Avi - 03/11/2021

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and two servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate peas, and applesauce.  I'm not exactly sure what brought about the conversation about our "heart," but Atley informed everyone "I know when your heart breaks." Oh really, when is that? "When you're NOT in love." Then after a few moments she added; "When you die." :)

Today was Science with Lauralea and the kids were super excited as always. The theme was "our tongue" and "taste buds." Lots of tasting today! As you can see in the first picture we had a partially completed (ha) diagram of the tongue and we briefly told the kids where their taste buds are located. So we started by having them plug their nose and experimented with them deciding if they could taste better with their nose plugged or unplugged. Then we moved on to lots of tasting. "Is it sweet, salty, sour, or bitter?" And they had to guess what they had just tried. Here are some/most of the ones we tried: mandarin orange juice, coffee, lemon juice, soy sauce, salt water,  sugar water, pickle juice, grapefruit juice. The general consensus: Mandarin orange juice was the favorite and Coffee the least favorite. (It was "instant coffee" mixed too strong and it was nasty. Ha.) Except Svea "loved the lemon juice." Then in the second picture we moved on to the "Tea experiment." They smelled each of the teas and could choose to taste one or mix some together. They had their own little cups and you can see the syringes in the cups of tea. Thank you again Lauralea. 

As soon as Science with Lauralea was over the three big girls got out some paper and started drawing "the taste testing" process. It was fun to watch them draw and express their perspective in this manner. 

Avi - 03/10/2021

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

I love asking the kids questions and hearing how they perceive things around them! So I asked the 3 oldest girls what their parents do at their job. 

Mommy; "I don't think she does anything!" Then Avi said, "She's not a Fireman or anything like that!" :)

Daddy; "Help people at jail."

During Story Time we read the book, "Madeline." Do they grasp what this book means at the end? I doubt it, but I had to ask. The story ends with all the little girls crying and I asked about that. Atley was the only one with an answer and it was SO typical of concrete thinking. One line in the book says this; "They went home and broke their bread (an ancient phrase), brushed their teeth, and went to bed." Atley said they were crying "because they broke their bread." :)

These first two pictures are from yesterday. I was introducing Avi to some "subtraction" puzzles/cards and she totally nailed this activity. I showed her how she could cover some with her hand and count what's left. Then with the smaller numbers she just did the math in her head. :) The following picture; Avi used tape on paper to make these letters and then cut the letters out. Check out the "A." Like I just said, She cut out the letters after she'd made them!

The next picture is from yesterday when the three girls were jumping off the igloo and using the pink cozy corner rug for a hat. Ha. Last picture; Playing the matching farm game that Avi has been sharing with us. Thanks for sharing the game with us Avi; everyone has really enjoyed it!!

Avi - 03/09/2021

Hi Everyone!

Just letting everyone know there will not be a Blog today. I am leaving shortly to go get my first Covid Vaccine!! Yes Cheers and thanks to everyone who has been so concerned and helpful to make this happen. Lauralea will cover for me while I'm gone. Blogs will resume tomorrow on the 10th.

Avi - 03/08/2021

Avilene ate kix cereal and a bite of fruit cocktail for breakfast. For lunch she ate two servings of ground turkey, ate toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, ate tomatoes, avocados, and two servings of cherries. 

Well I could only get one picture downloaded to Avi's Blog. I'm having issues with the picture/computer "thing-a-ma-jiggy!!" I'm also resorting back to pre-technology terminology!! So there's a new word for any of you youngsters!! Haha. Sorry, Lauralea always tells me I think I'm more funny than I really am. Obviously her noted insights aren't slowing me down at all. Ha. I'll get this figured out, but for today the Blog will probably be shorter. 

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were loving it like always. I had a picture of Atley, Avi, and Nora playing at the Doll House. However, it was not what you might call a traditional way of playing there. I asked what they were playing and they called it "deliveries." (This is not the first time they've played this game.) Atley is usually the delivery person and she is stationed on one side of the Doll House and makes deliveries to Avi and Nora. This game has definitely been made more popular by Covid. :) Maybe the girls need to patent their version! 

Avi did lots of art work, a couple preschool activities, and played the game that she brought from home. The girls really had fun with that game and it's perfect for them; following rules and taking turns. The only problem Avi ever gives me with these games is wanting to go first every time, but she knows that's not the way it goes and she's getting better with it every day I think! The activity in the picture below has been one of Avi's favorites and it's similar to doing puzzles. 

Avi - 03/05/2021

Avilene ate oatmeal and three servings of baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger stew with meat, tomatoes, green beans, and carrots. She ate whole wheat dinner roll and most of fruit cocktail. 

First picture: Awww...she looks angelic. Avi asked to snuggle and I try to take time whenever the kids want/need some snuggle time. So I was doing a selfie and she closed her eyes to "trick" whoever was looking at this picture. :)

Today was "Science with Lauralea" and the general theme was to "Make Stuff Disappear." Ha. We did 5 different experiments so I'll just touch on them briefly. First picture here is making a penny disappear. The penny is laying on the table with the glass on top of it. We filled the glass with water and put a lid on it. Goodbye penny. :) Second experiment we made a bottle disappear in a glass using baby oil. Think light refraction! Ha.

These next two pictures represent my favorite experiment today; "Disappearing Water!!" We opened up a diaper and shook out the "powder chemical" inside and you can see the amount in the jar. Then we started pouring water into the glass and tipping the glass over as you see in the second picture. We eventually had the glass full of water and NOT one drop ever came out!! Crazy. As all of you know these modern diapers work amazingly well. Last picture: Disappearing color using bleach. And the fifth experiment was disappearing message written on paper using lemon juice. You rock Lauralea! Thank you SO much!

Avi - 03/04/2021

Avilene chose not to eat any French toast or dried plums for breakfast. For lunch she ate two servings of cooked and uncured 100% grass fed beef polish sausage (smiley face), ate whole wheat toast, peas, and three servings of strawberries.   

This first picture is left over from yesterday and Avi had asked if she could clean up the table for snack. I've been giving the three older girls little chores every day and they love helping!! And they're learning to do a good job. Thank you Avilene!!

This picture is also left over from yesterday. We're all so happy to be going outside. Hang on Miles!! Avi is a pretty fierce driver and she loves to speed!! :)

Last picture; The three big girls were having a discussion about what Avilene was drawing. I guess she was making it for Atley so it was kind of a collaborative piece. It was Ariel the Mermaid and then some fish in the picture. You can see Svea's head in the picture too as she's working on her own paper.

Avi - 03/02/2021

Avilene ate blueberry bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate two servings of shrimp, no brown rice, ate broccoli, and raspberries.  

First picture: We did an experiment with some raw eggs that have been soaking in vinegar since Science on Thursday. We rubbed the shell (more like skin now) off and you could see the yolk moving around inside. The experiment: They feel rubbery, but will they bounce? Yes, if you hold them about 6 - 8 inches above the table like Lauralea is doing in the picture. Haha. It's funny because the membrane around the outside is very thin. Full disclosure; If you hold it twice that high it will break! Haha. 

Next picture: Atley and Avi are cleaning the table after doing some art. There were lots of colors on the table from the washable markers. However the cool part about this; I never asked them to clean it. Avi went into the bathroom and came back with a wet paper towel and got right to work and Atley joined her. Then Atley also took the Preschool garbage can and emptied it into the kitchen garbage. So proud of how they did this on their own initiative! 

Last picture: Avi and Atley were looking at some pictures I have and they wanted to try to copy them. This was Avi's attempt at the mountain with the cherry on top. There are lots of sprinkles on the mountain under the cherry and Avi nailed those sprinkles!! The artist is Jason Kotecki and he does some pretty funny stuff if you're interested.