Upside Down Cats

Today's installment of Too Cute! is brought to you by a four-year-old girl in my daycare - and Disney.

We were watching the previews before the movie Pocahontas and she said, "Look, Gina, it's The Punchback" (of Notre Dame)!

I suppose the word punch is a lot more common in a four-year-old's world than hunch...and I'm glad for that!

I'm back on schedule posting the meals I've planned in advance for the week ahead. Although I also pre-plan and often utilize many of the same ingredients in meals for my daycare children, these meals posted here are the ones I prepare strictly for Scott and me. Here's some of what I'll be cooking for us this week:



Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches on Toasted Club Rolls, Garlic French Fries & Mixed Greens Salad

Pasticcio* & Wilted Spinach Salad

Cheese & Rice Casserole & Oven-Roasted Asparagus

Shrimp Fajitas & Tortilla Chips w/ Salsa & Refried Beans

Waffles, Chicken-Apple Sausage Links & Fresh Fruit

Chicken Burgers w/ Bleu Cheese & Bacon, Beer-Battered Onion Rings & Raw Vegetable Platter w/ Ranch Dip

Bacon & Cheddar Omlettes & Bagels w/ Garlic-Herb Cream Cheese



*Pasticcio - Thanks, Kelly, for recently reminding me of a dish I haven't made in years! Greek food rocks!

Today's installment of Too Cute! is compliments of the two-year-old girl in my daycare. She is extremely verbal, even considering her age and gender! We commonly have riveting conversations, so I am accustomed to her being able to express herself with great facility.

But today she just made me laugh... Continue reading "Too Cute! 6/3/08" »

Friday was impromptu movie day at my home daycare. The children had seen a commercial for the movie E.T. all week on a station we watch regularly. They were enthralled by the commercial itself and asked if they could watch the movie when the network showed it. Unfortunately, it was going to be on at 7 P.M. which is after my daycare closes.

But hey! I have E.T. on videotape. Yes, videotape. I refuse to be ashamed of still watching the gazillion videos I own, so don't even start on calling me a technology dinosaur...

I was glad to be able to indulge the children's desire to see the movie during the course of the daycare day.

Continue reading "E.T. Revisited" »

The daycare children have got me laughing early this week...

A five-year-old girl is going on a preschool field trip to a place called Exploration Station.

While excitedly reporting the details of her upcoming excursion to me she kept referring to it as Expiration Station.

I wonder what there is to explore there?

You get a bonus in this installment of Too Cute!...a too-fer, if you will.

Overheard today during the daycare children's rendition of Ring Around the Rosey: "Asses, asses, we all fall down!"

And today's second preschoolism: "I am a moymaid!" (Perhaps there are parts of the country where this is not as much of a departure from the familiar-to-my-ears Midwestern pronunciation of Mermaid...)

Hope these help you laugh your way into a pleasant weekend, compliments of my unintententionally entertaining little friends!

The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)



As a daycare provider I eagerly take on the responsibility of teaching children the basics of how to be nice people. Now that the youngest of our little daycare family is two years old, we are focusing more on behavior - and less on diapers (and I am not complaining about that!).

I am currently trying to teach my group of daycare children to choose to do the right thing...cooperation, altruism, the golden rule and all that rot...

Continue reading "Gina's Quotes Du Jour ... »

Submitted for your approval: Gina's Quote Du Jour 4/10/08

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. - Fred Astaire

I had no idea the talented Mr Astaire was so astute...

My Sweetie Scott found this quote quoted on Execupundit recently and he knew I would want to comment on it.

Scott knows how I feel about manners - or the lack of them. It's a common topic of conversation when I return home from battling the crowds at the grocery store or debrief after a day spent with the children in my daycare.

I usually come home from my weekly excursion to the supermarket completely frustrated with the state of humanity. What a collection of selfish, clueless idiots I encounter! That's all it takes...two hours among the general public to convince me that the human race is headed down the tubes...

Continue reading "Lost (Manners) In The ... »

Ah, the life of a cat in a home daycare...



















K and Abbey























M and Cooper



There's always lots of love going both ways. Hopefully the children gain and learn as much from the cats as the cats gain and learn from their little friends.

Being a daycare provider, I hear many interesting things come out of the mouths of the children for whom I care. Recently the children have provided an abundance of verbal gems! I thought they'd make fun reading for a Monday.

Continue reading "My Glamorous Profession" »