The Kate Effect

"On The Dock"

   While on our trips or adventures I try to give myself some little challenges - small photo essay assignments. This one is from Florida - I set out to interestingly photograph small parts of the dock and the fishing that went on.
 

and they grow-up so fast.

savoring the little girl she is today.

the beach.

 

The Nephew

nephews are just awesome. thats all I have to say today.

World Classroom: Sea World

Sea World offers an Annual Homeschool Day where homeschool families can enjoy the animal exhibits and educational programs during the off season. Thats a long sentence to clarify that the roller coasters & dip-n-dot stands were closed when we visited the park on Thursday. 

The minute I heard about the Sea World Homeschool day I was sold on the idea of a day trip to pet dolphins. At the last minute Brad was unable to come with us so we asked Aunt Rach if Hunter would like to ditch preschool for a day and join us. His answer : I love Kate.

It was a busy day. We had only a few hours to see all the open exhibits before lunch. At lunch time the exhibits closed and the afternoon was set aside for the educational "shows". We walked a ton! I am so proud of these kids with their short legs.

We wanted more dolphin time and ran all the way back to the front of the park to see them instead of going to the flamingos at the last minute. we were able to spend 10 minutes of good time with the dolphins with out the pushy crowds.

Swinging by the souvenir shop for an Orca shaped ice cream bar...kind of like DQ dilly bar....we headed back to the far side of the park for lunch and the shows. 

By this time we are hot and sweaty and aunt Carrie has little to no photos proving we were at Sea World. Let me repeat: we are hot and sweaty....and cranky. When I asked for a quick photo the kids were not inclined to oblige. So I said, "Can you go over there and look cranky?" this is what I got....

Stinking cute. 

The day was a success.

Kate and Hunter both loved the shows and were just amazed by the beluga whale. One of my favorite parts of the day happened at the beginning of the Beluga Whale show. The Announcer came out and asked "who here is home-schooled?" and everyone raises their hand...

The look on Kate's face as she looked around was priceless. Her eyes were wide and she exclaimed about how many kids were home-schooled like her. It was like I was watching her brain make the connections right in front of my eyes. 

At the same moment I was very aware of my nephew who is in preschool and not raising his hand. He looked at Kate and then me - right at that moment the announcer asked, "How many of you are here with your family?" It was perfect timing. I said, " Thats you Hunter! Your here with me and I am your family"  He giggled brightly and jumped up and down waving his hand in the air. 

The announce then told the kids to thank their families for bringing them to Sea World and making the choice to homeschool - He also said, "Isn't it awesome that you have this special opportunity!?! While all the other kids are in a school classroom today, you are out in the world. The world is your classroom to learn in and today Sea World is your classroom."

Kate really keyed in on this and repeated it in her stories about her favorite part of the day. It was such a sweet moment for me to see her so excited to be home-schooled and Hunter to be so giggly about how we were family.

Kate has decided that she still wants to be a veterinarian - and ocean veterinarian.

Enjoy the photos from the day.

hunter waited  a long time for people to move so he could see these poisonous frogs. kate and hunter found a little nook that no body else found - here they watched the new seal pups play + fight.

This is Kate incredibly excited for the Seal who is learning to do tricks. The Seal missed the first two signals but got it on the third and Kate started clapping wildly for her.

Oliver the baby beluga is only 4 years old - just like Hunter.

were letting the skeletons out of the closet.

 

"Mom, I want to learn about how food turns to poop."  

This what Kate declared when I introduced our new theme last week. There was no way to "weave" poop studies into the Community study I had planned.  After many more through questions it was obvious that Kate was VERY interested in what was going on in her body and could care less about the postman's role in our community. 

I took a moment and then declared our new study unit to be the Human Body... and off we went to the library. 

It's been really interesting and fun to see how our bodies work. I am amazed at the intricacies I often forget - Kate is simply astonished by the littlest things, things I take for granted and forget that she doesn't know.

On this day we made a skeleton with moving parts to go on our "felt Kate." Since this day we have added the heart, lungs, liver, and small+large intestines.  

The funniest thing we have done yet is watch a small portion of a video in the human body from National Geographic. The graphics are awesome. So awesome in fact ... Kate gagged when we got to the digestive portion. It seems they have cameras that can go all the way into the intestines and view the food as it comes down and is digested. Kate acted like it was a scary movie by hiding behind the couch pillow and peeking around the edges. She did not want to turn it off but it made her lose her appetite for sure. 

On a positive note - there has been a dramatic drop in the poop talk/jokes around the house. 

 

 

a day at the beach

  

 

a day at the beach via iphone.

** the pic of Kate with the chicken nugget - she is showing me that her chicken nugget is shaped like Florida **

Hickory Dickory Dock

Here are few glimpses via iPhone at the beautiful grounds and dock Maria & Rudy have. We really enjoyed our time on the dock where kate caught a her share of fish. She is with Uncle Joe, who is Brad's uncle, with their catfish. Uncle Joe and Kate were good fishing partners. If she was on the dock  - he would let her reel it in. sweet.

We also jumped on the boat for a cruise through the inter-coastal waterways. It was a great way to see the dolphins feeding on fish and view the inlet where the water rushes out to the sea.

 

tease.

 this is torturous for kate. she loves them so much but this is as close as they ever get.

 

first flight

Technically Kate has flown a bunch but she was too little remember any of it. She is claiming her trip to FLorida as the FIRST flight. The first leg of our trip left from Austin at 5am. yes, FIVE AM. THat means we had to be up at 2:30am and get ready. YIKES. lets just say we are STILL trying to get Kate's Sleep adjusted two weeks post trip.

I prepared Kate for the trip by outlining and acting out every part of the airport experience. I took great care n packing her carry-on. Told her all about the metal detector and take off your shoes. EVERYTHING I could think of. Kate remembered it all and did a great job getting her stuff together and shoes off. 

Once we were in the plane Kate was amazed at everything and listening for every noise. Right after take off she starts exclaiming in the loudest whisper ever "Mom, were doing it - were really flying!"

Poor businessmen trying to sleep.

 

She slept, she watched out the window, she played with her toys - she even slept - Praise the LORD.

Kate seemed to have no qualms in talking to the stewardesses. Instead of telling me she was thirsty, Kate would just say excuse me to any approaching stewardess and ask for a drink or ask about the plane.

"Excuse me, What is the air pressure like outside the plane?" she would ask. Then the stewardess and i would exchange baffled looks. (Turns out Kate was paying attention whenI told her that the pressure in the ocean changes the deeper you go - She said she heard the pilot say 'cabin pressure' and wondered if our heads could get squished if we go too high in the air. oh my, she thinks too much.)

Unfortunately Kate couldn't remember the word stewardess and would call them Servants. We are STILL trying to get the correct word straightened out.

The return flight had a much longer layover in Atlanta and kate and I were both pretty on edge and ready to be home. Kate thinks flying is 'way cool it just take so dang long.'

math bribes

Since the trip to Florida KAte has decided she hates math.  From love to hate in the blink of an eye.  The lessons are a little more challenging now but nothing she can't handle or do well. She just has decided. As equally surprising she has decided she loves science. Pre- Florida trip she hated science. Her hate was unfounded since she loved the projects we did, they were just not called science projects.  Now she ADORES science. 

This has made life more challenging for me. I have to pay a little more attention to Kate's mood and need for breaks. I tend to break up her subjects more and put a little math here and there. I have gotten creative in where or how we approach the Math work. Sometimes it is simple a matter of doing it first so we can move on to other things. 

Last week Kate in the middle of math and just had a melt down. Technically the melt down had nothing to do with math. It was trigger by her foot falling asleep. But "it was all Math's fault" was her battle cry. 

Of course dear, Math made you sit on your foot and cut off the circulation. not. 

Thankfully I kept my sarcasm to myself and convinced her to follow me downstairs for a snack... and then outside to chalk-out our math work. It worked. A little spike in the blood sugar and some brightly colored chalk and we were back on track. Whew.

This week it is all about jokes. When she finishes her Math work I teach her a new joke. She then repeats her joke to EVERYONE we see that day. She loves it when people laugh - she just beams.  

the last of a season

I just sent these DVDs to my last bride. For the time being I am closing up the photography shop so that I can focus on this amazing adventure I am beginning with Kate. It is terribly bittersweet. I am sure I will continue to photograph anything and everything I can but for now I say goodbye to weddings, bridal parties, newborns and seniors. I love you all very much but simply put - I love my Kate a little more.

mer-horses. like mermaids, only they are horses.

schoolroom: progress on the organizational front

I completely understand if this post is boring as all get out to most of you - but I need a small moment in time to say "hurray, you did something." Lately I feel I have a million ideas and a bazillion projects in-progress but NOTHING ever gets done.

So this is for the HURRAY,something got DONE factor.

These are my new magnets for weekdays and months. I have since added little circle ones with numbers. I had a great little Melissa and Doug chore chart but it just was not working for us. I had been hanging on to the pieces forever and I was just about to throw them out when I spotted my can of chalkboard spray paint. Add a white paint pen and the handy metal surface and viola!

Kate loves it and finds the month, day, date every morning.

I used the left over board and magnets for DO/DONE list. This has been beyond helpful. Kate seems to be the type that needs to know whats next .. and then what... and after that.... 

And you cannot change your mind. 

Me, I am a "what do you feel like doing now?" kind of girl. I want to plan out and I like lists but I want to be able to add and change as I go. 

Yikes, we clash all day.

This board has helped Kate be flexible by list what we have to get done but allowing us to chose the order each day. It helps me remember what we have and have not done because i can totally be distracted and totally forget science... like always.

Thanks for joining me in my moment of "yay."