Svea's Journal

Svea ate half of her brown rice and ate raisins for breakfast. For lunch she ate most of her chicken, ate whole wheat dinner roll, bites of cauliflower, and no fruit cocktail.   I'm including two pictures from yesterday afternoon at "Three Hills by the College." Well the first picture is actually on our way there!! What's so attractive about this place?!? So far they've  not  grown tired of it and ask to go frequently!! First, there is LOTS of activity (like you see in the second picture) and the kids wave at everyone. Secondly, they love collecting the rocks, leaves, and sticks. Maybe best of all there is room to run run run. Next picture; Svea had not been here very long and she was highly offended by Cal not wanting her to "hover" over him as he was doing puzzles again. She went to the cozy corner to regroup and Miles moved right over and was repeating over and over, "Hi Svea!" "Hi Svea!" "Hi Svea!" "Hi Svea!" A...

Svea ate whole wheat English muffin and two servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast. For lunch she ate a large serving of ground beef, no whole wheat elbow noodles, no peas/carrot mix, and ate most of her applesauce. First picture: Cal was just finishing his breakfast when he asked if he could do some puzzles. Svea got her chair and scooted over close so she could watch his progress. When he was doing his second puzzle she decided to get one of her own and she's working on it in picture number two! She has gotten very efficient at doing the puzzles.  Next picture: Svea was dressed up in the frog suit - just like every day this week!! This was pretty hilarious as Cal was saying to Miles, "You chewed on my Baby, You chewed on my Baby, You chewed on my Baby!!" Over and over, maybe 50 times! Seriously!! Zoom in Miles' face. He is laughing so hard. Haha. Svea was watching them and just sitting there grinning the entire time.  Next picture; They were lining up and jumpin...

Svea ate French toast and three large servings of strawberries for breakfast. For lunch Svea ate no Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and carrots. She ate saltines and mangoes/pineapple. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when Nora joined us after school. Svea was happy to see Nora and more happy to not have to "share" Nora with anyone else. :) Lauralea and I have discussed how we think the three little kids are doing after the three big girls went to Kindergarten. We are very pleased with how quickly they've adapted and I think they are all doing great. Svea LOVES being the "big girl" and has embraced the role whole-heartedly!! :)  Next picture - Svea is taking a picture of the boys this morning. She told Cal where to stand and Miles joined them. At least for a few moments. (Miles took off shortly after I took this picture.) Cal was saying, "Cheese, cheese, cheese....

Svea ate half of her waffle and half of her grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, two servings of whole wheat tortillas, two servings of corn, and ate apple slices. As I've mentioned many times I frequently - basically daily - ask the kids what they did "last night." So today it was funny to listen to Svea quizzing Cal. "Cal, what did you do last night?" He said, "I watch the show." So she started asking about "specific" days; "What did you do yesterday?" "What did you do Friday?" "What did you do Thursday?" My favorite; "What did you do tomorrow?" Haha. He started giving silly answers to every question. First two pictures; We got some of the more simple Preschool Activities - we'd put these away as the Kindergarten Girls mastered them and got older. Svea likes looking at the trays and experimenting with them. In the first one she is matching numbers and in the second one she's puttin...

Svea ate half of her kix cereal and no fruit cocktail for breakfast. For lunch she ate ground turkey topped with avocado, ate whole wheat sandwich thin, tomatoes, and three servings of cherries.  First picture: We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so there were lots of things to choose from!! However when Svea arrived I don't think she noticed the Toy Exchange for several minutes. She was busy laying out goodies from home and showing them to Miles. :) Following picture; During breakfast Svea said, "Hey Gary! Take a picture of my flower." (In her spoon.) Ha. Yup, that's a good one! Next picture: There are advantages to minimal competition for the Doll House accessories!! Nobody here to share the car with in this exchange. (The girls have really done well sharing it!) Following picture: Svea asked, "Can Lulu visit us today?" We haven't been visited by Lulu for a long time; although she does sit on the shelf so the kids can see her. She'...

Svea ate no cream of wheat cereal and ate her raisins for breakfast. For lunch she ate none of her hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes. She ate toasted whole wheat hamburger bun and none of her fruit cocktail.  First two pictures left over from yesterday. This is what it looked like after we'd mixed up the ingredients for the brownies. They were all begging to "Sniff" the wonderful smells!! Haha. Second picture: Nora, Miles, and Svea were having lots of fun in the tunnels covered with the parachutes. Meanwhile Avi was practicing some soccer kicks off the side of the garage. (Doing some impressive kicks by the way!!) Next picture; Svea feeding her baby with Nora playing nearby with her babies as well. I haven't seen Svea doing this very much since Nora moved on to Kindergarten. She's too busy doing make-believe games with Cal and bossing him around. Ha.  Last picture: The kids were coloring their food trays left over from breakfas...

Svea ate whole wheat toast and mangoes for breakfast. For lunch she ate no ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate cauliflower, and fruit salad.   This first picture is from yesterday afternoon. Svea and Cal are both on their phones and is sounded like they were inviting Nora and Sophie Boyle to their picnic. Super cute.  The Second picture is left over from yesterday afternoon as well when Miles joined Svea with sidewalk chalk. He was determined to draw wherever she was working. I'm sure he didn't even notice that the grass was a bit damp where he's laying!! Haha. It's a little crazy around here today - just in case you had any doubts!! Haha. The excitement level of the three Kindergarten Girls has been high and extra high! So the Blogs are probably gonna be shorter and then we're gonna start working on fixing Brownies while the boys are napping. Two pictures: We were decorating pumpkins and I decided to try an experiment using crayons...

Svea didn't want to eat breakfast: French toast and dried plums. For lunch she ate two servings of pulled pork, ate whole wheat dinner roll, ate peas/carrots, and two servings of strawberries. I love stories about young children who are only capable of "concrete thinking." In our English language we use LOTS of phrases that I would call a "play on words." The phrase or word means something different than the original meaning. One obvious example; "raining cats and dogs." (That example is probably an old school phrase!!) Here's an example of concrete thinking, but with a twist. We were watching a man pedal a bicycle with no hands. I said, "Look Ma! No hands." (Old school again.) Cal was very serious when he pointed at my hands and said, "You DO have hands. Right there." I love that. First picture; I took this picture during nap time from yesterday. Svea traced her hand (and arm) and then colored it. GREAT JOB Svea!! I'm impre...

Svea ate half of her blueberry bagel and ate 2 grapes for breakfast. For lunch she ate bites of broccoli and that's all!! No shrimp, brown rice, or mixed berries. Callahan asked me this morning if we could read books and I said, "As soon as  everybody  is here we'll read books." So you can probably guess what he kept asking me; "Is everybody here, Is everybody here?" Miles came; "Is everybody here?" Svea came; "Is everybody here?" Yes, but now it was breakfast time. (By the way we read LOTS of our "Special" books after breakfast!!) When Svea arrived she had no idea about the background of our discussion, BUT of course she had an opinion and it was a doozy!! She said, "Cal you are  not   everybody !! You are just one kid!!" And at breakfast she still felt the need to quiz him; "Cal, are you everybody!?" :) This morning Cal said, "I am a Target Range Tiger!" Svea kept saying, "No you're not!...

Svea ate bran cereal and no raisins for breakfast. For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, no green beans, and no pears.  Svea at breakfast: "Mommy had to bring cushions to Philipsburg. There was a Candy Store by Philipsburg. Down at the bottom of the hill."  "Hey, I have a story to tell you. We went to McDonalds and somebody stole a bus and the police were trying to get the thief. So Mommy had to go inside to get our food." Svea at Lunch: Singing a song that went like this; "Be nice on the motel in the street night." Over and over and over again. Not a song I've seen on my kid's list!! LOL!! This first picture is left over from Friday afternoon when Svea was playing with the Doll House and accessories. "Hey Gary, look at this. Take my picture." That's a very cute hat Svea and it looks great on you!! :) Next picture: So here's Teacher Assistant Svea handling a situation!! Cal and Miles were squabbling and Cal started pi...

Svea ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast. For lunch she ate no pork roast, ate whole wheat toast, beets, and bites of applesauce. Svea and Cal were the only ones here this morning so it was more quiet than usual, but we had a good time. At least I did and I think they did too! Haha. First picture; The 2-sided block wall was standing from yesterday and Svea instructed Cal to push it over. He did and then they both tried to push it sideways like you see in the picture. I'd woven the blocks together pretty tightly with the other wall (on the floor) and they both pushed and pushed, but had to take it apart piece by piece. So I'm on to a 2nd career in construction. Ha.  Svea started packing the blocks - one at a time - across the room to build something different. Cal asked, "Do you want me to help you Momma!?" Svea said, "Yes I do." Cal said, "Mama, I'm a baby." Haha. Svea said, "Yes I know." Ha. Next picture: I really like th...