Atley's Journal

Atley ate bran cereal and raisins for breakfast. For lunch she ate half of her chicken, ate whole wheat pita bread, bite of avocado, bite of cucumbers, and ate pears.  We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were very busy all morning. So much so that they didn't even want to go outside. (Tate mowed this morning so Nora and Atley did spend some time at the window! Haha!) First picture: Atley was working on a sorting activity and Nora was making a shape with this electronic game.  Last picture: The 3 big girls spent a LONG time working with Mr Potato Head. There are 4 completed ones lined up in front of Nora. Atley did the 2 on the left. I'm still proud of this Potato Head score at a Garage Sale!! Haha. There are 8 bodies and LOTS of accessories all in excellent shape for $25. Nora decided it was time to look "cross-eyed" when I took the picture! Ha.

Atley ate two servings of cream of wheat cereal and ate dried plums for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, two large servings of brown rice, ate broccoli, and pineapple.  First picture: This is left over from yesterday afternoon when Atley, Nora, and Eden were collecting roly-poly bugs and putting them in the dump truck along with some dirt and grass. And this pictures applies to this morning as well as they were doing the same thing again. Second picture; Lots of activity on the mattress as usual. I liked this picture because Atley was getting some good lift off the balance beam when she was launching herself off. :) Check out how far her feet are above the blue beam. Eden has been working with the legos while Nora and Atley watched for a few moments and then launched right into their own projects. Second picture: This was pretty cool because they combined their individual efforts into one project! Without arguing!! Sometimes it helps when one child is older and bossy! Ha. And ...

Atley ate most of oatmeal and most of dried cranberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate tilapia, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate green beans, and two servings of applesauce.  First picture; Here is proof that Atley will play at the Doll House (first thing after she arrived) as long as there are "wheels" involved!! Ha. She also put 4 dogs in the car!! She had the back seat loaded with dogs and the baby was in the front between Mom and Dad. Second picture: Yup, you guessed it: More "Animal Workout!!" So what animal are you guys doing here? Atley said, "Butterflies!" Hmmm...ok, but what are you doing? She said, "We have to try to squeeze every muscle we have." Very cool. Next 3 pictures: Cheers! Our 2 Granddaughters are here. :) They are gonna be here all next week so the kids are gonna have a lot of fun! (Based on how this morning went!! Ha!) Eden is sitting between Atley and Nora. They were playing with the "pull and release...

Atley ate two servings of blueberry bagel and ate peaches for breakfast. For lunch she ate hamburger & sausage pizza with the meats, pineapple, peppers, olives, and tomato sauce. She ate whole wheat pizza crust (we serve on the side) and ate half of pineapple on the side too.  Today we did Science with Lauralea outside on the patio and we talked about the characteristics of Trees. We'd collected several samples for the kids to look at and learn. Here are some things we talked about: Two Primary types; Evergreen and Deciduous trees. Leaves and needles. Seeds inside cones and different  ways trees spread their seeds. We talked about root system, trunk, and the bark. Next picture: Here are more of the samples we collected. Leaves from Apple Tree, Sweet Cherry Tree, English Walnut Tree, Plum Tree, and a June Berry Tree. Following picture: Looking at a stem of seeds from a Cottonwood Tree. Third picture; Counting tree rings! Next picture: I'd peeled the bark off a little branch...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate pork roast, ate whole wheat tortillas, bites of potatoes, no carrots, and ate fruit salad.   First two pictures: Atley and Nora were doing the "Animal Workout" again and following all of Alexa's instructions. First picture they were  "elephants" stomping around the room and Callahan had joined them for a few minutes. I like how Nora is checking her reflection in the mirror. Second picture: You can guess what animal they are here!! They had both just "dove" off the balance beam into the water! You win if you said "Dolphins." :)  Next picture: Atley followed Nora's lead and covered her entire paper with different tape pieces. They worked pretty hard to cover the whole sheet! The following picture cracked me up!! There were several kids from Meadow Hill Middle School walking by with a couple of adults. We were all at the window waving at them. Atley saw...

Atley ate cinnamon/raisin English muffin and dried plums for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, two large servings of brown rice, ate broccoli, and mandarin oranges.  The kids had Alexa playing "Moana" and they were closely following along and I forget they're doing that. They were doing Art this morning and all of a sudden Atley loudly said, "Oh My Gosh!!" What, what?!? I assumed something had happened, but nope just rewatching the movie in their mind while listening to the sound track! Haha. AND Svea and Nora were right there with her and knew exactly what Atley was making reference to!! :) Next picture: Nora and Atley were doing "Animal workout" with Alexa again. And they were doing snails again! Ha! Alexa instructs them to "move in slow motion" and I guess that fits under the title of "workout!!" However, Nora did get a pretty good workout trying to stop Miles from bugging her!! Haha. Following picture; Atley laid here on the...

Atley ate cheerios and half of banana for breakfast. For lunch she ate ground beef, two servings of whole wheat pita bread, ate olives, avocado, and two servings of watermelon.  Svea's Mom texted and asked if I'd check Svea's hair for ticks. So I very thoroughly (I hope) checked and found no ticks!! I said, "Boy the pressure is on!! If Molly finds a tick after I check I'm in deep doo doo!" Atley said, "What's doo doo?" Avilene knew and she immediately answered, "Trouble!" Haha!  Atley was commenting about one of the stuffed animals. She said, "It smells good." Well it should; we did a toy exchange and that's been washed with bleach added. Cal picked up a stuffed animal and said, "This one smells warm." Haha. That made me laugh. I guess warm can be a nice smell.  First picture: Atley spotted a deer outside the window and Cal came over to have a look too. (Cal and Atley were the only ones here.) Second picture: The...