Avi - 7/31/2018

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and dried plums for breakfast.  She ate several bites of her lunch: chicken, brown rice, stir fry vegetables, and oranges.

The kids frequently play in the little house on the patio and they are always selling something: usually food like hamburgers, ice cream, fries, whatever.  Today Avi was the shop keeper and she was apparently in need of "restocking" her supply.  :)  Nora made an order.  Avi said, "I don't have any blueberry Nora!" (Repeat 3 or 4 times.)  Atley was next; "Doughnuts."  Avi replied; "I don't have any!" So Atley said, "Ice Cream."  Avi said, "I don't have any."  Haha!  But at least she was polite about the lack of inventory.  Avi kept saying, "Have a nice day."  LOL!

Nora and Avi were getting bikes to ride as soon as we got outside.  Avi got on a bike and said, "Nor Nor, you're too big for this one!!"  LOL!  Obviously she meant just the opposite, but it hit my funny bone. Anyhow, Nora was after one of the "big" bikes (there are 2 different sizes) and Avi was very concerned; "Gary! That one is too big for her!! That one is too big!!"  Avi repeated it at least 3 times as Nora headed down the sidewalk on it.  Speaking of bikes here's Avi on a bike in a picture from yesterday afternoon.  You can't really see the kids across the street, but they had a lemonade stand set up and the Daycare kids were very interested.

The kids talk about "birthdays" a LOT!!  There are birthday parties to go to and Atley frequently sings (loudly) "Happy Birthday."  Like today several times!!  And several times Avi said, "It's not my birthday!"  Also, this toy set has birthday cakes in the food toys.  Anyhow, Atley has heard Avi say "November 13th" (Avi's Birthday) so many times that today she finished the sentence for Avi.  "My birthday is November..." And Atley jumped in and said, "13th."  Haha!!

And here are some pictures of those two precious little Nelson girls!!  I love how Avi wrinkles up her nose when she's really tickled about something!!  Too cute.  Linnea is also in the middle picture keeping an eye on everything.  She ends up being in lots of pictures because she's getting around everywhere!!  And seems to be everywhere!!

Avi - 7/30/2018

Avilene ate cheerios and most of banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, bites of whole wheat pita bread, ate olives, no tomatoes, and bites of watermelon.

I took this first picture right after Avi arrived and she said, "Hey Gar Gar!" (Rhymes with "hair hair.") "Watch this!!"  Yup! You've always got some kind of trick up your sleeve Avi!!  :)  Then that was followed by, "Hey Gar! Can you snuggle me!?!"  :)  Love to!!  In the 2nd picture Avi was making a doll available to Sister Svea.

I love this next picture!  We'd just finished Story Time and they all LOVE this book Avi is reading to them!  (We'd just finished it moments before the picture!)  They can read it word-for-word if they knows their colors.  Every other page ends with "Oops!"  For example the turkey puts the red socks on his hands.  "Oops!"  And the kids laugh and laugh!

We also did a little Art thing and then went outside.  Last picture:  I'll bet you can't guess what these three (Hudson is still gone to Denver and will be back to Daycare tomorrow) are checking out by the fence?!?  Give up!?  The neighbors were watering their lawn and the water was making it just through the fence.  :)  I didn't know what they were doing until I went over there!  I thought maybe they'd found another bug!

Avi - 7/27/2018

Avilene ate half of her breakfast: brown rice and raisins.  For lunch she ate salmon patty, bite of whole wheat dinner roll, bites of green beans, and a large serving of mangoes.  Avi wasn't even done waving to Mom at the window and she was asking, "Are we gonna have food Gary, are we gonna have food?!?"  Yes, we probably will.  "I like food!" she said.

Before Lauralea left for work this morning she was quizzing Avi about where the other children were at.  Where is Bubba?  Avi said, "Denver."  Where is Nora?  "She's coming." said Avi.  (Nora arrived after 10:00.) Where is Linnea?  "She's at her Big Grandpa's birthday." Avi said.  Haha!  Earlier I'd told her it was Linnea's Great Grandpa's 90th Birthday.  Love Avi's translation.

Avi was telling me a story this morning and I'm fairly certain it was a dream she had yesterday during nap time.  (Unless you can shed some light on this!)  She said, "I was in the poop room."  What!?!  The bathroom?  "No, back there."  Where I keep the poopy diapers?  "No, back there."  She kept pointing to the back bedroom so I asked her to take me back there and she said it was "in here."  "I was in the poop room with Bubba...it was dizzy in there... I have to hang on."  (They never play in that bedroom or any back room.)  She was very adamant that it happened just like she said and she repeated her story 4 or 5 times.  :)

Atley was saying things like "Atley a goofball" and then she was rolling around on the floor acting like a .....well...acting like a goofball!  So she was pretty much proving it!  Ha!  Avi got on the floor with her and they were having fun being very silly!  Then the girls came over the to the couch and we did some selfies.

The kids LOVE to go with me to the bedrooms to get the babies when they wake up from their nap. Look how Avi is checking things out under the crib.  "It's clear under here everyone!!"  (I said that, not Avi.)  Svea's face lights-up with huge grins and giggles when all the kids show up!  (Except this time it was just Avi and Atley.)  Then I took the last picture outside after Nora arrived.  I like this picture with the hat down over Nora's eyes, sucking her thumb, stretched out and living the dream.  :)

Avi - 7/26/2018

Avilene ate whole wheat english muffin and no oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of ground beef, ate large serving of whole wheat elbow noodles, one pea, and a large serving of applesauce.  Also, Svea ate her food very well!!

The first two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  Svea was on the blanket and she's all over the place now!  She was messing around with something under the baby seat when I took the picture. Next picture: This always cracks me up!!  The smallest kid pulling the wagon loaded with the bigger kid or in this case, two bigger kids.  :)  Love it.  Pull Nora pull!!  Avi and Atley just waiting for a wagon ride.  This was happening right before Momma Emily drove up and then Nora abandoned her post and ran to see Mom.  :)

Avi says some of the cutest things!  For the past several days she's been skipping the first step when she gets up to wash her hands.  She just stretches to the top step.  She said, "Hey Gary! I don't need the little step anymore."  Another cute thing she said: She's heard me talking to parents about mistakenly calling Linnea, "Svea."  Or combining the two and calling Linnea, "Lavea!"  Yesterday and today Avi has been saying, "Sometimes I call Linnea, Lavea!"  So do I Avi!!  :)

Next picture; Here's what Nora really likes to do!!  She chuckling and grinning.  As soon as I lay baby Svea on the floor Nora smokes over there and lays her head on the baby.  Hudson was also waiting for me to put Svea on the floor.  Nora likes the babies when they can't move much and especially when they can't grab her toys.  Linnea was grabbing Nora's toys this morning.  Oh man, that totally distressed Nora!  So I said, "Nora, you are the big girl.  Just stand up, take your toys and move away from her."  But that didn't work.  Nora wanted Linnea to move away.  :)  It won't be long and Svea will be grabbing Nora's toys as well!!

Avi - 7/25/2018

Avilene ate most of french toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of "paleo stew" with ground turkey, green beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower.  She also ate half of her crackers and ate tropical fruit.  Hey, I just want to give everyone a heads-up that Linnea is now 1 year old and today she gets her first Blog.  So that means I'm doing 5 Blogs and that may affect the time your Blogs are posted!  I will continue doing lots of "copy & paste" every chance I can which really cuts down on the time it takes to do the Blogs.  Like I've mentioned before the Blogs will post sometime between 12:45 - 3:00.

In this next picture Atley and Avilene were on the floor pushing this legos truck with a trailer back-n-forth to each other.  As I took the picture Atley gave it a big shove and it went smoking off in the exact opposite direction!  LOL!  How did that even happen!?!  It was funny and I roared!  You can see Atley looking back to see where the truck went and it's not even in the picture.  Haha!  Following picture: After reading Stories and before we went outside we did some stickers at Art Time.  The kids were stoked to do the new stickers.  They've been looking forward to this!  We ordered them together, waited for them to arrive, opened the package together, and today was the big day.  :)  Atley looked at one of the stickers and said, "Lady Bugs!"  Haha!  No.  Avi said, "Uhhhmmmm...no, they're crabs." Very good.  That was much more accurate!  There was a string of 6 sea creatures and 2 of them were crabs.  :)

Here are a couple more pictures of Avilene playing outside.  She was being a goof with her hat and intentionally had one of the velcro straps hanging in front of her face.  I love her silly happy fun-loving spirit!  Avi is really a fun little girl.  Last picture;  She joined Linnea under one of the climbers and was making Linnea do hard belly laughs!  Linnea was already taking a nap by the time Avilene arrived so she was thrilled to see Linnea.  Avi really likes her and is very sweet and kind to Linnea.  I love that.

Avi - 7/24/2018

Avilene ate some bites of waffle and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, no whole wheat tortillas, no corn, and ate applesauce.

Atley stubbed her toe (pretty hard - I saw it happen) and didn't even whimper!  She's a pretty tough little kid most of the time!  (When she's not tired or hungry!)  I asked her if she was ok and she asked me to kiss it!  Haha!  Well I've got years of experience doing fake kisses, but Avi stepped up to the plate and gave Atley's toe a kiss.  Oh, that was sweet Avi!!  :)

Svea is getting tired again so she's just sitting in the infant seat watching me do Blogs.  She's in a silly mood and is giggling at any face I make!

There are 8 different colors/flavors of ice cream in this toy set and Avi was guarding them pretty closely!  (No one else wanted some so it wasn't a big deal!)  In the first picture she's playing with the iPod (Ha), keeping her stack of ice cream close!  In the following picture she's found a place to stash some of them!!  And she was putting the ice cream back there one at a time!!  :)

We ordered some stickers last week and the kids have been asking every day; "Did the stickers come yet!?  Did the stickers come yet!?"  They came today (just after we got through painting at Art Time) and the kids had fun looking at all of them and then we put some on the rod that holds our stickers.  So I'm sure we'll be doing stickers tomorrow.

 

I always like it when the kids try to help each other.  Avi loves to be a helper and she jumped right in to help Atley get her sandals on.  (I was changing Nora's diaper.)  They weren't successful, but they tried.  Avi also likes to give Atley "pointers" on pedaling the bike.

Avi - 7/23/2018

Avilene ate a large bowl of kix cereal and two servings of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, most of whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, half of avocados, and ate cherries. This morning Avi asked Colin; "Hey!  Where'd you guys go?"  Then she said, "Hey Gary! Where'd Nora go?"  Haha!!  (Nora hadn't arrived yet.)  I'll ask her when she gets here.  :)

Linnea is gonna be back on Wednesday and everyone is asking about her!!  So I'm gonna start with a photo they sent me of Linnea last night.  Lots (10 days) of celebrating birthday #1!!  I like how her plate is upside-down!!  :)  We can't wait to see you Linnea!!

Oh Svea, you are too cute.  But, I've figured out a way to make you even cuter!!  In the 2nd picture there are two of you!!  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and like always the kids were engaged and very busy all morning.  Here are a couple Avi pictures from this morning.  We also played outside and as Avi was busy putting on her shoes she asked, "Does this go on this foot?"  Nope, wrong foot. "Does this go on this foot Gary?"  Yes.  (Your options are limited with just two feet.  Ha!)  We were reading Dr Seuss "Foot Book" and I said, "Everyone hold up your left foot!"  Avi and Hudson got it! "Then right foot!"  They're getting it.  So we were outside and this exchange between Avi and Hudson made me laugh.  (This is egocentrism - totally normal for age group - on steroids!)  Avi said, "Hey Bubba!  Momma's gonna pick me up and we're gonna go to Grandma's house."  Hudson said, "But can you pull me in the wagon?"  LOL!!

 

This last picture is silly, but it was also funny to me!!  I was showing the kids the toy shelves I'm building in the garage and they spotted my stash of popcorn!  (Some of you have a wine cellar - I have a popcorn stash!  Now you know my addiction! This is a 12.5 # bag and I buy it by the case with 4 per case.  I'll even do the math for you!  That's 50# per case.  How long does one case last?!?  That's my one secret!!)  ANYHOW, they all wanted to know; "What is that?!? What is that?!?"  So I asked them, "What is this?"  Atley said, "sack." True, but what's in the sack?  Nora said, "sack."
Hudson and Avilene both said, "I don't know!"  "I don't know."  Now they know.  Everyone now said, "I wanna eat it! I wanna eat it!!"  Me too.  :)

Avi - 7/20/2018

Avilene ate half of oatmeal and ate baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of hamburger stew with the meat, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes.  She ate half of whole wheat dinner roll and ate apricots.

First picture; immediately after breakfast Nora is covering baby Svea with some doll blankets.  What you can't see (and can't hear) is Atley off to the side of the picture singing (volume on very loud), "Good night Svea, good night Svea, .... time to nappy now."  :)

Next picture;  Hudson, Avi, and Atley built this wall of blocks and they were working very hard at it.  Avi said, "Look at my load Gary!"  And she was carrying a tall stack of blocks!  What are you guys building?  They all agreed they were "building a gate."  What's the gate for?  "To keep out the bed bugs!"  Haha!  And apparently it was working because I never did see any bed bugs!!  When we came back inside before lunch Avi asked, "You guys wanna hide from bed bugs again ?"  :)

Here are two pictures from outside time this morning.  Avi on the bike again - wearing her hat again -but heading in the opposite direction from yesterday's picture!  :)  Avi was trying to give Atley "pointers" on how to pedal.  Of course Avi just recently learned, but hey, once you know it you're an expert!!  Next picture; Atley, Hudson, Avi were on the geo-climber together.  Last picture; I don't often include pictures of the kids at meal time, so here's one from lunch!  It's a very busy time, but it's often a funny and entertaining time as well!  There are some interesting "discussions" (more like comments) that happen at meal time!!  We've all been missing Linnea this week and are looking forward to seeing her on Monday!!

Avi - 7/19/2018

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of pulled pork, ate whole wheat bun, bites of peas, and ate cantaloupe.  At breakfast Avi was telling Atley; "Get your head over your plate."  :)  Yes, she's heard me say that a few hundred times!!  So where was Avi's plate during these instructions to Atley?  Almost in the middle of the table.  Ha!

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon.  This is what it always looks like immediately after I lay down the blanket, lay the baby on the blanket, set the toy basket on the blanket, and then tell the kids the blanket and toy basket are for the baby!  :)  Zoom in on Nora's eyes and that tells the story; she's totally focused on the toy basket!!  And that's what the others are focused on as well.  It's the only forbidden thing in the yard and all that does is make it more desirable!!  The 2nd picture - Svea's day at Little Treasures always begins the same way; Hudson asking is he can talk to her!  :)

 

The kids had a fun and busy morning.  They played with puzzles, also built with the legos, did some dot painting at art time, and rode on the bikes during outside play.  Nobody has played with the legos for several days and then, when one person starts (today it was Hudson) they all start doing it!  Picture number 3:  Nora was done with dot painting first and she just stood up and started peeling her paint shirt off.  When I took the picture Hudson was pulling his paint shirt over his head, Atley was ready to peel her's off, and Avi was still thinking about it!  I took the last picture of Avilene on the bike to show her styling with her new hat.  :)  I Love how it protects her cute blond head from the sun!!

Avi - 7/18/2018

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and maybe half of mangoes (this mango wasn't very ripe and no one was real impressed) for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate squash, and half of fruit salad.

Atley said, "Hey Gary, my nose is running!" Then (almost immediately afterwards) Avi said, "Hey Gary! I wanna see if the salmon is running!!"  LOL!  That made me laugh.  So I wiped Atley's nose and we checked out explore.org.  The kids are loving that site because frequently (including this morning) the fish are struggling so hard to jump up the falls and there were 10 - 20 fish in the air at the same time.  We also counted 13 bears having a feast today.

As soon as I lay Svea on the floor Hudson wants to interact with her.  And he always asks first; "Gary, can I talk to her?"  :)  I love the 2nd picture too!  Have I told you lately what a sweet baby she is!?!  I wonder if Lauralea gets tired of hearing about what a sweet baby she is as well!!  Haha!!  Just kidding.  Lauralea always says; "Yes, I've heard that before."  :)

Hudson and Avilene (she's hidden in the igloo) like to barricade themselves inside the igloo and call it their "tent."  They play this game every day.  Hudson is usually inside too, but I got this picture while he was working on the entrance blankets and pillows.  Atley doesn't want to go inside it, she just likes to grab the pillows and blankets and cause a ruckus!!  See picture - She's just waiting for the moment when he leaves!  So she can pounce! Ha!  Last picture; Avi had to talk hard and steady for a couple of minutes to convince Nora that Avi's assistance was needed on this puzzle.  (And it was!)  The kids also did lots of jumping, playing their version of chase, and we played outside.

Avi - 7/17/2018

Avilene ate bites of whole wheat bagel and ate three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, bites of brown rice, half of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries.

I have to start off with a picture of Svea looking at Hudson.  He asked, "Can I talk to Svea?"  All the kids like to lay dress-up clothes, blankets, or whatever on the babies!  Those babies are just laying there so they must like it!!  Except now Linnea is old enough to throw the clothes off or move away!

Here are a couple pictures from Avi's morning.  She has been playing lots with the food toys in this toy set.  When I took this picture she had the pancake, syrup, and the cooking skillet.  She and Atley have been playing with the food toys together and side-by-side.  In the following picture Avi was helping Nora complete a puzzle.  Atley got Nora a puzzle and Avi got Nora a puzzle.  They managed to get the two most difficult one in this toy exchange.  :)

 

Now that the weather is so nice we just don't do Art as often.  But the kids are always excited when we do.  We did some coloring and stickers and they had lots of fun with it.  Avi had been pointing out to Nora some "open spots" on her paper where she could put stickers.  Nora wasn't very appreciative of the help!  So why do I mention that?!  Because Avi used the same words I'd used just 5 minutes before to show Avi some open areas on her paper.  And she had the same response as Nora!  Leave me alone!  I got this!!  Haha!