Atley's Journal

Atley ate French toast and three servings of strawberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate a large serving of Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and carrots. She ate two servings of saltines and ate tropical fruit. Lots of phrases we use as adults do not translate for "concrete thinking" children. They may be able to understand a few of the phrases if you take time to explain what it means, but generally speaking that too is a waste of time. Haha. One of the most obvious would be "it's raining cats and dogs." So Avi was yapping at me about something and I told her she sounded like "a broken record." "What does that mean?!?" Uh, never mind. (I remember lots of old records getting stuck!!) First picture: Atley working hard on her Art piece. I'm sure loving all the creativity I'm seeing from the kids. They kind of feed off each other, but they also add their own flair to their perso...

Atley ate half of her waffle and ate grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate two servings of chicken, ate whole wheat tortillas, ate corn, and two servings of baked cinnamon apples.   First picture is left over from yesterday. Atley was reading to Miles while they were sitting on the blue balance beam. Miles, of course, kept trying to turn pages as you can see. Another note about Miles and Atley: He was swatting at Atley and I said, "Be gentle; no hitting." Atley said, "Oh he can hit me if he wants." Well I'm sure your intentions are good Atley. but NO he can't hit anyone, including you, at Little Treasures. :)  Next picture: This was pretty cute and sweet; Atley told Nora she could this baby and take it home. Atley said, "I gave Nora this doll because I don't like dolls anymore." (She really never did like them here.) Nora was thrilled. In the following picture Atley was playing a "matching game" with Svea. I heard Atley say, "T...

Atley ate half of her kix cereal and a bite of fruit cocktail for breakfast. For lunch she ate ground turkey, toasted whole wheat sandwich thins, no avocado, no tomato, and ate black-raspberries. Svea said she didn't want any breakfast. She said, "I had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich" Atley said, "That sounds more like lunch. You had lunch." Avi said, "No, it was peanut butter toast." Ha.  First two pictures - Atley and Nora were at the window looking at the neighbor's yard and saying things like; "Those are so beautiful!!" "I like them SO much!" So I peeked out and took a picture of some beautiful roses so you could see what the girls were enjoying. Our ONE rose bush in the front yard has ONE full rose (that's very pretty) and another one it's way! Nora and Atley said the rose was pretty, but they like the neighbor's better. Haha. I do too. Next picture: Atley was playing with the swinging magnet and said, ...

Atley ate oatmeal and three servings of baked cinnamon apples for breakfast. For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, and potatoes. She ate two servings of fruit cocktail, and no whole wheat dinner roll.    This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon and the story behind this is pretty cute. Nora asked, "What does the number 100 and the number 2000 look like." So I grabbed a piece of chalk and I said, "I'll show you what they look like." Nora and Atley were impressed. So I did 3 or 4 different numbers and said, "Here, I'll show you how old I am!" And I did the 66. Except the girls were standing on the opposite side; "no I am not 99." :) Then I said, "I'll show you how old Lauralea is!" Atley's response was hilarious: "Oh this is gonna be good because she's older than Gary!!" I roared. "Umm, no, 11 years younger!" Last picture: Nora ...

Atley ate most of breakfast: French toast and dried plums. For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat toast, peas, and two servings of strawberries. Svea came in time for Lunch and she said, "Gary, when I eat it makes my teeth hurt." Atley, with an immediate answer, said, "Well maybe one of them are rotten because you haven't been brushing your teeth." Haha. Wow, go straight for "worst case scenario!" And of course Atley loved it because she made Nora laugh. I took this first picture yesterday afternoon when Atley and Nora were working hard on some Art papers. They have lots of supplies on the table and they get those all laid out first before they begin. They were back at it this morning before breakfast with even more supplies this morning. The table was basically covered!! :) Next picture; Atley watching herself practice whistling!! And she's just starting to get a few "whistles" to come forth!! :) I actually heard one from several fee...

Atley had bite of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast. For lunch she ate ground beef mixed with marinara sauce on top of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, two more servings of noodles without meat, ate cauliflower, and three servings of fruit salad.   This first picture is actually leftover from yesterday afternoon when the kids were playing with the cars and car ramp. Nora asked me to cover them up with the "parachute." Atley, Nora, Cal, and Miles are under the parachute. The boys soon left and inadvertently took most of the parachute with them! The were in big trouble with the girls. :) Next picture: Nora and Atley were playing with the barnyard legos animals; primarily the horses. I asked, "What are you guys playing?" (I never guess because after all these years I'm still surprised by their answers and this particular time was no different. Ha.) Nora said, "Christmas; remember that game Atley? The horses open their presents." And that's...

Atley ate blueberry bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate shrimp, two servings of brown rice (covered in juice from the blackberries - see picture below), ate broccoli, and black raspberries. ALL the kids are eating their rice covered with berry juice now. :) I had to take a picture so you could see what it looks like. Nora's plate after she ate her blackberries - see the rice that's left.  Hey I just wanted to let you know we're not having Science with Lauralea this week. (And we didn't have it last week either!) Avi, Nora, and Svea have all been doing daily Swim Lessons in the mid-morning and I wasn't about to ask Lauralea to try to switch her busy schedule. :) Also, July is quickly approaching and I want to remind everyone that Little Treasures will be closed the week of July 5 - 9. Here are a couple pictures of Atley's creations from this morning. She said the first one was a "tower." Yes I can see that. It also looks li...

Atley ate bran cereal and raisins for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, toasted whole wheat pita bread,  bite of avocado, no cucumbers, and ate pears.  This first picture pretty much tells the story when Nora arrived!!  Ha! They were so happy to see each other and I love watching these reunions!! Later in the morning Atley asked Nora, "Did you miss me when I was at Camp?" Nora's answer was precious!! She didn't say "yes or no," but emphatically said, "SO MUCH!!" Last week Nora only mentioned it once, but she said, "I miss Atley So much!"  Avi is at a Camp this week so it was Atley and Nora here for Team Kindergarten. They went to the Preschool Room and Atley worked on Art. and Nora worked on a puzzle. We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this Weekend so they were enjoying the new stuff. These two were talking constantly as they worked. Atley said, "I got wet in the Big Rapids!" Nora said, "I'm glad I was not wit...

Atley ate oatmeal and most of dried cranberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, 1 green bean, and ate applesauce.  Avi and Atley doing some Art while waiting for Science with Lauralea to begin. :) Science with Lauralea: today's theme is "Birds." Obviously this is a wide ranging subject, but we talked about some basic things most birds have in common. How are they different from us? The kids (with some prompting) came up with good answers; "wings, feathers, and skinny legs." Ha. We also talked a little about why some birds do not fly; including the subject of hollow bones and more dense bones.  In the first picture the kids are looking at a variety of feathers and examining some differences in feathers; some help them fly, some help keep them warm. Every feather has a purpose. Following picture: We talked a little bit about different beaks and feet and the usefulness of each one.  Next two pictures; Making our own bird feeders...

Atley ate two servings of blueberry bagel and ate peaches for breakfast. For lunch she ate a large serving of our homemade hamburger & sausage pizza with meat, pineapple, peppers, olives, and tomato sauce. She ate the whole wheat pizza crust we serve on the side, and no pineapple on the side.  This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and Atley was pulling half of the Daycare population. Ha. (The Nelson girls had already left.) It actually started hailing before Atley left and pounded some hail for several minutes. Atley said it looked like "bunnies" bouncing across the yard. :) Next two pictures - I recently posted a picture of Avi and Atley playing Tic Tac Toe on the sidewalk/patio outside. Now they've moved it inside. I love this as they're continuing to take turns and learning strategy too. I heard Avi tell Atley; "It's all about blocking people!!" Haha.  Next picture; Atley was having fun tracing some pictures and then adapting th...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat tortillas, bites of potatoes, and ate fruit salad.  Important Notice (Smiley Face) : Science with Lauralea will be Friday instead of tomorrow. Lauralea will be out of town on Thursday. I've already been telling the kids because they're always asking how many more sleeps until Science.  You might guess that I took the first 3 pictures within a short period of time. Not really. It's getting more challenging as the big girls gets older and here's why: They stay engaged in the same activity (or switch to something very similar) much much longer than they once did so it seems like I'm waiting to get a different picture. Atley was at the table doing various activities and you can see she also enjoys watching other work on their stuff too. In the third picture I had to keep reminding Atley to let Svea do her puzzle by herself. :) Atley could see solutions and was itching to poin...