Atley's Journal

Atley ate a large serving of cream of wheat cereal and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of her chicken, ate whole wheat dinner roll, ate broccoli, and pineapple.   First picture: Miles was trying to join Cal pushing Atley around and around in the chair. Atley was focused on something in her hand, but she was also pushing along with her right foot so the chair was going faster than usual. Miles of course was not aware of the danger and kept trying to step in. After getting steamrolled once, he still was wanting to join so I asked them to let him join. Except Miles was facing the wrong direction so when they started up again he immediately was on the floor. Good thing he's so tough. He never changed his expression and his attitude said, "I've got this." Ha. (By the way, the big girls love it when they can coax the little ones into service!! Ha!) Next picture: I love this picture a lot! Probably because these two kids get along just fine, BUT it...

Atley ate three servings of whole grain waffle and two servings of fruit salad for breakfast. For Lunch she ate most of ground turkey, ate whole wheat tortillas, sweet potatoes, and ate cherries.   Today was "Science with Lauralea" and the theme was "Eggs." There are lots of great experiments you can do with eggs!! Eggs seem to break quite easily, but in our first experiment we passed the egg around (in a baggie in case it did break - ha) and placed it in the palm of their hands and told them to squeeze and no one (including Lauralea or I could break it just by squeezing! (Not fair to dig your fingernails or finger tips into the egg.) Svea said, "This is the best science ever." We did a lot of stuff, so I'm just gonna briefly describe each picture:  1. You can tell if an egg is raw or hardboiled by how it spins. :) Then we got the two eggs mixed up and       Avilene said, "Why don't you spin them to see which one is hard boiled? Solid suggesti...

Atley ate two servings of French toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate a large serving of Whole 30 Chili with meat, tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, and lots of spices. She ate saltines and three servings of tropical fruit.   First picture: This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and it was so good to get outside and everyone was thrilled. This is a normal typical sight isn't it!?! Nora in the stroller and Atley doing the work!! Svea moving along with them jabbering about something.  I tried to get this next picture without them noticing me; but they stopped and were looking at me, so I asked them to look forward and it's pretty obvious this is staged!  Haha. What are you guys doing? Atley said, "We're doing back scratches!" :) Following picture: What is that Atley? "This is Dragon from Coco and the dog from Coco." Apparently Coco is a movie. Haha. I've no idea. Next two pictures: Nor...

Atley ate two servings of cinnamon raisin English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of pork roast, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate beets, and applesauce.  This first note is not from this morning, but one I've not posted yet. Avi asked, "Hey Gary! Does the numbers on the airplane's tail tell how many fires it's fighted!??" Haha. (I'm giggling at the terminology.) Hmmm; who told you that? "Well that's what Atley told me." Well I thought the numbers were just for identification, but I bet I can check with Atley's source for her airplane information. :)  Here are a couple pictures from Atley's morning working on some Art. She asked for some "Cardboard" and then was cutting out something. Second picture: She brought me the picture on the top and told me it was a "flying fox." With some kind of "fire" pack attached to itself. That made me laugh. Where did you get that idea...

Atley ate corn chex cereal and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, two servings of toasted whole wheat sandwich thins, big bite of avocado, ate tomatoes, and mandarin oranges.   We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and so the kids were very busy and engaged all morning. First picture: These three girls (Avi is at her Monday gymnastics camp) were working hard at the Art table and enjoying some of the new (some are new and some in the rotation) supplies. Second picture: Atley really worked hard as you can tell by examining this picture. Again, like I've mentioned many times, I only focus on the process, but dang this is a good job drawing flowers.  More pictures from today. Nora and Atley were doing some dance moves while Alexa plays their choice of music. If you zoom in on the mirror you can see Atley was into the comedy portion of her routine. Ha. Last picture; Atley and Nora were 'hiding' from Svea and as you can see here Atley's choi...

Atley ate a large serving of oatmeal and ate dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate salmon, whole wheat elbow noodles smothered with applesauce, and she ate 2 green beans. Ha. Atley was having a breakfast conversation with Nora all about "Tooth Fairy" and "Fairy Dust." Apparently Atley saw the Fairy Dust and was giving Nora an in-depth report. :) What did it look like? Atley gave the shape, size, and even what it felt like. And it all came with a warning: "If you touch it DON'T rub your eyes because that will burn!" So now we all know! :) First picture: Static electricity! Science with Gary - always the same theme!!  Haha. Nora's hair is more thin than Atley's (I'm just making an assumption) and perfect for this experiment. (We also did Atley's hair, but with less success.) We could easily hear the static electricity when Nora was moving her head back and forth on the back of the couch. Nora said, "it's a popping s...

Atley ate two servings of blueberry bagel and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger & sausage pizza with meat, peppers, pineapple, olives, and tomato sauce. She ate whole wheat pizza crust (served on the side) and bites of pineapple.   This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon. Callahan has been asking about the "robot vacuum" for many many days! (He sees it every day in the room where he sleeps.) So yesterday afternoon we picked up all the toys in the Play Room and I went and got the robot vacuum off of it's base and it wouldn't work!! The kids were good sports and took it in stride when I told them I'd check it out this weekend and then I got out the big vacuum. Avilene and Nora each took a turn doing some of the vacuuming.  Next picture: Miles has moved on to his most favorite job; loving on the girls. Haha. In the first picture Atley was laying on the floor and Miles saw an opportunity. How cute is this!?...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork roast, no whole wheat tortillas, ate carrots, potatoes, and fruit salad.  At the breakfast table Nora was announcing (again) to everyone "I'm gonna have 2 birthdays!" Atley and Avi were immediately wanting all the details! "What, where, why, and when!?!" Nora continued, "One of them is in Arizona." Avilene said, "My Mom and I are gonna fly to Arizona for your Birthday party!" Haha. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and Cal was perched on the toy shelf in one of the sinks. Atley jumped up beside him and was pretending to cut some food toy with the "knife." I just thought it was cute with them situated side-by-side like this.  Next picture: The girls wanted to do some coloring and asked for pictures to color. The pictures Atley and Nora chose are large and lots of details. Nora was bored with it long before it ...

Atley ate cinnamon raisin English muffin and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, brown rice, stir fry vegetables, and two servings of mandarin oranges.    First picture: Atley and Callahan were the first two kids here so I let Atley bring in her Paw Patrol people until other kids arrived. You can see one in front of Atley and one beside Cal. I said, "Oh that's sweet Atley, you're reading to Cal." Atley said, "No, I'm reading to Everest." Haha. I don't know if I spelled it right or if I'm even close, but you get the idea. :) Next picture: This was probably the highlight of our morning!! Atley lost a tooth and she was showing it to her friends. Atley had the biggest grin and was so proud of it! Avi gave Atley some real solid advice; "Now don't forget to put the tooth under your pillow!" Atley assured Avi forgetting something that important wasn't gonna happen!! :) Last picture: Well after all the excitement of t...

Atley ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of salmon, ate whole wheat dinner roll, riced cauliflower, and three servings of mangoes.   First picture: Making some more Valentine's cards. Ok, I'm gonna write about what happened shortly after I took the picture. I wrote on the front of these cards for the kids - at their request - Nora did both sets of Grandparents and Atley did a card for Nana and Papa. Nora told me all 4 names of her Grandparents. Then Nora asked Atley, "What's Nana and Papa's names?" Atley said, "Nana and Papa." This quickly escalated and Nora was yelling, "No it's NOT!" Nora (at this point FURIOUS and near HYSTERICS - I'm not exaggerating) Yelled, "My name is NORA, your name is ATLEY, they have a NAME!! (Good logic by the way.) Atley just sat there looking at Nora with a half-amused look on her face. Nora wasn't done; "Mine is Pam and Greg! Jerry and Diane. What is...

Atley ate two servings of raisin/cinnamon English muffin and ate mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she had half of ground beef, ate whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.  First picture: I took this picture 30 minutes before breakfast. These were two pictures Nora had left over from yesterday and she asked Atley to help her out. Yesterday before Nora left she asked me; "Can you NOT throw it away while I'm gone!?" LOL! I roared. Man these kids make me laugh! Nora knows I utilize the recycle bin after the kids are all gone. :) Next picture: Today was "Science with Lauralea" for the Preschool kids. We've been doing a "weather" theme lately and today was specifically "freezing." (Miles and Cal got to watch this one.) Perfect weather for this experiment; throw some hot water in the air. We asked the kids first; "Do you think Lauralea can make it snow?!?" Yup, they all think she can work magic; except for Atley. ...

Atley ate French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and green beans. She ate two servings of saltines and ate tropical fruit.   Yesterday afternoon the three big girls were taking turns being "Santa Claus" and passing out presents to the other two girls. They'd pretend to be asleep while Santa was laying out the presents. Avi made her point  VERY  clear right at the beginning; "Do  NOT  bring me anything pretty!!" Haha. That was awesome and so Avilene! First thing this morning Nora told Atley they could play the "Charades" game at Nora's house tonight. Then Nora proceeded to explain the game in amazing detail very accurately. I was impressed. I asked her who taught her how to play the game. She insisted over and over that "No one did," but somehow she's  always  known how to play. "I just know how!...

Atley ate two servings of whole grain blueberry waffle and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortillas, corn, and two servings of baked cinnamon apples.   This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and I like what was happening here. Svea hasn't been all that interested in puzzles, which is fine, but she stayed intently focused on watching Atley do this entire puzzle. They learn so much from observation like this and it gives them encouragement to try it for themselves.  Next picture: Atley was the first one here and did several Valentines Hearts at the Art table. Lots of gluing and making them look pretty. Ok, so I'm talking about something that is NOT in this picture. Haha. Below she's doing some painting because I told her she needed to save some supplies for when the other kids arrive. Ha. And she listened well. I can certainly get more supplies, but NOT during a Preschool day!  :)  More pictures of Atley's morni...