Yesterday was quiet but today definitely was NOT. It was busy, it was sometimes chaotic, it was often loud and most of the time it was fun.

I still haven't gotten a new memory card for my phone (that I use for my camara) or the adapter I need for the computer so still no pictures. I miss posting pictures.

Right after breakfast the kids and I got busy in the kitchen. We made Oyster Snack Crackers and Applesauce Bread. And while we were at it we went ahead and made the roast beef sandwiches for lunch.

I was glad we got those things done because my helper never showed up today. Doug had talked to her on Saturday and told her that I would be texting her with the schedule once I knew what the week was going to look like. I texted her yesterday and never got an answer. I talked to her daughter this morning and she had no idea whether her mother was planning to come in or not. And she never showed up. Since we are planning to downsize over the coming year anyway I am not planning to look into hiring anyone else but simply deal with things the way they are until we reach a point where I don't really have to have the extra help anyway.

And since I mentioned downsizing - Doug and I had some long talks over the holidays and decided the best thing for our family is for us to let this business naturally downsize over time. We are not planning to turn away any kids we currently have, but as they leave, for one reason or another, we will simply not take more. The goal is to get us down to five on each shift.  Once we reach that point we will no longer be required to have a state license. Not having a state license will drastically reduce the amount of paperwork, the somewhat mind boggling rules and regulations and with it the overall stress level. It looks like by the end of summer we will probably have reached that point. One child is moving, two will be going to school, and one is leaving for a childcare provider a little closer to them (our recent move lengthened his mother's daily drive considerably).

I have no desire to stop this work. I love it. But I feel like maybe I have been stretching myself a little too thin and everyone will benefit from these changes.

Anyway, with that little detour out of the way -

the rest of the day we were busy playing, reading, doing crafts, enjoying some outside time, and playing games and playing with
playdough.

Austin and Amanda started back into the school routine - a little reluctantly, but without much complaint. Michael was a bit out of sorts, and I think it was mostly because Daddy was back at work after being on vacation for two weeks.

Postscript - I started writing this last night but I'm posting it this morning because Austin wanted to use my computer. His is having issues and I think we're going to have to buy him another one.