Abby's Playhouse Childcare

Wow! Hard to believe summer vacation is almost over. School starts on the 25th. We have missed our regular 4 kids but I am sure they have had a great summer. We learned yesterday that they will be returning to us so we will get to hear all about their adventures. We have been busy with our wonderful infant. She is running all about and can now play on the playground equipment with a little assistance. She is starting to use her words to tell us what she wants to do, but her parents speak Russian, Hebrew and English so it is a toss up as to if we understand or not. She now loves to draw so the chalkboard and whiteboard are coming in handy. It will be nice for her to have the older kids to play with.

We were hoping that with school out for summer we could pick up the care of more children. Unfortunately, the opposite has happened. Our regular clients have been sending the kids to visit with family so we are back on the hunt for more customers. We really miss our little guys though and hope to see them again soon.

Today was great! School has been out for the last week because we didn't have many necessary snow days this winter. That gave one family a chance to visit with their Grandparents. We are looking forward to hearing about their adventures on Wednesday. Now, our sweet baby is getting a chance to spend time with her Grandmother who is visiting from abroad. We miss her terribly, but know she is entertaining Grammy. We had a meet & greet today with two very sweet children. They are so cute! Tomorrow they will be coming for a few hours to get to know each other better. The young lady loves to bake so I know we will have fun. Her young brother is very quiet, but he will be screaming & laughing after a few days. They both like to draw so several of the other kids will welcome them right in.

Today was a great day! School has been out for the last weeka few days off while our 5, 6, 8 & 10 year olds went to visit their Grandparents

Today was a very exciting day. The adorable infant took 6 steps before she realized we had let go of her. Then when mom came she did it again. It is her 1st birthday tomorrow so the family is really going to celebrate a milestone. Our regular little girls came today and really enjoyed the new toys we had for them. Tomorrow they will be back, along with their brothers, to play again.

We have been fortunate enough to be entrusted with the care of a beautiful and very happy infant. She is so much fun to play with and all of the other children enjoy having her here. We have some new toys and art projects planned for the older kids and have obtained a sand box that will be a nice addition to our play area. We are looking forward to the upcoming summer vacation when the kids can stay longer and play games with us.

Today was the last day of school before Spring Break. Our four school aged kids will be spending the next week with their family doing lots of fun activities, I'm sure! We met a new client with an 11 month old daughter and will begin watching her next week. We are very excited to care for a baby as they are so much fun! We can't wait until the other kids have a chance to meet her. We know the girls will really enjoy playing with her.

After last weeks rain and winds the outside needed lots of cleanup so I did that this weekend and got the playground ready for the kids since it looks like winter has passed us by for the most part. Today we had the three older children because their little sister was home sick. They stayed with Laurie and had snacks and worked on homework while I took my Granddaughter to her dance class. When I got home their mother was there to pick them up, but they were too busy climbing on the play set to consider leaving so mom stayed and visited a little while and they used up some energy. They aren't scheduled to come tomorrow but it makes us feel good when the kids ask if we are going to be home just in case they get to come. They have responded well to the routine and have settled right in. They feel at home and that is what we wanted.

We had five children on Wednesday. Four of them wanted to play with clay and one wanted to play cards. After homework and snacks they divided up and had a few hours of fun before parents came. Thursday was our longer day with our kindergartner this week so that became library day. Then home to pick up other children and do homework and eat. Mom came early to pick them up so no time to play. Friday the kids don't have homework so it's "Baking Day"! It was very rainy so it was a perfect day to watch the Jungle Book and make chocolate chip cookies. The boys did some wrestling and the girls showed their artistic side with drawings and modeling clay. Hot cookies fresh from the oven got to go home to share. We get big hugs when the children leave each day so I think they are enjoying their time with us. I know we enjoy having them here.

We have been working on a routine with the four children we regularly watch. Since we have the youngest two & a half hours longer then the older children two days a week, we decided that Mondays would be a good day to go to the library with her. Then we have snack time and Laurie starts homework with her while I pick up the other kids. After they get snacks and homework done if there is any time left we read or have free time. Wednesdays are minimum days for all of the ele...mentary schools. We sometimes get to have my Grand daughter then also. She and one of the other kids love to read so we have snacks, do homework then take turns reading books to each other. My Grand daughter's mommy picks her up earlier so after she leaves we play board games or if the kids want to have free time to color or do a craft they can. Fridays the kids get to stay later with us and don't have any homework other than reading, so after snack time we have baking time. The kids make cupcakes or cookies and decorate them to take home for the weekend. The older boy is great at measuring and the younger girls take turns running the food processor or mixing. The middle boy prefers to watch the cooking process then be the one to make sure the food passes the taste test. He also has ideas of different ingredients that could be added for different results. This week we have some valentine projects planned too. All of the kids have great imaginations and I can't wait to see what they create. See more

Today we had 5 wonderful children. Four of them will be regulars plus my Grand daughter. Laurie made a cake with my Grand daughter and our kindergartner so that it was ready when the other children arrived. We worked on the younger children's homework before picking up the older children. Then came snacks. Laurie helped with the older children's homework and I read 4 books to the younger ones. Then came free time and the youngest child wanted to watch her favorite movie, ET,... with popcorn ofcourse. The others created funny things with molding clay until mom and dad arrived. It was also my Grand sons 12th birthday and he is friends with these children so some of them made birthday cards. They asked if they could come back tomorrow, but sadly, we are having them three days a week so their parents can also spend time with them! Every day is an adventure and we are enjoying it all! See more

Our little kindergartner and my Granddaughter helped us set up our Christmas village and decorate the tree. Lots of fun! We made a few decorations to take home and added a couple to the library tree. It has been pretty chilly here so activities have been indoors. We have been going to the library frequently so our little one can pick out her own reading books and she often sees friends there. We have had a few group reading times and she enjoys playing on the computer for a little bit. She has learned her sight words and reads them for us from her books. We didn't have her during the holiday vacation time and are really looking forward to spending time with her again. We are also hoping that the new year will bring more children to join her in the fun.

We had a fun week with our kids. We baked cookies on Monday and played some games. We had some older children on Tuesday so we prepared snacks and helped with homework for them and the younger children had stories read with them, played dominoes (Good for counting and colors) and had free play. The rest of the week was spent going to the library to pick out some new books and educational DVD's, finger painting, playing outside, singing, doing jigsaw puzzles and learning how to make a collage. Next week is minimum day schedule all week so we will have extra time to play!