Avi - 5/27/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, bites of whole wheat tortillas, ate carrots, and two servings of strawberries.

Here are some pictures leftover from yesterday afternoon.  First picture: Avilene LOVES this book! As a matter of fact I could take another picture right now of her looking at it again today!!  It's called "Spot the Differences" Christmas book.  Two pictures almost identical, but with 10 differences.  She is super good at this activity and it's amazing how long she'll work at it.  Following picture: Every meal (almost) she "tricks" me by puffing her cheeks out pretending to still have food or drink in her mouth.  Then she follows it up with this face!  "I tricked you."  Little Cutie.

More from yesterday.  Doing some surfing practice while Atley and Nora teeter-totter.  Following picture: Preparing to send the ball flying off the catapult.  Look at Svea.  Haha.

Last picture: This was shortly before everyone's nap time and Avi was gently ticking and playing with Miles.  He was really enjoying her attention.  He's such a sweet baby.

Avi - 5/26/2020

Avilene ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat pita bread, three servings of olives, ate avocado and ate strawberries.  At breakfast Nora said, "Miles put a bouncy ball in his mouth and Dad got nervous; afraid he world choke."  Avi said, "Well the easter bunny brought me a bouncy ball!"  Kids! They crack me up!  Egocentricity runs rampant here!  :)

First picture: "Ring around the Rosy" with everyone which lasted a very short time.  Too many chiefs and not enough followers.  Haha.  Second picture: Nora has on the bear mask and Avi is a wolf.  And of course Avi was looking for physical confrontation!  Haha.  Nora wasn't interested, but boy she was really cheering when the wolf went on the prowl elsewhere!!  Third picture: I got some very cool art books this weekend the kids were delighted!!

Last picture: These four kids are waiting for Lauralea's sister Julie to get out of her car.  She had just arrived and the kids were all super-hyped about having a visitor.  When she came in the house they were jumping around going nuts, hopping on one foot, running up the hallway and back to show her how speedy they are, hopping on one foot going in a circle; "watch me, watch me, watch me."  They acted like they were SO attention deprived!!  Haha.

Avi - 5/22/2020

Avilene ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of salmon, ate whole wheat dinner roll, bite of riced cauliflower, and ate mangoes.  Their meal time conversation is always so interesting.  (And entertaining!)  Today Avi was telling them how LOOOONNNNGGGG it takes to travel to Denver.  Plus she said Momma forgot to bring her "floatie" so she had to swim without one.  Haha.  "It has a whale on it, it's blue and pink, and goes around my arms."

First picture leftover from yesterday;  We got in some bubble chasing time when it wasn't raining.  There are lots of bubbles in the picture and it's fun to zoom in on this one.  Nora's expression is full of excitement!  There's a big bubble just above the end of Avi's "noodle."  And Atley is searching for more bubbles to chase!

Following picture: We made a little catapult using the wooden spoon, wooden dowel, and a rubber band!  Haha.  (Life skills class -  because you just never know when you might need this skill.)  And they were "throwing" the wad of paper.  :)  I asked how we could attach the spoon and dowel together and Avi suggested using her bracelet.  She's a really good problem solver!!

Last picture:  Avi did lots of coloring again this morning too.  She's searching the pages to find one that appeals to her.  We also did more of the "animal workout" thanks to Alexa.

Avi - 5/21/2020

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and three servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, two servings of peas, and two servings of applesauce.

Avi and Atley have been talking about the weather forecast every day for the last week.  "There's a storm coming in this afternoon!"  Haha.  I asked Atley today; "How do you know that?"  Atley said, "Because the news telled us!"  :)  Then Atley continued with this latest nugget: "The water is getting SOOOOO high!!"  (Probably the news telled her that too!!)  Atley said, "The water is brown at my house!"  (I'm assuming she meant the river. Haha.)  Avi (with a calm and matter-of-fact voice) said, "I think that's mud."  LOL  (Love how her brain works!!)

This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon.  Momma Molly told me to say, "Animal Workout" to Alexa and so we gave it a try yesterday.  The kids loved it and it helped that Avi had experience and she led the workout.  I think they were being "bears" when I took the picture.  Thanks Molly! The kids loved it!  And they really did get a good workout!!  Side note: Suggestions from any of you are always welcome if you think of something the group might enjoy!

Next picture: Love this drawing!!  So it's a guy on the right holding his popsicle.  I love that the arms and legs are the same length and originate from the same area.  And I love how BIG that flipping popsicle is.!!  He'll have to get a ladder to start at the top.

Last picture: I took this picture at the end of lunch time when these three girls were being silly and bragging about who had the biggest belly!!  LOL!  Of course I thought about these same three sitting around a table about 25 plus years down the road doing the same thing!  Haha!  NOT!

Avi - 5/20/2020

Avilene chose not to eat breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of "hearty paleo stew" with meat, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  She ate two servings of saltines and two servings of tropical fruit.

First picture: Like I mentioned above, Avilene chose not to eat breakfast and this is what she was doing while the others were eating.  She likes to organize and categorize all the toys.  :)  She got the cars lined up and then started on the food toys.  She'll probably have her own business organizing people's lives by the time she's in the 6th grade.  :)

Next picture: So here's the financial side of her business!!  See her extended hand!  That's where the other kids were supposed to drop their payment for the goods she's selling.  Everything was on sale for $30/40.  (Pronounced; "thirty forty dollars.")  :)

Last picture: These two girls have been loving the art work lately.  Coloring, stamping, and gluing.  I'm getting some more work sheets for them; increasing the details as they move forward.

Avi - 5/19/2020

Avilene ate three servings of waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortilla, corn, and baked cinnamon apples.  First picture: Avi was looking across the breakfast table at Nora; "Look at this Nora."  Ok, I take responsibly for Avilene dinking around at the table with her cap.  Hahaha.  I did end up putting it on her cubby while she finished eating because she was putting it over the top of her milk.  Silly kid.  Side note: Avi is NOT a messy eater; she just has a bigger mess every meal (yes, EVERY meal) because she loves to dink around!  I love this little dink around kid!!  :)

This first picture is a puzzle Avi and I worked on yesterday afternoon.  We didn't have a picture to follow so I had to give extra help with this one.  I will take a picture of it (the next time if I remember! ha) so the kids have a guide to follow!

I let the girls tell "Alexa" what songs to play.  This morning I was busy changing Miles' diaper and I didn't recognize the song and all I heard was "thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder..."  I said, "What the heck is this song?!?"  Avi and Atley yelled their answer simultaneously, "THUNDER!!"  LOL!!  Well that would have been my guess.

Last picture: Avi busy gluing and doing stickers this morning.  She loves the different art activities and keeps going and going and going and going and going.  :)

Avi - 5/18/2020

Avilene ate kix cereal and two servings of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, whole wheat hamburger bun, ate tomato, avocado, and two servings of cherries.  Just in case you missed it in Svea's Blog, I'm gonna include it here;  At lunch I put mustard on my ground turkey and I told Avi you can't be a wuss and eat mustard.  Svea said, "That's right Gary."  Haha.  And of course Avi said, "No it's not Svea!"  Svea said, "Yes it is Avi!!"  :)

Also at the Lunch table Avi said, "Hey Nora!!  Remember when I had tonsils in my mouth and I couldn't eat hard stuff!?!"  Haha!!  That made me laugh and Nora's response was funny too.  She had no clue.  Nora sat there with a puzzled look on her face.  "What'!?!"  Haha.  What's a tonsil!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange and when Avi saw the "stretch game" she was excited and said, "I didn't know you were gonna get this game out!?!?  Haha.  I didn't ether.  Avi has her right foot, left knee, and left hand on the right pictures and she has right hand and forehead left to put on a designated picture.  If you zoom in on the bottom of the picture you can see the guide they chose for this turn.

Next picture; I chose some activites a bit more challenging than just simple coloring for this set and Avi and Atley loved them.  In this one Avi had to look at the shape in the section and there was a color she was to use for each shape.  For example; Oval = Purple, Square = Blue.   Last picture: Avi spent the majority of the morning at the table doing different activities.  Here she is doing some stamps and stickers.

Avi - 5/15/2020

Avilene ate most of oatmeal and most of baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger stew with meat, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She also ate  whole wheat dinner roll and three servings of apricots.

First picture: Yesterday afternoon we put up the two tunnels and the kids played in them for several minutes.  All 3 girls are in the picture if you look closely.  Atley is in the tunnel just entering the climber on the left and Avi has just excited the climber on the right.  And of course that is Svea just crawling out the end of the tunnel.  :)

Next picture: Someone - I think it was Atley - spotted a "worm" on the concrete just outside the window.  Which of course is not unusual when it's raining!!  Svea was looking up at the sky and across the street trying to spot the "worm" they (Avi and Atley) kept talking about!!  :)

Next picture: They asked to do some more gluing today and in the last picture more coloring!!  I can't believe how many pictures Avi has been coloring the last 2 or 3 weeks.  Wow!  That's what she's been doing every nap time too - color color color.  And that's what she's doing again today at nap time right now, while I'm working on these blogs.  :)

Avi - 5/14/2020

Avilene chose to not eat breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of pulled pork, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate peas, and two servings of strawberries.

These first three pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon.  In the first picture everyone else was still napping and Avi was having fun pestering Gary!!  She was trying to shove her head behind me and she said, "I'm gonna try to make my way through!!"  Haha.  Second picture: Avi is sitting in the baby stroller totally focused on her bugs that she'd captured and put in her bug container.  Then she said, "Hey Gary! I think my Sister needs help."  LOL!!  Whatever Avilene.  The master manipulator.  Third picture: There was a jet high in the sky and we could hear it and watch the vapor trail it was leaving.  Zoom in on Avi's face; :)  Here is what she was saying; "Gary! What are those numbers!?!"  Huh? In the sky?  "Yes, there is an X and a W."

Last two pictures; Some more art time.  They have been loving the art activities so much lately!!  Today they did some gluing and then more coloring.  I found another "Doug & Melissa" coloring book hidden up on a shelf while they were gluing and they were immediately ready to throw the gluing aside!!  It's an "animal" book and so Avi is coloring a zebra in the last picture.

Avi - 5/13/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and two servings of mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of ground beef with marinara sauce, ate whole wheat spaghetti noodles, bite of cauliflower, and ate fruit salad.  Lauralea stopped by the breakfast table and you never know what the kids will come up with.  Avi said, "Hey Lauralea, we got a blowup ghost for halloween!"  Like it just happened yesterday!  Or maybe it did!?!  Haha.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon right after nap time.  So Atley and Avilene each have a camera and are taking a picture of each other.  And I'm taking a picture of them.  :)  The second picture is also from yesterday.  Atley spotted a spider on the airplane and called in some backup support.  :) That was a very small spider, but they were using their noodles for protection.  And they conquered the spider using good team work.  :)  So what did the "team work" look like? Thanks for asking.  Avi was the appointed brave one while Atley and Svea cheered her on.

Next picture: Atley and Avilene did LOTS of art work with stickers this morning.  Right before lunch Avi asked about doing some "gluing" so that may be the next run of art activity we do!! It's fun to make this all available to them and let them choose.  Last picture: Avi is never (ok, almost never) too busy to stop and help Sister. I really admire Avi for how much she loves Svea and how she's more than ready to defend Svea as well.

Avi - 5/12/2020

Avilene ate blueberry bagel and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of shrimp, ate brown rice, stir fry vegetables, and two servings of strawberries.  I started to sing at Lunch  - oops, that's against the rules - and I said, "Oh! that's right, I'm not allowed to sing at meal time."  Avilene said, "And if you do, you get yelled at!"  I asked, "By who?"  Avi said, "By us!!"  And that's true.  :)

First picture: This was immediately after waving bye at Momma this morning.  Avi has been on a "coloring tear" and did 4 of these big pictures before 10:45 this morning.  Good work Avilene.  Notice her grip on the marker; Momma Molly and I were talking about it last night and I have visited with Lauralea about it as well.  So Molly, we can talk more about this and I'll tell you about a couple ideas we have moving forward.

Next picture: Wow, Avi actually did something besides coloring and was working on a puzzle!!  :)  Following picture: Study this picture and I bet you can't guess what Avi is doing here.  There was glitter on that paper you stuffed in the BD bag this morning and Avi was searching for treasures.

Last picture: I'm holding off an attacker this morning with my foot!!  And she's a pretty aggressive persistent little critter too.  :)

Avi - 5/11/2020

Avilene chose not to eat breakfast: "Don't wanna eat; I had waffles at home."  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, avocado, three servings of cucumbers, and two servings of pears.

I posted this first picture in Svea's Blog and talked about it.  So here's the rest of the story.  When Avi and Atley heard me giggling they came running to see what I was doing and realized I was laughing at Svea.  So they immediately grabbed their shoes to do a performance as well.  Goofy suckers.  Ha!

Next picture: Nora and Miles are not here today because they have more Grandparents in town for a few days.  So with only 3 kids here it's the perfect time for a Lockdown Drill!!  I have to document a certain amount of drills for the year so this works!!  :)  I keep a bin full of supplies in this room including toys, but we just recently had new carpet installed so the room is not quite put back together yet.  But the kids still thought it was cool to go downstairs.  When I said, "Lockdown Drill" Avi said, "We're going downstairs!!"  (This is the Granddaughter's room!!)  The State has 2 different designations - "Lock Down Room" and "Shelter In Place Room" - and this room works great for both  primarily because it has no window.

Last picture: Well I threw this picture in here just because I haven't done one lately of Avi standing on her head.  Didn't want you to think she'd quit doing it.  I know it's pretty obvious, but that's her bracelet she has in her mouth.  She was wanting me to read books...She said, "I'm not gonna stand on my head unless you read books."  So I said, "I'm not gonna read books unless you stand on your head."  (She was doing it earlier and she knew I was wanting a picture.)  Haha.  So we both came away happy.

Atley - 5/8/2020

Avilene ate cream of wheat cereal and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, brown rice, half of broccoli, and ate pineapple.

I mentioned this before, but Avi can be so absorbed in her work that you'd think she hears nothing, but that's not the case.  She can be working hard like you see in the pictures below, but the moment she hears Svea whimper a "distress signal" of ANY kind from the Play Room, Avi is out of her chair and confronting the not so obvious culprit!!  Haha.  "OK!! WHAT HAPPENED!?!"  It's fine Avilene,  thank you for your assistance, but you can return to your work.  I'm in charge and I'll handle it.  :)  (I've used that phrase somewhere between 5 and 200 times.)

First two pictures; Avi worked hard on this picture; it's a boat on the water.  As a matter of fact, it's 1:30 and everyone else is sleeping, but she's still working on it.  (She's coloring all the water blue.) In the 2nd picture she took a break from coloring and did some stickers.

Hey, just like yesterday I waited most of the morning to take a picture of Avi doing something that didn't involve art at the table.  She played with the "Mr Potato Heads" for awhile and then (like yesterday) she played in the hallway with the battery-powered cars.

Avi - 5/7/2020

Avilene ate three servings of waffles and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey loaf, bites of whole wheat tortillas, ate sweet potatoes, and ate cherries.  Nora was counting "holes in her waffle" at breakfast and after she gets past ten she will always say "eleven-teen" and at least once or twice at some point.  :)  This morning Avilene said, "You've already said that twice." Haha.  Avilene and Nora have one trait in common - actually several - neither of them will let anything slide!!  :)

One of our meal-time rules.  You cannot leave the table with food or drink in your mouth.  So lately Avilene has been getting up from the table with her cheeks full of air and pretending to chew so she can "trick" me.  Haha.  It's pretty cute and she always remembers to do it!!  She tricked me the first time so of course she's gonna keep trying and trying to duplicate that.  :)

The kids were dancing while Alexa was playing "Puppy Dog."  At least I think that's what I heard.  All the songs they request are new to me.  My Children's Play List is a bit outdated!!  Haha!!  I knew that was probably true, but it really became apparent when I got Alexa.  Stinking Alexa!!  :)

First picture: Well you don't have to guess what Avilene spent a majority of her morning working at!! I like the 2nd picture - the tape is "watermelon" tape.  And she told me what she wanted me to write at the top.  Love it.  Last picture: Hey, I took a picture of the first thing she did when she finally left the art table.  :)  Battery powered car on the hardwood floor.