Ella the dog trainer

We got Maggie when Ella was 4 years old. Now Maggie is 3 and Ella is 7.
After we had had Maggie a few months, she began learning some tricks. After the usual sit, lay down, and stay, Ella decided Maggie should learn how to "crawl", since she was a baby dog. Never mind that Maggie ran like the wind, fast as Ella. One of their favorite games being Ella running around the backyard yelling "Maggie chase me!", which Maggie gladly obliged.
After many tries and a few days later, Ella had taught Maggie how to crawl. It starts like "lay down" and then the dog crawls. Amazing. She has also taught her "paw" and "other paw" which is pretty self-explanitory.
The most recent accomplishment is called "Find it". Ella tells Maggie to sit and "wait" which Maggie does while Ella goes in the other room and hides a dog treat. After about 5 seconds, Ella comes back and yells "find it!". Then Maggs goes tearing into the other room, and finds the treat. It amazes me that a little kid can "speak dog" so well, but then, she is a remarkable kid!

Summertime

One of my favorite things about summertime is that there are rarely ever tons of kids at Bobbie's house. After such busy-ness during the school year, it is nice to slow down, catch-up and recharge. Most of the kids I have taken care of are teachers kids, so summers are, in a word, great.
When I do have "drop-ins" during the summer, the days are very relaxed. We have a smaller group, sometimes just one family of two or three kids. One favored activity is taking Maggie down the the creek down the street. The kids stand on the teeny sandy dirt beach and throw sticks or take turns throwing Maggie's floating toy for her to go and get. It is a lot of fun watching the dog in the water. There are also usually fun things to see like teeny fish, and occasionally, ducks or teeny crabs. After that comes the "long" walk home, giving Maggie a bath in the backyard and finally, a freezie pop!

Friends

We sing this song, "friends, friends, one-two- three, all my friends are here with me" and then we name everyone in the house, including the pets..."Maggie's my friend, Jack's my friend, Nell's my friend, Mason's my friend, Bobbie's my friend..." you get the idea.

But where do we go and what do we do when our friends don't act like our friends? Well, we cry, pout, tattle, grunt, yell, AND the all time most horrible response anyone can give...

"YOU CAN'T COME TO MY BIRTHDAY!!!"

That is the most terrifying thing that can happen, that someone does not get to come to their friends birthday. Some kids use this threat daily to get their way, with other kids it pops up once in a great while....
SO--- to give a funny example, Van was yelling about something I was doing that was annoying him (like I don't even remember what, maybe I told him the sky was blue) and he whipped out the "YOU can't come to MY birthday". Well, I decided to tell him that was fine cuz HE can't come to MY BIRHTDAY. "Well", Van said, "you don't have birthdays cuz you're old-- you're a grandma" (which I am OLD, but most certainly AM NOT a grandma....)

Anyway, i guess i "got told"

characters

I have observed there are quintessential characters that exist in the kid world. I would like to talk about some of the kinds of kids that have come thru Bobbie's house to fill these roles....

First one that comes to mind are THE DUMPERS. No, this has nothing to do with diapers, but yes, there are those occasionally too. The Dumpers are the kids that come into the house, find the nicely organized baskets of toys (thanks Katie!) and then they dump. They don't play with anything, just dump, walk away and dump some more....not naming any names....
THE MOUTH are the ones that can't stop talking. EVER. Sometimes I just sit and watch their mouths move and think, when will they take a breath? sorry, again, nameless...
THE WHINER, THE FIGHTER and THE BOSS need no elaboration. rarely the same person at the same moment which is a good thing...
THE PARROT is adorable, says anything you say, on cue...Mason.... and then there is Alice who knew all her animal sounds before she knew any words which was oh so cute!
THE HUGGER is also nice to have, some babies just cling right into your side and love being held.  often these turn into huggers who brighten every day...Ella!
THE MOM can change diapers at the age of two before she herself is potty trained, loves to play babies all day everyday...Leah...
THE SHOW GIRL loves to sing into the microphone and her sidekick THE DANCER is right there with her...Hannah and Alice...

and last but not least, at least for today's list...THE DOCTOR DOOLITTLE...loves the pets, all the pets. Feeds the fish half a jar of fish food...Pookie....Feeds Maggie dinner at 4 p.m. when i am not looking...Nell...Carries her new kittens around at the age of 1 until her arms are scratched raw...Ella...Picks up bugs, any time, any day, Van, Jack, Alice...Taught Maggie how to "crawl"...Ella...knows all there is to know about dolphins, penguins and most sea creatures...Jack...Knew how many of which pills Luke dog got every day for breakfast...Leah...(when she was 3)

OK commenters, any ones i missed?

Naptime

One of the nicest things that happens some days is that EVERYONE at Bobbie's House naps at the same time. Except Bobbie, of course! We have our routines we follow, and one of them is the older kids helping me put the younger kids down for naps. On Delaney's second day here, EVERYONE decided to put her down for her nap. Mind you, Delaney is 7 months old and this is her SECOND day here, which means she is firmly entrenched into transitioning. So here, we go, Van and Nell, age 3 and 1/2, Kate, age 2 and 1/2, Mason, age 2 and Cooper crawling along behind. Cooper just turned one and crawls 90 mph, but doesn't walk yet. Oh, and Maggie too, who runs in and jumps on the bed to get a better view of little Delaney. So we pop Delaney into bed and everyone says nite-nite to her. Amazingly, she fussed less then a minute and went right to sleep. Some babies take a lot longer to adjust, but not her!

Outta the mouths of babes

So one thing that is just so funny is not only what they say, but how they say it. When is was in college, i majored in french for a year. thought I would be a translator. Well, I changed my major, but here I am, a translator, of sorts. The "Word of the week" will highlight some interesting takes on the english language.
In one conversation this week, Van says to me, "Bobbie, you know who I love more than you?" I am thinking, this is gonna be good. i said, "No, Van, who do you  love more than me?" Van says, "Maggie. She is my best dog." Van plays a lot with Maggie, our two year old yellow Lab. Maggie is "Pirate Van's Pirate Dog", or "Policeman Van's Police-dog" or "Fireman Van's Dalamation" (pronounced "dal-a-may-shun") Sometimes, he just uses her for a pillow or horsey rides. Horsey rides once got him into trouble--two stitches in the temple trouble, and Bobbie's House first trip to the ER. (Momma took him, not me, thank goodness!)