love to invite the parents of those children to meet us at our destination, we would LOVE to see you there and the kids will be excited to have all of their friends with them!

Fall Preschool
This summer the children have spent most of their time outdoors- and they wouldn’t want it any other way! We haven’t focused on very many art projects or worksheets- there haven’t been many take home projects either. I plan for the children to be doing more structured activities as fall and winter weather (and temperatures!) set in. We will be using the Creative Curriculum program to help create learning experiences for the children as well as using play-doh and painting “centers” on a rotating basis.

Paperwork Updates
With the new season comes lots of new paperwork! Now is the time for doing annual food program enrollment updates and immunization record updates. If your child has received any new immunizations please bring their record to daycare so that I can get an updated copy.

Flu Season

It is very important during this season that everyone stays healthy. I am strongly recommending that all children (and parents too!) get a flu shot this season. The children are often very affectionate with each other and germs can easily be spread

Recipe of the Month
Halloween has to be my favorite holiday- wonderful weather, yummy treats, and beautiful colors too! Here’s a recipe that we have to have every year, the kids love it!

Mummy Dogs
Ingredients
1 (11 ounce) package refrigerated breadstick dough (8 count)
8 hot dogs
mustard
poppy seed
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Using 1 dough strip for each, wrap hot dogs to look like mummies, leaving an opening for eyes.
Place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
Place dots of mustard and poppy seeds for eyes and enjoy!

October Field Trip Information

October Field Trips

The Pumpkin Patch

2700 Yorman Road

Bartlesville, OK 74005

918-335-6677
We will be going to the pumpkin patch at Shay’s Landscaping and Nursery in Bartlesville, Ok. Above is the contact/location information. We have scheduled this field trip for Friday October 23rd and we will be leaving the daycare at around 12:45 p.m. and plan to arrive there at 2 p.m. We are planning to be back at the daycare by 5 p.m. but may be a little late. I would be happy to drop children off at their homes when we return to town.
If your child is not regularly at daycare during this time they are still welcome to come with us on the field trip, or you may bring your child to the pumpkin patch and meet us there! We will be bringing our snacks with us and having a “picnic” at the patch. I have driving directions available for anyone who needs them.
It will cost $5 per child to go to the patch and that includes a hay rack ride, hay maze, Jupiter jump, pony ride, and they get to pick out a pumpkin from the patch! Each child will need to bring their $5 with them to daycare on Friday morning.

Neewollah Kiddie Parade
Friday October 30th 4:00 p.m.
Independence , Ks

We will leave daycare at around 3:00 to allow time for parking and finding a good spot to watch the parade. Children should wear their costumes to the parade, we will not be participating in it, but it’s more fun to dress up ! You may send your child’s costume with them to daycare that day and I will dress them before we leave for the parade. You may also choose to dress your child in a Halloween themed t-shirt if you’d prefer. Please send a bag or bucket for your child to collect candy in.

We plan to return to Coffeyville at around 5:30 and children may be picked up at daycare or dropped off at home for those that live in town. If you would like to bring your child and meet us at the parade that would be great too!

Photo CDs
I will be taking lots of photos of all the kids both at the pumpkin patch and the kiddie parade, if you would to have a CD copy of all the photos please send $1 for each CD. They will be available for pick up on November 2.

August News

The Toddler Times

August

School time is getting near and there are several Toddler Time kiddos that will be starting preschool! We are still working out schedules and it's definitely going to be different around here this fall!

This month we are going to be adding on to our garden and planting a fall crop of spinach, lettuce, broccoli, and peas. Of course the kiddos won't want to eat most of those but they will love watching them grow and helping to take care of them. I'm not sure if they like watering the garden or digging in it the best!

here's one of our little visitors- we went out in the morning and found a baby grasshopper sitting right exactly in the middle of the lollipop gerbera daisy:

PAPERWORK- it never ends!

This month I am going to be updating paperwork and making sure that everyone is up to date. If I send a note home with you please make sure to have any updates done as quickly as possible.

Preschool and Rates

Although your preschool aged child may be leaving daycare for all or part of some days, you will still be required to pay your normal fees. All positions in the daycare are reserved spots and although your child may be gone for a portion of the day- I cannot fill your child's position for only a short period of time. I appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Extra Clothes

Please be sure to check your children's cubbies to make sure they have at least one complete change of clothing at daycare and that it is season appropriate. Some kids have worn their spare clothing home and are in need of another set of clothes to be left at daycare. The state of Kansas requires that all children in daycare have at least one change of clothing available to them.

Recipe of the Month

Most of the vitamins in potatoes are in the skin, and the food program encourages us to serve the children potatoes cooked with the skin on. Potatoe wedges are the best way I have found to get kiddos to eat them this way and your whole family is sure to love them too!

Easy Baked Potato Wedges

Ingredients
4 large potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon season salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
1Wash potatoes, cut into wedges.
2Place potatoes skin down in a baking dish.
3Mix the next 6 ingredients together and brush onto potatoes.
4Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

July Photos

July has been a very busy month here. I had thought that summer would be slow but I'm still waiting for a break... Our garden is growing amazingly fast and every morning the kids get out their watering cans and help water all of our pretty plants. We have also found lots of little critters too- a tree frog, a toad, caterpillars, humming birds, and butterflies just to name a few. We have also put up a birdfeeder and bird bath and we will sometimes (when the kids can be quiet for more than 30 seconds) watch the birds and squirrels eat. A few baby kittens have moved in across the alley too, the kids are always more excited to see them than the kitties are to see us!

We found a caterpillar out in the yard and the kids were SO excited! We put him in the bug keeper for just a day and watched him crawl around, then we looked up caterpillars on the computer to figure out what kind of butterfly he would turn into- turns out he was going to be a MOTH! He was pretty and fuzzy, but we let him go so that he could grow up.

Fourth of July crafts- glitter fireworks and firecrackers with crinkly paper:

For the fourth of July we baked and decorated cupcakes together! It was MESSY and it was FUN! The best way I found to do this was giving each kiddo a cup of frosting and a spoon to frost their cupcakes, then they got to shake on the sprinkles and stick a mini pinwheel in their cakes. They BEGGED to eat them right away but I told them there wouldn't be any evidence that we had made them if they did that- so we saved them to show our mommies :)

June Menu and Newsletter

Click below to see our June news and menu:

June menu.doc

june news.doc

Today is the first day of our summer preschool- yes it was supposed to start last week but I decided to postpone it due to our three new friends who joined us! It always takes a little time for everyone to get to know eachother and adjust to the new routine. Here's a few pics we got while having some fun in the backyard last week:

Megan is always so helpful and caring! She loved playing with Ryan and helping him go down the slide.

Our garden- the kids are loving to help me take care of the plants and water them. It is growing so fast! We are going to have fresh tomatoes in a couple weeks!

These two have been banding together ruling the backyard with their dumptrucks- and getting into all kinds of mischief together! They dissected a worm last week and said that they were "taking the batteries out of it" LOL! Funny thing is, when they tried to "put the batteries back in" the worm didn't come back to life.......