Avi - 7/28/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of chicken, bites brown rice, no stir fry vegetables, and ate mandarin oranges.  Breakfast conversation:  Atley asked, "Hey Gary; you your Grandpa with Gideon?"  (Love the phrasing!)  Yup, I'm Gideon's Grandpa.  And Avi didn't even attempt to correct her!!  :)  Then Lauralea did something in the kitchen behind me and Avi and Atley were laughing.  Atley said, "Lauralea's a bit clumsy cooking today!"  Haha.  We got a big laugh out of that one!

First picture; Avi and Atley have these houses full of frogs and a few sea creatures.  :)  Second picture: Chasing bubbles outside!!  Third picture; Same scenario as Svea's picture in her Blog.  Hoses across the sidewalk make it a whole new game.  As Avilene goes bouncing over them!!  

I took this last picture while Avi was hard at work during nap time.  At the top of the paper she's working on is her drawing of a "lily pad."  Nice work Avi.  She has some frogs and action figures for companions while she works.  :)

Avi - 7/17/2020

Avilene was excited to see we were having salmon for lunch.  She loves the fish.  She ate three servings of salmon, ate whole wheat dinner roll, one (large) bite of cauliflower, and two servings of mangoes.  (Svea got the rest of Avi's cauliflower.)  Svea loves the riced cauliflower.

First picture: Having fun with the parachute.  Nora on front left, Svea, Atley, and Avi.  (Going clockwise.)  Svea was just basically hanging on for dear life and had her legs going as fast as she possibly could!!  This is a funny picture in Live Mode!!  Second picture: The kids managed to get the parachute over another climber too and then. my little parachute on top too.

Next picture: Avi playing with Miles again.  She has taken time out of her busy schedule (smile) to play with him and Cal everyday for several days.  She crawled across the floor with Miles and said, "Gary, I can crawl faster than him!!"  WOW!! Are you sure!?!  "YES!!"  :)  Last picture: "Gary Gary!! Get a picture!!"

Avi - 7/16/2020

For lunch Avilene ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, and two servings of peas topped with two servings of applesauce.  Coral came upstairs during lunch time and the kids were excited to see her and were ALL talking at once.  Totally cracked me up.  Everyone vying for her attention!! And they just kept getting louder and louder.  It was SO funny and sounded something like this, but all yakking at the same time!!
Atley: "I have two apple trees and a pear tree!"
Avi: "We're getting a new kitchen!"
Nora: "We have a camper!!"
Svea: "I have Frozen 2!"
Cal: "Hi hi hi hi."

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and Avilene was playing with the two little boys.  Avi is so great with the little kids; gives them lots of attention and consequently they both really love and enjoy her.

Pictures from this morning;  First - She's gotta make sure I know she's back and that she is needing some attention.  :)  Love you Avilene!!  Following picture; Avi using a high-tech coloring thing.  Haha. (That sounds very high tech.)  Next picture; Hanging out with Svea near the book rack.  Last picture; Looking at some pretty rocks with Coral.  Coral loves her rocks.  (We took Coral to Crystal Park on Sunday to dig for crystals.)

Avi - 7/15/2020

Avi was hungry by the time we ate Lunch;  she ate Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  She ate saltines and two servings of tropical fruit.  The Lunch conversation today had a "space theme."  :)  Avi was describing the rotation of the earth; "The earth is spinning slowly! My Mom told me that!  Haha! Just kidding!!  I already knew that!!"  Now that cracked me up!  What a goof!

At snack yesterday the three oldest girls were throwing out random rhyming words.  And it was fun to listen to them.  Then Avilene did a sentence!!  "How about the fan blows the man."  Nicely done Avi; I'm impressed.

Atley has been asking Alexa to play "The Chicken Dance."  So we went to YouTube today and watched a video and the kids were LOVING the actions.  Callahan was doing it his way, but he was loving the dancing.  The three older girls caught on very quickly and then we had Alexa play it again and Cal lined up with the rest of us.  Nora went to the mirror and continued to practice the "Chicken Dance."

First picture: Avi said this is a character from "Monster's Inc."  (I can't remember the name.)  Avi was showing the picture to Coral.  Second picture; Some selfies with Gary after Swim lesson!  Little cutie.  Avi was just peeking into Nora and Atley's secret spot and Miles crawled over to join her.  Shortly after this Nora was yelling for Miles to "STOP" and he was grinning all over the place.  Haha.

Avi - 7/14/2020

For Lunch Avilene ate chicken, whole wheat tortillas, most of corn, and two servings of baked cinnamon apples.

I caught part of a conversation between Nora and Avilene about the meaning of "old."  Well this should be enlightening!!  Here's some of what I heard:
Avi: "You're old when you grow up and get big!"
Nora: "No, you're old when you die.  My Mom told me that."
Avi; "No, she (Emily) means you're old when you've already died."
So there you have it people.  Four years old and they have it figured out!!  :)

First two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  She was working hard on anther Mr Potato Head creation and I like the Pirate with the wooden stub for a leg.  Following picture; You may have already read about this in Svea's Blog, but here it is again.  Lauralea had come outside for something and then before leaving she was scratching my back.  Thank you Lauralea!  Anyhow, Avi wanted Lauralea to scratch her back, Nora also asked, but Svea asked if she could scratch Lauralea's back.  Haha.  That was cute.

This next picture: Avi was drawing and said, "Hey Gary, it's a balloon! Will you take a picture to show my Mom!?!"  Sure, so here it is Mom!!  Last picture: Again you may have read about Coral in Svea's Blog, but I'm showing a different picture here.  They've (Daycare Kids) all had fun getting acquainted with Coral and competing for her attention!!  For those that may not know; Coral was in our Program years ago (she's now 18) and had her own bedroom at our house for most of those 18 years.  She arrived on Thursday and will be here under late July.

Avi - 7/13/2020

Avilene arrived after swim lessons so for Lunch she ate ground turkey, whole wheat hamburger bun, no avocado, ate cucumbers, and cherries.

First picture;  We are changing things up a bit at Nap Time.  Avi no longer takes a nap and I'm experimenting with ways to make it work better going forward.  Especially if more kids eventually quit napping close to Kindergarten time.  This way Avilene has access to the Preschool Room during Nap Time without disturbing the napping kids.  So here's the new arrangement in the Daycare Room.  (You can't see their heads - well maybe Atley very slightly.)  Atley, upper right.  Nora, lower right.  Svea, upper left.  And I can't forget the sound machine on the yellow bench!!  Totally essential!!  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were super busy this morning. First picture: I'm not sure what the attraction is about these two toys; well actually it's probably the fact that one is a Superman "thing" and the other one is a Batman "thing."  But the older girls liked them more than the little people.  Following picture; Avi and Nora did a couple of Mr Potato Heads.  There was a fair amount of bickering between Nora and Avilene this morning - which is pretty common - even though you can rarely detect that in the pictures.  They always look SO angelic!

Last pictures;  Doll House play and the last picture is a game of Sequence.  Avilene totally gets the "4 in a row" thing even if she doesn't yet quite understand the strategy of how to achieve that the quickest or simplest way possible.  At this age the games are way more about the process and learning to take turns, than about the end result.

Avi - 7/10/2020

Avi finished another week of swim lessons.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, green beans, carrots, and tomatoes.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and no apricots.

Avi's Blog may be shorter today!!  I usually get lots of notes and pictures from the first 2 hours of the day and/or from the previous afternoon.  When it gets close to Lunch time it gets very busy around here.  That's not hard to imagine, right!?!?  Haha.  I actually like the loud noises of kids as long as it's happy/neutral noises.

In this first picture we were doing a game called "farmyard bingo."  I was running the spin wheel and calling out the names it landed on.  The kids had fun and really enjoy playing different games.  Last picture; So I thought we'd give it a try to just let them play another game called Chutes & Ladders while I got Lunch ready to go on the plates.  Haha.  It was no longer happy/neutral noises.  The noise escalated rapidly and furiously!  With a strong emphasis on the furious part!  :)

So Avi went out to the Play Room and was giving Callahan a hug!  And it looks to be evolving into a "Full Nelson" wrestling move as well.  Miles was playing on or near the mattress all morning.  He made it up on the mattress for the first time today; on his Birthday # 1!!  Cheers.  :)  Avilene was thrilled that he'd made it because she's been wanting to drag him up onto the mattress for weeks!!  Haha.  However, she wasn't real thrilled that he wouldn't repeat the feat when she'd tell him to.  :)  Come on Miles; just do it again!!

Avi - 7/9/2020

Avilene was at swim lesson - So for Lunch she ate two servings of pulled pork, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate peas, and two large servings of watermelon.  That was a lot of food.  :)

Two or three times I've heard Atley talking about "going to space."  She told Avilene; "I want to be an astronaut because I never saw space."  Avi, of course, knows what it takes to have a career as an astronaut.  Haha.  Avi said, "Well first you have to get an astronaut suit.  And then a helmet."  Atley said, "AND the spaceship."  Haha.

Outside yesterday afternoon Avilene got stung by a wasp.  (I think that's 4 or 5 times she's been stung in the last two years and she's the only one!!  Geez!!)  So anyhow, I found the nest and the wasp and took care of them.  We were putting ice on Avi's sting and the neighbor "Mike" got home.  So Avi yells to Atley; "Hey Atley!! Will you tell Mike I got stung by a bee?!?"  So Atley raced to the gate to update neighbor Mike on the last news!!  :)

First picture: I just took this because of how she had the tag hanging down and blocking part of her view.  Silly kid.  Following two pictures: Avilene loves the little people.  Here's a picture of her and Miles from yesterday afternoon when she was putting her cap on him.  Then in the third picture she is greeting him after arriving from swim lessons.

Last picture:  Cal was initially the only one in the legos drawer, but things started getting a bit crowded!!  This is not social distancing!!  :)  Haha.  Svea was the last one to get in and as you can see she kind of ended up on Nora.  Nora was not too impressed, but on the other hand she did not freak out like she may have in recent memory.  And that's progress.  :)

Avi - 7/8/2020

Avilene is doing swim lessons and eating breakfast at home.  Or as Atley calls it; "Swim School."  So for Lunch she ate three servings of ground beef with marinara sauce on top of three servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, a bite of riced cauliflower, and ate fruit salad.

I don't know if you've heard Avilene use this phrase at home; "To Last."  She has used it for three days in a row this week.  She's using it to talk about "living."  For example and these are her words;  "a fish needs water to last."  So it needs water to live.  She said that while we were watching the salmon run on a river in Alaska.  Yesterday she asked me if "someone could last 35 years."  :)  So I gave her examples of people who "lasted" many years beyond that.

We were looking at pictures of a dog with it's "tongue hanging out like a rope."  Haha.  Again, those are her words.

So things were extra hectic around here for about 20 - 30 minutes this morning!!  There was poop from the window to the mattress.  (Cal was leaving tracks from the poop on the bottom of his feet!  Haha.)  I was helping the other kids finish up breakfast and thank goodness Atley alerted me to the situation!  THANK YOU Atley!!  I ended up having Cal sit in some warm water in the sink in the entrance room so I could  clean him up.  Svea and Nora stayed at the breakfast table and watched the show from there.  They were all very cooperative!!  Good job everyone!!  (Well, except for Cal!  Haha.)  Miles was super cooperative because he was napping.  :)

These first two pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon and these 4 kids were all watching a low flying jet heading for the airport.  (Cal in the background and Nora in the middle.)  They start yelling, "airplane, airplane, airplane" and that gets everyone's attention!  Atley is the resident airplane enthusiast!   Look at the position of Atley's arms.  In the second picture Nora is on the high side and was frequently getting space between her butt and the seat thanks to Atley working hard.  And lots of giggling and laughing.  Avi was the pilot and was yelling at them for starting to go without her.  Ha!!

Next picture: Avi, Atley, and Nora at the Big Doll house.  Last picture;  Avi making a bridge for Svea and Nora to crawl under.

Avi - 7/7/2020

Avilene was at swimming lessons this morning so here is what she ate for Lunch: Half of her shrimp, bites of brown rice, no stir fry vegetables, and ate her raspberries.  Hmmm...She will probably be hungry at snack when we have waffles and banana.  :)

First picture:  This is from yesterday afternoon outside.  All 4 girls are in the geo-climber along with all the balls (big and little), plus the noodles and accessories.  Then they decided to start throwing little balls at each other.  It was all good fun and no one got upset.  Nicely done everyone.  Second picture; A warm afternoon and everyone gets thirsty!  I like how Miles is intently watching Cal; Miles just had a bottle in case this bothers anyone!  :)

This is what Avilene likes to do just as soon as she gets back from swimming lessons: play with the little ones on the mattress.  Miles is not in this picture, but he's been getting on his hands and knees and leaning over the mattress.  He will soon be crawling onto it.  Once they can crawl on, then they can usually figure out how to get off too!  Anyhow, Avi REALLY  REALLY wants to drag Miles onto the mattress.  Haha.  But she has listened to me (and my reasons for not wanting her to do that) and she has resisted the temptation.  So far.  Haha.  No, she is a really good listener for me.  Persistent, but totally willing to listen.  Last picture: Avi joined Nora at the Doll House.  I think Avilene primarily played with the "door bell" and other "noise making" buttons!!  :)

Avi - 7/6/2020

Avilene did swim lessons this morning so for Lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, tomatoes, avocado, and two servings of pears.  So here's what the first picture is about: She was trying to tell me a story and her mouth was jammed full - and it was totally full - of pita bread.  I said, "When your mouth is empty you can continue the story!!"  I seriously could not understand ONE word of what she was saying!!  :)  So she's ready to continue the story!!  Haha.  She cracks me up.

Next picture:  We did some sign language this morning and I just wanted to show you a sample of the flash cards I follow.  So I did the sign for "sick" (like the one below) and Avilene and Atley both said it was the "coronavirus."  Haha.

Next picture:  Having fun on the mattress.  A mattress is like the best thing ever for the Daycare!!  We've had a mattress (not the same one!) in here for at least 20 years and the mattress is an accessory they never get tired of.  So here it was Avi on the bottom, then Atley, and Nora on top!

Next picture: Avilene put the sunglasses on Callahan and he stood patiently while she did.  Last picture: Avi was playing with Miles and you can see she had him covered with a doll blanket. He was jabbering at her and she said, "He said my name!  He said my name!"  Then she said, "How does he know my name!?!"  :)

Avi - 7/1/2020

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

Avilene was looking at a billowing cloud and said, "It looks like a narwhal."  That was pretty cool.  I couldn't see it, haha, but she sure did.  :)

This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon when the kids were using chalk on the concrete. Miles was moving in on them!!  Haha.  And he did crawl all over the chalk and got pretty messy.  Look at the diameter of the chalk.  And each piece has two colors.

I had another picture that I couldn't get to load for some reason.  It was Avilene playing ring around the rosy with Callahan and Svea.  It was super cute and I love how Avi loves to play with the little people.  Next picture; We found a good Toy Story puzzle and Avi put it together this morning for the first time; 48 pieces and she nailed it.  Good work Avilene!!  Last picture; Some more of Avilene's favorite kind of books.  Search and Find.  "I like finding stuff!!"  Yes you do!!