Avi - 9/30/2019

Avilene ate two servings of kix cereal and ate mixed fruit for breakfast.  At breakfast Avi asked, "What do you call these balls?"  Those are kix cereal.  Avi said, "These are like balls on roller skates."  Do you mean like the wheels on roller skates?  "Yes."  Haha!  For lunch she ate ground turkey, two servings of whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, half of avocados, and three servings of cherries.

I took these first two pictures almost immediately after Avilene arrived because she was pretty convinced every thing she was doing was photo worthy.  :)  She's actually putting forth a lot of effort in this first picture keeping her feet off the floor.  The funny part of the whole time was this;  She asked, "Do you want to take a picture of me doing my thing!?!?"  Haha!!  Then the second picture: She wanted me to take a picture of her doing a somersault.  (Another one of her things!!)  This was the only part of the somersault that wasn't blurry.

Next picture: Avi is working on a preschool activity and tracing the lines of shapes with erasable markers.  Last picture; Atley and Avi were playing with one of the color sorting activities.  This one is a little more challenging simply because it's with the very small beads.  Avi was barking out orders and Atley finally complied with whatever it was that Avi wanted.  Then Avi said, "Good listening Atley!" Haha!

Avi - 9/27/2019

Avilene ate brown rice and two servings of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  She also ate two servings of whole wheat dinner roll and two servings of apricots.  We were preparing for breakfast and I asked Avi if she was gonna take off her sweatshirt jacket to eat.  Her immediate response; "Is Svea gonna wear her's?!?"  Haha.  I'm gonna take her's off.  And so Avi did too.

First picture:  More of the "Dance Challenge" game.  Except Avi calls it the "Number Game."  Which is a pretty accurate description.  "Can we play the Number Game?"  At least she wasn't trying to stand on her hands today!!  :)

Next picture: We had a visitor from the Food Program doing her periodic inspection and making sure I'm following the guidelines!!  (I forgot to ask if I could post her picture so this is all you get!)  Avi and Atley had a barrel full of questions and she was very accommodating - at least for awhile until she realized it would never end.  Haha!!  They were also giving her all the important information they could think of; their names and birthdays were at the top of the list of course.  :)  Notice Avi has on a headlamp and also notice Svea is hanging out right there too.  Svea waved a very cute goodbye when the Lady was leaving.

Last picture: I told Avilene I only had two pictures of her for today's Blog.  So she immediately started climbing on this block structure.  She said, "Take a picture so Momma can see what I was doing!!" Ok, here you go!

Avi - 9/26/2019

Avilene ate bites of French toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of pulled pork, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate peas, and three servings of cantaloupe.  (Those Dixon melons are heavenly!)

Avi was telling me in great detail about the "Lion King" movie.  She was nailing all the characters and the plot really well.  I asked, "How many times have you watched that movie?"  She said, "62." Haha!  That made me laugh!  First picture: Atley and Avi were in the preschool room working on putting some "chain links" together.  Following picture: Avi was doing some stamping with some alphabet letters.

Next picture: Well this picture is blurry, but I still have to Post it!!  Avi and Atley were doing the "Dance Challenge" game again, but this time Avi was taking it to the next level!!  Haha!  (Notice that both feet are off the floor!!)  This is "break dancing" class and we only practice that on the hardwood floor where the landings are definitely not soft.  Geez!  So we'll be moving locations for next time!!

Last picture:  We built this little structure and of course Avi was using it for a "climber."  When she saw that Svea was trying to do the same thing Avi said, "Trying to copy your sister is not a good idea."  Haha!  Hmmm....how many times has she heard me say that exact same phrase!!!  :)

Avi - 9/25/2019

Avilene ate three servings of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of ground beef with marinara sauce, two servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, bites of riced cauliflower, and half of fruit salad.

Whenever Avi notices me playing with Svea, snuggling her, or teasing her, that always makes Avi so happy.  It's the cutest thing and I love it!!  She adores her little Sister and is super protective of her.  Svea was on the floor and I was making her laugh and Avi didn't want me to quit.  Avi asked, "Are you gonna keep harassing Svea?"  Haha!  Nope, I'm gonna harass you now!!

First 2 pictures: The kids were being rowdy and scattering blocks again; that is a favorite activity and Atley is one of the main instigators.  I like how Linnea is looking up at me; "oh oh everyone, we've got company!!"  Haha!!  So we built some sidewalks and they played on those for awhile.

Next picture: Atley and Avi were taking turns putting the purse over their head and wanting me to take a picture.  Avi said, "Do you see me smiling?"  Haha!  Sure.  Last picture;  Another excellent find at a garage sale!!  (Thanks to Lauralea!)  It's a simple dance game and these two kids loved it!  Avi is pointing out the number when it lights up so Atley knows where to go.  (The numbers switch pretty fast!)  Atley hasn't been very interested yet in number recognition, but one of these days it will happen!!  :)  Thanks for helping Avilene!!

Avi - 9/24/2019

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

These first two pictures go together and they are left over from yesterday afternoon.  This is a fun activity and Avi worked hard at two or three different ones.  They obviously use the colored shapes to make the pictures.  The back of the shapes have magnets so that's the reason for the metal tray.  I helped her get started with this one - basically found the right shapes and put them in a pile and let her put them in the proper place.  Nicely done Avilene.  It's definitely a cognitive exercise for her to visualize where the shapes go.

Next picture; Avi was using the erasable marker and following the lines in this book.  She completed several pages and then did all the erasing as well.  It's giving her lots of practice controlling her finger movements and again she's nailing it!!

Avi was very engaged with several of the preschool activities this morning and I love that!!  It's fun to watch her work hard and the girl can definitely get focused!!  Atley and the little ones were yelling, "birds birds birds" and watching birds out the window.  Avi never flinched; I don't think she even heard them.  She did take a break and did some jumping on the mattress, but she spent the majority of the morning in the preschool room.

Avi - 9/23/2019

Avilene ate half of bran cereal and half of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of chicken, ate whole wheat pita bread, no avocado, two servings of olives, and two servings of pears. When the kids were preparing to wash for breakfast Linnea said she had, "no sleeves."  I said, "You're right, you have no sleeves."  Avilene said, "That means zero."  That's right too Avi; that means zero.  Good word association Avilene.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so as always the kids were busy on "Toy Exchange Monday!"  First picture; I think we have 4 different containers of doll house accessories so this is a new set.  This was an amazing yard sale find.  It was a large tub full of great accessories in very good condition!

Next picture:  Avi was having fun with the tinker toy set and after only putting two or three together she was already asking me, "take a picture, take a picture, take a picture."  I kept saying, "not yet, do a couple more."  She kept coming back with "NOW will you take a picture?!?!"  Haha!  Ok, now I will.  :)

Last picture: Some more new stuff to look through and play with!  Avi and Atley were building with the legos - well at least for a few minutes.  Pretty soon they had them scattered all over so I think they found another game to use them for.  However, they listened and picked them all up without me helping!!  Good job girls.

Avi - 9/20/2019

Avilene ate a large serving of cream of wheat cereal and no dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked beef kabobs with meat, peppers, pineapple, and zucchini.  She had bites of brown rice and ate some pineapple on the side.

A couple of Avi moments that made me laugh: "Hey Avi, what did your Mom say about your bruised eye and cheek?"  "Nothing; she hasn't seen it yet."  Oh, so she didn't look at you this morning when she brought you to Gary's!
I was wiping Avi's butt and in the middle of that project she said, "My nose is running!"  Ok, I'll take care of it when I'm done.  Acting like she hadn't heard OR listened to me she continued; "Wipe my nose Gary."  "Wipe my nose Gary."  "Wipe my nose Gary."  "Avi!! How am I going to wipe your butt and your nose at the same time!?!"  :)

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon when the kids were "painting" the sidewalk with water!!  (That was probably the last time we'll do that activity this summer because they get a bit wet every time.)  Svea was totally participating in this as well and having a blast, but notice how her roller left her!!  Haha!!  If you could see this in "Live Mode" you'd see it go rolling across the sidewalk and it's by the grass.  Haha!  (Stinking cheap rollers from the Dollar Store!!  Haha!)

Next picture; Avi and Atley wanted to do some gluing today.  I put the glue on the paper for them and then provide them with lots of gluing options.  Side note; Avi wanted to glue by herself a few weeks ago so the first thing I realized she was under the table (violation # 1 - we do Art ON the table) haha and had a HUGE puddle of glue on her paper.  (violation # 2)  Ok, I'll continue to put the glue down for a while longer as you two grow into your responsible independent little selves!!  :)

Last picture: This was pretty cool!!  She said she wanted to cut a circle so I drew a circle with a marker on her paper.  She wasn't too sure about that so I cut one while she watched.   She then followed around the line pretty well and of course it was then "picture time!"  "Are you gonna take a picture!?!"  Nice work Avi and I liked how hard you worked on it too!!

Avi - 9/19/2019

Avilene ate waffle and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shepherd's pie with meat, potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, and carrots.  She also ate whole wheat tortillas and ate two servings of cherries.

The kids were talking about "ice cream flavors" and I was asking them their favorites.  Linnea looked at Atley and asked, "Do you want to come to my house and eat gummies?" Hahaha!  It was so cute.  So Avilene started talking about going to a "candy store."  Well of course Atley said, "Can I go with you?"  Avi answered in a very motherly tone; "Yes, as long as you stay with me!"  (Big emphasis on "stay")  LOL!!  I roared!  I wonder where Avi heard that!

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning; She had the tape measure and was measuring the width of our block house.  Avilene, "How far is it?"  She said, "8, 6, and 5."  Perfect!!  Second picture; Atley and Avi playing with the car ramp again.  I'm gonna leave that ramp out until they start to get tired of it.  In the third picture Avi is working with doing some taping again.  When I took the picture she was using the scissors on her project.  She aslo did some coloring.

Next picture: As usual Avi was asking me to take a picture!!  Sure, why not!?  :)  She was working hard at staying focused and continuing to grin even though Callahan had grabbed a handful of hair. They both have very cute expressions!!

Avi - 9/18/2019

Avilene ate bites of French toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of Whole 30 Chili with meat, tomatoes, peppers, tomato sauce, and sweet potatoes.  She also ate whole wheat dinner roll and tropical fruit.

First picture: This was shortly after Avi and Svea arrived and they were looking at books in the chair while Atley and Linnea were spinning the chair.  That cracks me up how the ones in the chair can just stay focused on the books or whatever they have and act like they don't realize the chair is moving.  And maybe they don't realize it!!  I'm much more easily distracted than that!!  (Lauralea says it's "attention deficit" haha!)

Avi and Atley also played with the flashlights, headlamps, and binoculars.  (She and Atley were taking turns with the binoculars.)  I love the way Avi asks for the binoculars.  There are four very distinct syllables.  "Can I have the "biii-knock-leeeee-rrrrs."

They also did several preschool activities and some art activities.  Next two pictures; they are using some different stamps and "tools" we got for the play dough.  In the last picture Avi is using some tape we found along with the tape dispensers and she's working hard to take it off the way I was showing her.  Good work Avilene.

Avi - 9/17/2019

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat English muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate beets, and two servings of applesauce.

Avilene spotted a spider and immediately wanted Atley to handle the problem for her.  She yelled, "Get it with your foot Atley!!"  Which would have been a fine idea except the spider was about "head high."  So unless Atley has some training in the martial arts that wasn't gonna happen.  :)  This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon.  The kids were playing on the airplane and having fun doing teeter-totter.  Notice that Avilene is the "pilot" and the only one wearing a hardhat.  That always makes me nervous when my pilot wears a hardhat!!  :)

Next picture: Avilene was using the binoculars and at the perfect time here was a man walking his dog along the sidewalk past the window.  She spotted him (to the right in the picture) and followed him all the way past.  He looked over at the window and saw the three kids with one peering at him with binoculars.  And of course as usual that totally hit my funny bone!!  Hahaha!

Last picture: Avilene said, "Hey Gary, I did all the colors. Take a picture."  Ok, I can do that.  She asked if she could see the picture and she was obviously impressed!!  "Oh, WOW!!"  Haha!  Yes I agree Avi it's a very cute and awesome picture!!  :)

Avi - 9/16/2019

Avilene ate half of whole wheat Chex cereal and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, two servings of whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, and bite of oranges.

These first two pictures were taken shortly after Avi arrived and she was still eating breakfast.  I was curious what she was doing or trying to do!!  She said, "I'm doing a wink!"  Oh, now I get it!!  Second picture:  With some assistance from her hand she was going for another wink!  She said, "Now I'm doing it!!  Take a picture!"

Next picture:  Avilene had paused while eating breakfast and was totally focused on the Alphabet poster.  She was using her hand and "tracing" each letter; or at least many of them!!  She stayed focused on doing this for at least 10 minutes - when she was supposed to be eating breakfast - but sometimes other things are too cool to worry about my agenda!!  This was fun to observe and she was in her own world totally engaged.

Avilene did several preschool activities and I took this last picture when she was engaged in one of them.  This involves putting pennies or pistachios on the pictures of each object and counting how many there are.  The number is also in large print on the back side.

Avi - 9/13/2019

Avilene ate most of her breakfast: oatmeal and dried cranberries.  For lunch she ate two servings of Tilapia, ate most of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate green beans, and most of applesauce.  I have to post another picture of the girls at the table at lunch.  Atley got her plate filled first and is ready to go!  I helped with the applesauce, but that was all.  They like having their applesauce on top of their elbow noodles.  Avi was loading up on fish when I took this picture.  This week they've done almost all of it themselves.  Nice work girls!!  They try to boss each other during this process and this is what I hear: "That's enough Avi!!"  "That's enough Atley!!"

They had a cute conversation during breakfast.  Atley was talking about an apple tree and pear tree. So Avi inquired about their location.  Atley said, "They're over there."  And pointed just like Avi should have a visual of Atley's house and yard.  Haha.  Avi continued; "Is it in the back yard?"  Atley said, "yes."  Avi said, "Most back doors are by the TV Room.  LOL!!  (Because she has a door to the back yard in her TV Room.)

Here's a precious note left over from yesterday afternoon.  When Callahan's Grandma picked him up she had his Great Grandma here too.  Great Grandma sat in the chair and was instantly the focus of Avi and Atley.  They were bringing her toys and talking rapidly at the same time trying to have her undivided attention.  Ha.  She seemed to be loving it all!  So precious.  When they left Avi and Atley asked her is she was "done playing with them?"  Haha!

Next picture: Avi was doing some measuring with the cloth measuring tape.  This tape was put away for several days and Avi said she would use it correctly (and she did!) so I got it back out today.  Last week she was swinging about 4 feet of it over her head in a big wide circle and thankfully didn't hit anyone!  I took it after the 2nd time.  :)  Then she was wrapping it around her neck which made me very uncomfortable!!  :)  Today; she was measuring the yellow benches! Well done Avilene!!  Last picture; all four of them on the geo-climber with Avi hanging her head upside-down.

Avi - 9/12/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and ate two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of hamburger and sausage pizza with peppers, tomato sauce, pineapple, and olives.  We cook it separate from the whole wheat pizza crust - she ate a bite or two of crust - and she ate pineapple on the side.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and Avi is pouring her own tomato juice.  Notice the cute little pitcher; actually there are two of them on the table although you can only see one.  She and Atley were both very proud of themselves for not spilling any juice.  Good job girls.

I'm always amused by how this age group "tattles" on each other.  And they ALL do it - right in front of each other.  And the other amusing aspect; the accused one RARELY gets mad at the tattler!!  They just keep on playing like nothing happened!  This morning Avi pulled a sticker off the new car ramp and she stuck it in her pocket.  Atley yelled; "Gary! Avi pulled off a sticker!!"  However, this time Avi got in Atley's face and growled; "Atley, I wanted to take it home!!"  :)

Here are a couple pictures from this morning.  All the kids playing around the new car ramp; the ramp that has one less sticker on it!!  :)  Shortly after I took this picture Svea was prying Callahan's fingers off the ramp because he was blocking the cars from rolling.  :)  Last picture; When Lauralea was done with her testing she read books to the kids for awhile and sang songs with us doing the actions.  Svea sat on the couch and laughed at me while I was doing the actions.  Haha!

Avi - 9/11/2019

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of pork chops, bites of whole wheat tortillas, several bites of carrots, bites of potatoes, and two servings of fruit salad.  So I asked the kids during lunch what animal pork comes from and here's what I heard: "buffalo, eagles, deer, alligator, bear, snakes, elephant, snails, birds, cats, and dogs."  I think I got everything they said..and they never did say pig or cow.  :)

First picture: "Hey Gary!" What?  "Will you snuggle me?"  So I took this picture looking into the mirror;  got Svea in the picture, Linnea too, and was able to mostly crop out my head!!  Success.  Haha.  So here's a couple of things Avi jabbered about during this time.  "Hey Gary, raccoons are sneaky.  And Robin Hood lives in the forest."  Me: Oh, so is Robin Hood sneaky too?  "He's a fox. He doesn't live close to people; he lives far away!!"  Me; Oh, so then he is sneaky.  :)  "Hey Gary!" What? "The Seeley Lake water is really cold and it never warms."  Me; Oh, I didn't know that.  I've never put my feet in Seeley Lake.   Next picture:  Avilene was doing these maneuvers beside the couch while I was feeding Callahan.  She said, "Are you gonna take a picture?!?"  Haha!  Of course.  (Her right foot is tucked under her butt against the igloo.)

Last picture:  Here are the kids playing with a "new" car ramp.  (Atley's in the picture laying on the floor between Avilene and Linnea.   Avilene is in the back.)  It's new as in another awesome find at a garage sale and it's in perfect shape!!  (I guarantee you it didn't come from a Daycare!!  Haha!!)  Avi had previously spotted it in the back room and has been relentlessly asking for it.  :)

Avi - 9/10/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and most of her dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken with stir fry vegetables, most of brown rice, and a couple bites of oranges.

I took this first picture during yesterday's snack and the second picture at lunch today.  It's been fun for me to make changes in my Program as these two girls continue to get older.  Sometimes these changes are small and go unmentioned, but they are happening frequently.  These two pictures represent one of the changes.  The Food Program requires Preschools to serve meals "Family Style."  So I've begun to do that by putting the bowls of food on the table and letting them serve themselves while I monitor and teach as we go.  I keep telling myself; "messes don't matter!  messes don't matter!"  :)  And they're learning to say, "Pass me the ....."

We played outside this morning while Callahan took his morning nap.  Next picture - four kids wearing their crash helmets on the airplane!!  Haha!  Wearing their hard hats.

Random Observations:
Atley and Avi were playing with the legos trucks and they both named their truck.  Avi's truck was named; "Waterfall Bridge Tool Hat" and Atley named her truck; "Tulip."
Avi came from the bathroom and proudly proclaimed: "Gary!! I used 3 squares!!"  LOL!! Awesome! I'm proud of you!!  (We had a teaching moment after she plugged the toilet last week with an obscene amount of tissue!!)
She flashed the "I love you" sign at me and said, "I did the BIGGEST I love you sign ever!!"

Last Picture: Masks from "Little Red Riding Hood."  Avi wearing the "woodsman" mask and Atley wearing the "grandmother" mask.  They were chanting in unison; "Hey Gary, Hey Gary, Look at us!! Look at us!!" I love the little photo-bomber in the background!!  :)