Adventures of Evie

  Last week Evie was pretty frustrated with kindergarten and this week that hasn't improved. She says she thought it would be more fun and she is tired of coloring, worksheets, and sitting still all day. I feel for her because when I started my desk job I was also really frustrated about having to sit in a chair all day and not be able to move around much. Evie is a very active kid. She loves to dance, run, jump, and play. I am hoping the restart of dance will help her out a bit but so far it's been a rough week with a lot of tears about going to school. So today we took a little break from our at home studies. One thing I've loved about our at home preschool journey is that if she or I need a little mental health break it is so easy to step back for a day and then just jump back in when we are ready. I'm fortunate to have a job that understands that as well and allows me to have breaks when I need them. But schools carry on. So we set up a picnic today and played lots ...

  Today we learned about the climate of the Philippines and we also learned a few Filipino words which was a lot of fun. Evie was very interested in how they manage to speak so many languages there. I asked her, knowing that it's an archipelago, and knowing the climate of another archipelago (Hawaii) what she thought the weather might be like there. She quickly said "HOT! Tropical!" So then we got into what kind of natural disasters a tropical climate might bring. She guessed it would be hurricanes and while she is correct, when hurricanes occur in the Eastern Hemisphere we refer to them as typhoons. So we did some learning about typhoons today and how they could affect Filipino people. While we talked we made some shaving cream typhoons. This was really fun because Evie got to play in the cream and the paint, there was a surprise reveal and then she got to just play with what was leftover which made her very happy. First we dropped paint into a bin of shaving cream... .....

  This week we are having culture week. We got a pack of flash cards of the world for a dollar at Target and each month Evie gets to randomly pick one out and we will spend time learning about that place. This week for our first culture week she chose The Philippines. This actually worked out pretty well since we learned about climates last week and we talked about Hawaii being an archipelago. So this week when I showed her a map of the country she eagerly exclaimed "It's an archipelago!". Today we talked a little bit about the holidays and festivals they have in The Philippines and we made some masks for Ati Atihan which is a week long festival that includes food, costumes, and dancing and music. We looked at some of the costumes that they wear during the festival and Evie was really in love with all the colors and patterns. She really wants to go to the festival one day and maybe she will! I love how much she likes learning about and seeing new places. Her mask turned o...

  Today we did some science to learn about how storms form. We used red warm water and blue ice cubes in a bin so that we could see how they would react when they hit each other.  We put the red in first so it spread pretty quickly and then we added the blue ice cubes. While the reaction was happening I explained to Evie that when warm, moist air hits the cooler air it gets pushed upward. Once the warm air cools down it starts to form clouds and when the clouds are too heavy it will start to rain. When it's really hot out the clouds can get very tall and sometimes, the movement of air can even cause tornadoes! During the experiment, Evie got to see how the blue cold water pushes the red warm water up to the top corner. You can also do this experiment by adding warm and cold water to a bin of room temperature water to watch the blue water sink under the red! It was fun to watch and we recreated it a few times! We had a lot of fun this week learning about climates and the weathe...

  Evie had another rough morning today. Even though school didn't affect her sleeping or her morning routine it has been a big adjustment for her. Typically we start the morning with breakfast, some kind of movement, then sensory and free play and lunch. Then after lunch we have quiet time and then we do our science, STEM or cooking. Now that she is in school there is no quiet time so we go from lunch to the bus stop and then to school. Before she started I thought she'd really appreciate not having to have quiet time and we have shifted our other afternoon activities into the morning by just doing less each day. But it's been really hard for her. She doesn't enjoy sitting in a chair, she dislikes doing worksheets and independent learning, and she isn't a fan of not being able to get a drink or go to the bathroom when she needs to. I'm hopeful that as time goes on she will adjust to school and learn to like it but homeschooling is still heavy on my mind for next...

  Today was a rough day for Evie. She woke up cranky and stayed that way through most of the morning and early afternoon. I had some small projects planned for today but since I knew she wasn't going to be fully engaged I decided to go a different route. First we worked on some of her numbers. With some help she made it all the way to 50 today! Then we started making some slime! After we made it we added some glitter and small confetti pieces and THEN I showed her the magical part of it. It color changes! I gave her a bag of ice and let her press it into the slime to see what would happen. She really loved watching it turn purple and then warming it up to turn it pink again! We used this sensory experiment to talk about how changing temperatures can affect the climate and ways we can try to prevent that from happening. It wasn't what we had planned for the day but it was fun, we stayed on topic, and it helped her to calm down a little before school started. She wasn't 100% ...

  We are still talking about climates and today we focused on tides. We did a little experiment with water to demonstrate how the tides work. First we filled her bin with acrylic ice in varying levels. Then we added water slowly and I let her tell me which parts would go underwater first and last as the tide rose. Then we took water out slowly to demonstrate low tide. Evie has experienced the tide many a time at various beaches and she was really interested in what makes the water move futher and closer to our chairs so this was a great opportunity to show her how it works. Of course you can't talk about tides with out talking about the moon so we also did a little art project today. She got to wrap and decorate this little moon while we talked about how it affects the tides. It was a fun project and it turned out so cute. The information she is learning is really sticking with her as well. Today we played a few games before school and she let me know that I needed to bundle up sin...

  This week we're learning about climates and the different types of climates around the world. We talked a little about Polar, Temperate, Tropical, Dry, and Continental climates today and how the type of climate a place has can affect the weather, types of plants and animals living there, and so much more!  She got to play with this sensory bin filled with purple ice and snow and some polar animals. We talked a little bit about how small shifts in the global temperature can very seriously affect the climate and how the polar animals are currently being very affected by this. Then we talked about how weather is different to climate but also how each one can affect the other. Evie was very concerned to know that global shifts can affect how severe the weather in each climate can be! But we also talked about how there are things we can do to prevent the shifts and help make things better. She had a lot of fun mixing these little foam weather slimes together and adding rainbows,...

  We made it through the first week of school! Rather, the first two days...but still that feels like a huge deal. Today after I picked Evie up we had a little Target run and she used her allowance to get a new LOL doll and a Squishmallow. Then we came home and made a pizza together and settled in to watch a movie together. She's VERY into space and really wants to be an astronaut when she grows up and as such has been begging me to watch Lightyear. So we decided to go ahead and do it. I was a little worried some parts would be a little scary for her but she did really well. She has a very good understanding of real vs pretend and when things got dicey I also reminded her that Buzz is safe and sound in Woody's room later in his life so we know he's gonna come out of it OK. That seemed to help! She didn't love all of the movie but was VERY interested in how the space ships worked and what it's like to feel no gravity and how their suits worked. So I think it's ti...

  Yesterday we got to go out to Evie's school and meet her teacher and see her classroom. She had a lot of nerves after leaving and she was really not having it when she woke up today. She cried and told me she couldn't go and begged me to let her stay home. She told me she'd miss me too much and she wanted to wait til next year and that she ABSOLUTELY was NOT getting on the bus today. I had a hopeful solution already in the works and it did help a little but she still was a ball of nerves all morning. After I had her calmed down some I gave her this little bracelet I made for her a few weeks ago. It has all her favorite colors and a little heart bead in the center. I told her I had put kisses and hugs in the heart and that if she got lonely or scared or needed mama while she was at school all she had to do was just look at her bracelet and rub the heart and it would be like a virtual hug and kiss til she got home. She really loved that and was so excited to put it on. With...

  The first day of school is ALMOST here. Today it really became real because we got to go out to Evie's school and meet her new teacher and see her classroom. I never went to this school district so it was all new for me too. She found her desk and her cubby and got to talk to her teacher for a bit. She wasn't super impressed with the teacher but I think she will come around as she gets to know her more. We also got all her stuff set up so she can be a hybrid bus/car rider. Only one more day and this kid is a kindergartener for REAL. It's all going by so fast. :(

  Today we spent some time doing some art and playing with different ways to create. I gave Evie some soft crayons (they're sort of like pastels) and some water with a paint brush and let her go to town. At first she just made scribbles and played with how the water would spread them out. A few times she didn't get enough of the crayon down and the whole design disappeared! But she stuck with it and got it down. I told her she could draw whatever she wanted so she drew me a slide and some nail polishes. She did a really great job! I'm very impressed with how far her drawing skills have come in the past two years. From scribbles and blobs of color to things you can actually recognize even without context! It's pretty cool to see how she's growing and changing. :)

  Today we managed to snag a FREE Lalaloopsy baking oven from a neighbor and Evie got to work right away making a cake. I always wanted an Easy Bake oven as a child (*spoiler* never got one!) and essentially that's exactly what this is but it's cute and pink (and FREE) and it is perfect for cooking day. So today we had baking day and she made a confetti cake. She got to bake it, make the frosting, and then decorate it and EAT it. She definitely didn't go lightly on the decorating either. There were SO MANY sprinkles! It was a lot of fun to watch her make this and I can't wait to incorporate more baking days into our weeks. :) Two more days til this kid is a KINDERGARDENER. It's crazy to think about still and she's at the point now where her initial excitement has waned, it's becoming very real and she's had a few good cries about it. She's really worried about missing me a lot. Being together for the better part of the last two years has been an incr...

  It's our final day of vacation and todays adventure is New Orleans! This was not a part of our original trip and the weather was decidedly rainy so we made plans to check out City Park and the Childrens Museum of Louisiana. The park was absolutely beautiful and nestled inside of it is the museum, an art museum, many little collections of statues and art installations, as well as Cafe Du Monde which promises to have delicious coffee and beignets. We started there and they definitely were delicious! While we ate and enjoyed our coffee Evie put on many "shows" for us in this gorgeous gazebo that's right across from the cafe. She had a ton of fun using it as a stage and singing and dancing and then of course encouraging us all to clap for her when the show was over. Then it was museum time! I still honestly didn't find this museum as nice as our own but it was VASTLY superior to the Tampa one. Evie started out on the water table again. This water table had a lot of ...

  Today we did a series of mini trips while we made our way from Florida to Louisiana for our final vacation destination of New Orleans. This was an add on to our originally planned trip and even though we were all tired and feeling a bit under the weather it was worth it. We started in Mobile, AL. There were quite a few cute little shops there as well as lots of street art. We didn't stay in Mobile long but we snapped a few photos and enjoyed the sights before we headed off on our way. Stop two was in Biloxi, MS. There is a lighthouse there which has some cool history and near by it is a Hurricane Katrina memorial. Evie and I have talked about weather, climate, and hurricanes on more than a few occasions and it was a really great way to show her how hurricanes can affect people and nature and how we, as a society can help and rebuild. We got to see some of the items they gathered from homes that had been destroyed, a memorial with names of people who died or were missing from the ...

  Today is our last day at our pool house so we decided to spend the day exploring and relaxing. We stayed in Dunedin and it's such a cute little town. It even has a little trolley which will take you around the city and to the beach. We found lots of little shops, colorful art installations, and more breweries than I've ever seen in such a small area. We had planned to spend a good chunk of our morning in Tampa at the Glazer Childrens Museum. I have a Cincinnati Museum Centers pass and it's gotten me into many museums for half price or less so it was a cheap and potentially fun activity since the morning was supposed to be rainy.  We ended up getting in for free and I was really glad about that by the time we got into the museum because to be frank...it was terrible. There was a water installation which most museums have but it was geared towards how rivers contribute to larger bodies of water so it mostly just had some dams and some water spouts that Evie had a hard time ...