Adventures of Evie

We had another snow day today! There wasn't really much weather to be seen but it was fun for Evie to be home again anyway. When she went to the dentist months ago, her dentist mentioned she had a wiggly tooth. I asked her if she could wiggle it and she said no and after a bit we both forgot about it. But recently she let me know that her tooth felt really wiggly in her mouth. So we looked and boy did it! For about a week now she's been wiggling it with her tongue and asking me when it would fall out. So it was time to talk about the tooth fairy. With Santa I explained to her that while the person is not real we can all be "Santa". We talked about how Santa is the way we can all anonymously give and spread love and holiday spirit. Then we talked about how we could pretend in the man and the reindeer and all of that if Evie wanted to. The first year she declined but then this past year she wanted to do it so we did. So we had a similar conversation about how the Tooth ...

Today started out pretty well. Evie was pretty cheerful when she got up, she did her chores, we finished up her homework for the month and then we had lunch and got loaded in the car to go to school. That's when the day went sideways. After I got her loaded up I got in to turn the car on and...it wouldn't start. At all. I ran and got our second key fob to try it....still nothing. Next we opened up the hood to see if anything looked or smelled off. No dice. At this point I had no way to get her to school since the bus ran 40 minutes earlier and even if I did I would have no way to get her back HOME from school so we had to take an unexcused day. When I called to let the school know they also let ME know that Evie now has 7 unexcused days. Which...was a surprise. And since I put her on the bus OR drop her off everyday I know she can't be skipping. Plus I mean...she's 5. So the secretary told me the days and then I was even MORE shocked because on all but one of those days...

 Today was actually pretty nice out so we took advantage of grabbing some outside hours for our 1000 hours outside challenge. Miraculously, her power wheel is still charged despite the fact that we haven't used it in months. So she set about driving around, singing, and dancing around the driveway. Days like today remind me that we're not TOO far off from spring and summer and I can't wait for more sidewalk science, art, and just outdoor play days. Winter has it's fun things too but being able to be outside in the sunshine today definitely improved both of our moods!  This evening Evie got to attend her second wedding. She had a ton of fun meeting new people, eating pizza, and dressing up fancy! :)

  Well last night we got our first message about a snow day for the year! Today when I got up it was super icy outside but not really any snow to be seen. Evie was pretty happy to get to stay home either way but since I was hoping we'd have snow to play in I didn't really have much planned out for us to do today. So we decided to work on Evie's 100 days of school project.  First we had to locate something that could be easily taken to school, wasn't super large, didn't require any purchases, and that we, of course, had 100 of. Many years ago I got a box of beads from my grandmother. I've never really seen beads like this before or since i got them and they're really fun beacuse they sort of snap together to make a long, fat, smooth chain. So I had Evie help me count out 100 of them and then I gave her a kids needle and some string and she set about stringing them up into a necklace. This evening we celebrated Scotts birthday as well. It was an unexpected kin...

  We had a busy day planned out today so since I knew our afternoon was going to be packed we had a really easy morning. I am working on making Evie a corner for doing her work and also for play and we are clearing out old toys and making her old toy bin into a busy bin area. Since she is not a toddler anymore I've been clearing out her sensory bin items as well. Some of them I can transition to now and others are just things that don't keep her interested anymore. So as we are cleaning and organizing I have been moving her art supplies around and making things more accessible and as a result she has been BEGGING to use this art kit the last few days. Since I have a nice space for her now where she can make a mess if she needs to I let her have it today and she spent the whole morning drawing, painting, and coloring. Art is something she REALLY loves right now and I can't wait to get her a space made up where she can create to her heart's content. After school we droppe...

Today we are doing some STEAM! It's been a little while since we built something so today we built this sweeper for Evie to use to pick up pom poms, LEGO, and other small toys. She had a lot of fun putting together the rollers, painting the sides, and then assembling the whole thing.  But the best part was when she got to try it out! She was so impressed that it worked AND she built it all by herself! This was a really fun one and it's also been super useful since there are almost ALWAYS small craft supplies around her art desk. 😂

  Today was a super busy day for us. We had a hectic morning and then after school Evie had an Occupational Therapy appointment. We have been waiting for this evaluation for her since last year so while it definitely isn't the best week for it I was really happy to be able to get it taken care of for her today. She did great in her eval and we didn't learn anything we didn't already know but now she gets to start OT every week and I'm really excited and hopeful that this will help her with some of the things she is struggling with. Before we left I set up a little surprise for her and by the time we got back around 7 I had compeltely forgotten about it which made it that much more magical. When we walked in there were tiny glowing droplets all over the floor and Evie found a lantern and a note that instructed her that some fairies had been captured in jars and needed to be rescued!  We followed the tracks through the house and she finally tracked down the two stolen fai...

  We had a lot to get done this morning and both Evie and I woke up thinking it was Friday so that was a disappointing start! Evie started her monthly homework packet, helped me make a grocery list and meal plan for next week, and then we took some down time and played with dolls for awhile before school dropoff.  It was so pretty out today and we were looking forward to playing outside when Evie got home from school but it was POURING. So we stopped a grabbed groceries and while I was putting them away I heard Evie yell "MAMA you have to come look there's a RAINBOW!!" Sure enough there was a break in the clouds and a HUGE double rainbow. We snuck out to admire it and get in a bit of time in the sunshine before the clouds shifted and the storm rolled back in. It was a really cool thing to see and Evie was ecstatic abuot it! <3

Today was a rough day. I'm not sure why but from the moment she woke up Evie had a hard time with things today. She cried because she woke up too early. She cried because she didn't WANT chocolate milk. She cried because I was working. She had a lot of big feelings and was having a hard time narrowing down why she felt so sad. So I set up an ocean bath for her to play in. She got a blue, sparkly bath with a fancy popsicle mocktail, mermaids to play with, sunglasses to keep the "sunshine" out of her eyes, and she got to pick out a swimsuit and wear it while she relaxed and played. This worked for a time but eventually we were back where we started. As soon as she got out she cried because she was cold and because she was melting down it was that much more difficult to fix the problem by getting her dressed. We tried snuggles, stories, extra screen time, and special snacks but the bad day continued all the way up to drop off at school.  Luckily when I picked her up from...

  This year on top of new adventures, one of my big goals was to spend more time outside. With that being said Evie and I are already HUGE outdoors people. In the summer we spend pretty much all day everyday outside. I even used to work outside when it was possible for me! We love to run and play and be in nature. When I saw this 1000 hours outside challenge I felt like it was perfect for us! More than pushing to hit the goal I am looking forward to seeing where we naturally land. We're off to a slow start with only about 11 hours logged so far but since the weather has been milder lately I hope we will build it up! In the mean time Evie is having lots of fun coloring in the rings too! :)

  Today was Martin Luther King Jr Day and Evie was out of school. We had originally planned to go to the zoo but the weather wasn't cooperating so we opted to stay home instead. We spent most of the day cleaning but Evie also wanted to do makeovers so early in the day I let her give me one. Of course after she did my makeup once she wanted to do it again. And again. And again. Since I had a lot to get done for the day I printed up some Barbie sheets and let her give them makeovers instead! It kept her busy for awhile and it was a great way to let her be creative and also learn some things about makeup, color mixing, and how to use different tools! Tomorrow it's back to the grind! :p

  Well today was a rough one. It started off fine but as we drew closer and closer to bus time Evie started to meltdown. In a BIG way. She refused to get dressed. She wouldn't eat lunch. She didn't want to put on shoes. There were tears. Lots and lots of tears. So because my job is pretty flexible I decided to see how driving her to school would go. We have never done the drop off before so I had to do a little research on where to go and how to do it. But I left work early, she ate some lunch, got dressed, and we grabbed her bag and headed out. It was a new adventure for sure but for once she went into school with a smile on her face. It makes me really sad how hard the bus has been for her. She was SO excited last year to ride that big, yellow school bus. A few of her neighborhood friends ride too so I'm not sure if it's the noise or the bus bully making it so hard. Maybe it's the cold of the bus stop and the ride. Maybe it's just the extra 45 minutes with mam...

  Today we had a creative day! Since we did worksheets yesterday I wanted to let Evie do something creative and fun today. I'm in the process of clearing things out for the new year and I made an art bin recently of all her supplies so today I set it out for her along with some fun shaped sequins, play doh, and sparkly pipe cleaners and let her make outfits for her magic clip dolls. She had a TON of fun with this activity and I love seeing how she uses all the supplies to make new things. Bonus: since they're just being stuck into play-doh we can pop them all back in their boxes and reuse them at the end! 

  Today Evie started some of her homework for the month. Her teacher sends home packets and workbooks each month and she has the entire month to complete the specified lessons. She has had a rough time getting back into the routine of school after her break and illness so I was hoping by starting off with some work it would help with the transition. It did not. She has had a hard time riding the bus due to some sensory issues and also some mean kids and it seems like school hasn't been much better. Evie is no stranger to bullies since she dealt with a few in preschool and unfortunately those same kids ended up in her class this year. But hopefully as the year progresses things will improve. She does really well at making friends and her teacher says she is well liked so we'll see how it goes. We also did some lunch time tests today to see how she does eating and getting packed lunches opened and cleaned up within the time frame she has for next year. No final decisions have bee...

    One of the things Evie had on ALL her wishlists for the new year was adventures and girls days. Last year I spent some time making jars of different places I wanted to visit with her. She chose some of them as well and then we separated them into BIG adventures (overnight stays required) and little adventures (day trips). Since she has had a rough week I decided today was the day to whip them out and start making some tentative plans for this years exploring. So we chose a little adventure for each month and a BIG adventure for each month and then we penciled them in where we thought they'd fit best. This month we are going to start out with some ice skating and a trip to a REAL live castle. She is really excited about all of her upcoming adventures and I can't wait to see new places with her too. Hopefully it will be a year filled with fun, new friends and places, and lots of memories we can both share for a lifetime. <3

  It's the first day of our first FULL week in awhile and it sure felt like it! Evie was not happy about going back to school today and she didn't have a good day there either. Unfortunately, that's been a theme of late. Well...since school started really. She has to sit next to a few bullies who say mean things to her and do things to get under her skin. Kids are already forming cliques and while she seems to have plenty of friends and her teacher says she is popular and well liked she says she finds it hard to fit in with the groups. So between kids being nasty to her, a bus full of loud kids, and just it being a typical Monday she left for school and came home from school in tears. After school I asked her what would make her feel better and she said Target and Starbucks so off we went. We didn't buy anything, just looked around at toys, clothes, and other things and then picked up a few coffees and a cake pop to go. Here's hoping this doesn't set a tone for ...

  Well it was back to school today and it was ROUGH getting Evie in there. She didn't feel 100% but she is not contagious, has no fever, and can breathe without coughing so it was time. She rested a lot before she went in and I didn't push her to do much more. But after school we did some STEM. Evie got to put together this claw for a game we will play in the future. We still have a few more parts to make but so far it's been really fun and she loves that she was able to make a working claw! She was so proud of herself. I'm hoping we'll get the rest of this one together next week since this weekend is probably going to be a hectic one! 

  Evie was still under the weather today and since she was meant to be resting and we had to do her inhalers every few hours we decided to take a virtual field trip today. This is one of her favorite things to do. We opened up Animal Crossing and she gets to go to the museum and look at fossils, fish, art and bugs. Unsurprisingly the bugs are her least favorite part! The fossils are usually a big hit though and she always has tons of questions about what they used to be, where they lived and what they ate, and of course, why they're gone. It's a nice semi-educational way to spend a few hours and we never even had to leave the couch! ;)

  Well today was a long day. Evie hasn't slept much in two days and she just looked so run down and pitiful today. Her cough has gotten worse and worse so this morning I called her pulmonologist. They said to try to get her in at the pediatrician since they didn't want her in the ER due to all the other things going around right now. Since she can still breathe OK and it's not emergent we got the visit with her primary. They took all her vitals and then conferred with the pulmonologist who ended up putting her back on inhalers and her nebulizer and taking her off school for a few days. Luckily, she doesn't have strep, flu, or COVID. But I still really feel for her. We then had to spend about two hours hunting down her albuterol for the nebulizer at pharmacies. Once we got her home she snuggled up with her Pusheen kitty and we did all her treatments. She did finally get some sleep tonight which is great so hopefully she'll be on the other side of this soon. <3

  Today was unsurprisingly rough. Although Evie still has a cough and a runny nose she is negative for COVID and has no fever so I sent her off to school even though I waffled about it. She has been out for two weeks and I just couldn't imagine keeping her home on the first day back. She seemed to do OK with it although she said she used a lot of tissues in class. After school we headed up to Nana's for dinner. Her energy seemed pretty high when she was playing with her cousins so I was hopeful she was starting to feel better but around bedtime her cough flared up awfully again. You can't give her honey because it makes her gag so I made her some jello juice and gave her a cough suppressant (which I never typically do) to hopefully help her sleep but despite my best efforts and a humidifier she was still up all night again. :/ Yay for the new year.

  Today is Evie's last day of Christmas break.  Unfortunately, she started not feeling very well yesterday and while she was kind of OK this morning, by afternoon she was feeling even worse. This morning we cleaned up and played outside for a bit. But after lunch she was miserable so we snuggled up, drank some juice and tried to relax for the rest of the day. By bedtime her cough had gotten so rough that she couldn't sleep so she ended up in my bed off and on for most of the night. Tomorrow is going to be a rough day at this rate! :(