Meet Our Cubs - Season 7

We've been working on an updated slideshow in honor of the cubs that have moved on this year: Duck, Pony, Hamster, Caterpillar, and Bumblebee. We've enjoyed having you with us, and we'll cherish our time with you. In addition, we've captured highlights of the new cubs that have joined us. We've experienced some new memories, and we hope you enjoy watching the show!

Just Keep Swimming...

April and May kept us quite busy with the little ones around here. Bullfrog, Butterfly, and Bumblebee have all adjusted well since starting in February.

Our time watching Caterpillar in April went by very quickly. He is such an energetic little boy full of joy and smiles! We enjoyed being around his infectious laughter and the little way he gave us "noggin" by putting his forehead against ours (taught by his uncle based on the "Finding Nemo" movie).

Luckily, we still get some regular visits from him since his mama comes to our house and cuts our hair every few months.

In other news, Duck's mama made the decision to stop her teaching job and be a stay-at-home mom. We had the privilege and amazing talent of gathering all the kids together for a group picture on her last day in May. We also had a few hours to visit with her in June, only to discover that her daddy recently got a job offer in Minnesota. They have already relocated and are now expecting their second child! We've enjoyed caring for her for the past year and a half and will miss her goofy and fun spirit in our home!

Hamster will also be leaving the den in August since his mama is due to have another baby in October. So Pony, Bullfrog, Butterfly, and Bumblebee will hopefully have a new playmate soon. In the meantime, we just keep swimming and having some fun times together!

 

Springtime and New Faces

It's Spring 2015, and we have some new faces in our midst. We've had several months of interviews and facing new transition since November of last year. In February, things shifted for us, and we took some new kiddos under our wing.  So... let's do some proper introductions and give an update on all our cubs. 

First off, we have Butterfly and Bullfrog. They are siblings... can you see the resemblance? Butterfly is a new little life that is 8 months old and brings lots of joy and smiles to our home. She recently had surgery, and we are thankful that things went well in her recovery. Big brother, Bullfrog, is two years old and named after a famous bull rider by his parents, thus we thought his animal name would be fitting. He also is full of smiles, cuteness, and strength! We've enjoyed getting to know these guys on a part-time basis, and look forward to having them full-time in May.

 

Next, we have Bumblebee and Caterpillar. Bumblebee joined our crew a few months ago and comes a few days a week. She is 15 months old and a very, busy toddler. She's full of joy and spunk and loves to keep up with the two-year olds. She also gets along well with Hamster since they are close in age. Caterpillar also keeps up with the toddlers by crawling around everywhere and fits right in. He is here for a season, this month only, while his aunt is having a new baby. He is 10 months old, also very strong and cute!

  

Since all the kiddos are so photogenic and growing fast, here are some new photos of our other sweet cubs. Pony and Duck are the best of buds and look forward to seeing each other each week. They are both learning how to share and express their needs to each other as they face the challenges of being two.

 

Hamster joined us in December of last year and has made himself quite at home. He's adapted to a normal routine with us and is starting to be a busier toddler with new words, expressions, and discoveries each day. He especially enjoys being around all the other kids each day and gives lots of cuddles to the littler ones.

Puppy is going to school now, but she comes over when she can to hang out with Rabbit. They have developed a good friendship over the years of hanging out together, and we often joke that they are like sisters now. They share a birthday too, which is coming up soon within the next few weeks!

Once again... we are very grateful for all these little ones that God has blessed us with to watch over while their Moms and Dads are at work. Some days are very busy and full of challenges at times, but we enjoy each and every unique personality in our cubs. We most of all enjoy the laughter and smiles that each one gives us on a daily basis. We have quite the crew!

Meet Our Cubs - Season 6

I'm so excited to be posting this new slide show the week of Christmas! K-Bird and I have been working diligently on it for awhile in hopes of sharing it with all our families. It has been an eventful year with some very special kiddos. A lot of our cubs have moved on to new adventures (and states) recently, so we wanted to highlight our fun times and good memories with the cubs of 2014. Pony, Duck, and Puppy are still around (and Rabbit of course), and a new cub started December 1st. We've finally decided on an animal name for him, so we'll be introducing him very soon! We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas! Thank you for the honor of letting us watch your little gifts!

Wallaby's Farewell

Wallaby's family moved to Missouri the day before Thanksgiving. He's been around here for over 2 years, so things seem a bit different with him gone. We will treasure the special times we had with him, his smiles and laughs, playing ring around the rosy, and his most recent desire to for us to draw "Daddy, Mommy, and Baby" dinosaurs. Here are some fun pictures of his last few days with Pony and Duck (his buddies) and a goodbye picture with our family. We will miss you sweet boy, especially your dimples and hugs!

Fun in the Leaves

Meet our Cubs - Seasons 4 & 5

It has been quite awhile since we've posted due to the very fact that our little cubs keep us quite busy. The evidence is below with our newest slideshows. SkyBird has been working very hard on these for awhile, and her ability to manage putting these clips together is amazing. I am very grateful for her hard work to capture the fun and eventful moments we have around here.

The first slideshow has highlights from last summer and early fall when Otter and Panda were still with us. Our seasons overlapped a bit with our cubs and because we had lots of pictures to show, we decided to make make a second slide show of pictures from early 2014 to capture the our daily experiences. Some of the second slideshow highlights our last and very special days with Kitten before she moved on to a smaller daycare home setting.

We hope you enjoy the shows!

New Hellos and Even More Goodbyes

Once again, the past few months have brought some changes and transitions in the den. I think we are learning that this is a more common thing than we anticipated since people's lives and circumstances can change pretty quickly. We've said some new hellos and some unexpected goodbyes in the past few months, so let's see if we can get things up to speed for anyone interested.

HELLOS.... Kitten, Pony, and Duck!   

(A Mini-Farm in the Den)

Kitten

As mentioned in a previous post, Kitten, also know by her mama as Pickle and Puggle, has returned to the den and comes two days a week. We've enjoyed having her two-year old spirit and excitement in our home again. She is a very diligent and committed fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and says "Oh, I'm coming, I'm coming" if she hears the music from the show (not surprising, since her mom used to work for Disney World). She also calls K-bird and Rabbit "lady" when she can't remember their names. My name has suddenly become Karen's House. Otter was very taken to Kitten when she arrived and showered her with lots of hugs and kisses. They became best buds very quickly.

Pony

We had an interview at the end of August for a 14-month old, and he joined our daily crew just a few days later. He is one month older than Wallaby, but also a bit smaller. He even has more hair, but that's what inspired his name. Pony has a small tuft of hair that covers his forehead like a horse. His petite nature, strength, and way that he nods his head back and forth reminds us of a pony. He loves to either climb over, onto, or into things or sit in my lap and cuddle with his pacifier and cow blanket. He and Wallaby have had some adjusting to do in sharing toys with each other and learning how to get along, but I think they are becoming quite used to each other now by the way they greet each other each morning when Pony arrives.

 

Duck

In March of this year, I completed additional training for infants and toddlers in order to obtain my three under two specialty license for daycare. I had a home visit in July to submit my new license capacity and expected approval within a few weeks. In August, I was referred to a new family with a 9-month old little girl needing part-time care on a daily basis. I had to pull a few strings to figure out the delay in my new license approval, but it came just in time to start care with little Duck just after Labor Day. She received her name because of her cute little cackle when she laughs, so we often call her "Affy Duck" since her real name starts with A!

She stays very busy crawling around, pulling herself up, and playing with toys. She is on the verge of taking her first steps as well, and just turned a year old. Her hair is growing longer in the front than in the back, so she has these cute little curls coming in around her face. I think her three favorite things are her blanket, noodles (oh my, does she love noodles), and playing in the sand. She has laughed with delight each time we've tried out the sandbox.

T-Rex

Do I have your attention now? I know it doesn't quite fit the farm theme here, but we'd like to give an honorable mention to T-Rex who was with us for about a month from August until the end of September. He was with us part-time for awhile and the first time I met him he told me "I'm a T-Rex", so it just seemed to fit. He was almost three and full of energy. He loved to play with trains and built a "Dinosaur Train" out of blocks. It was super creative, so I thought I'd post a picture of his hard work. I think his train is really cool...  Although his time here was short, we enjoyed playing and interacting with him.

GOODBYES.... Otter and Panda

We recently celebrated the fact that Otter was with us a full year! However, his mom has transitioned into working from home now. Though we are very, very sad to see him go, we are very, very glad that he can be at home with his awesome mama! We miss him so much already. He knew and understood so much and would have pretty mature and in-depth conversations with us as a two-year old. I know he will be a great communicator when he grows up because his mom communicates with him very effectively.

I will miss how Otter loved to play puzzles on my phone and the way he sucked his fingers by holding his arm in place. Most of all, I will miss his daily routine of shooting cars off the piano table and into a big pile on the floor. He would occupy himself with that activity for 15 minutes or more and create a huge mess to clean up at the end of the day :) In fact, one of his last days here, I asked him to help pick up the cars and he quickly said, "No, I'm too tired." He did help after some coaxing, but it was a little comical coming from a two-year old.

Panda's time here with us was very short. As you know she came under our wing this past summer, but as of mid-October, she is staying home with her mom for awhile while she considers other possibilities for her work situation.

Panda brought a lot of life and energy into our home. She was constantly on the move from one activity to the next. She was great at making messes and good a picking them up as well. She loved playing with puzzles, coloring, stickers and the makeshift fishing game with wooden spoons.

I remember her early days here when she was very shy and had to adjust to being away from home for the first time. She would ask all day long "Mommy, Daddy coming?". Towards the end of her stay here, she was very comfortable with us and didn't have to ask about Mom and Dad anymore. She knew they would come, and she knew how to make the most of her time here.

I will miss her bright eyes and curly, black hair and her helpfulness in letting me know what trouble Ace was into or what the babies were doing. She was very gentle with the little ones and quick to share toys with them. She will be a great leader someday based on her attentiveness and the determination she demonstrates even now at a young age.

Blessings to you, Panda and Otter, as you move on to a new season in your lives. We are so thankful for the time that we had with you in our home!