Atley's Journal

Atley ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She also ate whole wheat dinner roll, and apricots.  At breakfast Avi started raving about the breakfast: "I really really really like baked apples."  Then pointing to the oatmeal she said, "And I really really really like this!" Atley started repeating the same thing and pretty soon it became a contest about who could repeat the word "really" the most times.  Haha.  "Really really really really really really like this!!" First, I just want to say thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement for me to go to Louisiana for Thanksgiving week.  This is so wonderful for me and I'm really looking forward to traveling there tomorrow.  Thank you all so much. Here are some pictures from Atley's morning.  First one; these are some cool interlocking wooden blocks I recently got and Atley said she m...

Atley ate French toast and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, two servings of whole wheat toast, two servings of peas, and ate strawberries. The Missoulian paper was laying in the driveway in front of the window.  Again.  "Here's your complimentary paper; please enjoy and subscribe."  Hello!  I have a digital account.  Haha.  Anyhow, Atley spotted the paper and said, "Hey Gary, there's news laying on the sidewalk."  Later, again she reminded me; "Gary, you forgot to get the news ."  Haha. First picture: Not long before I took this picutre Atley was standing around whining.  What are you whining about?  "Linnea won't chase me!!"  Haha!  But they were soon playing chase around and around the Daycare room.  (In defense of Linnea, she has not been feeling well this week.). Next picture:  Here Atley and Avi are playing the "Lady Bug" game again.  Atley was trying to tell me she...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she had no ground beef with marinara sauce (she didn't want to wreck those spaghetti noodles), ate three servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate cauliflower, and three servings of fruit salad. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon, but they were playing this same game again this morning and it looked exactly like this picture.  I introduced them to this game ("Lady Bug game") months ago and eventually put it into the toy exchange so they have access to it and play on their own.  They are doing pretty well with it and mostly following the rules.  (I heard Avi saying this morning; "That is NOT how we play the game Atley!" Ha!)  I like the cooperation that I'm seeing as well.  They are definitely growing in that area. Next picture: Atley was very happy to see Linnea and was giving her rides in the chair.  Linnea was happy to be here too!  (She was last h...

Atley ate two servings of whole wheat bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of shrimp, ate whole wheat toast, stir fry vegetables, and two servings of raspberries. This happened yesterday afternoon: Avilene was coming out of the bathroom and said, "My toots are dry!"  Well I guess maybe I should be sorry to hear that, but I have no idea what it means.  So tell me Avilene, "What does dry toots mean?"  Avi said, "I don't know."  Hahaha!  "My Mom said that the other day."  Atley had a great suggestion; "Maybe you should put lotion on them."  LOL!!  I have several pages of "daycare kid quotes" collected over the years and this will be a new entry.  Ha!  If Lauralea and I ever get bored I just pull out the kid quotes.  :) First picture: Avi was whispering to Atley and that never did prove to be successful as Atley kept saying, "I can't hear you!  I can't hear you!"...

Atley ate most of bran cereal and most of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, two servings of olives, bite of tomatoes, and ate pears. As I've mentioned several times previously during Story Time I often stop before the end of sentence and let them "fill in the blank"  They learn these books so quickly and remember them too!!  So today it was "The Lady with the Alligator Purse" and one line goes like this; "Miss Lucy had a baby, his name was ......"  Correct answer is "Tiny Tim."  Atley said, "Lucky Lou!!"  LOL!!  That was so funny and I laughed so hard! So we did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and as Atley calls it; "New Toy Monday!!" I love that.  Atley was making breakfast putting toast and pancakes in the toaster.  You can see the eggs beside her too.  (Those are wooden eggs and they look pretty realistic! Lauralea and I went to a wonderful Child Care Confer...

Atley ate a large serving of cream of wheat cereal and ate several dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken fajita with meat, peppers, onions, and spices.  She ate a large serving of brown rice and ate her pineapple. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and at first glance it's just the three girls looking at Baby Miles.  But it really wasn't that at all.  Here's the story; See the music toy stationed over the top of the baby?!  That was the main attraction!!  Haha!  Whenever the music would stop Avi and Atley would compete to reach the buttons and restart it!  Then of course Svea came over and was trying to reach it too!  Avilene said, "Svea you cannot reach over there. When you get 4, then you can!"  Haha!  Atley said, "Well I am 8."  Avi said, "No you are not 8! You are 3!"  Atley's mournful reply, "Well I'm TRYING to get bigger. "  Haha!  So stinking funny. Thi...

Atley ate two servings of waffle and two servings of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of Shepard's Pie with meat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She ate whole wheat tortillas, and ate her cherries. First picture: Yesterday afternoon Atley was closely watching me twirl a tractor around and around with the wheels.  So I told her she could try it using two hands (I was using one hand) and she immediately got it.  When she walked in this morning that's the FIRST thing she did.  Grabbed a tractor and started twirling.  Haha.  Then she told Linnea (who is intently watching in the picture), "You can try it using two hands."  Speaking of Linnea, Atley was examining Linnea's face and said, "You have something black in your mouth.  Say AHHHHHHH!"  Haha!  That hit my funny bone. These next two pictures go together.  Avilene is in the igloo in the first picture.  She was ordering Atley and Linnea to plac...

Atley chose not to eat any breakfast.  (I'd be happy to give you details if you're interested.)  For lunch she ate several bites of whole 30 chili, with meat, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, and spices.  She had two servings of whole wheat dinner roll, and two servings of tropical fruit. First three pictures are all left over from yesterday afternoon.  Atley said, "Hey Gary do you want to take a picture to show my Mom?"  So I asked, "What did you make?"  She said, "this is an airport." That's pretty creative Atley.  When she was leaving yesterday there was a thin layer of ice on erything outside.  She was looking at my airplane teeter-totter and said, "Your airplane's all iced up!!  :) It rained yesterday afternoon and we played inside and here are a couple pictures from that time.  Atley was burying Avi with stuffed animals, doll blankets, and dress-up clothes.  You can see Avi's hand reaching out and touchi...

Atley ate toasted whole wheat English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop meat, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate beets, and three servings of applesauce. This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon after the kids woke up from their naps.  And the testing continues!!  Haha!  I overheard one of Lauralea's questions and Atley's answer.  It went like this.  (You may hear this again - from Lauralea - when we have our parent/provider meeting.)  Lauralea asked Atley, "What happens when you drop an egg?"  Atley said, "It hatches."  Haha!  Well her answer was related to chickens/birds!! Next picture - Linnea happened to look out the window and saw the neighbor's puppy across the street and started squealing, "puppy! puppy! puppy!"  She and Atley ran to the window and was banging on the window which got the attention of the neighbor.  Haha.  The puppy is that little black spot yo...

Atley ate whole wheat Chex cereal and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat hamburger bun, no avocado, no tomatoes, and two servings of mandarin oranges. Nora is here today (that's possible because Linnea is gone) and I didn't tell Atley that Nora was coming today until this morning.  Atley and Nora jumped on the mattress, played with the barn and farm animals, played with the doll house, put on dress-up clothes and that took care of the first 5 minutes!!  Haha!! That's really NOT much of an exaggeration.  They were so excited and bouncing from one thing to the next in rapid fire succession!! This first picture was taken before anyone else arrived and Atley was reading books in the preschool room.  Second picture; Atley and Avilene playing with the game; "give the dog a bone."  Third picture: See! Nora is here!!  Atley and Nora each had a tape measure and were measuring things in the Daycare room.  I like how Svea ...

Atley ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, ate whole wheat elbow noodles, half of green beans, and ate applesauce. During Story Time I frequently let the kid's finish the end of sentences that I'm reading.  I learn how much they recall and which ones they're most interested in.  But it's also a great way for them to interact and participate during Story Time.  Anyhow, the last line went like this; "So he stretched and felt ___ in the early morning sun."  The answer to the blank is "warm."  Atley said, "Lousy!"  LOL!  That just totally hit my funny bone which made her very proud of course!!  Haha!  First picture; Avi and Atley were doing some stickers and they also made creatures with the "slime." While they were doing this Avi said, "Atley, I saw Monty riding a grizzly motorcycle right down the middle of the field; where the football players come out!"  Atley, quite unintere...

Atley ate whole wheat bagel and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger and sausage pizza with meats, peppers, pineapple, olives, and tomato sauce.  She ate two servings of whole wheat pizza crust (which we serve separately), and ate pineapple on the side. This first picture looks familiar doesn't it?  These two were the only ones here (besides the babies) and they were sprinting back and forth across the room.  They'd sit on the yellow bench for a moment and yell, "FIRE!!" and take off running again.  I asked, "What are you guys playing?"  Atley said, "Fire Truck!!"  :)  So this was a well earned water break.  Second picture; Atley kept laying the book on her face and singly (loudly) lots of different songs. Next picture; Svea, Linnea, and Atley were playing with the tractors and legos farm animals.  When Atley gets tired of preschool activities she'll frequently join Svea and Linnea in whatever they're doing.  ...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat tortillas, no sweet potatoes, and two servings of fruit salad. This first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  The story behind this; Svea got down on the ground and was crawling right beside Callahan and it looked SO cute.  Trucking across the lawn with him. When I went for my camera Atley and Avilene knew exactly what I was doing and they sprinted to get on the ground and into the picture!!  Haha! Next picture; Atley was putting lots of legos beside Baby Miles's head.  Of course he's not yet 4 months old and Atley was so curious why he wasn't reaching for the toys.  "Why Miles not like toys?"  Haha!  That made me laugh. Last picture; I love posting pictures of the kids reading books.  And it happens every day!!  They'll be reading or singing and the songs may have nothing to do with the book.  Avilene lets her Atley about it...

Atley ate toasted and buttered whole wheat English muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken with stir fry vegetables, brown rice, and ate mandarin oranges. I took this first picture when it was just these three kids here.  Atley went and got a drink and of course Linnea wanted one too.  :)  So she got Linnea's bottle for her.  Callahan was heading their way and they gave him some warning yells and signals!  They were saying, "Get back Callahan, get back."  Haha.  They're keeping a close eye on him!! I took this next picture shortly after Miles came.  He now knows what it's like to be a "zoo animal" as everyone is peering at him.  And he's behind the fence for his own protection!!  Haha!!  Atley is laying on the couch peering over the edge. Next picture; Atley asked Avi if she'd help her with the puzzle.  So Avi said ok, and this is how it went;  You do the puzzle Avi while I play ...