EVA

Eva wrote her name for the first time the other day. With no help and no prompting. She just wrote it...

Switched

Eva is my wave swimming, in the ocean, over her head, without a fear, girl. Since she could crawl she would just head right for the nearest body of water and go in. Waves, no problem. So I asked her if she would like to surf at the conference(showing her pictures of the last conference surf lesson). Surprise...the answer was a resounding "No." Okay, fine...and in pipes Elias, "I want to."

What? My son who spends all his time building and digging on the shore. Who rarely can be coaxed into the waves at all. Elias wants a surfing lesson. "You sure?" Yes, he was sure. We signed him and Craig up for the lesson. Up until a couple minutes into the lesson I was pretty sure he wouldn't do much with it. Maybe go out a few feet and sit on the board while the waves lapped at him. Stand on the sand.

Kids love twisting your world around. I love that they do!

Heading out.

Heading in. Upright and happy.

I asked how he liked his lesson. His response, "It is the most awesome thing ever!" His smile muscles were sore. Love this life!

Time Out

Being at a conference with lots of other parents and kids for five days is amazing! It can also be a bit overwhelming. We decided we needed to take a break and spend a couple hours at the beach.

We think it was a good decision.

Hotel Surprises

This is part of our hotel room door banner. We took part in the Fairy Godparent (FGP) portion of the conference and needed to help our FGP's find us. Eva loved being a FGP and making, gathering and sneaking the little gifts to her, 5 year old, Fairy Godchild. Elias was happy with the the activities to, but in a distracted way. He loved receiving gifts and delivering them, but didn't look forward to it like Eva. It was a wonderful way to feel like a part of the conference. I do think we will all do it again next time!

Community and Ideas

Part of the reason we go to a conference is to meet up with others doing the same types of things we are doing. I think as the kids get older this view of other kids, in other places, with similar life leanings will give them a broader sense of community.

Another reason we go is to share and explore the ideas and inspiration that other people bring into their lives. This art room was full of that needed inspiration and my kids spent quite a bit of time in here painting, drawing, and exploring with friends and on their own. I really appreciated this room as it gave me ideas as well.

Domino Tower

Elias has always liked to build. He built numerous domino trains with his grandma and after becoming frustrated that they kept falling over, before he was done, he switched to building towers. These were a bit more stable. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of some of the more elaborate ones.

I find that these moments are flashes of his personality and growth. In previous times the frustration would have led to a huge meltdown. He had several outbursts, but then figured out he could switch to something different that was less likely to cause frustration. I can't wait to see what eight looks like.

Magnetic Personality

Eva floating a paperclip!

We played with magnets today.  I had a bunch of paperclips, iron filings, numerous small magnets and one powerful neodymium magnet.  We moved the filings around, made different lines of force, chased them, and floated them with our hands.

Glow Memo

Eva discovered the glow-in-the-dark letters yesterday and after we found a black light she spent part of today closed in the laundry room. We figured out we could open the closet door over the kitchen opening and make it dark. It also has what a closet doesn't, a metal washer and dryer to stick magnets to. I left some messages when she left the room and she would go "glow" them. I love the learning fun!

Atom Bits

Our molecular kit came in and Elias was all over it. We started with a water molecule and discussed a bit more, deciding we want to find a good book of molecules and how we use those molecules. Water is obvious! So now I'm on the search for a kid friendly (with adult help) organic chem book.

He quickly shifted from chemistry to Minecraft and began to create molecular structures with all sorts of bonds...he made up new molecule names and figured out exactly what they would do and how he would use them in his world. Always going, this kid!

Random Structures

We have an extensive assortment of building material at our house. Legos, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Magnaforms, blocks, marble runs and these colorful disks that Eva quite enjoys. I try to pull them out and strew different boxes of builders around the house. My kids often strew the results.

They seem to make great pathways for Mouse Trap mice too.

Planning

Sometimes inertia takes over and we spend a week or two having little interaction with each other or others. Before our camping trip we were bursting with creativity, adventure and starting a few routines that the kids were enjoying. After the camping trip it seemed easier to not strew or engage and just let the kids watch movies, swim and play video games. When I realize that we are getting grumpier and not enjoying this I try to find a way to get us back on track. Often it means I need to be proactive and strew, offer and get excited about my own projects.

I started to talk to them about things they would like to do and was getting nowhere. "Later, I want to watch a show." So I wrote "Eva" and "Elias" on my board and listed the things they like to do and a couple of plans we had on the calendar. This started a great discussion of interests and ideas. Elias and I purchased tickets to the King Tut exhibit, I found out Eva really likes the zoo, they asked to restart the smoothie/reading sessions. The things I brought up as ideas were often not commented on, but sparked others. I didn't write everything down, but was able to get a feel for the types of things they are in the mood to do. Hooray for creative discussion!