Avi - 6/30/2020

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of pork roast, ate whole wheat toast, beets, and applesauce.

I've mentioned this several times, but I'm very impressed how hard Avi works at taking care of her little sister and Avi is SO attentive!!  Svea will be in the Daycare Room, Avi in the Preschool Room and if Svea yells, Avilene comes running!!  Sometimes it's a little owię, sometimes it's nothing, and sometimes Svea is just yelling playfully.  Like today she'd yell, "Save me Avi!!"  or  "Get me out of here!!" or  "Help me Avi!!"  Avilene went to her rescue every time.  Avi can be in the middle of coloring, reading, any activity, and today was the biggest "supreme test" of all!  Playing with the Tablet.  :)  And Avi did not hesitate to jump up and go help Svea.

This first picture is from an activity she was doing yesterday afternoon.  If you look close you can see she's matched up all the opposites.  The colored cards help, but there is more to it than just that.  She's a little Whiz Kid.  Good work Avilene.  Following picture:   The girls are very much into covering their work/play area with a blanket or blankets!  This is Nora's blanket from home in the second picture and all three big girls were under there playing with the doll house accessories.  Last picture; Avi focused on doing some more coloring!!

Avi - 6/29/2020

Avilene ate no whole grain Chex cereal and ate three servings of pears for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat hamburger bun, bites of tomatoes, ate avocado, and two servings of mandarin oranges.

(I already mentioned this in Svea's Blog, but in case you missed it;) Today is Toy exchange Monday and it was a very busy morning!!  The energy level was high all morning; which always adds to the volume as well.  And actually that's a great sound here, because I know everyone is busy, happy, and engaged in activities.

First picture; The book they are looking at is "Toy Story," but they are looking at lots of other books on the back as well and talking about which ones are movies.  "I have that movie!"  "I have that movie!"  "I have that movie!"  Here are some of the books they are looking at; "Nemo," "Lion King," "Aladdin,"  "Peter Pan," "101 Dalmatians," (or as Avi called it; "301 Dalmatians") and "Jungle Book."  Last picture:  They LOVE the tiny minuscule little legos pieces!!  They are so small and the kids love em!

Next picture: Avi is working on coloring some pictures waiting for her turn to have a Tablet.  (You can see the Tablet Atley is using in the upper-left of the picture.)  I was proud of Avi for not complaining and waiting for the 22 minutes on the timer to go off.  Atley and Nora spotted the Tablets that are out in this Toy Exchange and asked if they could play.  Last picture; This particular game Avi is playing matches shapes and she's a whiz kid at it.  Again, I'll remind you I only let them use them for around 20 minutes per day and I use a timer.  They groan when the timer goes off, but they don't complain about the rule.  I always tell them (remind them) before they start and they do well with it.

Avi - 6/24/2020

Avilene was at Swim Lessons again so she wasn't here for breakfast.  For lunch she had two servings of pork roast, ate whole wheat tortillas, carrots, and three servings of fruit salad.

Here's a note leftover from yesterday afternoon.  Atley had brought the airplane with her that Avilene had given Atley for her birthday.  But Avi didn't remember doing that.  Atley told Avi; "That's the airplane you gave me."  Avi said, "No I didn't."  Atley said, "Yes you did for my birthday."  Avi said, "I don't remember that."  Atley said, "I have a more better memory."  :)

This picture is from yesterday when the kids were using chalk on the sidewalk.  Previously to this picture Avi was just sitting in my chair looking totally exhausted.  She probably sat there for 20 minutes and didn't move.  So when she started using the chalk she just laid her head on her arm.  :)

Next picture; After swim lesson this morning Avilene went immediately to coloring!  Following picture:  Atley had a Doctor's appointment so she arrived late and I'm posting this picture of the kids waving at Momma Megan primarily because I like how it goes from tallest to shortest.  (With Avilene standing on the floor filling the "shortest" spot!)  Miles did not join the line-up!  Last picture: And here's some proof of the Doctor visit; Atley showing Avi her bandaids.  (She had a bandaid on each leg.)

Avi - 6/23/2020

Avilene had swim lessons so she wasn't here for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, a large serving of brown rice, ate stir fry vegetables (determined to eat everything so she could get more servings of mandarin oranges), and three servings of mandarin oranges.  Here's a funny note (not related to Avi) from yesterday at snack; Atley was talking about her time in the hospital.  She said, "Hey Gary, I spent the night at the hospital with my Momma.  I got the other coronavirus!!"  LOL!!

I was talking with Momma Emily about the kids "telling the truth."  So I got out a book for us to read today and the name is "I Tell the Truth."  Between 4 and 5 years old they can kind of start to grasp what that might mean, so before we started to read I asked, "What does it mean to Tell the Truth?"  Now "defining" any word is a whole different concept and young children will start to just give examples.  Even as adults sometimes it's much easier to give an example rather than a definition.  So I started with Nora (the youngest of the three oldest girls).  She said, "I don't know."  Atley said, "If the water flows you can clean it up."  HUH, WHAT!?!  Ha!  Initially I thought it was just Atley being very random!  Haha.  Avi said, "Not lie."  Now that's pretty good Avilene.  So we started reading the book and it's about choices the kids have in school and the first example was about a child plugging the bathroom sink and the water was overflowing and he did finally admit that he had unintentionally plugged the sink.  And that's where Atley's definition came from!!  (We haven't read that book for weeks and weeks!!)  :)

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning - which was maybe 90 minutes long before lunch after going to swim lessons.  I've mentioned this to Momma Molly several times, but Avilene is a sweetie to the littlest ones and she especially likes Cal.  (And he is a fun little guy!!)  In the second picture Avi and Atley were doing some coloring again!!  In the third picture Avi was jumping up and down with Cal.  Last picture - It might look like she's just cuddling him, but in "live time" it actually looked more like a wrestling match.  :)  And Cal was loving the attention.

Avi - 6/22/2020

Avilene had swimming lessons and wasn't here for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat pita bread, ate olives, and three large servings of watermelon.

I did manage to get some pictures of Avi for her Blog today, but it will probably be shorter as she didn't arrived until about 10:30.  I mentioned it before, but I'm very happy that Avi loves the little ones so much.  It makes life at Little Treasures much easier!!  And then when she gets tired of the little ones she can go the Preschool area.  She was allowing Callahan to mess with her hat and then she was putting it on him.  He was enjoying the play and the attention from her.

Next picture; Well surprise! Avi and Atley were coloring again this morning.  :)  Last picture: Playing at the doll house with Nora.  Nora can get so absorbed in doll house play for a long time.  Avi and Atley; not so much.  When Nora is not here, the doll house and accessories rarely get touched!!

Avil - 6/19/2020

Avilene ate a banana and drank some milk for a snack after she got here from swim lessons.  For lunch she ate two servings of salmon, most of whole wheat dinner roll, ate cauliflower, and mangos.

All the pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  Avi loves to stand on her head in the corner.  So she helped Nora get into the position and Nora was saying, "Get me down, get me down."  However, Nora actually cooperated very willingly and we recreated the scene for you!!  I like how Avi is holding Nora's two feet with just one hand.  (So she can pose for the picture.)  Isn't that cute?

Next picture: Atley, Nora, and Avi were having a tickling session on the mattress and they were having a blast.  So much laughter and fun!!  I love that!!  And they did this for a long time!!  Last picture - Avilene always wants me to take a picture of any thing she's doing and I usually do.  I don't use all of them, but it's still a way to affirm what she's doing.

Avi - 6/18/2020

Avilene was at swim lessons again and arrived about 9:45.  For lunch she ate meat loaf, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and two servings of applesauce.

And again, she wanted to color when she arrived.  So here's a picture of that.  She and Nora were having an interesting discussion about the same time I took the picture.  Nora said something about the picture Atley is coloring; about the "sprinkle and frosting" on the cupcakes.  Avilene asked, "How do you know?" Nora said, "I just know."  Avi repeated the question, "How do you know?"  Nora; "I just know."  After at least one more round of those words Avi changed her question to this; "I'm not saying you don't know, I'm saying, how do you know?"  It was fun to listen to them because neither one got too riled up.

Next picture: Yup, when they smell or hear about the possibility of a "poopy diaper" all of a sudden diaper changing becomes a spectator sport.  Haha!!  Goofy suckers!!  Nora said, "I can't wait."  When Kenzie and Riley Cline were this age they started doing the exact same thing in the exact same spot. Front row seats.  Miles is like; "seriously Gary, you're gonna allow them to watch?"

Next picture; An addition to the doll house and just like that you've got a whole new toy!!  I removed a piece from it that was breaking and we decided to just add it to the one that's usually out.  That makes a nice big doll house for them!  Last picture: Avi, Nora, and Atley (not in the picture) were giving piggy back rides to each other and it was fun to listen to their giggling and laughing.  They were having a great time.

Avi - 6/17/2020

Avi was at swim lesson so she wasn't here for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of Paleo Stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.  She ate saltines and two servings of tropical fruit.  

So this first picture represents what Avi immediately went to after she arrived from swim lessons.  She joined Atley and Nora who were already busy coloring.  Next picture: This is a cool puzzle with book and pictures to use as a guide.  (I already told you about this a few days ago, but this is a refresher course!) There are nine six-sided blocks to create the pictures.  Nora was asking Avi for assistance and Avi is a great helper!!  And she loves to help.  I encourage them to ask each other for help and I love it when they do so without my guidance.  When Nora completed this puzzle she brought it to show me and said, "Gary, I did this one all by myself!!"  :)

Next picture: I got out the hot wheels and race track for the girls to play with.  It's works well with 2 kids, but these 3 did fine without fighting.  Primarily because they had 8 cars and you can quickly go one right after the other!!  Last picture:  I was basically humoring myself and this cracked me up!!  Avi kept doing the "cross-eyed" look.  So I asked her if I could put the head-band on her too.  haha.

Avi - 6/16/2020

Avilene was hungry after swim lessons and ate two servings of waffles and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of chicken, ate whole wheat tortillas, most of corn, and ate baked cinnamon apples.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when Avi was wearing the dress-up clothes.  Go Griz.  :)  I love the look on her face.  Very impish and adorable.  :)

Picture; Avi had just returned from swim lessons and was telling Nora a big story about Dragon Hollow.  "There is only one dragon at Dragon Hollow."  She always points and waves her hands around and becomes so animated when she's talking.  Just a little intense.  :)

Next picture; "Look Gary!!"  She was excited because she is learning to do this without leaning against the wall.  Good work Avi.  Last picture: Avilene is so good with the youngest ones.  She was crawling around behind Cal saying, "I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you." I'm gonna get you."

Avi - 6/15/2020

Avilene was at swim lesson so she wasn't here for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of turkey burger, ate whole wheat hamburger bun, avocado, bite of tomatoes, and two servings of cherries.

Hey, while I'm thinking about it I want to pass on this information.  Sometime close to the end of June, Blogger.com is launching a "new interface" what-cha-ma-call-it!  The information says it will be the default for all users.  So if you see a blip for a day or two, or you don't see the Blog, don't worry, I'll get it worked out!! !!

First picture: I laminated some mazes so they can use dry-erase markers.  There is actually a pretty good stack - this is just a small sampling of them.  Following picture; It's toy-exchange Monday and so it's a busy day!!  Next picture: Avi was playing with the "Throw the Dog a Bone" game.

Avi was just as happy as the rest of the kids about seeing Callahan.  In this next picture they are trying to coax him to sit on their laps.  It was so funny and cute.  Nora, Svea, and Avi were sitting on the mattress all patting their legs saying, "Come sit on my lap Callahan, come sit on my lap Callahan, come sit on my lap Callahan......"  Haha.  He just set there expressionless and looked at them.  Haha. Last picture;  Before Avi started reading to Svea, again she was trying to coax Callahan to join them. "We're gonna read books Cal! We're gonna read books."

Avi - 6/12/2020

Avilene ate two servings of oatmeal and a bite of apple pieces for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, tomatoes, and green beans.  She also ate whole wheat dinner roll and apricots.

This is a familiar repeat of earlier Blogs: One of the meal time "rules" is this; "You have to swallow whatever is in your mouth before you leave the table."  Well Avilene LOVES to tease and for at least two - four months now she'll leave the table with her cheeks bulging full of air.  "I tricked you!"  "I joke-sd you!!"  Haha.  SO, at breakfast this morning Nora did it for the first time.  :)

First picture: I posted a picture of Avilene doing this same puzzle a few days ago.  This is a good challenge and Avi is nailing it.  There is probably 40 - 45 pieces in this puzzle and it's not easy.  Good work Avilene.

Next picture:  Avilene is working on some pages out of a book full of "mazes."  Avi did the maze and then decided to color the outside like a rainbow.  Last picture:  Doing some work on the horse in front of the mirror.  :)

Avi - 6/11/2020

Avilene had no French toast and ate two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat toast, peas, and two large servings of watermelon.

Yesterday afternoon outside Avilene just randomly said to me; "Gary, my sister Sylvie puts yarn in her hair for fun. So I put a bandaid on my arm for fun."  (Avi had a bandaid on her arm all day.)  That made me laugh.  If that makes sense to you Avilene, then it sounds good to me!!  :)

These first two pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon.  I got some new little markers and whenever it's something new the kids are always SO excited!!  And it's especially cool if the name of the markers are "pip-squeak skinnies."  When I read the name to the girls they loved it and they roared. Ha!!  The second picture is from outside yesterday and the girls had a roly-poly bug and as you can see they built a corral for it!  Haha.

Next picture: The big girls dancing again in front of the mirror.  Following picture; Part of the fun of this project was to discuss the pieces they were gluing on the lid.  Lots of treasures to examine and talk about!  Last picture: Avi wanted to make a birthday card for Grandpa who's having a birthday in "2 more sleeps."

Avi - 6/10/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of ground beef with marinara sauce on two servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, tasted her cauliflower, and ate fruit salad.

Avi notes;
"Hey Gary, sometimes my butt gets stuck because sticky poop comes out of it."  Ok, good to know. Thanks for sharing.  :)
Yesterday at Snack Avi was telling the others about Santa's "beard."  Atley thought she was saying something about "beer."  So Avi just went with it and embellished the story further!!  "Santa's beard is this big!"  (Holding her hands about 18" apart.)  "And Dad's beer-holder is this big!!"  (Holding her hands about 18" apart.)  So apparently Dad's beer-holder and Santa's beard are the same size. :)
Avi LOVES to "trick" me ALL the time and it's So cute.  And she's been successful doing this: When she is done pooping she yells, "I'm done!!"  And of course I head for the bathroom.  This week probably 3 times I've made it to the bathroom and there is no one there!  (She only peed, not poop.) She's hiding.  SO funny!!  Good job Avilene.  What a blast.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and the kids had fun playing with this building toy on the patio.  I don't know what they're called, but they look like fancy "tinker toys."  Avi worked hard to fill every hole in the center piece.  :)

Next picture: Avi was telling me about her picture and said, "Hey Gary, this guy is running from that guy."  Also check out her name on the left side of her paper.  Wow, nice job doing your letters Avi. Last picture; Alexa was playing "Macarena" and the kids were dancing and running in circles.  Avi and Nora were trying hard to do the dances with this song.  Atley, on the other hand, was ready to come flying in from the top of the igloo.  :)