Linnea's Journal

Linnea ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate Alaskan salmon patty, bites of whole wheat dinner roll, ate cauliflower, and two servings of mangoes. First picture: Linnea was visiting with Baby Miles and Cal came by to see what was happening with these two people!!  I guess he didn't find much because he didn't hang around more than a couple of quick moments!!  Here's what Cal is thinking:  "And besides that, Gary is always telling me to 'be gentle' so there is nothing here for me!!"  :) Next picture:  I was feeding Baby Miles and Linnea got on the couch and started feeding her "baby" too.  I asked Avilene to take a picture for me (that's obviously my arm on the right side of the picture) and I think she did a good job with it. I don't know exactly how many times this morning Linnea said, "I love you Gary!" But it was several.  So here's some background why I think she's started saying it...

Linnea ate most of whole wheat English muffin and two servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce. First picture; Callahan caught red-handed with some contraband!!  Haha!!  Linnea's water bottle.  Of course it wouldn't have been available if she had not left it unattended in the middle of the floor.  Some kids would "freak out" if they saw this; Linnea just sat and giggled at him.  :)  It didn't bother her a bit and she didn't care. Next picture: Linnea is getting more brave all the time.  So far she never stands "straight up" when she's preparing to jump.  It's always just like you see it in the picture, but that's major progress for her!!  :)  Following picture: Baby Miles is back today so everything seems to be good in Linnea's world.  :) Next picture: Playing with the dolls with Svea.  Like I mentioned yesterday (I think it was ...

Linnea ate French toast and three servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of Paleo stew with meat, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, and tomatoes.  She ate saltines, and two servings of tropical fruit. This week Baby Miles has been hanging out with his Grandma who is visiting from South Dakota.  The plan is for him to be back on Thursday.  Linnea was really quizzing me this morning; "WHERE is Miles!?!"  So I AGAIN told her what he was doing!!  Haha!!  She said, "Why he with his Grandma!?!"  Linnea obviously misses him. First picture;  This morning Atley put a few toys in the chair and then coaxed Linnea into sitting there while Atley had the chair flying around and around.  Linnea actually wanted to go do something else, but she cooperated for a couple minutes before bailing out!!  Haha!  And that's what the following picture of Linnea is about!!  She was lo...

Linnea ate waffles and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of chicken, ate whole wheat tortillas, two servings of corn, and ate apple slices.  We ran out of time and didn't get to the baked cinnamon apples, so we had apple slices instead.  They nailed that immediately; "Hey! Why are we having it like this?"  They totally know what goes with every meal!! These first two pictures are leftover from yesterday afternoon.  First picture is primarily Atley working with the legos.  Linnea is resting in the background.  I guess it's hard work watching Atley do construction!!  Haha.  Next picture; Atley has on the "Grandmother" mask from "Little Red Riding Hood" story.  Linnea has on a bear mask from the "Three Little Bears" story.  Linnea said, "I'm the Lion King!!"  Haha!! Next picture:  Here's the story behind the picture;  All the other kids were ready for breakfast and already eat...

Linnea ate kix cereal and two servings of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, whole wheat hamburger bun, tomatoes, avocado, and two servings of cherries.  It was SO NICE to have Linnea back!!  I missed her!!  She gave me the sweetest loves this morning.  Two or Three times and it was adorable.  I asked her about her cousin's name and she said, "I don't know."  Haha.  So I showed her the picture you sent me and of course that helped!!  She said, "That's my friend."  Then she said her cousin's name and I never got it right because she kept saying, "no."  "Cara, no.  Tara, no.  Sara, no."  It was starting to frustrate her that I wasn't getting it, so I changed the subject.  haha. Here are some pictures from Linnea's busy busy morning.  We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and all the kids stayed very busy this morning.  First picture - she's putting on the hard-ha...

Linnea ate a large serving of cream of wheat cereal (or as Atley called it; "I want more cream of  Weed !" Haha) and ate most of her dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she wouldn't try a bite of chicken, broccoli, riced cauliflower casserole. Also with green chiles and lots of yummy spices.  She ate most of whole wheat toast and ate her pineapple. First thing this morning Linnea was sitting on my lap and we were visiting.  I made a "hand sign of a phone" and I said, "Call me when you are in Disneyland.  She got really serious and frowned and said, "I don't have a phone."  I said, "Maybe you can use Mom's phone."  She grinned all over and said, "Ok!"  Haha.  It was so cute. First picture;  Atley and Linnea were jumping and Atley said, "I love Nay Nay."  So I said, "Why?"  Atley said, "Because she doesn't squish me."  Hahaha!!  You know Atley, I really haven't seen anyone ...

Linnea ate two servings of waffles and two servings of cherries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a bite of meatloaf, ate whole wheat tortillas, sweet potatoes, and cherries. This morning Lauralea asked Linnea about going to Disneyland.  Linnea said, "I'm gonna see Donald Buck." (Yes she said "B" instead of "D" Haha.)  Lauralea asked Linnea if "Grandpa and Grandma" were going.  Linnea said, "Yes and my Old Grandpa."  :) This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when Avi and Atley were building their "monster trucks" or a variation of that.  ("Monster Trucks," "Monster Cars," and Monster Truck Snowmobiles.") They wanted to show them to the Daycare kids and Svea and Linnea were very interested.  I think this is a cute picture and one of the benefits of mixing older and younger kids. Next picture:  Every time I take a picture like this I always make mention of the fact that I s...

Linnea ate half of her French toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate Whole 30 Chili with meat, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and spices.  She ate her dinner roll and two servings of pineapple/mango mix. You may hear the same thing at home, but when anyone mentions "Disneyland" the first one Linnea mentions is "Pluto."  She said, "I'm gonna pet him."  :) This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon when Linnea and Svea were playing on the shelves or bunk bed as we call it.  :)  When I took this picture Linnea was patting Svea on her head and saying, "Go back to sleep baby, go back to sleep." This next picture cracks me up!!!  These two were playing with the doctor toys and when Svea bent over it looks like Linnea is ready to apply the immunization needle!!  Haha!!  Svea, don't ever bend over  when the Nurse or Doctor has a needle.  Last picture:  Svea, Cal, and Linnea wer...

Linnea ate whole wheat English muffin and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of pork chops, most of whole wheat toast, ate beets, and applesauce. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and I thought it was cute how Linnea has the stethoscope on the kitty's back.  I asked her if she could hear the heart beat?  "Yes."  :)  Second picture: Linnea was talking to Miles and kept saying to me, "Hey Gary!  He grinned.  He grinned!" Well of course, he's looking at your sweet little face!! When I took the next picture Callahan was joining Linnea and Svea playing with the car ramps.  You can see he's putting his hand on the ramp so that hindered the car's progress and he definitely heard about his violation from the girls.  Haha. Last two pictures:  Linnea and Svea were having so much fun and the best part was the awesome giggling and boisterous laughter!!  First they'd jump and slap t...

Linnea ate whole grain Chex cereal and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of ground beef, ate whole wheat hamburger bun, tomatoes, avocados, and ate mandarin oranges. Every two weeks I start the Blogs this way:  We did toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so everything is new and different and the kids always stay super busy on Toy Exchange Monday.  Or as Atley calls it; "New Toy Monday!!"  :)  In the first picture Linnea has found the new doctor toys - and some of the doctor toys really are new, not just part of an exchange.  I like how Linnea has the stethoscope around the back of her head.  Haha!  I wonder what Medical School she attended?!? Everyone was on the yellow benches banging on the window waving at our neighbor across the street; "Big Willy."  He was out pushing a little bit of snow off his sidewalk and he LOVES it when the kids wave at him.  So I held up both babies too so he...

Linnea ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, green beans, and ate her applesauce. I mentioned "morning rituals" about Linnea asking to see a picture of "Gideon."  (And she did that again this morning too.)  Another thing we do almost every morning; she crawls on my lap and I ask, "Ok, what'd you do last night?"  And it's usually something like; "Play with Daddy, Mommy, dogs, or brother."  And I make silly suggestions like, "Did you chase squirrels? Did you bark at cars?"  We didn't do that today and about 10:20 this morning she got on my lap with the cutest silly grin and said, "I play with my Momma and Daddy last night."  Haha!  So sweet. First picture; This one is left over from yesterday afternoon when the kids were making tall towers with the blocks.  Note how Avi is perched on top of one pile.  Hey, speaking of "perched in the air,...

Linnea ate most of toasted whole wheat bagel and three servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger and sausage pizza with meat, peppers, olives, pineapple, and tomato sauce.  She ate whole wheat pizza crust (we cut it up and serve it on the side), and more pineapple. This isn't really about Linnea, but I think you'll like the story!!  Atley just randomly said, "It's the 18th."  Avi looked at me and then (with skepticism) asked, "Gary, Is Linnea going to Disneyland today!?!"  Nope.  She's leaving on the 18th.  :)  I was impressed that Avilene remembered the date you're leaving.  We haven't been talking about it!! This first picture was left over from yesterday afternoon.  A friend had posted a picture of her cat chasing it's tail on Facebook.  The cat was sitting on a pedestal (a fairly small surface) several feet in the air and going around and around.  I was impressed that it didn't tumble off!  I ...

Linnea ate whole wheat toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of pork roast, ate whole wheat tortillas, roasted potatoes, and three servings of fruit salad. Lauralea was telling me this morning that she is going to the theater to see "Little Women" with her daughter.  Linnea was listening and asked Lauralea, "Why are you going to see Mickey?!?"  Haha! Why else would you go to the theater!?!  That was so cute and funny.  Also this morning, first thing Linnea asked for again was "picture of Gideon."  I love this daily ritual!!  Haha!  Then later she asked for a picture of "Miles." First picture; Callahan was the first one here this morning and playing with the legos was one of his first activities.  Then Linnea (on the right) showed up and she was super concerned because Cal was taking apart some legos left over from yesterday afternoon.  "Gary, he broke it!! Gary, he broke it!!" That's actually ...

Linnea ate whole wheat English muffin and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken and cabbage stir fry which also had peppers, zucchini, olive oil, and spices.  She ate brown rice and mandarin oranges. First picture:  This is Daddy Eric they are waving to in the picture.  Or at least Linnea and Atley are waving and Cal is watching them.  Actually it's more like pounding on the window than waving which is probably why it's so interesting to watch.  Believe me, Atley can pound on the window (I do occasionally ask her to pound lightly) and I sometimes wonder how the window stays in place!!  :)  Following picture; More waving at the window.  Atley yelled, "Garbage Truck! Garbage Truck!"  The driver noticed the kids at the window, he slowed down, and he has his arm out his window waving.  It was pretty cool for the kids; they loved it. Within a couple minutes of arrival Svea was saying, "snuggle snuggle snuggle." ...