Avi - 9/11/2019

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of pork chops, bites of whole wheat tortillas, several bites of carrots, bites of potatoes, and two servings of fruit salad.  So I asked the kids during lunch what animal pork comes from and here's what I heard: "buffalo, eagles, deer, alligator, bear, snakes, elephant, snails, birds, cats, and dogs."  I think I got everything they said..and they never did say pig or cow.  :)

First picture: "Hey Gary!" What?  "Will you snuggle me?"  So I took this picture looking into the mirror;  got Svea in the picture, Linnea too, and was able to mostly crop out my head!!  Success.  Haha.  So here's a couple of things Avi jabbered about during this time.  "Hey Gary, raccoons are sneaky.  And Robin Hood lives in the forest."  Me: Oh, so is Robin Hood sneaky too?  "He's a fox. He doesn't live close to people; he lives far away!!"  Me; Oh, so then he is sneaky.  :)  "Hey Gary!" What? "The Seeley Lake water is really cold and it never warms."  Me; Oh, I didn't know that.  I've never put my feet in Seeley Lake.   Next picture:  Avilene was doing these maneuvers beside the couch while I was feeding Callahan.  She said, "Are you gonna take a picture?!?"  Haha!  Of course.  (Her right foot is tucked under her butt against the igloo.)

Last picture:  Here are the kids playing with a "new" car ramp.  (Atley's in the picture laying on the floor between Avilene and Linnea.   Avilene is in the back.)  It's new as in another awesome find at a garage sale and it's in perfect shape!!  (I guarantee you it didn't come from a Daycare!!  Haha!!)  Avi had previously spotted it in the back room and has been relentlessly asking for it.  :)

Avi - 9/10/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and most of her dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken with stir fry vegetables, most of brown rice, and a couple bites of oranges.

I took this first picture during yesterday's snack and the second picture at lunch today.  It's been fun for me to make changes in my Program as these two girls continue to get older.  Sometimes these changes are small and go unmentioned, but they are happening frequently.  These two pictures represent one of the changes.  The Food Program requires Preschools to serve meals "Family Style."  So I've begun to do that by putting the bowls of food on the table and letting them serve themselves while I monitor and teach as we go.  I keep telling myself; "messes don't matter!  messes don't matter!"  :)  And they're learning to say, "Pass me the ....."

We played outside this morning while Callahan took his morning nap.  Next picture - four kids wearing their crash helmets on the airplane!!  Haha!  Wearing their hard hats.

Random Observations:
Atley and Avi were playing with the legos trucks and they both named their truck.  Avi's truck was named; "Waterfall Bridge Tool Hat" and Atley named her truck; "Tulip."
Avi came from the bathroom and proudly proclaimed: "Gary!! I used 3 squares!!"  LOL!! Awesome! I'm proud of you!!  (We had a teaching moment after she plugged the toilet last week with an obscene amount of tissue!!)
She flashed the "I love you" sign at me and said, "I did the BIGGEST I love you sign ever!!"

Last Picture: Masks from "Little Red Riding Hood."  Avi wearing the "woodsman" mask and Atley wearing the "grandmother" mask.  They were chanting in unison; "Hey Gary, Hey Gary, Look at us!! Look at us!!" I love the little photo-bomber in the background!!  :)

Avi - 9/9/2019

Avilene ate cheerios and no banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat pita bread, no tomatoes, half of avocado, and two servings of cantaloupe.

So this first picture is kind of silly, but I wanted everyone to know - it's how I'm gonna handle the potty thing for the kids when we're outside!!  I'm not allowed to leave the kids alone outside for any amount of time and it's not easy when the older ones have to go potty!  (I have to herd them ALL inside!)  So we cleaned out a small corner of the garage, ordered 2 little potty chairs, put supplies on a shelf I painted, and I'll also put diapers out there.  And the best part - it's just inside the door so I can still keep an eye on everyone and offer assistance when needed.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were excited and busy all morning.  Next picture - she has on a hardhat and is playing with a legos truck.  Atley loves playing with anything with wheels too.  Following picture: She said, "Hey Gary! I made this for you!"  She knows that statement will always get her a picture!!  Haha!

Last picture: I'm totally impressed with how Avilene did this puzzle.  Even though it's a small puzzle it's pretty cool.  (Go in the Preschool Room and take a look at it if you want.)  There are 6 pictures in the book and nine blocks with 6 pictures on each block.  First you have to find the correct picture on each block.  Anyhow, she nailed it!!

Avi - 9/6/2019

Avilene ate most of brown rice and most of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of fish, ate whole wheat dinner roll, most of cauliflower, and a large serving of mangoes.

So yesterday afternoon Nora was sucking her thumb and Avilene was lecturing her; "If you keep sucking your thumb you're gonna get a hangnail."  That made me laugh!  And one reason is how much Avi likes the "oral sensation."  She regularly has something in her mouth, usually a thumb or finger, or she's licking a mirror or window, or whatever.  :)

First picture; She was playing with the legos for a few minutes and brought this to the gate and said, "Gary, can you take a picture of this?"  Sure, why not!  Followed by her cute cheesy grin.  Second picture: Playing with the doll house and accessories.  Atley kept ringing the "door bell" driving Avi nuts.  Ha!

Here are a couple other games they played this morning.  First one is the "throw the dog a bone."  They aren't challenging themselves too much yet on "distance throwing."  Ha!  More point blank tosses.  Last picture;  This game is about "building cooties."  :)  You roll the dice and add parts of the bug and Avi wanted me to take a picture of her final product.

Avi - 9/5/2019

Avilene ate two servings of English muffin and ate oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, couple bites of peas, and ate applesauce.  At the breakfast table Atley and Avilene saw Lauralea come upstairs - Lauralea works from home on Thursdays - and Atley said, "Hey Lauralea, I like your jammies!!"  Haha!  And just in case anyone is thinking of bribery I have Lauralea's permission to put that in the Blog!  Haha!

First picture: Left over from yesterday afternoon.  Avilene working on some surfing techniques!!  This girl could totally surf!!  :)

Next pictures: "I want to draw."  They did some drawing - Avi did lots of drawing and then turned her paper over.  "I want to do stickers.  These stickers are all shapes and they seemed to have more fun just exploring all the shapes than putting them on paper.  Avi said, "I'm looking for rectangles."  Atley said she was looking for "triangles."  But as you can see in the following picture Avi moved on to putting the stickers on paper and her paper is totally covered!!

Then I just want to include this last picture in case anyone wondered if the kids were still playing on the airplane when we go outside.  Callahan is moving into the danger zone!!  I took the picture and moved the baby!!

Avi - 9/4/2019

Avilene had bites of French toast and three servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of Paleo Stew with meat, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.  She also ate crackers and tropical fruit.

This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon.  This is what we were working on when Grandma Mary came and got the girls yesterday.  So they're not in the picture, but had just left.  These are some new toys we picked up recently.  I'm not sure what they're called, but I'll find out because I want to get more of them.  We used all the balls and rods constructing what you see in the picture.

Atley said, "I want to play the Lady Bug Game."  And so that's what we're doing in the next picture.  It helps with number recognition and then they're supposed to move the number of spaces they see on the card.  Avi does great counting the spaces as she moves ahead.  Well done.

These last two pictures illustrate what Atley and Avi did for the majority of the morning.  More than once they'd ask, "Can we play with the Doll House?"  "Can we play with the Doll House?"  It's actually the basket full of accessories that's the big attraction.  There are some pretty elaborate things like "washer & dryer, iron, sinks, fireplace (with battery operated fire and music), dressers with drawers, cabinets, and many more."  It takes a long time to thoroughly examine it all!!

Avi - 9/3/2019

Avilene ate waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortilla, ate a large serving of corn, and bites of apple slices.

So I'd snuggled Avi two or three times first thing this morning and then this:  I saw her chewing her fingernail and I asked her to stop.  She said, "I will if you snuggle me right now!!"  LOL!!  I roared.  Sorry, at this moment you're not in a strong position to negotiate!!  So funny.

I asked her what was the funnest thing she did this weekend.  With no hesitation she said, "Play with Jackson!"  Judging by the scratches, cuts, bruises, and scrapes she must have had a wild time.  :)  That scrape close to her elbow is pretty nasty!

First picture: Avi and Atley put the big doll house on the floor and played with it two different times.  There are two of these big doll houses and we split the accessories into 4 different containers.  It's a LOT of stuff.  I love it when we score big like that at a garage sale.  It took a long time to clean and sanitize all the many pieces.  Last picture: They asked to play the "throw the dog a bone" game again. It's Atley's turn in the picture and as you can see she's still throwing from "point-blank range!!"  Avi (and Atley is learning too) knows how to set the game up, turn it on, select the mode she wants, etc.  I love it and it helps me if I'm busy!