Cheap, fun and lucky. :) That's me.

I wandered over to Sprawlmart this morning after work. I needed some of this and that, and a bag of polyester fiberfill for a craft project.

The bag I wanted was $5.47. I didn't want to spend that much. I didn't want to spend it at all, since I have spent a lot of time promising myself to STOP spending my own money on my job.

And I thought about it for a moment, then realized that I could go buy one of the bed pillows that were on sale for $2.50 and get twice the amount of stuffing for half the price.

I'll post some photos for you the week before Halloween. The kids will have fun with the project, it will look really good. And once again, it will be one of those projects the parents love and save for years to display every Halloween.

I got a few other things while I was there, a couple 100% cotton shirts to dye (surprise, huh?) and some shampoo, hand lotion, shower curtain liners... you know, shit you buy at Sprawlmart.

Got home in time for a nice nap (I confess I plan my life around making sure I get a nap quite often... makes me have such a much better afternoon) and made it back out to work about 2:10.

And when I arrived, the cafeteria was wall to wall packed with kids lying on the floor, playing BINGO. Today was a school-wide party of sorts, where children were allowed to bring games from home and everywhere you looked there were group games going on. They were having a lot of fun when I walked into the cafeteria.

I smiled and acted like everything was fine, but....

Shit.

Yes, I am flexible, and yes, I can function when things are not as usual, but it's sort of a pain in the ass to try to get the room set up and put down tables and all that when I CAN'T!!

So I did the type of setup I usually do for mornings, everything on one side of the cafeteria, and we had a huge open space in the middle of the floor.

Which I filled by turning on dance music. :)

Fun to watch them dancing.

Then, we did another cheap project.

The kids are working on making yarn balls. They're soft and throwable and won't hurt anyone when they hit them.

It also gives them something to do with their hands, they seem to poke at each other less when their hands are busy. And it's another super cheap project that even the smallest of hands can do.

And nothing is cuter than the pride on a little face when they show what they've made to their moms and dads at pickup time.

I have a little guy this year who just really hates to leave when it's time to go. Trevor* is a sweetheart, six years old, always smiling and very kind to the other kids. But he just hates having to go home when his parents come to pick him up. It's not that he doesn't love his mom and dad, he is always very happy to see them, but then he gets tearful and begs for 'just a few more minutes'.

His mom asked me today to stop allowing him to be so happy in my program. She smiled and said that this is the first time in his life that he didn't immediately want to leave his day care when she came to pick him up.

"He's so happy here, " she said, "and would spend the weekends here if he could. All the projects and the other kids and the activities are just great. Thank you so much for providing this atmosphere!"

Always makes me feel good to hear stuff like that. I'll never get tired of it.
:)

So off to bed fairly early. It's only 9:30, but I'm ready to snuggle up next to a warm guy and treasure my life as I drift off to sleep.

I really am very lucky.