Avi - 02/26/2021

Avilene ate two large servings of cream of wheat cereal (The girl loves that kind of cereal - probably because I always add brown sugar to it!) and ate 1 dried plum for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of her chicken, ate whole wheat dinner roll, bite of broccoli, and ate pineapple. 

I'm trying to finish this Blog and Avi is vying for my attention! Haha. She's saying, "Gary, I wanna snuggle!" Ok, but you gotta wait until I'm done with these. Hey, yesterday I was messing with her and said, "You Mom Loves Donald Trump." Avi totally went with it and without cracking a smile she said, "Yes she does not like Joe Biden." Hahaha. Isn't that funny? Cracked me up. 

First two pictures; When Avi came this morning she said, "Can you put your leg up again?" Haha. And this is what she meant; I was putting my leg on the igloo and she was taking advantage of it and using it for her own personal place to play and hang like a monkey. :)

Last picture: All three girls wanted some "big" paper to make snowmen. And they worked hard on their projects. As always it's about the process, BUT that's a pretty nice snowman you're working on Avi. When they use big paper we have to get creative with places for them to work and Avi liked this choice where she could create without any interruption.

Avi - 02/25/2021

Avilene ate blueberry waffle and three servings of fruit salad for breakfast. For Lunch she ate two servings of ground turkey, ate whole wheat tortillas, sweet potatoes, and three servings of cherries. 

Today was "Science with Lauralea" and the theme was "Eggs." There are lots of great experiments you can do with eggs!! Eggs seem to break quite easily, but in our first experiment we passed the egg around (in a baggie in case it did break - ha) and placed it in the palm of their hands and told them to squeeze and no one (including Lauralea or I could break it just by squeezing! (Not fair to dig your fingernails or finger tips into the egg.) Svea said, "This is the best science ever." We did a lot of stuff, so I'm just gonna briefly describe each picture: 

1. You can tell if an egg is raw or hardboiled by how it spins. :) Then we got the two eggs mixed up and 

     Avilene said, "Why don't you spin them to see which one is hard boiled? Solid suggestion Avi. :)

2. You can peel a boiled egg by shaking it in a jar. :)

3. Can Lauralea make an egg turn silver!?! Hold it over a flaming candle until it's black everywhere and 

    then place it in a jar of water. Yup, Lauralea's a magician. 

4. Can Lauralea make an egg float? Yes she can; if you add enough salt that will make it float.

5. This last picture/experiment was a lot of fun and they had a blast guessing if the egg would break! We 

     had 6 baggies and surrounded an egg in each bag with a different material and guessed if it would 

     break when rolled off the freezer. And we had to sing "Humpty Dumpty" all 6 times too!! Materials; 

     bubblewrap, cotton balls, flour, oobleck, salt, and paper towels. Not one egg broke. So what if we hold 

     high above our head? The eggs in the flour and salt were the only ones that did NOT break. 

Avi - 02/24/2021

First thing when Avi arrived she said,"Hey Gary! What are we having for breakfast.!?!" I said, "You're favorite breakfast!" She said, "I don't want any French toast!" LOL. Yup, she knows her Gary!! So cute. Avilene ate two big servings of strawberries and no French toast for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two large servings of Whole 30 Chili ("can I have more home 30 chili?") with meat, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, and tomato sauce with lots of spices. She also ate crackers and tropical fruit. 

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon. It's been awhile since we've been able to be outside and the kids were loving it. The ground is quite wet from all the rain we've had AND one of Miles' came off so he was strolling around and got his sock soaked!! He could not have cared any less! "I'm just glad to be out here!!" I think he's feeling pretty smug and satisfied with Avi giving him a ride - judging by his expression! 

I tried to get this next picture without them noticing me; but they stopped and were looking at me, so I asked them to look forward and it's pretty obvious this is staged!  Haha. What are you guys doing? Atley said, "We're doing back scratches!" :) In the following picture Avi said this is a picture "of a knight on a horse trying to kill the fire-breathing dragon!"

Last picture: The 4 girls were done with breakfast first and they were all anxiously "hiding" and waiting for the boys to come look for them. (The boys really didn't have a clue what the girls were doing. And that seems to be a common life-long theme for us in the male Gender group!! Haha.) Avi was hiding under this cozy corner rug and Cal never did locate her until Svea led him over there. Avi said, "That was hard; to lay still and be quiet!" And she did for a long long time.

Avi - 02/23/2021

Avilene ate cinnamon raisin English muffin and ate half of her grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat toast, beets, and applesauce. 

This first note is not from this morning, but one I've not posted yet either. Avi asked, "Hey Gary! Does the numbers on the airplane's tail tell how many fires it's fighted!??" Haha. (I'm giggling at the terminology.) Hmmm; who told you that? "Well that's what Atley told me." Well I thought the numbers were just for identification, but I bet I can check with Atley's source for her airplane information. :) 

First picture; Well the girl may not be into "pretty" things, but the mirror is still her friend. You're 'pretty' cute Avilene!! She was listening to some Alexa music she chose and doing some dancing and head bobbing. :) 

Next picture; Avi had on the wolf mask and was playing with Miles and Cal and you can see the boys were having a blast. Cal was extending his arm and the wolf was pretending to bite it. :) Miles was pretty much just trying to grab the mask. Ha. Last picture; Avi made another "Rainbow Picture" and this is for Momma with some roses attached. :)

Avi - 02/18/2021

Avilene ate two servings of blueberry bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two large servings of hamburger & sausage pizza with meat, peppers, pineapple, olives, and tomato sauce. She ate bite of whole wheat pizza crust (served on the side) and a serving of pineapple.  

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon. Callahan has been asking about the "robot vacuum" for many many days! (He sees it every day in the room where he sleeps.) So yesterday afternoon we picked up all the toys in the Play Room and I went and got the robot vacuum off of it's base and it wouldn't work!! The kids were good sports and took it in stride when I told them I'd check it out this weekend and then I got out the big vacuum. Avilene and Nora each took a turn doing some of the vacuuming. 

Next picture: Miles initiated this love from Avi. He laid his head on her lap and Avi was thrilled. She said, "I  think Miles is loving on me." Yes he sure is Avi and he really does love you. I love this picture.

Next there pictures; Atley's Momma Megan brought this little "Science with Lauralea" sign. Isn't it the cutest!? It's actually pretty special to Lauralea and I because it was made by Big Bear Sign Company who frequently does work for Megan at Community. We took care of 2 girls many years ago (college graduates now) whose Grandparents and then Parents own Big Bear. Pretty cool! Thanks Megan for your part in this. I'm not gonna try to explain all we did in Science today because we covered a lot of material, but here's an overview. The theme was "Coins." Using Vinegar and Salt we cleaned coins and tarnished coins. The difference between those two activities involves oxygen. They will clean if they have air, and will tarnish without air. We did a couple of activities learning the value of the coins, weight of coins, a coin trick, memory game with coins, and another activity involving "inertia." Whew! It was a lot and the kids enjoyed it. 

Avi - 02/17/2021

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite or two of pork roast, ate whole wheat tortillas, carrots, potatoes, and fruit salad.  At the breakfast table Nora was announcing (again) to everyone "I'm gonna have 2 birthdays!" Atley and Avi were immediately wanting all the details! "What, where, why, and when!?!" Nora continued, "One of them is in Arizona." Avilene said, "My Mom and I are gonna fly to Arizona for your Birthday party!" Haha.

First picture: If you've seen Svea's Blog today you saw a picture that Avi took. This time Avi wanted to snuggle and Nora wanted to take the picture; you can see the photographer in the mirror. Nora and Avi can operate my phone camera just as good as me; maybe better. I hope to have them doing my Blogs soon as well!! Ha.

Next picture: Hey Avi, there may be a better way to use your time as you wait your turn to play with Simba. They've (primarily the Nelson girls - ha) been arguing over Simba so we're using the timer. Avi stood right there and stared at the timer for the entire 10 minutes waiting. Ha. Following picture; working on using the magnetic shapes in this activity. 

Last picture; This was pretty cute because Avi had been reading to the boys and they were watching and listening pretty intently. Then Miles got a bit distracted by Avi's sock. Haha. You can see he's still tugging on it and messing with it. Avi did a good job of ignoring him and kept right on reading.

Avi - 02/16/2021

Avilene ate cinnamon raisin English muffin and no dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, bites of brown rice, ate stir fry vegetables, and two servings of mandarin oranges.  

First picture: This was probably the highlight of our morning!! Atley lost a tooth and she was showing it to her friends. Atley had the biggest grin and was so proud of it! Avi gave Atley some real solid advice; "Now don't forget to put the tooth under your pillow!" Atley assured Avi forgetting something that important wasn't gonna happen!! :)

Next picture: Avi was explaining her picture to me and said, "Hey Gary, I'm watching a Leprechaun trying to take the gold from the other side of the rainbow. I'm gonna try to get it first!" Good idea Avi! I like how you think. :) The following picture was making me laugh because I told Avi her shirt was pretty. She said, "No it's not, it's cool." I said, "You're pretty cool." I like her reaction. haha.

Last picture: This made me laugh too.  Hmmm....I see a theme here; everything makes me laugh! Ha. Avilene had been on top of the igloo leaning out over the opening taking pictures upside-down with the boys inside. By the time I got the camera into position that was over because Miles had other ideas. Haha. 

Avi - 02/11/2021

Avilene ate two servings of raisin/cinnamon English muffin and no mandarin oranges (because they were the ones we peeled and not in a cup - ha) for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of ground beef, ate whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.  

First picture: Avi and her two boys. And apparently she's got em trained too! Ha. They had the swivel/rocker going around and around. She really does love these boys and plays with them frequently. She seems to enjoy "roughing them up" a bit; something the girls do not seem to appreciate as much! Ha. Well actually Atley likes the physical play occasionally, but Avi can move the boys around easier with less resistance. Haha!!

Next picture: The 2nd outside experiment involved blowing bubbles. (I posted a picture of the 1st outside experiment in Svea's Blog.) I like how everyone, including Lauralea, is looking up and watching the bubbles. They would freeze, pop, and crystals would drop. We also used "special bubbles" that didn't freeze. 

Next picture; Like I mentioned in Svea's Blog this activity was more like an Art Activity, but it does involve "freezing" and their projects are in the freezer right now. You can take Avi's home tomorrow because I know she's not here tomorrow. With Lauralea's help Avi was able to bend her two pipe cleaners into the letter "A" and hopefully that will be visible after it freezes. Last picture: Doing an Art Activity with a Valentine theme. 

Avi - 02/10/2021

Avilene had no French toast ("Mom doesn't like it either") and ate two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and green beans. She ate two servings of saltines and ate tropical fruit.  

Yesterday afternoon the three big girls were taking turns being "Santa Claus" and passing out presents to the other two girls. They'd pretend to be asleep while Santa was laying out the presents. Avi made her point VERY clear right at the beginning; "Do NOT bring me anything pretty!!" Haha. That was awesome and so Avilene! 

First picture; Atley and Avi were looking at a book together; 100 different cars from the Movie "Cars." They were both getting a big kick out of it and pretty much "I like that one" on every page. Second picture: Doing some painting at the Art table. 

Last picture: I love how Avi has her legs tucked up and it accentuates the height she's getting here! She jumped off the igloo, bounced off the mattress, and this is the TOP of that bounce. :)  We also did sign language before Story Time and reviewed the 4 colors they know in Spanish. And I'm gonna introduce another color this week. We're also practicing raising our hands instead of all talking at the same time. We'll be discussing this in our Parent/Provider meeting.

Avi - 02/09/2021

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

Pictures from Avi's morning. She was enjoying the new Art supplies that everyone else had yesterday. In the following picture Avi successfully got all the different colored cylinders to balance. See the dice by her right hand; you roll that and then use the color that's face-up on the dice. Good work Avi. Third picture; What you can't see is she's on Gary's back again and we're doing selfies. When Avi says, "Gary! I wanna snuggle" that's really code word for "wrestle." :)

Next picture: You may have read about some of this in Svea's Blog, but there was a lot more going on here than you can see in the picture! Avilene was taking pictures with a camera from the Preschool Room and she was working on getting Nora and Svea into position for the picture she had in mind!! Avi wanted BOTH girls on their heads for the picture AND Avi worked until she accomplished exactly that! In the picture below she has Nora in position and is heading over to get Svea where she wants her. And Avi has the picture to prove it!

Last picture: More camera action! Avi was taking LOTS of pictures of Miles. However she was also getting a lesson in 18 month old behavior. Ha. Miles was not the easiest subject to photograph! Avi had a bit of frantic tone in her voice; "Miles! Miles! Miles! Miles! Miles! Cheese Miles! Miles come here! Come here Miles!" As she was following him around the room. Haha. In the picture below she stuck the camera in his face and he took off.

Avi - 02/05/2021

Avilene ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, tomatoes, carrots, and green beans.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and apricots.  

Avi said, "Hey Gary!! I need my toenail cut off!"  Haha. "It doesn't' look like an emergency so I'l just mention it in your Blog." I don't think I've ever cut the toenails of my Daycare Kids and I'd rather not start a manicure for kids now!!  :)

Avi did some of her cool art and the first picture is a watermelon. Second picture is "Robin Hood." That's a great feather in his hat Avi and I like his shoes too. His long legs are impressive, but nothing beats that nose. Haha.

Next picture: Sometimes if I do one of the activities that gets the kids interested to do it as well. So I managed to pile and balance all the animals on the barn. Following picture; Avi worked hard and did the same thing!! Well done Avilene. With the curved bottom on the barn you have to get them pretty balanced to be successful.

Last picture:  Personal space? What personal space!? Haha. Avi loves Miles and he gets lots of attention from her!! She's responds pretty well when he yells to go free; sometimes reluctantly, but she always listens to him. 

Avi - 01/04/2021

Avi decided to skip her least favorite breakfast: French toast and ate dried plums.  For lunch she ate two servings of pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, peas, and three servings of strawberries/mangoes mix.  

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  I guess Avilene wanted lots of room for her landing because she had them all lined up in the far corner.  And squeezed close together; Atley, Nora, Svea, and Cal. Avi actually came off the top of the igloo backwards and this was the end of the landing. I love that I can choose which "frame" of the picture to post!!

Next two pictures: "Science with Lauralea" and the theme today is "Cold Weather."  Specifically snow, ice, and frost. Avi asked, "Like frosting on a cake?" Haha. No. The first experiment was trying to see what would build frost faster; metal can or glass jar? We put in ice, added water, and then salt. So what makes the frost? The 'dew' that was the result of the ingredients and then the dew freezing.  It actually made frost very quickly. Good experiment!! Second picture: Three blocks of ice and we wanted to see which substance would make it melt the fastest.  Table salt, Himalayan pink salt, and sidewalk ice melt. (Table salt was the least effective.) Then we made "snow jars." Water, glitter, and sparkles.  Something to take home!!  Ha.

Last picture: Lauralea was preparing to leave heading to Superior and then Plains. Everyone was waving and Nora was voicing concern about losing her spot at the end. Ha. They're not very evenly spread out; 4 on the right bench, 2 on the left bench.