Atley's Journal

Atley ate cheerios and a bite of banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef and whole grain pita bread, no olives, tomatoes, or avocados, and no watermelon.  Nora has been a great example for her many many "thank you's!!"  She says "thank you" after everything!!  It's so cute!  All of the kids were saying "thank you" at breakfast and lunch!  Thank you Nora!  :) First picture; Avi likes going off the end of the couch head-first and Atley likes to follow her!  :) Next picture:  Then Avi was sitting on the "bump" (that's what we call it) of the couch reading her book and Atley scooted right up close to her with a book as well.  Then Atley started reading and singing LOUD! You can see in the picture how Avi is now looking at Atley's book like "that must be very interesting book because she is very loud and persuasive with it!!"  :) Here are a couple more pictures from the morning activities.  Avi said, ...

Atley ate oatmeal and a bite of sliced apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate salmon, dinner roll, no green beans, and a taste of mangoes. I was flossing my teeth this morning and Atley said, "floss teeth."  Except she said it like one word and here's what it actually sounded like: "frosty"  Haha!  Hudson heard her say that and started singing, "the snowman was a jolly happy soul."  Which was funny, but then Atley started singing it too and that was hilarious!  So now they're all singing "Frosty the Snowman!" Well I have a couple of pictures from yesterday afternoon outside and the kids have been loving it and so have I!!  Kenzie and Riley were doing bubbles for the kids again and in the first picture Kenzie is in the yellow shirt.  If you look close you can see a bubble in front of Atley and three bubbles in front of Avi.  Nora is on the left of the picture.  I took a lot of pictures before I got a couple that had ALL 4 kids in on...

Atley ate half of toasted whole wheat english muffin and bites of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, a large serving of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate most of peas, and a large serving of applesauce. I took this first picture yesterday afternoon and the kids were having fun searching for and chasing bugs on the garage walls.  Lots of flies and a few box elder bugs.  (It must be spring!) Then they were trying to "get" the bugs with the balls they have.  Let's just say that the bugs were pretty safe!!  This game kept their attention for 20 - 30 minutes. The next picture: Atley spotted a jet flying over at a very high altitude and she watched the jet and vapor trail just as long as she possibly could!!  Riley heard Atley's excitement and came over to see what she was looking at.  (Kenzie and Riley were here a few minutes before school today which surprised Atley because that is not the norm!!) Yesterday I posted a picture of...

Atley ate french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had a bites of paleo stew with chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots!  She ate crackers and a large serving of tropical fruit. These first two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  The kids are having so much fun outside this week as the weather is improving for outside play!!  Eventually we will probably go outside in the morning too, but right now it's just once a day in the afternoon.  Riley is holding a roly-poly bug and Atley is very interested.  And in the 2nd picture she is enjoying time on the slide. So I have to post a picture of the new arrival at Little Treasures!!  Svea (Avi's sister) is starting full-time today and so I put her on the floor just for the picture moment!!  Atley is looking, but not touching!  Wow!  Avi said, "We put her on the floor at home!"  Haha!  Well that's not gonna...

Atley ate waffle and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of baked chicken, half of whole grain tortilla, ate a large serving of corn, and no baked cinnamon apples. Lauralea commented on Atley's dress; "That's a pretty dress."  Atley said, "Yah, pretty dress."  Haha! At least she was in full agreement.  Hey Megan, I asked her to "please leave your ponytails in" and she totally cooperated and never touched them this morning!!  Which was very nice, especially when it was time for breakfast and lunch!  I complimented her two or three times how well she was doing leaving them intact!!  I like the bigger ponytail holders you've been using and like you said they're SO much easier to get out!! Atley was playing near Baby Linnea and I asked, "Can you get a toy for the baby?"  She said, "no." Haha!  That made me laugh.  I took this picture about the same time and as you can see Linnea is totally mobile and can get he...

Atley ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey burger, bite of whole wheat hamburger bun, ate half of lettuce and tomato, ate avocado, and two servings of cherries. Hey Megan, I was thinking about what you said about noticing Atley falling more than usual.  She may be going through a growing stage.  We hear lots about "clumsiness" when kids are going through major growing spurts during adolescent years, but kids this age can struggle with growth spurts too. So here's what's happening today: Hudson is gone until Wednesday.  We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so the kids were busy.  Also, no school today so Kenzie and Riley are here most of the day (until Riley and Cooper's T-Ball game at 4:00) and the kids loved that.  Riley was watching Atley do the puzzle in the first picture, but the main attraction is this particular puzzle has sounds with each piece.  (primarily animal sounds) Next picture - ...

Atley ate a large serving of brown rice and ate her raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  (She picked out the things she likes; especially the carrots.)  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and ate a large serving of apricots.  At breakfast I always ask the kids "what'd you do last night?" It's one of our rituals and over the years there are some hilarious stories associated with these "disclosures."  Haha!  I always ask Atley; "Did you play with Lexi?"  "Yes."  "Did you go for a walk?"  "Yes."  "Did you chase squirrels?"  "Yes."  :)  When I asked Avilene that question she answered;  "No, I chased soccer ball."  :) I've mentioned before that Atley and I sing a "scrubba dubba dubba..." song when we wash hands. She likes watching the bubbles that come as she washes and now at the end of the song she alway...

Atley ate french toast and half of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite of pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, ate a large serving of peas, and no watermelon. This first picture cracks me up.  Atley, in typical Atley style and character, watched Nora put on a mask and then Atley put on all the rest that she could find.  I think she has five of them!  The part that was funny to me is that she's still able to see and if you look close at Atley's mirror reflection you can see the corner of her eye.  Nora's mask is upside-down, but she can see through the eye holes too and is checking out Atley's arrangement!!  (Which Nora found quite amusing!) This next picture is also typical Atley behavior, but this time she has an accomplice!  Avilene (on the left) is helping clear the shelves too!!  :)  I always think this looks so cute when they crawl as far back into the shelves as they can! Atley is not in this next picture, but al...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and bites of mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate squash, and bites of fruit salad.  I got everyone their food at breakfast and then informed them, "I'm gonna put Baby Linnea in bed for her nap."  Hudson said, "Ok, that's fine with me."  Haha!!  (Ok, thank you Chairman Boyle: "All in favor of the motion say YES!!") I took this first picture yesterday afternoon to show everyone that we have been getting outside - not a lot yet - but in the afternoon every chance we get!!  (Still using hoods and mittens in the middle of April.  It's been a chilly Spring so far.)  I think Atley had spotted a bird and that's what the three girls are looking at in the picture. Here are some pictures from this morning.   The first picture depicts about 20 - 30 minutes of play for everyone!  Nora was sitting in the chair and Atley, Avi, and Hudson were p...

Atley whole wheat bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, bites of brown rice, bites of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries. Hudson was at the window and yells; "There's the neighbor's puppy!!"  (The neighbor across the street from our big window - next to Big Willy!)  And all the kids come running to the window!!  They all LOVE that little black puppy!!  The puppy walks to school with one of the parents and with the kids every day so we see him frequently! This first picture makes me laugh!  (From left to right it's Avi, Hudson, Nora, Atley.)  So Avilene and Hudson were spinning with their eyes closed and getting pretty dizzy which led to stumbling and falling about!  So that's when Atley and Nora joined in on the fun of course!!  Except those two just skipped the spinning part - they went straight to the falling down!  Haha!  Hey, just trying to conserve energy and save time for sure!! ...

Atley ate bran cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken from the chicken salad and bites of lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and peppers.  She also ate whole wheat pita bread, avocado, and pears. These first two pictures were taken first thing this morning and every one was doing the "monkey see, monkey do" thing!  Someone took off their socks, so everyone had to take off their socks, and then put the socks in their cubbies!  In the 2nd picture Hudson started scooting across the floor on his hands and knees with his head down like a snow plow!  So everyone had to do it then!!  (The top picture is thin so it doesn't really look like two pictures!!) This next picture; Aley was helping Nora and pointing to where the puzzle piece goes.  You can't really see the piece in the picture, but Atley was saying, "head, head, head" showing Nora where the head of the animal goes.  Then I took the last picture after Story Time.  I have...

Atley ate cream of wheat cereal and bite of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked beef kabobs with meat, peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms.  She ate a large serving of brown rice and a couple bites of pineapple.  For some reason the cream of wheat stayed very liquid so it was breakfast in a cup and sucked through a straw.  They actually thought that was pretty cool.  Hudson said, "This is  really  good!"  Ha!  Which means it's worth a picture!! I was bringing out a bottle to feed Linnea and I pretended to offer it to Atley and she cracks up laughing.  :)  Then the baby was almost done with her bottle and she kind of gasped and started coughing.  Atley begins mimicking her exactly with a huge grin on her face.  What a goof!  Speaking of goofs here's a picture of them going head-first off the balance beam AGAIN !!  :)  Atley is in mid-air! Some more pictures from this morning:  Nora a...

Atley ate waffle and bites of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of shepherd's pie with meat, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans.  She also ate whole grain tortillas, and her cherries. Sometimes Atley will poke her head around the corner when I'm picking up meal plates and if I've got water on my hands I'll sprinkle it in her direction and say, "raining!"  Today I was washing my hands in the sink and flicked some water in her direction and she said, "raining!!"  Haha! It cracks me up how Atley's "radar" antenna is always on high alert for the sound of airplanes.  She was engaged in play across the room by the igloo when she obviously heard one flying overhead.  I heard nothing!!  (which doesn't mean much!)  She jumped up ran across the room to the window yelling, "plane plane plane!"  The plane was beneath the cloud cover so she got to see it for several seconds.  I do think h...

Atley ate french toast and strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of "Whole 30" chili with meat, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, and spices.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and ate tropical fruit.  (leaving only the pineapple of course!)  Atley's ponytail holder was missing and we were getting ready for lunch.  I asked her to go find her ponytail holder and she knew exactly where it was!!  As usual!  Ha! Atley did lots of puzzles as usual too!  She finished a puzzle and she said, "That cool."  I said, "Yes, very cool!"  Ha!  I know I say that all day long, but don't really think about it.  It was cute (cool) to hear her say it - congratulating herself on a job well done!!  :)  I was fixing a bottle for Linnea shortly after Atley arrived.  Atley was standing at the gate saying, "power? power? power?"  At least that's what I was hearing!! After three or fours times I realized she was askin...