Sunday, September 23, 2007

Puddle Ducks


(Picture "borrowed" from Flicr ~ I failed to note where ~ so sorry!)

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! I was a single mom for many years, raising my kids on my own without the help of any child support coming my way, so I did what I had to do and worked two jobs for more years than I want to count. I had a hard time, as a lot of parents do, finding good day cares where I felt comfortable leaving my kids. I have some horror stories I could tell, as I'm sure do many of you. I feel like I didn't raise my kids, the sitters did while I was at work making money to pay the daycares. It was a vicious cycle. Anyway, I've always said that when my kids had babies of their own, that I wanted to be the one to watch those babies while they worked, so they wouldn't have to go through the daycare nightmares that I did. Our first grandbaby, little Ayden, is in Germany, so not much I can do there to relieve that pressure for Ryan and Natascha, but Natascha doesn't have to go back to work for quite some time yet and her family is there. Our newest, little Noah, is here and Brittany does have to go back to work pretty soon. We are not in a spot where I can just stay home to watch our grandbaby, so I am doing the next best thing. On November 1st, I am opening a home daycare. My licensing is in place and I have taken the CPR, child abuse and food handling certifications that are needed here in Oregon. Puddle Ducks Day Care is being born. I am structuring my time like a pre-school with music time, letters and numbers, playtime of course, reading time, crafting time, etc... I am so excited and so looking forward to spending my days with these fresh little wonderful people. Yeah for Puddle Ducks!

I have been wanting to show you a couple of things that I have gotten from fellow bloggers lately, so without further adieu...

These sweeter than sweet little baby booties (I think she's calling them Carpet Shoes now) came from Laurie at Old School Acres. I was out making bloggy visits one day, flipped over to Lauries site, and 'Lo and Behold this little booties came up with a post that she had just listed them on etsy. With the little octupus and crab on them, I just had to have them for our new grandson. Living on the coast, they are absolutely perfect. Check out her other "carpet shoes", they are fantastic!


I splurged and bought myself a present for my new craft room a couple of weeks ago. This lovely Mermaid came from Lucy's Etsy shop over at Sweet Repeats. Lucy has recently started selling some of her collages that she's been perfecting. This was one of the first that she had done and I just loved her, so when she started selling them I kept waiting for the Mermaid to show up in her site. When she didn't, I asked Lucy about her. She didn't think anyone would be interested since this was one of her earliest pieces. WRONG! She is hanging right beside my sewing machine. Lucy was one of my very first blogging buddies, so I love that I have a piece of her work in my creative space.


And look what Lucy threw in ~ one of her mini altered clipboards. It's in my favorite fall colors and I just love it. Thanks, Lucy!!


See, I really have been squeezing in a tiny bit of crafting between all the other craziness that's been going on around here lately. I just haven't really completed anything, but it's a new week, things are gonna start happening in that sewing room. Above you can see a new bib that is embroideried and ready for sewing, a little Raggedy Ann doll that needs to be stuffed and sewn, a knitted Christmas stocking in progress, a wool bear stuffie and a cat pin-cushion/needle book. At least I have projects to finish.

May you all be blessed with new adventures...

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I Love the name Puddle Ducks for your daycare!!!
I think it will be Fantastic! I wish I could be there to help you!

Adrienne said...

Way to go, friend! I'm so happy about your new venture, and to think you can do something you want to do - and have your sweet little grandbaby with you. All that and heaven, too! ~Adrienne~

Anonymous said...

OH PAULA... HOW EXCITING!!!! I'm so happy for you... for you all - and what lucky little ducklings they are to be in your care!

I love, love, love the name Puddle Ducks. TOO, TOO, CUTE! Congratulations Paula!

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy for you that you are opening a daycare. I bet you'll be fantastic. I can't wait to hear more about it. The name is so sweet. And I love Lucy's mermaid.

Unknown said...

Love the day care name!!!

I've often wondered how you managed all those years as a single parent. I thank God I'm not in that situation and pray that I won't be. I don't know if I could handle it.

It is wonderful that you can be there for your grandchild. I'm sure it puts Brittany's mind at ease to know baby Noah is in good hands.

Mimi said...

I am so happy for you that you can be at home with your grand baby and start an exciting new venture all at the same time...
I'll by praying for your Puddle Duck Day Care that all will go well and you will have lots of little kiddies who want to come and play with you...
You have the perfect house for it!!

Jeni said...

My apologies Paula. I had meant to comment here yesterday but put it off because I was running way behind, etc. Well, I'm still running way behind - also a bit on empty too - but I really loved the pics of the baby things and such. Also wanted to give you a big congrats on taking the steps to open the Day Care thing. Great opportunity to give you a means to spend very quality time with the new baby and kind of make up a bit to yourself for having had to give up so much of that kind of thing when your own kids were little. One reason I love having my daughter, son-in-law and especially the two little grandchildren here 24/7! I've been able to see so many of the "firsts" in these two children that I often was unable to witness with my own kids and it's fantastic to get the second chance like that!

Unknown said...

Puddle Ducks is absolutely an adorable name. I am so happy that you are able to find a way to keep your grandson during the day. And thank you for taking the photo of those sweet feet!

Terri said...

Congratulations on the new business!

Anonymous said...

WOW -- what a lovely idea!! Good for you!

Liquid Sky Arts said...

Paula, this is so wonderful... I love hearing that you're making this leap, how exciting! Best Wishes on your new endeavor, I know it's going to be a success because you'll be doing something you really love. Congratulations!