Atley's Journal

Atley ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and two servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and two servings of applesauce. First picture from yesterday afternoon: Atley and Avi were having fun being silly and saying, "I'm dying, I'm dying" and laying on the mattress with their eyes closed.  I took this picture because I liked Atley's "big hair." (That's what Daddy Brad called it when he saw the pic.) First two pictures; The kids were waving bye to a parent. About the same time the neighbor across the street came out to walk his boys to school.  Their little black puppy always tags along and the kids love watching it.  As you can see by the following picture it is a cutie.  The puppy came right up below the window and that's the first time it's done that.  And of course the kids all loved it.  They were all thumping on the window and the puppy was excited. ...

Atley ate most of French toast and most of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate Paleo Stew with meat, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, and green beans.  She ate two servings of saltines and three servings of tropical fruit. First picture: Look how sweet Miles is grinning at Atley.  Love!  Atley said, "Miles likes it when I sing to him."  Probably, but honestly I've never heard her sing to him.  Haha!  So I don't think it's happened too many times. This next picture is pretty cute.  Atley is really the only kid that talks about Callahan walking.  Here she is watching his progress.  I like the contrast with Linnea to the left.  Linnea was WAY more interested in her bandaid than anything else happening in the room.  Haha!  Atley had (again) yelled out the news;  "Cal is walking!! Cal is walking!!" Last two pictures; Atley and Avi were playing on the couch and realized it was making thei...

Atley ate three servings of waffle and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, ate whole wheat tortillas, three servings of corn, and two servings of baked cinnamon apples. Atley saw Callahan walking this morning and said, "Hey Gary! He's walking! ---  Hey, he's still walking!!"  LOL!  I guess she was surprised because previously he hasn't been staying upright very long!  :)  Good work Cal!! This first picture is from yesterday afternoon and these school buses are what Atley played with the most yesterday.  Did you notice the bright light covering the couch and even some shadows!?!?  That's the sun in case anyone forgot!!  (That's a Western Montana joke for anyone reading from outside the area.)  Of course you folks are skiers and that's the way to see the sun around here in the winter.  Go to the mountain tops and ski areas are the only areas where the roads are passable this time of year.  Atley piled up the...

Atley ate two servings of kix cereal and ate mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey burger, whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, no avocado, and ate half of her cherries. We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so as usual it was a busy morning for everyone.  First picture: Atley scooped up most of the little stuffed animals off the mattress and neatly stacked them on the arm of the love seat.  The bigger ones are on the back of the couch just out of the picture. Next picture; The Kindles are not out in this toy exchange, but they managed to find some. games on these little cameras.  Like I've mentioned before I didn't even know they were loaded with games when I bought them.  So I'm limiting the electronic game playing to 20 minutes per day just like with the Kindles.  Next picture; Atley doesn't care about the dolls associated with the doll house, but she likes the accessories.  :)  Following picture:  Wo...

Atley ate French toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, two servings of peas, and two servings of strawberries.  At lunch she said, " We like this meal!!"  Ha!  (She was basing the "we" declaration on the fact that Avi was also having second servings.) First picture; This is kind of a morning ritual when Linnea and Atley are the earliest arrivals.  "Let's run Linnea!!!  Let's run!!"  Back and forth across the room they go.  :) Next picture; I asked Atley if she'd get a spoon for Miles to play with and she's always eager and ready to help.  Then I told her she needs to basically put the spoon in his hand because his aim for grabbing is not real accurate yet.  And she was doing a good job.  Thanks Atley. Next picture: Atley helping Linnea get some water again.  This is also basically a routine activity.  Thanks Atley.  Last picture: What...

Atley had two servings of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef with marinara sauce on top of whole wheat spaghetti noodles.  She ate the cauliflower and ate her fruit salad. To anyone following Atley's Daily Blog:  There will be NO Blog tomorrow, February 20th, as I have to report to Jury Duty tomorrow morning.  It's in Municipal Court so I don't anticipate this lasting more than a day at the most.  (Hopefully!) I was asking Linnea a question and Atley piped up with this remark - "You always say it too quiet Linnea."  (Atley has obviously heard me mention how quiet Linnea talks!  "Talk louder Linnea, I can't hear you!")  Linnea didn't appreciate that assessment and said to Atley; "No I don't!!  You do!!"  LOL!  And of course Atley responded with; "No I don't!!"  That exchange was hilarious to me!!  (Volume has  never  been an issue for Atley!  Haha!) S...

Atley ate two servings of whole wheat bagel and ate her grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of shrimp, ate whole wheat toast, bite of stir fry vegetables, and ate her raspberries. I burned the brown rice so we substituted toast for lunch.  Atley said, "I don't like that smell!!"  It was pretty rank, I agree!  :) First picture: Atley and Avilene were looking for Woody and Airplane this morning.  I hid them 3 different times and this spot happens to be where they found them the LAST time.  That always cracks me up when they go right back to where it was the last time.  :) Next picture: The four girls; Avi, Atley, Linnea, and Svea barricaded themselves in the igloo.  Or maybe it was built to keep Callahan out!  He really didn't want to be in the igloo anyhow!!  He was way more fixated on attaining one of the flashlights they had.  And that is what he was reaching for around the blocks when I took this picture.  Ha...

Atley ate cream of wheat cereal and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she had a bite of a chicken combination with cabbage, sweet potatoes, and Brussel sprouts.  She ate a large serving of brown rice and a large serving of pineapple. First picture; Well this is pretty self-explanatory!!  Haha!!  This is from yesterday afternoon when Nora came with Momma Emily to pick up Miles.  These guys had coordinated their efforts to wear the same PJ's.  Cuteness.  Atley was leaning back, being a goofball, watching herself in the mirror. Next picture: Atley and Linnea were the only ones here when I took this first picture.  They were pretending to sleep and Atley was jabbering constantly.  Saying things like; "Going to get up at 1417."  "Now I'm gonna put medicine and vitamins in my mouth!"  Haha! Last two pictures;  This is a large floor puzzle (39 pieces) I just got for the Preschool kids.  It's unique in that it doesn'...

Atley ate three servings of waffles and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a bite of turkey meat loaf, no whole wheat tortillas, bite of sweet potatoes, and ate most of cherries.  At lunch Avilene said, "Atley doesn't like the beef loaf!"  Haha.  (made with turkey meat!) This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  Atley and Avi were doing some gluing and I'd told them to leave their papers on top of the art cabinet until they dried.  (Then we'd move them to their cubbies.)  So Atley forgot (giving her the benefit of the doubt) and was taking her's directly to her cubby.  She laid her paper on the floor (a good plan), opened the gate (you can see it's open), turned around and stepped right on the wet glue.  Hmmm....ok, now I think we'll put it on the art cabinet and wait for it to dry.  :) Here are a couple pictures of Atley and Avi doing some Preschool activities.  First doing some puzzles and ...

Atley ate two servings of French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two bites of Whole 30 Chili with meat, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, tomato sauce, and spices.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and tropical fruit. First two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  Atley was playing hide-n-seek with Svea and they were having lots of fun.  Atley is hunkered down behind the legos wall and in the second picture Atley is peering in the igloo at Svea.  "Found You!"  Which wasn't too challenging because Atley had watched her hide.  But Atley walked by the igloo and pretended to look for Svea for a few minutes before actually "finding" her.  :) Next two pictures go together - Atley asked Linnea if she wanted to help toss all the stuffed animals  off  the mattress.  (That's a daily ritual so they can jump!)  And you can see in the picture where the girls piled the stuffed animals and then couldn't...

Atley ate half of whole wheat English muffin and half of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate some pork roast, ate whole wheat toast, beets, and two servings of applesauce. So at breakfast Avi said, "My Mom is going to be away for one sleep."  Where's she going?  "She's gonna be in Helena."  Atley started talking about "how many airplane rides it takes to get to Hawaii!" Avi said, "No, she's going to Helena."  Atley said, "No, I'm talking about myself."  The totally disconnected conversation continued for a minute or two until Avi finished up by saying, "Hawaii is a beach !"  (Hahaha.)  "And a long long long ways from Montana." Next picture:  I'm allowing these two Preschoolers to have 20 minutes of screen time once per day.  (I got these 2 Kindles on Black Friday for $30 each.)  Lauralea worked hard to make these kid friendly and put very appropriate games on them.  Numbers, colors, shape...

Atley ate some Chex cereal and no peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ground beef, half  of whole wheat sandwich thins, no tomatoes, no avocado, and half of mandarin oranges. This first picture is left over from Friday afternoon.  The kids were playing with the blocks, then stacked them in front of the gate and they were all gazing into the entry room.  What are you guys looking at?  Avi said, "Our cubbies."  Atley said, "They are SO cool!!"  Haha!  Good, I'm glad you like them!!  They really do like having their own space!! Avi and Atley were working on some art; coloring with markers and doing some stickers.  Atley spotted a guy in a tree over the fence in the back yard.  (Trimming the neighbor's apple tree.)  Atley asked, "What's he doing?"  Avi said, "He's shaking the snow out of the tree!"  Haha!  Wow, that's expensive tree maintenance.  :)  I told them he was "trimming" the...

Atley tasted the oatmeal (and declared it not fit for human consumption - ha) and ate two servings of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia (finished it so she could have seconds on applesauce), ate whole wheat elbow noodles, green beans, and two servings of applesauce. First picture: Atley doing what Atley does!!  Haha!!  This is a dress-up vest.  It's way too small for her so this is the next best alternative!!  Ha!!  Next picture; The four girls were working hard to build a block wall.  And Cal is actually in this picture too, just hard to see!  He's directly behind Linnea, but if you zoom in you can see his hand just beyond Linnea's hands.   Next picture; Svea was "hanging out" with Atley.  Yesterday afternoon Atley left early for a hair appointment.  She said to Svea; "Hey Svea, just so you know, my Mom is picking me up early!" Ha. This morning Svea pushed over a block tower and Atley said, "I'm so...