Avi - 9/30/2020

Avilene and Svea arrived about 9:30 and Avi said they had cereal for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two large servings of Whole 30 Chili with meat, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, and spices.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and a large serving of tropical fruit.  At breakfast Nora said, "I love it when it snows and gets in the trees."  Avi said, "Yes, but if it's yellow snow you can't eat it because it's dog pee."  Haha. 

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when we ventured out on a very short "field trip." Ha.  Across the street and three houses down on Rainbow Drive they have their yard full of halloween decorations.  Everyone listened very well - "either that or we're heading back immediately" -  but we didn't stay long because the little boys naturally wanted to get out of the wagons when we stopped.  

Next picture - Avi's explanation; "This is an airplane with elevators." Bottom right is "a witch with a pumpkin on her head."  Middle is a "halloween blow-up decoration."  Left is "Christmas tree."  Very awesome Avilene.  Middle picture: I like how Avi organizes everything first before she begins her Art Work.  Third picture:  This made me laugh and Avi laughed when she realized what she'd done.  She said, "GARY!!  This is really hard!!"  That's because you have one leg in a sleeve."  :)

Avilene thought this was pretty cool because Miles made it into the chair (by using the yellow bench you see in the lower right of the picture) for the first time.  Last picture: Miles was sitting in the bottom of the dress-up rack (first time I've seen him in there too) and Avilene decided to join him as well.  

Avi - 9/29/2020

Avilene ate raisin cinnamon English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of chicken, ate brown rice, broccoli, and pineapple.   I was putting breakfast on the table and Svea came to the gate and asked for help with some dress-up clothes.  I said, "Ask Avi to help you."  Avi immediately said, "Or Atley."  Haha.

First picture:  We found another good doll house at a garage sale recently.  (By "we" I mean Lauralea.  Haha.)  It's very cool and in great shape and the girls were loving it.  Atley could not even break away to wave "bye" to Daddy at the window and waving bye is a big deal around here!!  When I told her Daddy was about to drive by she said, "No thank you."  Don't be offended - they live in the moment!!  

Here are three pictures of Avi's activities this morning.  First one;  We try to have one activity every toy exchange that is a "large motor" skill activity.  This particular activity combines shapes, colors, and tossing (there's the large motor part!!) the colored shapes through the correct holes.  Second picture:  She's our little puzzle wizard.  Last picture:  I could hear Avi trying to coax Cal to watch her do several Preschool activities.  When she told me about it she made it sound like it was all his idea.  :)

Avi - 9/24/2020

Hi Everyone!  Just a quick note to say there will be no Blog today and tomorrow.  The Blogs will resume on Monday the 28th.  I have a Dr appointment today and my excuse for tomorrow; our 3 Grandchildren are here.  It's lots of fun and VERY busy which is a challenge to take pictures and notes for the Blogs.  Thank you.

Avi - 9/23/2020

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

First picture: Avilene having some fun with Gideon.  She loved it because she could do whatever she felt like doing and he still loved it.  She said, "You wanna take a picture?"  Second picture: More of the same. He had his little feet wrapped around her head.  He's pretty strong and he was holding on tight.

Next picture: Atley and Avi doing some Art again with markers, crayons, stamps, and stickers.  Following picture:  Avi drew this picture of "Nora's Family."  (Except Nora's NOT in the picture!  Haha.)  Avi explained it to me..."Emily at the bottom"  "Nora's Daddy" at the top right.  And the little one is "Miles."  Why is Miles so sad?  Avi said, "Because his Dad won't pick him up."  Haha.  

Last picture: Outside fun!!  The "seating arrangement" wasn't working too well until I had Atley and Nora trade sides.  This worked much better!  Atley is almost big enough to offset the weight of Nora and Svea. 

Avi - 9/22/2020

Avilene ate half of raisin cinnamon English muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken stir fry, brown rice, and two servings of mandarin oranges.   

First picture; Avi has been gone since Tuesday and the first thing she did when she got here was play with Miles.  So cute.  It was pretty obvious that she missed her Miles buddy.  And of course Miles was loving the attention she was giving him.  Next picture; Avi and Nora with the "Frontier Logs" set.  As you can see there are a lot of pieces to choose from.  Preschool Rule: You have to pick up everything before you can move on to another activity. 

Next picture; Avi and Atley worked hard at doing some Art activity using markers, tape, and stickers.  So at the bottom I had to post one of Avi's pictures;  There is something in the picture I think is outstanding.  Can you guess? It's the writing of her name.  Look how small the print is!!  That's quite exceptional in my opinion so I showed it to Lauralea and she agreed.  That shows how much control Avilene has with her pen, marker, or whatever she may be using at the time.  I'm impressed Avi.  

Avi - 9/15/2020

Just want to do a FYI for everyone.  My daughter Christina and Grandson Gideon will be here later today.  So excited to have them coming for a couple of weeks.  I think this is day 20 they've been without electricity in Louisiana from hurricane Laura.  (Think of the heat without air conditioning!!)  Also, I just want to mention that when the air quality is in the hazardous range I will not be taking the children outside.  I have two air purifiers from the Health Department (One was free! ahh, not really free. Thanks to all of us tax payers.) to help with the inside air while the smoke remains.  

Avilene ate waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For Lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortillas, corn, and two servings of baked cinnamon apples.  

First picture: Avilene arrived with a feather in her hat!  :)  So in the picture she was letting Nora try to stick the feather back in a hole.  Nora wasn't having success so Avi showed her how to do it.  Well you can probably guess what happened next!!  It's resting on Avi's knee and she poked herself with the feather and yelled, "OW OW OW!!"  :)  Yup, we live and learn.  

The back story for the next two pictures is this; I'd told the girls that we needed more pictures of Miles and Callahan for our digital frame that hangs at the end of the table.  So Avi was happy with that assignment! In the first picture Avilene is snapping a picture of Cal.  I think this is super cute.  I caught it right when he was kneeling and it looks like she has him posing!!  The second picture cracks me up.  It reminds me of being at the Dentist!!  Avilene was obviously trying to get a closeup!!  LOL!  Miles doesn't squawk about much, but he did about this!  Haha.  

Last picture;  Avilene worked hard at this legos arrangement and of course she wanted me to "take a picture."  The Preschool girls like how many very small pieces there are in this set.  Nice job of working hard on this Avilene.  

Avi - 9/11/2020

Avilene ate half of oatmeal and half of baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger stew with meat, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and green beans.  She had two servings of whole wheat dinner roll and ate apricots.  At breakfast Avilene was giving everyone the update on her upcoming activities: "Gonna play soccer (practice) tonight...two sleeps until soccer game....three sleeps until gymnastics."  Nora said, "Wow, you got thinks (Dr Seuss) in your head!"  LOL..Avi said, "No, my Mom just told me."  Isn't that the cutest!!

This first picture is leftover from yesterday.  I was taking a picture of these three girls because they were having a secretive conference.  (They had their heads together whispering.)  At the same moment Atley spotted a bug on the blue balance beam.  Haha.  Look at her expression!!  Love this!!  

This next picture is one that I had for yesterday and I commented in the Blog about it.  Avilene and Callahan each had thermometers and were double-teaming Miles.  I like how Avi is checking the results on her's.  Haha.  Miles is ready to skedaddle!!  (Hey, my word check let that word go!!  Ha! It said "skedaddle" is a slang word out of Civil War era that means to depart quickly or run away.) 

Another yesterday picture!!  Avi was doing building with the wood blocks and also doing the usual; "You wanna take a picture?"  Sure, why not.  Last picture: So here's one from today.  She wore her coat most of the morning except when I had her take it off for meal times.  

Avi - 8/10/2020

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

Ok everyone, sorry, but no pictures on today's Blog!!  For some reason the pictures I took today will not load on Blogger.com so I'll try to figure that out tonight.  (Blogger.com has been updated so I may need to do something to make sure I'm still compatible.)  The Blog will no doubt be much shorter because I depend on the pictures to tell the stories!!  So I'll just try to paint the pictures for you.  Ha!

Picture # 1:  Avilene and Callahan each had a thermometer from the medical toys and were doubling up on Miles.  They each had a thermometer on the side of Miles' head.  :)  

The kids were waving bye to Momma Molly this morning.  Atley kind of stumbled backwards off the yellow bench and she was grabbing for any kind of "hand hold" she could find.  There was only air to grab except for Avi's hair!!  Atley landed on the floor with a handful of hair.  Avilene did not even whimper a word, until she looked at the hair and said, "Hey!!  That's MINE!!"  LOL!! 

Picture # 2:  Avi, Atley, and Nora were playing at the Doll House and Nora and Atley were dropping accessories over the top and giving them to Avi.  What game are you guys playing?  Avi had a one word answer; "Delivery."  Hahaha.  Wow, that's a perfect picture of modern convenience!!  

Avi - 9/9/2020

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

This first picture is SO cute.  Avi had Alexa playing a good lively tune and Cal and Avi started dancing.  Cal was going for it and Avi LOVED it.  Look at her watching.  She finally just stopped dancing and watched him!  :)  

Next picture: Doing some puzzles.  The one Nora and Atley are working on is unique. (Compared to the more common puzzle like the one Avi has.)  Avi loves both kinds and is very efficient at doing both.  She'll often ask for my assistance when starting a puzzle - especially if it has LOTS of pieces - but she doesn't really need my help.  Last picture: Another "you wanna take a picture" moment.   It was kind of tricky to squeeze all three of those together.  

Avi - 9/8/2020

Avilene ate blueberry bagel and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of chicken salad with meat, peppers, mushrooms, shredded carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, sliced almonds, hard boiled egg, avocado, and lettuce.   She ate whole wheat tortillas, and ate raspberries.  

Nora said, "I have a cousin named Aiden."  Avi said, "I have a cousin named Aiden."  Nora said, "We have the same cousin."  Haha.  Avi said, "Does he live in Denver? If he doesn't live in Denver we don't have the same cousin."  Good work Avi.  That was using good logic.  

First picture;  They were matching the same colored ponytail holders on the same colored hippos.  I rarely let all three of them work on the same tray together because there just isn't enough space and most of the trays are set up for individual work.  

Next three pictures: I had to run an errand this morning and Lauralea covered for me.  (Geez, it's nice having her work from home!!  Haha.)  So these are pictures she took when I was gone.  We found a game called "Yoga Pretzels" with lots of different activities for kids.

Last picture: The three big girls worked on some art with stickers, markers, and tape just prior to lunch time.  

Avi - 9/4/2020

Avilene ate two large servings of whole grain cream of wheat cereal and ate most of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, bite of brown rice, bite of broccoli, and ate pineapple.   

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon and Avi said this was her motorcycle.  I told her if she'd put on her sunglasses she'd look like a "biker chic."  So here you go!!  Little cutie.  In the second picture Nora joined Avi and Atley building some of the same "bird houses" they were doing yesterday.  Except Avilene let me know this was a "Bird Park!!"  Not just bird houses!!  :)

The kids had fun outside and ran off lots of energy.  As you can see from the next picture; They also played at the sand table and actually played there for a long time.  We had the lawn "aerated" yesterday so there were plugs of soil scattered all over. The girls seemed to think Miles needed several of these to play with!  Ha.  Last picture: Atley was taking Avi's temperature and then said, "Ok, now I check your heart; just be patient."  Haha.  And she went and got a stethoscope and listened to Avi's heart.  

Avi - 9/3/2020

Avilene ate two servings of waffle and two servings of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of ground turkey, ate whole wheat tortillas, sweet potatoes, and cherries.  At Lunch Atley made this proclamation; "There are NO fancy boys and NO fancy girls at this Preschool!!"  LOL. I have no idea what that means to her, but it sure made me laugh.  I wasn't sure if I should be proud or offended.  :)  After all (as I keep reminding my Program families) I am from Sanders County!!  So I choose to be proud!  :)

First picture; This is from yesterday afternoon.  I don't often get pictures with all 6 Little Treasures in the same picture!!!  So cute.  And this assembly was very peaceful for at least 5 - 8 minutes.  :)  Following picture; These three girls were having a slumber party in the corner and things were going smoothly until Atley was grabbing the pillow you see in the picture.  When she was swinging it into position she elbowed Avilene in the head and look at the expression on Avi's face.  Not happy.  :)  Nora has her eyes closed.  That's probably a good choice.  Haha.  

Next picture: Avi and Atley were working hard at this building activity.  They were making "nests for birds" and if you look close right in front of Atley you'll see some with holes in them.  Those are for the birds to "fly through."  In the middle picture Avi and Atley are working hard at their art project too.  I love watching them create in this way.  Last picture: "Gary!! Look at my "A!!"  You wanna take a picture!?!" Nice job of creating an "A" from those.  

Avi - 9/2/2020

Hey Everyone: Just letting you know there is no Blog today.  Lauralea is covering for me while I visit the doctor and get another injection.  This is a last minute arrangement and I'm thankful to be able to get in this quickly.  It was a rough night last night!!  Blog should be up and going tomorrow!!  Thank you.

Avi - 9/1/2020

Avilene ate half of whole wheat English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate beets, and two servings of applesauce.  At Lunch Avi saw Lauralea and reminded Lauralea of the time they saw each other in a store.  Avilene and Daddy were buying Mommy a present.  So Avi had to go into great detail about everything they bought for Mom.  She was kind of long-winded, but in a nutshell they got Mom some "chocolate, flowers, and beer."  :)

These first two pictures are really cute.  Avilene moved her Preschool activities so she was sitting right in front of the big gate; simply so Callahan could watch her.  That was very sweet Avilene!  The first game is "throw the dog a bone" and it lights up and congratulates you when the bone (bean bag) lands on the correct spot.  Last picture; We cut out some pictures and then labeled them and use it for a "spelling" activity.  One of the pictures is Avilene and the other is an elk and she was holding them up to show Cal.

More pictures from the morning; Building with the legos.  "You wanna take a picture?!?"  Then some Art work and reading Preschool books.