Atley's Journal

Atley had Kindergarten Roundup and apparently had a yummy breakfast at Paul's Pancake Parlor. :) For lunch she ate half of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, and potatoes. She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and fruit cocktail.   We do "Science with Lauralea;" so I'm thinking of "History with Gary." :) Using music/songs. We've listened to this song many times; "Battle of New Orleans" and I was curious if they could answer some questions! 1. Does anybody know what happened in 1814? Atley said, "We took a little trip!" (Line of the song.) 2. Where did we go? Avi said, "New Orleans." 3. Who was our leader? Colonel.....? Avi said, "Jackson!" 4. Who were we fighting? Avi said, "British." So there you have it! History using music. :) First picture: So here's a picture from Linnea's visit yesterday right after Atley left for tennis lessons. I showed this picture to Atley this morning ...

Atley ate French toast and two servings of dried plums for breakfast. For lunch she ate three servings of pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, peas, and strawberries.  This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when the "bubble brigade" had their noodles and were waiting for me to start slinging bubbles around!! (And that's basically how it works; no blowing bubbles here! Ha!) I think this is an adorable picture of everyone.  Today's "Science with Lauralea" theme is "Popcorn." We recently talked about "explosions" and about "absorption" and we witnessed both of those in action today. Popcorn kernels have moisture or drop of water so when it's heated to a certain temperature it blows up through the starchy shell. Think about the first person who experimented with a kernel. They probably tossed it into a fire and something popped and the rest is history. Haha. When you're making and eating Popcorn you use all ...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and two servings of mangoes for breakfast. For lunch she ate 2 large servings of ground beef with marinara sauce on 2 large servings of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate cauliflower, and three servings of fruit salad.  First picture: Cal and Miles were asking to do some coloring early this morning so that's what we did. Atley and Nora were assisting them and giving them markers. Nice job of helping your friends girls!! Next picture: All 4 girls are in this picture and they were playing with the battery powered cars on the hardwood floors. As you can see in the picture Avi decided to add another dimension to their game; a human bridge. She's always thinking of something different to do! Always! Doing things the "normal way" - whatever that means - is boring. Haha. Last picture: The girls were all hard at work making something special for Linnea. We are scheduled to have a visit from Linnea tomorrow! Everyone has been excited and asking how ...

Atley had three servings of blueberry bagel and ate two servings of grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate shrimp, two servings of brown rice, ate broccoli, and two servings of raspberries. So 5 out of 6 kids (not Avi) are eating their rice soaked in raspberry juice for this meal. They love it that way!! And that's what Atley and Nora did with their 2 servings of rice and raspberries! I'm gonna post this message here and then you'll probably see it 2 or 3 more times in the next two weeks. (Or until you tell me you read it! Ha!) There will NOT be any Blogs the week of May 10th. Lauralea is blessing me by keeping Little Treasures open that week so I can go to Louisiana. I'm flying out on May 8th and home on May 15th. Thank you SO much Lauralea! Next picture: Thank you Momma Molly for the wooden train set. Atley and Nora played with this for a LONG this morning; before and after breakfast. I had to get a picture of Avi in here too because she wasn't interested in it a...

Atley ate bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, toasted whole wheat pita bread, no cucumbers, no avocado, and ate pears.  I want to mention that I (and Lauralea when she's around) have been working hard to help the three big girls use acceptable and appropriate ways to solve problems and disputes. This is obviously an ongoing challenge, but I think they're making some progress.  I took this first picture just moments after Atley arrived this morning. She immediately saw the toy exchange and put on this bonnet and bunny ears! I think we're a few weeks behind on Easter. Ha. Most of Atley's pictures are in the Preschool Room doing games and activities. Even though we did an exchange you can see in the first picture they were playing the same "feelings matching game." Did you notice Avi has no matches? Well she said she didn't want to play this round, just be an observer. Ha! You know how that went! Guess who was immediately in ...

Atley ate two large bowls of cream of wheat cereal and ate dried plums for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, two servings of brown rice, two servings of broccoli, and ate pineapple. At lunch the big girls were giving each other simple tips for a better life. Haha. For example Nora had this to offer; "when I sniff a lot it makes my ears unplugged!" And she followed it up with a demonstration. :)  This morning when Callahan arrived Atley told his Momma; "Hey Maddy, Cal's obsessed with vacuums." Haha. Atley has heard me say that phrase a few times. And it's pretty much true. At his Tutu and Grandpa's house he has to tell the vacuum bye every time. Here he has to tell the vacuum "good night vacuum" every day at nap time. Haha. First picture: Atley working on some architectural skills. :) These are actually made from a pretty cool material (I can't think of what it's called) and fun to work with. Following picture: Everyone, including th...

Atley ate a blueberry waffle and ate fruit salad for breakfast. For lunch she ate ground turkey, whole wheat tortillas, no sweet potatoes, and ate cherries.  This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when Avi was working on a puzzle. Atley said, "It's a massage and Avi says it feels good." :) Maybe they're in a puzzle competition and Atley is trying to relax her puzzle partner. :)  I thought you might be interested in this picture of an experiment left over from last week Science when the theme was "things that dissolve." This was originally a sea shell and we put it in some vinegar. During the week we added fresh vinegar just once. As you can see it has almost completely dissolved!!  Note before we get into the Science pictures; Lauralea left immediately for Plains when she was done with this; dealing with an aging Parents situation. So this was a bit shorter than usual and nothing to take home, but the kids had a blast. Ha! (Pun intended!!) ...

Atley ate two servings of French toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate one bite of Whole 30 Chili with meat, peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, and with delicious seasonings. She ate half of whole wheat dinner roll and ate tropical fruit. I think Atley must be liking Gymnastics Class because yesterday and today she asked how many sleeps until Saturday and that was her reason for asking.  Meal times are always busy and even though I'm only a few feet away if I'm in the kitchen I frequently can NOT tell their voices apart. "I want more!" Who said that? The standard answer is; "I did!" :) That is NOT helpful!! Today as I was putting food on their Lunch plates someone asked, "What are we having for lunch?!?" I said, "Ask Avi; she will know!" The Problem; Apparently it was Avi who asked the question!! Haha. That sure made me laugh! Avi didn't really see any humor in it (which made it funnier ...

Atley ate two servings of raisin cinnamon English muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork roast, ate whole wheat toast, bite of beets, and ate applesauce.  I can't remember who Atley was talking to or what it involved, but I liked how she phrased this: "Hold onto it a lot!!" Translation: Hang on tight! So cute. I love how they phrase thoughts in these early years.  First picture; Svea has been asking for the play doh and the rest of the kids - except Miles - joined in the fun. Miles will soon be there as well. Next picture: The four girls playing a "feelings matching game" again. They all got matches in this first game. About the time I took the picture Svea was saying, "I really really really need another match!" Ha. And she actually did get another one before the game was over. :) Next picture: Atley hard at work with an Art paper. She was drawing these "mountains" (her words) and when I took the pi...

Atley ate chex cereal and three servings of peaches for breakfast. For lunch she ate ground beef, toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, no avocado, no tomato, and ate mandarin oranges.   First picture; From Friday afternoon. I got some bottles of bubbles and the kids had a blast running and chasing all over the yard! They started asking for bubbles in February!! Ha. We drained almost an entire large bottle on Friday because all of us were having so much fun.  This next picture is one I took on Saturday (just for fun) and then saved to have the kids guess at what it looks like to them. The 3 oldest kids had great guesses; Svea said, "Mowana." Haha. No idea what that may have meant! So Avi said, "Pink snakes." Atley said, "Pink meat." Nora said, "Puzzle." Good guessing! That is some of the coolest bacon swirls you'll ever see. Haha. Sugar Free bacon of course.  :) Which is not easy to find in our fair city. Last picture; Atley and Nora were the on...

Atley ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate Tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, ate one green bean, and ate a large serving of applesauce.   First picture: So here's what you do when you're waiting for your friends to arrive!! Haha. Watch the sparkles in your bottle. (Personally, I think this is an excellent picture of Atley.) When Nora arrived she was carrying her sparkle bottle from yesterday too. :) Atley and Nora spent the first several minutes hiding and searching for their bottles.  Here are a couple pictures with Nora from this morning. Avi and Svea spent the night with Grandparents and did not arrive until shortly before Lunch. (It's so interesting how group dynamics change when one or more are gone. I've always found that fascinating.) These two read books in the Preschool Room and it was fun to listen to them discussing what interested them. Atley said, "I want a car like that." Ha. Now that wasn't a surprise. Followi...

Atley ate two servings of blueberry bagel and ate peaches for breakfast. For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger & sausage pizza with olives, tomato sauce, pineapple, and peppers. She ate two servings of whole wheat pizza crust that we serve on the side and ate a serving of pineapple on the side.   This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon. Avi and Atley like to work together and drag the kids around on the parachute. At this time Svea was the only other one here so it worked pretty good! You better hang on Svea. When they turned corners Svea kind of got rolled up like a burrito. :) Thursday; Science with Lauralea!! Today's theme is "stuff that dissolves." So what does "dissolve" mean? No answers, so we had to define that first. We had several cups with water and everyone tried something different and stirred. I think this is most of them: flour, sugar, corn starch, salt, Himalayan pink salt, toothpaste, yeast, creamer, brown sugar, ins...

Atley ate most of her whole wheat toast and ate two servings of grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat tortillas, one carrot, bite of potatoes, and ate fruit salad.  First picture: This is from yesterday afternoon when Atley and Avi were doing an activity following patterns of color and sequencing on this game I made. They've done it before, but not for a long time. I always find it interesting how they'll do something they like - over and over until they're tired of it - and then maybe not come back to it for weeks or months.  Svea was watching with interest while the big girls were at work. Next picture: The Nelson girls brought this "feelings matching game" from home and the kids played serval games of it. Svea played the first game with them. So if you look in the picture you'll see Svea got the first match again. I was excited for her and I hooted and hollered!! Which was a major mistake because from then on  all  the kids expecte...