In 1992, I was expecting my second child and my daughter, Sami Jo was almost 4 years old.  I decided to start Little Bit of Country Daycare because I wanted to be able to stay home with my children and be able to contribute financially to our family's budget.   My plans were to provide child care for other families until my son, Tyler started kindergarten...then, I would go out and get a "real" job.   Well, as the years passed, I found that child care was my place to be and decided that not only was child care a "real" job...it was now my chosen profession.  So, almost 17 years and 100 children later....Little Bit of Country Daycare is still going strong.   My daughter is now in her second year of college (Elementary Education) and my son is a Junior in High School.   My husband, Don is very supportive of my job and is always (well...most the time!) willing to do the handyman jobs I find for him.   We live in the country between Rochester and Eyota, Minnesota on a 5 acre lot.   We have a Black Lab named Duke and a cat: AJ.  Both pets are outside animals.  

I am a very active member with the Local Childcare Association, Family Child Care, Inc. (FCCI).   I am currently serving as the President for FCCI for 2009.  I am also a member of the Minnesota Family Child Care Association and a current board member for Child Care Resource and Referral in Rochester.  I am also a certified Child Care Mentor and enjoy working with new providers as they start out in the child care field.    In 2000, I was named the Child Care Provider of the Year for Olmsted County.  In May 2009, I will graduate from Rochester Community and Technical College with an Associates of Applied Science degree in Child Development.     In my spare time, I enjoy attending my son’s wrestling tournaments, watching movies with my daughter, spending time as a family, gardening, raising butterflies,  photography, traveling and spending time on the computer.