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.

Avi - 11/04/2020

Avilene ate most of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of pulled pork with three servings of peas, no brown rice, and ate strawberries.   Nora and Miles are with their Grandparents today and this Breakfast conversation was with Avilene and Atley:  Avi said, "Atley I'm gonna give you a Buzz for your birthday.  Not my Buzz, but I'm gonna get you one."  Atley said, "Thank you Avi!!" 

I enjoyed looking at Avi's "year interview" and her "favorite things" paper.  Did you know she brought it with her?  So I asked Atley some of the same questions and also asked Avi some of the questions too; I was curious if she'd have the same answers.  She did on most, but some were different.  Avi and I were both laughing at some of Atley's hilarious answers.  "When I grow up I want to be...."  Atley said, "heart" then added, "people."  Avi laughed and laughed about that.  "My favorite Holiday is..."  Atley said, "Leprechaun."  Avi was excited; "Mine too!!  (St. Patricks Day.) 

First picture:  Well the Nelson girls arrived!! They haven't seen Cal for a few days and here's what happens!!  He's in the picture: just on the bottom!!  I was going to say it looked like the Nelson Sisters were "tag-teaming" Cal, but it quickly looked more like a "double-teaming" situation.  :)  So I was ready to come to his rescue, but it was all good.  

Next picture;  Doing stickers and drawing at the Preschool Table.  Following picture:  They (especially Avilene) love this book.  It's a "spot the difference" book with a Christmas theme.  Every page has two almost identical pictures and maybe 10 subtle differences.