Friday, October 26, 2012

Take your kid to work (every) day

This week I was offered a spot in the daycare at my school. It is also an Owl daycare (same daycare Nicholas is already in) just a different location. It's a bit newer and it's in the same building as me.

Dan was all for it but he knew I needed to fully decide. So I made a pros and cons list:

Pros:
  1. I get to drive to ONE place. 
  2. I can go and check in with him whenever I like.
  3. The facility is newer than his current one.
  4. We will save money because he will be going into a toddler room a few months early rather than staying in an infant room.

Cons:
  1. During the summer months, or if I was to take another mat leave before he starts Kindergarten, this new location is further out of my way.
  2. If I was sick and Dan needed to drive him, again it is very much out of his way.
  3. He may be a little too close for comfort given that my classroom is attached to the daycare.
  4. He would be sleeping in a cot. 
  5. If I want to go to the gym or shopping after work before picking him up, I have to leave work and then go back to work. It seems weird.
Even though the con list is technically longer than the pro list, we still went for it. The pros are so important: saving money AND getting to take my baby to work with me.

I tell ya... daycare dilemmas trump any stress from the newborn days!

xo,
Meg





Ps: The picture is from his pal's birthday party. Nick loves him some cupcake.

Friday, October 19, 2012

The many uses of a body mural

It was "week of the child" at Nick's daycare this week. One of the activities was making body murals. The teachers taped large white paper on the floor, traced the children and then stripped them to their diaper and let them go nuts with markers. I decided to frame a piece in our art work frame in our hallway since it hadn't be changed since our finger painting adventure on Father's Day.



I also used some to wrap a birthday gift for one of Nick's pals. AND I still have some left over. Too fun!





xo,
Meg

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Confirmed Donation

Back in September I donated 8.5 inches of my hair to help make a wig for a woman battling cancer. You can read about that here. On Monday, I got my letter confirming that Pantene Beautiful Lengths had received my hair and that it met specifications. Whew! 





 I feel good about this donation. Having my hair this short has grown on me (pun intended!) What can I do next?!

xo,
Meg

Friday, October 12, 2012

This is how I roll.. I mean stack

The stacking ring tower is Nick's favourite toy. It was a hand me down from his cousins. Nicholas likes to do things his way...





xo,
Meg

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Excited Face!

Nick is a little ham. He loves to entertain anyone that he comes into contact with. He has an excited face that is just too funny not to share. He does it so much that if Dan says "eyebrows!" he does this face:



Keep making us laugh little man!

xo,
Meg

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Gobble Gobble

This week we made paper bag turkeys for Thanksgiving. I thought I would outline the steps for all those Daycare-Kindergarten-Grade 1 teachers out there! It's also a fun craft for the stay at home mommies with kids to entertain!

Step 1: Fill a paper bag with crumpled up newspapers. We used medium bags and they required 2-3 balls of crumpled paper. You can imagine how much the kids enjoyed this step.

Step 2: Tie the bag up using an elastic band. It makes a cute tail for the turkey as you lie the bag on it's side.

Step 3: Have the kids pick feathers and glue them on the back. (We had them pre-cut). I found this step tricky as white glue and glue sticks didn't always work. We reinforced everything with hot glue. Some kids wanted curled feathers, others wanted plain feathers and some had frayed feathers.

Step 4: Have the kids draw eyes on plastic spoon (this will be the face.) Googly eyes would be fun too! Then they cut a beak out of scrap paper and glue it on the spoon. Hot glue is required for the spoon.

Step 5: Have the kids cut out triangular feet. We used bristol board as it is much stronger. Hot glue was required for this as well.

Step 6: We tied a ribbon around the spoon to act as a wattle/bow tie. Double knot it!

Totally cute as a center piece for Thanksgiving dinner! 





Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

xo,
Meg

Monday, October 1, 2012

Fences and Freezers

We have some new things going on at Casa Circelli. Check it out:


 We bought a small chest freezer so that we could stock up on things like pasta sauce and chili. (Ignore the ugly wood paneling!)


Dan and his Dad also re-built the fence on two sides of our yard as well as put in new gates. They did a fantastic job considering Dan was sick with a head cold and the weather was up and down!



I love making progress on the house! Next up: hardwood floor in our front room (aiming for November) and purchasing a dining room table set. 

xo,
Meg