Avi - 12/5/2017

Avilene ate waffle and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, bites of whole grain tortillas, bite of cabbage salad mix, and two servings of cinnamon baked apples.

Atley was at the window waving at an airplane again today; just like yesterday!  Ha!  (And the day before!)  Except this time Avi and Nora went right over to join her!  Atley's enthusiasm must be contagious! So now they were all waving and yelling "bye" to the airplane!  Where is that plane going?  Avi said, "go to airport."  :)  She's a sharp little girl!  She frequently impresses me with how quick she can answer questions about the stories we're reading during Story Time!

Hudson likes making up some dramatic play (Cousins - Sophie and Nora are good teachers) and involving Avi in it of course.  She usually plays along and cooperates and adds her part as well.  This morning Hudson was in the chair and wanting Avi to join him.  He said, "Come in the car Avi! Come in the car!"  Avi said, "That's the chair."  Haha!  I've decided she's a realist.  :)

I took this first picture because I wanted you to see she has her boots on again today.  I'm not sure what she likes about these play boots, but since the toy exchange she's had them on constantly, all day yesterday and again today.  :)

I took this last picture when we were playing with the camera and taking some selfies.  The kids were getting a kick out of looking at themselves on the camera screen.  (I mostly like how she's snuggling and laying her head on my chest!  Ha!)  We sang songs, read lots of books (including lots of Christmas books), and colored Christmas trees with markers at Art time.

Avi - 12/4/2017

Avilene ate a large serving of breakfast: kix cereal and mixed fruit.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, half of whole wheat bun, no lettuce and tomato, and she ate cherries.

I think you'll enjoy these first two pictures from Friday afternoon.  Kenzie and Riley thought it was SO funny when they were sitting in the chair and Avi and Atley started pushing them around and around.  (It's usually the big girls pushing the little ones.)  They said, "Take a picture of the little ones pushing us!!"  They were so excited!  They hoisted up Hudson so he could enjoy the ride too!  Atley and Avi were pushing pretty fast I might add!!  I think the older girls were amazed and impressed that the young ones could do that!!

Then in the following picture Kenzie and Riley were arranging the kids on the chair and Kenzie was taking the pictures.  They were all cooperating amazingly well with the "older" girls.  Well maybe Nora was pondering this thought; "what happened to my exclusive rights to this chair!?"  :)  Atley was totally fine with Hudson sitting on her lap and Avi liked Nora sitting on her lap!

Here are a couple pictures from this morning's activities.  We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange so everyone was busy all morning.  Avi was wearing one of the dress-up hats and then added a second one.  So cute.  In the last picture I was just taking a picture of Avi's stack of ice cream and she started ginning all over the place.  What a cutie!!

Avi - 12/1/2017

Avilene ate a large serving of oatmeal and ate applesauce for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, and potatoes.  Maybe a bite or two of dinner roll and ate her apricots.  Hudson was already at the breakfast table when Daddy Andy was going out the door and Bubba looked at Avi and said, "Bye Daddy, bye Daddy!"  Those two know how to push each other's buttons!  And it's pretty much 50/50 who is the instigator!!

Also at the breakfast table Hudson asked Avi; "What'd you do last night?"  She said, "Ride on carousel!"  (of course)  Hudson said, "And play soccer?"  Avi said, "Yes, play soccer."  LOL!  I roared!  It was so cute and I love it!

In the first picture Avi was sitting in the chair and Hudson was piling lots of toys around her.  Under the blankets there are a stack of sea creatures and frogs.  On top of those are lots of books and then blankets covering it all up!  Earlier, Hudson had made a stack of all the stuffed animals and then was guarding it!  Avi had grabbed a stuffed frog off his pile and was running for her life with Bubba in hot pursuit!  (Yelling!)

Last two pictures:  Hudson announced; "It's night night time everyone!  Lay down on your pillows!"  My first thought; This won't fly!  But it worked and everyone played along.  Hudson was tucking in Avi and saying, "Good night sweetie."  Atley followed suit and Nora lay down with her head on a pillow as well, but Hudson was goofing around and she left before he put a blanket on her.  :)  In the last picture Hudson and Avi were playing a cute game of hide-n-seek with rules modified to their own liking!  It sounded like this; "I'm hiding!"  "Do you want me to count?"  "No."  "Well I want to."  "Go back in the igloo."  "You found me!"  "I'm gonna find you now."  "I'm gonna count again."

Avi - 11/30/2017

Avilene ate most of french toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate meat from pulled pork sandwich, bites of bread, ate peas, and two servings of watermelon.

Hey Molly, as you were driving off this morning Hudson said, "Bye Molly."  Avi growled at him, "My Mom!!"  So of course, Hudson HAD to say, "Bye Momma, bye Momma."  Let's just say, Avi didn't like that at all!  Haha!  We quickly moved on to another (less volatile) activity!  :)

This first picture:  Hudson and Avi hurriedly cleared the toys off the shelves so they could convert them to bunk beds!

We read Christmas books at Story Time!  Never too early to get out the Special Christmas books!!  At the end of "Frosty the Snowman" book I said, "Bye Frosty, bye Frosty."  Avilene said, "He coming right back."  Cutie!  We sang songs and did some sign language as well.  I'm impressed with how many signs Avi remembers and how quickly she can identify them!  I did the sign for the color "orange."  Avi said, "Pumpkin!!"  Ha!  Cracked me up!  Last picture: We did some Christmas stickers at Art time.  It's never too early for Christmas stickers!  Ha!

Avi - 11/29/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and two servings of mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate her squash, and a large serving of fruit salad.

When Daddy Andy was leaving he asked Avi, "Can I have a love?"  Nora was standing at the gate and just lifted up her arms and he hoisted her up and got a hug.  So cute!  I told him he should be feeling pretty special because not everyone gets that opportunity with Nora!!  :)  Then Avi hugged her Daddy and of course Atley was ready for a turn as well.  I was totally waiting for his reaction when he reached over the gate and picked up Atley.  Kind of surprising, right Andy!?  Yup, and that's why she can push that swivel/rocker chair around and around no matter what anyone else wants!!  Haha!!

I was changing Avi's diaper and she was singing, "Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle.....cow jumped over the moon....dish ran away with the spoon."  We have sang/read that several times lately because that's the new book I bought on my trip which has several more versus.  She and Hudson are already singing some of the other verses; "Hey doodle doodle the fish and the noodle..."

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities; Not much too say about this first picture except I thought it was cute!  This is the reflection I saw in the mirror when Avi was playing with the pillow. The 2nd picture was pretty funny!  Hudson was trying to tell Avi something and she was messing with him; closing her eyes and pretending not to hear him.  He was saying;  "Avi! Open your eyes and look at me!!"  (Repeat and repeat!!)  The last picture: I put Baby Linnea on the floor for some "tummy time" and Atley immediately went over and lay down beside her.  Of course Avi and Hudson soon joined them.  This actually only lasted a few moments and the older ones were off to something else.  And I monitored it very closely in case anyone is overly concerned about the Baby!  Linnea has a brother at home about Hudson's age so she is already adjusted to having kids close to her.  :)

Avi - 11/28/2017

Avilene ate bites of whole wheat bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, half of brown rice, half of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries.

Note from Yesterday afternoon: my daughter text me a picture of her little dog and she'd put a headband with reindeer antlers on the dog's head.  It looked cute and hilarious and I was showing the kids.  Ave kept saying, "I want to see the reindeer, I want to see the reindeer."  Haha!

I love how observant Avilene is and how she is ready to jump in and fix everything!  :)  I finished feeding the baby and asked Hudson to sit the bottle on the changing table and "stand it up" because it still had an ounce of milk.  He put it up there and it tipped over, but I didn't really care because it wouldn't drip out with that small amount.  The next thing I noticed Avi had gotten a couple of blocks to stand on, stood the bottle upright, and said, "I stand it up Gary."  So cute.  Thank you Avi!  You are so helpful and I love it!  Not much to say about this first picture except how cute it is.

We read lots of books, sang songs, and the kids played on the mattress a lot just like they do everyday!!  They love that mattress and never get tired of it!!  Lauralea and I started using a mattress in the Daycare many years ago and it's always been a favorite.  Atley and Avi were playing in the igloo for a short time, but I got this cute picture of Atley laying her head on Avi's lap.

Avi - 11/27/2017

Avilene had bites of bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch:  From her chicken salad she ate chicken, olives, half of tomatoes, and a bite of cucumber.  Ate avocado, pears, and pita bread.  She was saying, "More pears, more pears!"  So I told her if she'd eat her chicken I'd give her more pears.  Several minutes later Avi said, "I eat my chicken; more pears."  And she'd ate all of it.  :)  Also, shortly after she arrived this morning I asked, "What'd you do last night?"  Yup, just what I thought she'd say; "I ride the carousel!"  Lauralea heard all about the carousel too while I was gone.

I had an awesome time in Louisiana with my precious daughter and her husband.  (He's a great guy too!!)  I just have to include a couple pictures from my trip - I'm limiting it to just two pictures, ha! So here are a couple that are quite different from what we see in Montana and they typify the State of Louisiana!!  1st picture:  Love these boats and I'm going on a ride up some bayous on my next trip there!  2nd picture:  My daughter only lives about 40 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico and any houses right on the Gulf waters are built high!!

I love the first day back from time away.  So many loves!!!  In this next picture I turned around and these two had moved the yellow bench over here and sat down to read some books!  Shortly after I took the picture Hudson was reading/singing "Baby Beluga" to Avi.  She knows it too of course, but she was just listening to him.  That was cute.  We had so much fun just hanging out, reading books, and enjoying being together again!

I was feeding the Baby her bottle and Nora comes over and held up a book saying, "Ah, ah, ah, ah..." It was obvious what she wanted so I asked her if she wanted me to read her the book and she said, "Yeah."  It always amuses me when this age group isn't even aware that you might be doing something else and not able to meet their immediate "want."  (not "need.")  So I said, "Did you notice I'm feeding Baby Linnea?"  Avi (who was sitting on the couch beside me) chimed in and said, "read book."  So again I asked, "What am I doing?"  Avi said, "read Row Row."  (That was the name of the book.)  LOL!  So typical and it cracked me up!!