Avi - 8/30/2019

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

At the lunch table Atley saw a "much younger" picture of Svea and she said, "Svea with a haircut." Haha.  I didn't see it, but I said it was probably a baby picture.  Avi jumped right on that bandwagon. Avi said, "When she was a baby her hair was little. That means she didn't get a haircut Atley." I love how she worded that.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  I thought this was cute because Svea is holding her sister Avilene up on the teeter-totter.  :)  With help from Atley sitting on the tail on Svea's side.  It's so fun to have a piece of play equipment that so many can play on at the same time.

Next two pictures: Well Avi got the "cat boy" costume and she was rocking that all morning.  I'm not sure what she was doing or saying in the last picture, but she definitely had Linnea and Atley's attention.  I'm just curious if the costume will last until halloween!?!  Haha!  I already told Momma Molly this, but yesterday I was getting on Avi's case about something.  She tried to distract me by immediately talking about this "cat boy costume" right in the middle of my important speech.  Haha!  She said, "Well the costume is coming tonight."  That has nothing to do with the subject at hand dear one.  Ha!

Avi - 8/29/2019

Avilene ate two servings of French toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat toast, ate peas, and three servings of watermelon.

First picture: Well it's that time of year again and we live on a School Bus route so this is what it frequently looks like at the window right now.  They love the big school buses.  If you look closely there is actually a 2nd school bus in the picture.  A small one headed in the opposite direction of the big one. Avi is pointing out the buses to Svea.  (Svea is partially hidden beside Avi.)

Avi, are you chewing your nails again?  "No, I'm picking my nose."  Oh good...uhh..I think.  :)  Next picture: Avi frequently chooses to sit under a highchair to do an activity in the preschool room - if I leave one of the chairs there after a meal.  I never think much about it, but today when Lauralea walked in she said, "What's Avi doing under there!?"  Haha!  That's one of her favorite spots!!  In the following picture: She was "measuring" beads and got focused on listing on the numbers on the tape measure.   "7, 1, 3, 2, 8..."  :)

Last picture:  Atley and Avi are trying out a game I got for them to play with.  It's called "Throw me a Bone" game.  I'm not going to list all the variations, but there are three little bean bags shaped like dog bones.  (In the picture one of them has just left Atley's hand.)  As one of the five dogs "light up" they try to toss the bone to that dog.  The light isn't on very long and it moves on to another dog, so you have to be ready.  As you can see we started off by throwing from "point blank" range!!  :)  Hey, they get to "legally" throw something in the house so that alone makes this game a winner!!  :)  Avi immediately started using strategy to anticipate when she could throw the bone.  Very good thinking!!

Avi - 8/28/2019

Avi ate three servings of whole wheat toast and two servings of mangoes for breakfast.  She was intentionally calling mangoes "fla-mangoes" and laughing about it.  "I want more fla-mangoes." For lunch she ate two servings of ground beef mixed with marinara sauce, three servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate most of cauliflower, and most of fruit salad.  She needs lots of fuel for that high powered motor she's running!!  :)

These first two pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon.  Avilene was pounding out a tune on the xylophone and Atley was dancing up a storm.  :)  It was pretty cute.  Following picture; Nora, Avi, and Atley were running up and down the sidewalk and I asked them what they were doing.  Avilene said, "We're running so we don't get stung."  Ha.  Well hopefully that works because there are some bees around and they're not very nice this time of year.  I like how Avi was watching her shadow as she was running and I also like how both of her feet are in the air when I took the picture.

Next picture; This is one of two big doll houses we found at a garage sale that's in very good shape. We've been needing to thoroughly clean and sanitize them - plus a tub full of accessories that came with them.  So we got a few pieces done and Atley and Avi were having a great time exploring and playing with it.

Everything was a bit different with Nora gone this morning - it always changes the dynamics of a group when change occurs, but we all seemed to survive in good shape.  Nora will be coming in the afternoons for the month of September and then her little brother Miles will start on October 1st.  So that's the plan going forward.

Avi - 8/27/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, brown rice, half of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries.  Atley and Nora were already eating when Avi was sitting down for Lunch.  She decided it was a good opportunity for a lecture on proper chewing etiquette.  "You chew like this Atley!!"  "You chew like this Nora!!"  As she's chomping her jaws up and down to show how it's done.  (That was before she even sat down.)

I'd asked Nora to put something back on a Tray in the Preschool and Avi knew where it went.  She was pointing the way and said; "Nora! Just follow my finger!!"  LOL!!

First two pictures: The Preschool kids love playing with the cameras and we took everything off an older phone except for the camera so that gives us one more!!  They were all thrilled - to put it mildly!!  Avilene is using the "new" camera to take a picture of the old camera.  :)  We recently put a set of new pictures (most of which the kids have taken) on the digital frame for them to look at during meal times and they love it.  Second picture: Atley was working on a Tray and Avi was taking a picture of her, but I guess Avilene wanted an action shot because she said, "When I say move, move!!  Move!!" Haha!  Atley just laid there looking at Avi grinning.

Last picture: Sometimes Avilene will get absorbed in the books; totally absorbed!!  I love that!!  Today was one of those days; two or three different times.  She'll sit and look and study them so intently!!

Avi - 8/26/2019

Avilene ate most of whole wheat bran cereal and most of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of chicken, ate whole wheat pita bread, two bites of avocado, ate cucumbers, and pears.

First picture:  We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and in the first picture Avi and Nora are working on some color sorting.  Well, actually that's what the activity is, but there were different animals in the tray and Avi was WAY more interested in the animal than their color.  She held one up and asked, "What is this?"  I said, "That's an elephant."  She said, "This is a mannith."  Clearly meaning a "mammoth."  Well it does look like it could be a wooly mammoth Avilene!!  It did have very long tusks and they look very similar!!  Second picture: When Avi held up her picture and she was peeking through the handle, it looked so cute.  She said, "I made a pumpkin."

Atley and Nora had on some capes and were running circles on the mattress. Atley said she was "catboy" (Avi's favorite character) and that was driving Avi nuts and she was yelling; "Catboy doesn't have a cape!!  Catboy doesn't have a cape!!"  Haha!  Then Avi got on the mattress and yelled, "Hey guys!!  Do you want to do some cool butt bombs!?!"  So she did a couple of "very cool" ones and said, "This is how it goes!!"

Last picture:  Avi was wanting to show me that she could jump from the blue balance beam to the step in front of the long gate.  That's a great standing jump!  (What do you think about the form Grandpa long jumper pro!?!)  I thought it was funny how Svea was wandering into the picture and it kind of looks like Avi is jumping over her.  :)

Avi - 8/23/2019

Avilene ate whole grain cream of wheat cereal and a bite of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of baked beef kabobs with meat, peppers, pineapple, and zucchini.  She also ate a large serving of brown rice and two servings of pineapple on the side.  (A Lot of food!!!)

Avi said I could go to the birthday party today, but I told her I didn't know how to get there.  So here are some of her directions.  "You go off Rainbow Drive.  Then maybe turn that way." (pointing her finger.) "And then you go that way."  (More finger pointing.)  "Well maybe we have to go a different way."  She gave it some more quick thoughts and said, "I haven't been to her house yet and I don't know the way!"  LOL!!  "And then there's going to be a big party and you have to sing Happy Birthday.  And you have to make a present."  SO Cute.

First picture: This is how Avilene was waiting for breakfast.  "When are we gonna eat!?!  When are we gonna eat!?!"  I told her when the "big hand" points at the one-two (12) we will eat breakfast.  (It was 8:45 when I told her that.)  And she watched for most of the 15 minutes.  When it was pointing at the 11 she said, "It's pointing at the one one."

Next picture: Here they are playing with the potato heads.  This was funny because Molly and I were talking about these toys this morning and I said, "They haven't played with these this week at all."  I'm sure Avilene heard us talking and sure enough after breakfast; "Nora, do you want to play with these?"

Last two pictures;  These cracked me up.  What are you guys doing?  "We're exercising!!"  Which is what I assumed, but some of the maneuvers were so funny.  I love how the picture captured Avi's hair as she was coming down for a landing in the last photo.  :)

Avi - 8/22/2019

Avilene ate half of waffle and a bite of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of shepherd's pie with meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans.  She ate a large serving of cherries and ate whole wheat tortillas.

First picture: Yesterday and today; "Can I sleep with Woody?"  Yes, but here's the deal.  Woody has to take a nap too and you guys cannot play!  Just sleep and then play after nap time.  :)

Next picture: Wearing masks with Nora.  Following picture: Wearing cat suits in the preschool room.  They did this activity and sorted them into the colored cups.  Then they were taking the different animals - elephants, bears, dinosaurs, and more - and lining them up.  Avilene said, "We're having a party!!"  :)

Last picture: Avi was just relaxing on the couch watching Svea play with the car ramp.  I thought that was cute.  But I got a kick out of how close to the edge of the couch she's laying.

Avi - 8/21/2019

Avilene ate French toast and strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings (yes three!) of whole 30 chili with meat, peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and tomato sauce.  (And lots of good spices!!). The kids are really liking this meal and it's one of Lauralea and my favorites!!  She also ate whole wheat dinner roll and tropical fruit.

Avi was running to the bathroom full speed ahead and ran into the highchair leg.  As she was laying on the floor she said, "This high chair just hit me, but I didn't get any owies!!"

First picture: I got some more tape measures - these are soft - fabric tape measures and the kids like them.  They have fun with them, but it's a great way for them to grow in number recognition.  Avi said, "Hey Gary, this is four one inches long."  And she's right.  It's 41 inches between the arms of the couch.  Notice her sidekick is holding the tape for her.  :)  Avi had one stretched out as far as it could go - past the last number - and the tape is bare for three or four inches.  Avi found that interesting and was trying to explain it to Nora.  She said, "When it doesn't go any longer it has no numbers Nora.  Does that make any sense?"

Next picture: Nora has been feeding Callahan and Avi asked if she could feed him.  So I gave her the instructions and she did real well with it.  First you gotta sit still and focus on Cal and the bottle.  She kept sneaking a peek at me out of the corner of her eye.  :)

Last picture: Avi coaxed Nora into joining her doing some cutting with scissors.  Nora worked at it for maybe a minute and quickly discovered it's way easier and faster to just rip and tear the paper with her hands.  Haha!  You can see pieces of paper on the table that Avi has cut and she did a couple of really good little squares.  She said she wanted to cut "a triangle."  You can see I drew some on her paper in two corners and then another one.  Then Nora wanted one and you can see her's too.  Nora was mad because her's was not like Avi's.  And OF COURSE Avi was mad because her's was not like Nora's.  LOL!!

Avi - 8/20/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  (Remember she said, "I don't want any breakfast.")  For lunch she ate pork chops, whole wheat toast, ate beets, and two servings of applesauce.  She ate a big lunch!!  She was SO messy at lunch time!!  She had food on her dress, her chair, the table, and the floor.  I said, "Avilene, I don't think eating your applesauce using beets for a spoon is a good idea!!  :)  Creative yes, practical no.

Avi was a busy girl all morning.  As soon as she was done with breakfast she tried to get Nora to sit and have a discussion.  "Let's talk about stuff at my house."  Ha.  Next picture; Doing some stickers and other activities.  Second picture; After a potty run they were coming down the hall and Avilene asked Nora, "Hey Nora! You want to clean the floor!?!"  When Avi got all the way down the hall she was saying this in an exaggerated tone and saying each word long and deliberately like she was exhausted;  "I...Can't...Do...It...Much...Longer."  :)

Last picture: Avi in constant motion.  Even when playing hide-n-seek.  She was "counting" and never quit running while Nora was "hiding."  And she was peeking out through her fingers too.  One of the times Avi was counting on the patio and Nora was hiding under a climber that was three feet in front of Avilene.  And she kept saying, "I'm not ready yet!!"  Ha!  Also outside Avilene was playing with the balls and made a basket.  I said, "You nailed it!"  She said, "Can I do the nails?"  Haha!

Avi - 8/9/2019

Avilene ate most of oatmeal and bites of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of fish (Alaskan Pollock - all the kids really like it), ate whole wheat dinner roll, most of cauliflower, and ate mangoes.  At breakfast I asked about what they did last night!!  :)  Avi obviously had a busy evening!!  "Went to a BIG play ground, got some ice cream, and went to the pool!!"  :)

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  Avi was spotting other kids with the binoculars, but Atley figured out a way to remain unseen.  :)  Second picture:  Avi and Atley put on some sunglasses and encouraged Nora to shine some light in their faces!!

Next picture; Avilene was examining her teeth and mouth in the mirror for a long time.  Ha!  Last picture; they were all chanting, "We're cleaning your floor for you Gary!! We're cleaning your floor for you!!"  Love it!!  Good work kids!!  Now go back and start over!!  (I actually did say that so I could get this picture!!  Haha!!)  Earlier when Avi wanted a doll that Atley had she immediately started with some threats, but in the middle of a threat she changed tactics and it sounded like this; "If you don't give me that you will not get to .....  (pause) ..... Atley!! I have paint at my house!!"  Haha!!  It just sounded so random!!

Avi - 8/8/2019

Avilene ate bites of whole wheat English muffin and oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.

First picture: This picture was taken by Nora's Grandma (Ryan's Mom) several days ago, but I just got it and I thought it was so cute.  I love how Avi has her arm around both of her friends.  (You can see her hand around Atley's neck.)  And of course the identical sunglasses adds a nice touch!!  :)

Baby Callahan is not here today so our morning was much more flexible and we spent a long time outside!  The kids had a blast playing at the sand tables.  Next picture:  Avi and Atley worked at this table the entire time and they loved it!!  This lid on this table apparently leaks and the sand was still "packable" and they were building towers.  So much fun!!

Last picture:  If you zoom in on this picture you'll see a cute expression on Avi's face and she was pointing at me with both pointer fingers!!  Also outside Linnea joined the three "older" girls for just a few minutes playing hide-n-seek.  Which at this age is awesome entertainment!!  For me!! Ha!  Linnea just stood in the middle of the yard with her hands over her eyes.  I'm not sure if she was counting or hiding!!  Haha!! Most of the time they had two people searching and one person hiding!  Which looked so hilarious because their choices for hiding were pretty sketchy and it definitely wasn't a two-person job!!  Ha!  One of the times Nora was standing on the big climber sucking her thumb and Avilene yelled, "That is NOT a hiding spot!!"  :)  I think she's sitting this one out Avi!

Avi - 8/7/2019

Avilene ate half of her French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of paleo stew with meat, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  (It's SO good and nutritious!)  She ate crackers and tropical fruit.

Avilene was taking off her jacket and when she swung it off it grazed Nora!  And of course Nora reacted like she had a life threatening wound from which she'd probably NEVER recover!!  She was yelling and pointing at Avi.  Avi responded by pointing back at Nora and said:  "HEY!!!  Don't point your finger at me!! That's NOT very nice!!"  Uhhhh, do you realize you're pointing your finger at her too!?!  Oh man I roared!!

Atley asked to use markers and do some art.  Nora and Avi both wanted to join her.  But the cute part is how they always ask and they've used this wording for a LONG time.  Atley asked, "Can I do some marker-ing?"  Then Nora, "Can I do some marker-ing".  Avi; "Can I do some marker-ing!?"

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning: In the last picture she was trying to flop over backwards like Atley was doing.  Atley was keeping her body pretty stiff and flopping straight over backwards! Avi was a bit more into making sure she landed on her butt!!  Haha!!

Avi - 8/6/2019

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

Avilene yelled; "Excuse you Callahan!!"  Hahaha!  What'd he do Avi?  She said, "He burped."  That hit my funny bone!!

First picture: I think this was the first thing Avi did this morning: Get into the lion suit.  Or "cat suit" as she calls it.  I like how she also added a mask to it.  Two sets of eyes are better than one set!!

Next picture: Atley, Avi, and Nora were playing with the legos again.  Notice Nora is wearing a mask. Maybe that was why she kept asking Atley to help her; she couldn't see real well!!  :)  Following picture: Avi is doing some measuring.  She said, "Gary, this bump is 62 inches."  (We always call the arm of the chair the "bump.")

 

Not too much to say about this last picture; I just thought it was cute and they were all wearing them at the same time including Linnea and Svea.

Avi - 8/5/2019

Avilene ate two servings of kix cereal and ate mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef/turkey, whole wheat hamburger bun, bite of tomatoes, bites of avocado, and ate her cherries.

First two pictures:  Lauralea found a box of Mr Potato Heads and accessories at a sale this weekend and it's an awesome find for the kids!!  First picture Avi said, "I don't want lips with party noise maker!"  She totally nailed it.  I didn't know what that accessory was; looks like a snail to me!!  She didn't like the lips connected, but they don't come apart.  Ha!  Second picture; Take out the lips, add some glasses, keep the high heels, and the purse.  Avi said, "SHE looks like Gary!!"  LOL!!  I can see that!!  Haha!!  I roared!!

 

Next picture: That's Linnea in the Lion suit close-up!!  I was actually taking a picture of Atley in her frog suit.  I showed Avi the picture and she said to Atley, "you don't smile very good."  I said, "Avilene, you have an opinion about everything!!  She said, "I know!"  :)  Here's another example of that:  Since Miles was born I've occasionally teased Nora with statements like I did today; "Nora, did you teach Miles how to walk this weekend?!?"  She always grins and said, "NOOO!!!"  Today Avi immediately followed up with; "Well then what have you been doing for him!"  Haha!  She always adds her two cents worth!!

Last picture: Avilene jumping off the igloo.  I showed her the picture and said, "You are the Flying Lion!"  Avi said, "No, it's a cat."  :)

Avi - 8/2/2019

Avilene ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of hamburger stew with meat, tomatoes, green beans, and carrots.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and ate apricots.   So this first picture goes with breakfast.  She has her milk teetering on the edge of the table with her elbow ready to knock it off.  Moments later she was giving a lecture to Nora and swinging her hands around. Two times she had a spoonful of oatmeal when she hit a dramatic part of her presentation.  I said, "Avi, look on the floor. Do you have any idea how that just happened?"  :)

I posted a picture of Avi and Atley yesterday doing some measuring with an old tape measure.  Well it broke.  They were enjoying it immensely so I got a couple of nice tapes from Ace Hardware last night.  (The tapes were smaller and easy for them to pull out.)  And the three girls had lots of fun with those this morning.  In the following picture Avilene and Nora were doing some gluing from the art supplies in the cabinet.

Next picture:  The girls were watching the neighbors run the "chop saw."  What are you doing?  Neighbor Joel is "building a birdhouse for his 4-H project."  It looked to me like Joel was supervising while his Mother built the bird house!!  :)  Last picture: Avi had a unique way to teeter-totter on the airplane.  She said, "I'm exercising."