Avi - 3/31/2020

Avilene ate most of whole wheat English muffin and no dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of chicken with stir-fry vegetables, bites of brown rice, and two servings of mandarin oranges.

First two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  Atley and Avi were practicing their nail driving skills.  I've mention before, but this wood is perfect for this activity.  It's so soft I can drive a nail with one hit.  I'll try to remember to show this to you in live mode.  Avi was taking slow calculated big swings to drive the nails and she was hitting the nail pretty consistently!!  Second picture - I thought it was cute how she had the ball trapped on the climber.

Next picture:  Some solitary yoga in the corner.  Collecting her thoughts and getting centered!  Haha.  Following picture; Avi was pretending to sleep and Nora and Atley were rolling her back and forth.  I'm not sure how this evolved into running from "ghosts, monsters, and zombies."  But that's what happened!

Next picture: "What are you doing Avilene?"  She said, "I'm cleaning the floor."  She did this all the way down the hall and she propels herself pretty hard.  Haha.  Maybe she can teach Sylvie a new cleaning method!  She got closer to me and said, "Watch out or I will clean you!"  Haha.  Last picture: Working hard at some art piece.

Avi - 3/30/2020

Avilene ate cheerios and bites of banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat pita bread, two servings of olives, no avocado, and ate strawberries.  At the breakfast table Nora did something that sounded like a cross between a hiccup and a cough.  She said, "I choked!"  Avi pounced on that; "Nora!!  That is NOT choking!! That's a hiccup!!"  As you can imagine that elicited an immediate rebuttal from Nora; "NO!! I CHOKED!!"  And that of course became a "no you didn't" "yes I did" back-n-forth.  A pretty typical Monday morning.  Haha.

First picture; The big girls had Alexa playing "Baby Shark."  (At least that's what I understood it to be!)  Haha!  So they were doing some motions and actions to the song and they all knew what to do, so it was apparent they'd all been watching the same video, cartoon, movie or whatever it is.  I was asking, but 3 big girls and I was getting 3 different answers.  Haha!

Here are some pictures from Avilene's morning.  Doing the Macarena.  :)  Middle picture: Standing in  the corner on her head with no hands.  This was pretty cool because she figured out this was a good spot and she was less likely to go sideways.  Last picture: We've only done this puzzle a couple of times and it's probably the most challenging puzzle we have.

Avi - 3/27/2020

Avilene ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of salmon, ate whole wheat dinner roll, big bite of riced cauliflower, and two servings of mangoes.

These first two pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon.  Avi drew a "square" and a "rectangle" and then used scissors to cut them out.  She was working slow and meticulously and the end result was super impressive.  Look how she cut on those lines perfectly!  Wow.  Nice work Avi.

Next picture: Doing a tray activity using a syringe and filling all the holes with water.  Last picture: Avi really likes helping her peers learn and work on projects.  Nora was needing assistance with the puzzles and Avi really excels at this.  I don't know how much they use peer mentoring in the school system, but she's sure good at it!  And of course you see it all the time with how she teaches sister Svea everything.

Avi - 3/26/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and ate mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef, most of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate peas, and applesauce. Some of Avilene's comments and observations make me laugh.  At breakfast she said, "Mommy doesn't know that I chew my fingers in the night!"  LOL!  I said, "She may know more than you think."  Then yesterday at snack she said, "Gary! Gary! Nora pick her nose and get germs!!"  LOL!! That tidbit coming from the "nose picking champion" totally hit my funny bone.

First picture:  This was leftover from yesterday afternoon and Avi was experimenting with how far she could move off the top before sliding to the bottom.  It was actually pretty cool because she was doing it very slowly and when she did slide off she didn't put her hands out to catch herself until right before she hit the mattress.  It was perfect timing.

Here are a couple pictures of activities she was doing this morning.  The first one is an electronic game and you have to listen and follow the directions.  Second picture;  This is just an activity of trying to balance 6 or 7 pieces on the rocking boat.  Good job Avi.

Last picture: Avi has been practicing standing on her head and is making progress every day.  She intentionally spread her legs out as far as she could and then yelled for me to look at her!!  Then she started trying to just balance on her head without using her arms.  Haha.

Avi - 3/25/2020

Avi said she didn't want to eat breakfast and told me everything she ate at home.  For lunch she ate a Large serving of Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes.  She ate half of her crackers and ate three large servings of tropical fruit.

This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon and they were holding hands preparing to jump. Not exactly synchronized, but within one or two seconds.  Haha.  At least they were still friends at the end of their exercise.  :)  They did this for 4 or 5 jumps.

Next picture:  Avilene spent a LOT of time in this chair this morning.  So I was thinking she must be really tired and then of course I realized she was listening to Alexa play Frozen 2 soundtrack.  She gets this dreamy look on her face and she's watching the movie in her head.  :)  She also listened to Lion King soundtrack.  She was very quiet this entire time and then said, "The hyenas are getting him!!!"  I like her expression in this picture.  There is a mirror directly in front of her and I was teasing her about watching herself pick her nose.  Haha.  Busted!!

Last picture: Avilene showed this to Momma Molly this morning, but she's been doing this since last week.  She said she was trying to stand on her head.  So I suggested she use the wall for balance and she totally got it.  Then yesterday she was struggling to push up and I had her move her head away from the wall a few inches.  And she's nailing it.  Just an FYI: she did NOT bonk Svea with her foot. But it was close!!  :)

Avi - 3/24/2020

Avilene ate waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, two servings of whole wheat tortillas, two servings of corn, and ate apple pieces.

I liked this tidbit that Avi shared at the breakfast table: "My Mom and Dad let me eat water with my ice!"  LOL!  Well that's certainly sweet of them!!  Then she added, "And ice without water!!"  Ha! I was repeating what she said for clarification and she thought I was talking about MY Mom and Dad. She said, "Well my Mom and Dad let me do that too!!"  Haha!! First picture left over from yesterday afternoon outside.

Next picture - Avilene had her eyes closed and she was swaying and moving to the music - you guessed it: "Frozen 2."  She said, "Elsa's Mother is singing."  Then Avilene asked Nora, "Hey Nora! What part of Frozen 2 makes your Mom cry?!?"  (Emily told Avi that she cried during the movie.)

Next picture: "What are you guys doing?"  Atley said, "Getting ready for Halloween.  We're Super Heroes."  Haha.  Well you should be well prepared when the time it arrives.  :)  Last picture:  This was in the middle of Lunch Time and someone spotted snowflakes and everyone started squealing, yelling, and running for the window!!  "It's snowing! It's snowing!!"  The arrival of winter gets everyone excited!!  Haha!!  Settle down kids, it's the beginning of Spring Time in Montana.

Avi - 3/23/2020

Avilene and Svea arrived after 10:00 so for lunch Avi ate two servings of turkey burger, ate whole wheat hamburger bun, ate avocado, and two servings of cherries.  (The Blog may be shorter because of late arrival.  I only take notes until lunch time.)

I was super curious how Avi would answer this question and she did such a good job with it.  "Hey Avi, why didn't you come to Gary's house last week?"  Avi said, "Because we had a schedule to stay at our house."  That is such a cool response.

Then it was fun to listen to Avi, Atley, and Nora talking and for a few minutes the topic was "germs."
They've been hearing about germs a lot lately, right!?!  Avi said, "Nora! You have to wash your hands more because there are germs going around!"  :)  Then a few moments later she added, "You don't have to wash your hands in the morning though!"  Haha!

Here are some pictures of Avi's busy hour-plus before Lunch Time.  She played with the Doll House and chastised Atley and Nora for not putting the accessories away when they were done.  :)  Second picture: This dance/numbers game is out in this toy exchange.  If you've not watched her do this game, you should take time to see it.  She can move fast (that's what required) and accurately as the numbers flash at the top.  She was doing some puzzles in the last picture.

Avi - 3/16/2020

Notice: There will be NO Blog tomorrow, Tuesday the 17th.  I have my yearly wellness checkup tomorrow and another appointment after that.  Lauralea will be covering for me starting around 11:30.  No Blog on the 17th.

Avilene ate bites of bran cereal and no raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, two servings of cucumber, ate avocado, and two servings of pears.

Nora is here today (and maybe more days this week depending on several factors) and she was telling Atley and Avi about her upcoming Birthday Party.  She said, "They have to get it all set up for me."  I was curious about the "they."  Haha.  So I asked Nora and she said, "The Mismos." (Plural)  LOL.  For any out-of-town readers;  "Mismo Gymnastics."

This first picture is left over from Friday afternoon.  As always Avilene wants me to take a picture of her creativity.  And I love taking the picture because it's a great way for me to validate her hard work.  Nice job Avilene.

Next picture: So speaking of hard work - Avi likes these erasable marker books and works very hard at following the lines.  Then when she's done or wants to do something different she has to erase all the lines for the next person that wants to use the book.  Last picture: These little 3 piece puzzles make different workers like Doctor, Fireman, Construction Worker, etc.  Then she turns them over and I read the back that explains what the worker's responsibilities are like.

Avi - 3/13/2020

Avilene ate two servings of cream of wheat cereal and ate dried plums for breakfast.  (She Loves Cream of Wheat!)  For lunch she ate half of turkey loaf, ate brown rice, sweet potatoes, and three servings of cherries.

Avilene saw a picture of herself on the digital frame and said, "I'm mad because that sweatshirt got WAY too small!!"  Haha!  So I told her the sweatshirt never changed a bit.  Then I was asking her what movie you guys watched last night.  She said, "Little Ariel."  :)  I asked her if that was a sequel to "Little Mermaid."

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon reading books to Svea.  (I like the horse mask.) After the first book Avi said, "Do you want me to read you anther good book?"  Second picture; Nora was drawing "crowns" so Avi drew some crowns.  I told Avi it looked like a "tooth."  She said, "A vampire tooth!?!?"  :)

Next picture: Atley, Avilene, and Svea were playing a game of "running from monsters" and they were trying to get Nora to join them every time they ran past her.   This is classic Nora; she'd much rather sit and admire her reflection in the mirror.  :)  Linnea is also not here today so all 5 kids are in the picture.  (Callahan is just off Atley's right elbow.)  Last picture: Avilene was doing some puzzles and this is a challenging one with no background picture and nothing to look at for clues.

Avi - 3/12/2020

Avilene had no French toast and ate three servings of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat toast, broccoli, and two large servings of pineapple.  At lunch Atley asked, "How are pineapple made?"  Avilene said, "From lemons!!"  LOL

This morning I said, "Svea Nelson! Stop screaming!"  Avilene said, "No no no, you're supposed to say Svea James!!"  LOL!

First picture: I mentioned in Svea's Blog that several times this morning she was just chilling out.  Avi, on the other hand, is the opposite of chill.  Haha.  Svea was snuggled down in the pillows and Avi was in constant motion!!  Up, down, twisting, turning, and non-stop talking!

Next picture; The game that never gets old; playing dead.  Shortly before I took this picture Atley said, "Linnea, see if you can catch me when I die."  Haha.  Whatever that means.

Last picture; What do you think she was doing here?!?  If you guessed "puking" you're wrong even though it looks like that to me too.  :)  She's actually in the middle of her Macarena routine!!  Haha. (Which of course she had Alexa playing.)

Avi - 3/11/2020

Avilene ate three servings of waffles and three servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate whole 30 chili with meat, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and peppers.  She had two servings of whole wheat dinner roll, and three servings of tropical fruit.  So I took this first picture at end of breakfast because Avilene said, "Gary! I am SOOOO tired!" And then she was doing fake yawns.  haha.  You don't look very tired Avi.  Then at lunch she had an enormous mouth full of dinner roll and somehow I was able to understand her mumbling question; "You wanna take a picture?!?!"  LOL!!  "No."

The next two pictures are from yesterday afternoon and in the first picture the three girls on the mattress were "playing dead."  Again!  This is a very normal game for kids even though it may seem a bit morbid to adults.  Avi had been on the blue balance beam and dramatically fell off dead.  She was yelling at Svea; "Watch me!!  I'm gonna teach you how to die, ok??!! Watch me!!"  Haha.
In the following picture Avi brought her drawing to show me.  What is it?  Avi said, "It's a loud noise!" She said, "it's a siren."

Last picture: Avi was measuring Miles and she said, "You are 8 inches."  Miles of course was just trying to grab the measuring tape in the middle of the exercise and that frustrated Avi.  She said, "Stop it!!"  Ha!  Then she was measuring Svea and said, "Svea, you are 12 inches."  Svea said, "No! I am 2."  Haha.  Great thinking Svea.

Avi - 3/10/2020

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast,  For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat toast, two servings of beets, and three servings of applesauce.  Just in case you've missed it she eats 2 servings every time we have beets.

I love this first picture: This was immediately after waving bye to Momma at the window.  She took the time to say "Hi" to Miles and give him a love.  (All on her own initiative!)  So precious and sweet.  I told her how awesome that was and she was doing it some more when Linnea showed up with a tomato from the food toys and offered it to him.  (Second picture.)  Avi didn't know anything was going on behind her back.  :)

Next picture: Avi and Atley were putting all the stuffed animals they could find on top of Baby Miles. And as you can see he wasn't the least bit concerned or maybe not aware of what they were doing. Haha!  Avilene said, "Hey Atley! I found another animal!  And I put it on Miles!" Atley voiced her approval; "Good job!"

Last picture;  Avi did several activities in the Preschool Room this morning.  When she was doing some drawing she said she was trying to make a "leaf."  Again, I love how hard she works and all the attention to detail.

Avi - 3/9/2020

Avilene ate Chex cereal and three servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat hamburger bun, avocado, tomatoes, and two servings of mandarin oranges.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Avi found lots of activities and games to try in the Preschool Room.  First picture: This is a floor activity and you select the cards to indicate where the players are supposed to put their elbow, knee, foot, head, etc.  Avi had a different idea, which is fine - I love their creativity, but I had NO idea how she was playing the game.  haha!

Next two pictures; Everyone was engaged and I was taking pictures.  Avilene played and experimented with this activity for the longest time!!  Which of course is awesome!!  There is a drill, wrench, or screwdriver to screw the bolts into the holes.  What you can't see in the picture are the color patterns below the holes and the kids are supposed to use that color of bolt.

Last picture; Avi did several more activities along with the puzzle and a couple of other puzzles.  I don't think she was in the Daycare Room more than just a few minutes all morning.