Walking Practice, My New Daycare Space, and My Latest Read

 This little man really wants to walk.  His grandma got him a walking toy for his birthday, but when that's not within easy reach, he'll grab whatever he can and scoot it across the linoleum.

 But he's not great at steering, so he runs into things.

 Then he screams and hollers and throws a fit.

 Until someone turns whatever he's pushing around.  So he can push it to the other end of the room, run into something else, and throw a fit...

 People have been asking me what I've been up to lately.  This is it.  I took all the living and dining room furniture out of our house and moved them into the garage.  I bought a bunch of fun rugs, and set things up for the daycare.  I still need to get some dividing bookshelves to separate the space a bit, because it looks a little empty in here, but it's much better than it was.  And, there are usually toys out and kids playing (as there were a few toys out in the picture here.  I snapped this pictures while the kids were having breakfast.)

 Here's a look toward the dining room.  Now I'm noticing all the toys and things that are making the place look sloppy.  Oh well, it's a daycare - it should look like kids play here, right?

 Pardon the blinding sun.  It was early morning.

 This rug is an old west town - fitting since our daycare is called Little Buckaroos.  We get the horses out to play on this rug.

 Of course we had to have a car rug too.  (When we play with these rugs, we usually pull them out from the wall so the kids can be all around them.)

 This is our story telling area - lots of stuffed animals to act out stories - and the rug to match.  The cabinet is our toy storage - sorted toys are in dish tubs.  The cover is felt so we can do flannelgraph stories.  I have the whole Betty Lukens felt set - which is for Bible stories - but there are great props and people that can fit any story.  I also have several other felt story pieces, and intend to make ABC's and numbers to play with there too.

 This is my command central - my record keeping space and printer, bookself and comfy chair.  We do story time and circle time on the rug in front of the chair.

 And this is our kid friendly table and chairs.  We have a bulletin board mounted on the wall, so we do all our crafts and preschool learning here.  The cots on the floor aren't usually stored there. I'm still trying to figure out where I want those stored.  They have been a little bit of everywhere so far.  They're kind of heavy and bulky, so I'm still trying to decide where to put them.

 This is where the napping takes place.  The baby usually goes in the bedroom, but this was the day we were assembling the cots, and he thought they were great fun to climb on.

 See how fun a nap cot can be?  He kept climbing up on it, crawling to the other end, climbing off, then turning around and repeating the whole process.  He thinks they're pretty fun to sit and bounce on too.  I don't let anyone else do that. ;)

 While everyone naps, the eight year old reads.  At least that's what he does in the summer - that or going out on his bike.  Come school days (very soon) he will be doing homeschool then.  With younger kids napping, I will be able to focus my attention on his lessons.  He will do independent work in the mornings.

 He had a little more help with his reading than he really needed.  The baby was trying to visit ... and steal his bookmark. :)  Brothers :)  The eight year old usually reads to him though, so I guess he figured he was needed when the book came out.

Speaking of books, this is the one I just finished.  It's the story of Dave Harper, a local Christian man who was paralized in an accident when he was 16.  He works at our library and has taught up at the Bible camp we help at - including teaching our eight year old at science camp.  So it was neat to read his story.  This is book one.  I'm in the middle of book two right now - Vanquishing the Void - which is the continuation of the story, and includes his testimony of how he got saved.  It's been a very interesting read.  This is the closest person I have known whose biography I have had the privilege of reading. It sure makes it more interesting when you really know the person.