Avi - 11/25/2020

Avilene ate no French toast and three servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of whole 30 chili with meat, peppers, tomatoes, tomato sauce, sweet potatoes, and spices.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and ate tropical fruit.  At the Lunch Table Nora and Avi were pretending like Atley was here today.  (She went with her family to a Ranch in Eastern Montana on a hunting trip.)  They were talking to Atley's empty chair and saying things like;  "Come on Atley; just eat it.  You like it.  You can try it."  Haha.  Even Svea got in on the make-believe talk.

First two pictures;  Avi brought her wooden "pirate ship stacking puzzle" from home and her and Nora were working on that.  However in the first picture Nora was way more interested in Avi's necklace than anything else.  Haha.  I was impressed how Avilene put the wooden pieces back in the plastic container.  I told her I'd just throw the plastic in the recycle bin and dump the pieces in the box.  She was NOT about to do that and worked hard to get it put back correctly; she had to redo it once and she accomplished it.  :)

Next picture:  Nora and Avilene heard Svea announce that "Gary!! I'm poopy!"  They sprint for front row seats in the viewing gallery!!  This is the response of the 4 oldest kids, every time, every day, and it never seems to get old!!  Goofy kids.  I've mentioned this before, but the Cline girls did the same thing for as long as they were - even when they were in the 1st and 2nd grades and coming here after school.  Last picture;  Callahan watching Avi use the magnifying glass while looking at the "I Spy" book.  

Avi - 11/24/2020

Avilene ate two servings of cinnamon raisin English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork roast, ate whole wheat toast, beets, and most of her applesauce.  All three big girls were trying to talk at the same time at breakfast.  This is a common occurrence and I try to let them deal with it as much as possible.  Nora said, "Atley! You're talking in front of me!!"  I kind of like that wording.  

This is Avi reading in the chair, but I just wanted to show you that we moved the Preschool Book Rack into this area so the Preschool girls can have a quiet space to read.  There's a second chair that we have for them to use.  This kind of serves two purposes;  Gives them a quiet reading area and keeps that area from being a rowdy place.  :)

Next picture:  The three big girls were doing some art that Lauralea had for them.  They put the glue in the shape of their "Letter" and then used beads of a color of their choice for their "Letter."  They filled in around their letter with other color beads. 

A couple more pictures from Avi's morning.  The girls were playing the "Ladybug Game."  Avi was bellowing out random rules, actual rules, and her own made-up rules.  :)  Last picture: She joined Nora for a couple of minutes with Nora's puzzle.  Nora has been so confident lately doing the hard puzzles by herself and I give Avi and Atley some of the credit for that growth of Nora's confidence.  Doing a good job of mentoring each other.

Avi - 11/20/2020

Avilene ate oatmeal and One dried cranberry for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, two servings of green beans, and ate applesauce.

During Story Time we read a book about Hero's and the theme was having heroes and being a hero to somebody.  I asked the girls, "who is your hero?"  Avilene went first and said, "My cat is my hero." Then she said her Parents were too.  Haha.  Well at least you made the list!!  So Atley and Nora basically followed Avi's lead and they both said their "dog" first followed by their Parents.  Ha.  One of the hero's in the book was the Science Teacher and the kids all yelled; "Science with Lauralea!!"  

In this first picture I'm showing you where Avi got the idea for her Pirate picture.  The writing on her page was also copied from this picture.  It's very interesting to compare the two pictures.  Second picture:  The three girls all working on puzzles.  Avilene did the difficult puzzle two times this morning.  This weekend is Toy, Puzzle, and Book exchange so she'll be on to different ones next week.  

Next picture:  Maybe Avi is contemplating the consequences of jumping on Atley and Nora under the blanket.  She made a good decision and jumped beside them.  Ha.  (I was just projecting what I would probably have been thinking!!  Ha!)  Last picture;  Cal slipped over to the igloo and started pulling out the blanket that was covering Avi and Atley in the igloo.  The big girls didn't even yell at him; they just turned it into a game.  Good job girls. 

Avi - 11/19/2020

Avilene ate two servings of blueberry bagel and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat tortillas, carrots, and two servings of fruit salad.  Speaking of meals the Program Monitor for CACFP (Federal Food Program) wanted to do one of their monitoring sessions today via Zoom.  Haha. Ok, that's fine with me as long as you don't mind the kids doing what kids do!!  I sat the computer on the art supplies cabinet and the three oldest girls were jumping up and down in front of the monitor so the lady could see them.  :)  But she was happy because I had all the proper paper work.  Thank you Parents for faithfully signing in-and-out which is one of several documents she needs to see.  

First picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when we went across the street to get a close-up look at the neighbor's decorations.  Second picture; Avi doing that challenging puzzle again and now of course she can nail it pretty quickly!  Third picture:  I think my mouth dropped open when I saw this!!  This is crazy good for her age.  The knight is on his horse and she did this in two pieces and glued them together.  Study it for a minute and you'll appreciate the detail.  I like the horse's tail, how the knight's knee is bent, the horse's ears, and more.

SCIENCE WITH LAURALEA!!  Science is fun.  Look at those faces.  I love it.  The theme today was "AIR."  So I'm showing you two of the experiments.  The kids easily blew out a candle and then we got out the funnels.  Avi and Atley had the large funnels and they blew as hard as they could and didn't hardly make the flame on the candle flicker.  The air follows the sides of the funnel.  Svea had the smallest funnel, MUCH smaller than Avi and Atley's, and she was the only one who blew out the candle.  We did several things with the blow dryer, but in the last picture the kids had fun keeping a ping pong ball in the air.  With a stronger blow dryer you can keep several balls in the air.  We also used a small balloon and the kids loved that and were laughing like crazy.  

Avi - 11/18/2020

Avilene ate half of whole wheat toast and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three large servings of hamburger & sausage pizza with meat, peppers, pineapple, tomato sauce, and olives.  She ate whole wheat pizza crust (which we serve separately) and ate pineapple on the side. 

I try not to post the same picture in Svea and Avi's Blogs.  But when I do, like this first picture, I try to make different comments.  The four girls were having fun doing Free Draw and adding some stickers as well.  So there were stickers of the American Flag and guess what that triggered in Nora;  "Joe Biden is really pretty."  LOL.  That cracked me up.  Have we just come through an election season!?  It cracked me up that she made that association.  

Next picture:  The girls asked Alexa to do "Animal Workout."  Standing on one leg doing the "flamingo." Then they were hopping on one leg.  Right before this was the "crab" walking sideways.  And then they did more animals.  

Last picture:  What!?! Another picture you saw in Svea's Blog!?!  Yup, it was kind of a hectic morning and I'm short on pictures.  Now that there are 5 and soon to be 6 six children at Story Time I'm sitting in the chair in front of them doing the Stories.  The kids are totally fine with this arrangement.  As the big girls are getting older Story Time is frequently more interactive in different ways.  

Avi - 11/17/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and ate 2 dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, bites of brown rice, bites of stir fry vegetables, and ate mandarin oranges.  At Lunch Time Avi said, "Gary, I feel electricity running through my chair!!"  LOL  Geez that hit my funny bone!  That's simply NOT true Avi AND I've never considered that as a possibility!!  Hilarious.  My question is obvious Avilene; How do you know what a jolt of electricity feels like!?!  Haha.

Avi's first picture:  I love how detailed Avilene is and I see that a LOT in her art work.  Here's an example.  She said, "Hey Gary, this is a leprechaun trying to steal the gold under the rainbow."  Look how small the leprechaun is; well she was trying to show me the "buttons on the leprechaun's shirt."  Haha!! She's an amazing kid in so many ways and a joy to care for.  

Next picture:  So while I'm singing Avi's praises here's another one!!  :)  I've posted a picture of her working on this puzzle before and it's a very challenging puzzle; the most difficult one here.  She's knows that of course, but will challenge herself to work on it.  

Last two pictures; She's got that Woody costume on and ready to do some art.  Last picture: I think she surrounded herself with plenty of art supplies from this toy exchange.  :)  But she'll use all of them too.

Avi - 11/13/2020

Avilene ate bites of oatmeal and bites of baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of salmon, ate whole wheat dinner roll, nibble of riced cauliflower, and ate mangoes.  There is nothing like meal time conversations here!!  Ha!!  Lunch conversation centered around all 3 big girls doing "one-upsman-ship" talking about who has the most new ski equipment!!  Hahaha.  "Well I have this and I have this!!" "Well I have more!!"  Nora talked about some guy "had the smallest ski poles I've ever seen!"  Occasionally I'll say, "What did you say?"  And they frequently will say, "I'm talking to Avi" or "Nora" or "Atley."  LOL.  So I just listen the best I can and put it here in the Blogs!!  Haha.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY # 5 TO AVILENE!!  

Wow, it goes so fast.  I feel so privileged to provide care for Avilene and Svea!!  Totally a blessing for me.

Here's a note that's not about your girls, but it's so typical of what I hear ALL the time.  At breakfast Atley said, "Gary, Nora is being a bad friend."  Why do you say that?  "Because she's not saying anything funny or laughing when I make a funny face."  LOL!!  Nora said, "I don't wanna laugh at you."  

Two pictures from yesterday.  This is a very challenging puzzle; the most difficult one I have here.  (So far anyhow!!)  No background or picture to follow either.  Avi got this and I only assisted once or twice and I don't think I would have needed to.  Second picture:  Svea was still sleeping in the Daycare Room so we put the "swimming pool" down and dumped the baby toys.  Miles can easily crawl out of there, but it contained the toys and kept him entertained for over 15 minutes.  It helped having Avi and Atley playing in there too.  

Next three pictures;  Playing the "Cootie Game" and Avi showing me her "cootie" after building it. Last picture: "Farmyard Bingo" again. Avi is the "caller" in the bingo game.  She twirls the arrow and then says whatever it lands on;  "Does anyone have a blue cow?"  (On their card.)  "Does anyone have a red pig."  

Avi - 11/12/2020

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and two servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ground beef, a large serving of whole wheat elbow noodles covered with a large serving of applesauce, and she ate her peas.   

I mentioned to Momma Molly about Avi talking about numbers; specifically adding numbers together.  She already gets this concept and it's pretty impressive.  She is figuring this out on her own.  Yesterday it was; "Hey Gary, 3 plus 3 is 6."  "2 plus 2 is 4."  Maybe even for impressive for me is the fact that when I asked her, "How do you know that?"  She was able to explain to me how she figured it out.  So awesome. So this morning "Little Miss Brainiac" says, "Gary, 2 + 2 + 2 = 6."  Whoa, she's a numbers whiz.  Gonna be doing multiplication by the time she gets in the first grade!  :)  

This first picture is left over from yesterday and the three girls were doing Art, but it was their conversation that had my attention.  Nora noticed we had the stew cooking in an "Insta- pot."  She was the one who started the conversation and soon they were all saying they each had an "INSTANT POT" at home.  Haha.  Avi said, "I think I have one."  Nora said, "I have one."  Atley said, "I have one."  :)

I think I mentioned in yesterday's Blog that Lauralea didn't work because of Veteran's Day so she did "Science with Lauralea" yesterday.  The experiments they did involved straws and I told you about one in Svea's Blog yesterday.  This first one the girls were trying to suck up a dime against the bottom of the straw and hold it enough to get it off the table.  Not easy.  Then we put some water on it and that helped a bit. Avi was the only one able to do it without water.  Standing up made it easier.  

More pictures from yesterday: Avi was showing off for Miles, but she was also encouraging him to do what she was doing.  Super super cute.  Miles was getting a big kick out of watching Avi's antics.  Following picture: All the kids in a picture again!  Wow this has been happening regularly.  This is a new fishing game and the big girls were showing the game to the little people.  Avi said she has this game at home and that's probably the answer to Nora's question; "Avi, why do you always win?"  :)  Last picture:  This is one of my favorite moments in a child's day; when I see a child getting enjoyment simply by watching others having fun.  Even when they are not directly involved, but simply being an observer.  In my opinion there is something very special about that!!

Avi - 11/11/2020

Avilene had no French toast and ate two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hearty paleo stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes.  She ate saltines and tropical fruit.  

I haven't mentioned this to the parents, but at every meal time the three big girls wash their hands in the bathroom while I get the three little ones ready as well.  Three meals a day and three girls and of course the big question every time is; "Who's turn to wash?!?"  I'd forget and they'd yell "NO" and that was a common occurrence.  SO, about 2 months ago I said, "Ok, you guys are in Preschool now and you can figure it out and decide and YOU guys keep track of who's turn it is!!  They figured it out and they ALWAYS remember and they NEVER quarrel about it.  And they never ask me.  I ask them every meal, "ok who's turn is it to wash first" and they know.  It's seriously impressive.  Good job Girls. 

Lauralea was teaching the girls how to play a fishing game we got.  (Avi said she has the game at home and she obviously does because she's a pro. Ha)  Then Lauralea was reciting a poem about what she would say when "I was a little girl and used to do some creek fishing."  She did a couple lines of the poem and then said, "I can't remember the next part."  Nora said, "That's because it was a long long time ago."  LOL. Yup that's friggin comedy right there!!!!

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  (There's a LOT more snow than this today!!)  You've heard this before, but I like an occasional picture with all 6 kids.  Side Note: We'll try to go outside occasionally in the winter, but by myself it's almost always a challenge.  The three oldest girls can pretty much get themselves ready.  That's only part of the challenge.  We'll get outside and one of the diaper kids poops, someone gets cold, mittens get soaked, then some want to go back inside, some want to stay outside, etc.  So we'll do the best we can.    

This Blog is already long so I'm gonna save a couple pictures about "Science with Lauralea" for tomorrow.  Next picture: Nora and Avi were doing puzzles side-by-side and Nora is kind of surrounded by pieces.  You can see in the picture Nora is handing Avi a puzzle piece.  They both got their respective puzzles completed.  Last picture: You can see in both of these pictures Avi has on the "Woody" costume and she wore it all morning again.  In this last picture they were all playing with the new car ramp again and they seem to love that thing.

Avi - 11/10/2020

Avilene ate waffle and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortillas, corn, and two servings of baked cinnamon apples.  Breakfast conversation; Nora said to Avi, "Guess what!! The snow is not going away until after your birthday!"  Avilene said, "I know that because my birthday is only three sleeps away!"  Haha.  

First picture:  Miles was playing with this toy while Avilene was keeping a close eye on him.  You can see he had his leg draped over the edge when I took the picture.  I'm thinking he surely won't continue to lean that way will he?!?  Yes he will.  He caught himself with his hands on the edge of the table so he actually landed pretty softly.  Avilene thought that was the funniest thing ever.  :)  When he toppled over she started roaring.  

Next picture: Avi and Atley doing some Art this morning.  Atley said, "I'm making notes for Avi's Birthday.  That got Avi's attention!!  What are you doing over there!?!

Next two pictures; Well you probably Notice Avi has on the Woody costume.  She loves it.  The velcro across the back is pretty snug.  Nora said, "It's because your back is getting so big!!"  LOL.  This is a cool car ramp that Lauralea found for us recently at a Garage Sale.  Last picture:  Five kids were lined up with drums.  (Cal was with his Grandma and didn't arrive until almost lunch.)  Atley asked Alexa to play "Little Drummer Boy" and they all played the drums.  Except Atley and she's singing while drumming on her knees.  Look at Miles; he's grinning and watching Avi do her drum.  

Avi - 11/06/2020

Avilene ate some brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger stew with meat, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and green beans.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and two servings of fruit cocktail.   

First picture:  This is a "Find the Differences" book with Christmas pictures.  Avi is obviously showing Nora the differences by helping her point them out.  Haha.  As you know these are one of Avi's favorite kinds of books and she's super good and fast at it.  The other two girls like them too and are competent at this skill, but Nora is not as fast so maybe Avi was helping her speed up!!  Haha.  Nora was willingly accepting the assistance!!

Next picture:  Avi loves to do the Preschool puzzles by the gate so Cal can appreciate her puzzle skills too. Haha.  It's actually pretty sweet and cool that she does this - with several different kinds of Preschool activities.  She'll bring them to the gate so he can watch.  

Last picture:  Avi has been doing some intricate scissor work lately; cutting out small and challenging pieces that she's drawn.  One of them she did this morning was a picture of herself.  You could very easily see the person had on a cap!!  Good work Avi!  She's sitting here in the picture because of the proximity to the little preschool garbage can.  

Avi - 11/05/2020

Avilene chose not to eat breakfast:  French toast and dried plums.  For lunch she ate two large servings of ground beef with marinara sauce on top of two large servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles.  She ate no cauliflower and ate two servings of fruit salad.   

It was nice to have Nora here today; first time all 6 kids have been here since last Thursday.  So the first two pictures;  There were some very serious discussions taking place.  In the first picture it was all about their "size."  You can see that Avi and Atley are staring at themselves in the mirror and also notice Atley is standing as tall as she can on her tiptoes.  Ha.  I only heard one sentence, but it was SO funny.  Avi said (very forcefully I might add) "I am 132 inches!!"  It hit my funny bone and I laughed so hard.  Second picture;  I couldn't hear any of this, but it's obviously serious too.   And they weren't about to let me in on their secret conversations.  Haha.

Next picture; This is one of Avilene's drawings and almost identical to what she drew on the patio yesterday afternoon.  It's a "Pirate Ship" and you can see the people and the flag.  Following picture;  The three girls worked together on this puzzle on the floor.  The picture is on the box behind Avi.  They got it put together and Lauralea congratulated them for "teamwork."  Avi was certain they deserved a "trophy."  Haha.  Nope, just pat yourself on the back.  

Last picture:  Thursday Morning Science with Lauralea.  This was actually quite impressive I might say!! She filled the glass half full of water that was just running down the string.  And not spilling any.  Zoom in on the picture and check it out.  She had three different water experiments and this was the most successful one.