Steven, Sammy and Amaya had a great break week with one more to go!

Amaya spent a good portion of the week dressed as Queen of the Ice Cream. When we took this picture, she specifically asked me to label the photo.

Sammy’s Master Chef Junior cookbook arrived so, on my lunch break on Monday, we set out together to shop. He wanted to make pineapple upside down cake but we had to order ramekins so, instead, he picked chocolate cupcakes with raspberry curd and homemade frosting.

It was some process! End to end, Sammy and I were baking for 2.5 hours. We made the cupcakes, the raspberry curd, the frosting and the caramel embellishments. Then Sammy put the curd in the cupcakes, frosted them and added the caramel pieces. They were delicious and, according to Jason, well worth the effort.

The recipe called for passion fruit infused frosting. Our grocery store didn’t have passion fruit or passion fruit puree so we got dragon fruit, hoping it would be a good substitute. It wasn’t, but SSA got a pre-dinner treat out of them.

Watching Sammy melt the sugar…

Adding the curd to holes he made in the cupcakes

Making caramel swirls

The finished product!

On Monday night the kids watched an episode of Phineas & Ferb that featured The Klimpaloon – an old timey bathing suit with a big personality – and got their art on. 🙂

We’d been waiting on some (long overdue) lego sets to arrive for Sammy and Amaya so, when they came, Steven could get one of his gifts from Aunt Sara & Co. – a lego cup! He said it was his 2nd favorite gift – preceded only by his police station lego set.

To get the kids out of the house, Penni and SSA went to the zoo on Tuesday. It sounds like it was just warm enough to make it work. They spent almost three hours there. Sammy’s favorite part was seeing the polar bears and arctic foxes. Steven liked the vultures the best. Amaya bought a stuffed sloth (with her own money) and that was her highlight.

Only one option for lunch at the zoo during the winter during a pandemic.

Polar bear out in the distance

We played so many board games this week. It was quiet at work and Gabby wasn’t working so, after 4pm, it was mommy and the kids.

On Tuesday evening played Catan Junior for the first time. I’ve never played Settlers of Catan so it was a good intro for me, too, and we all like the game.

Blokus is still a go-to. I think I’m undefeated so we always have a “kid winner”, too.

Penni lent Steven a cook book so he could also have a private cooking session with me. After running to her place to get the book, they stopped at a playground for an hour. It’s getting colder but the kids would have recess a school every day as long as the real feel is over 0 degrees so they can definitely still play outside.

Sammy: Take a picture to show how high I am.

Early afternoon I took a break for some book time with SSA. (That’s Slothy being held by Amaya – her purchase from the zoo.)

Ticket to Ride – still loving it. Everyone’s building their own strategies and figuring out what works.

Penni was off on Thursday so I worked and called it quits early to play more games with the kids. We also started watchin Floor is Lava on Netflix. The boys loooove it.

Laughing and laughing at Floor is Lava. This one guy, Chiklet, had them rolling.

On Thursday night, SSA asked if we could stay in bed on Friday morning so they could make us breakfast. Um, yes. Yes, please. I told them they couldn’t get started until 8am, though, it case it was cacophonous. It wasn’t! I heard them head down at 8am and work together for an hour before we were treated to heart shaped waffles with blueberries, honey and chocolate. It was wonderful.

We were even serenaded with a “We Love Mommy and Daddy” song.

Early afternoon, Steven and I made his special dessert. It was supposed to be cheesecake stuffed strawberries but we used raspberries instead. Super yummy and only 6 ingredients.

Saturday morning we had a Carcasonne date with Aunt Ouize. Can you see the phone set up at the far end of the table? I was Aunt Ouize’s proxy and she was our winner!

Sally found a new, warm spot to stay close to us while we played.

After a FaceTime date with Grandpa Homey and Grandma Betsy, where the kids learned all about how Grandma Betsy makes soap, we played Catan.

Dinner helpers, for bacon chicken tacos, were Amaya and Sammy. Amaya chopped the green onions and Sammy made the chicken.

The ramekins arrived so today was pineapple upside down cake day! (PUDCD!) Sammy and make a quick stop at the grocery store for some needed ingredients and got cooking. I think this endeavor took about 90 minutes made longer by our need to toss some batter and start over when I realized I read some directions incorrectly. I’m glad we started again because the end result was fantastic!

We tried fresh pineapple but the canned pineapple was easier to work with and tasted better (sweeter and jucier) than the pineapple we had in the house.

Sammy made a mixture of butter and brown sugar for the base (ultimately top) of the cakes and then added heavy cream and rum for a sauce.

Teamwork!

Perfection. <3

In an attempt to get some fresh air after three days indoors and earn time on our “hours outside chart” and give Jason some space to finish up organizing the play room, the kids and I headed to a playground for an hour this afternoon. It was cold. Bearable but cold. For adults, at least. I made it through by walking laps around the playground which, to be honest, really warmed me up.

We had a lot of gear.

The kids don’t have to wear masks at empty playgrounds but feel more comfortable having them “just in case”. It’s hard to find Steven in there!

As I walked laps, the kids followed me and threw snowballs at my back. They loved it lol.

Finally – the playroom! For almost 7 years now it was the one room in the house that I wanted full responsibility to organize but it was truly out of control. So much stuff everywhere that everything was losing value. So I called in the big guns and Jason readily got to work. ❤

Here’s the before:

And after!

Have a great week!

There was lots of holiday energy all week long – both because of nights 3- 8 of Hanukkah, the gifts that continued to arrive after Thursday and the build up to winter break.

One of the kids’ gifts this year was individual lego tables. There was a lot of fighting over space on the lego table so the now each have their own and they have wheels which will hopefully make them more useful. And I made them! I put together the tables, with help from Penni and Gabby, and then cut and glued the lego bases. A definite labor of love.

The work in progress…

By the end of our FL trip, the liner of Amaya’s water proof cast was starting to unravel and the fiberglass between her thumb and index finger had split so we got her an ortho appointment for Monday afternoon. After a fourth and final set of x-rays, the verdict was that she’s ready to be cast free! She’s got to take it easy for 2 weeks but her cast is off!

Sammy has this Jacob Ellsbury card with a piece of uniform and we took this picture to show Uncle Dave and Grandpa Homey.

Monday – night five!

One of Sammy’s gifts from Nana and Papa is a floor piano which he uses to make beautifully loud music.

Ugh. The van. After a successful test ride of high back boosters in FL, we officially transitioned at home, too. That meant taking out their seats and dealing with everything underneath. Blargh. The boys did help try to dust bust but it ultimately required a visit to the car wash vacuum station.

This might have been the last time, for a while, that the kids can pop outside in open toed shoes and no jackets.

I love these earmuffs.

On Tuesday – night 6 – the kids opened gifts from Gabby. Among her gifts was a mermaid blanket that Amaya loves.

Sammy got a “slime in the face” game which, as the gift giver, Gabby had to play lol.

One of Sammy’s gifts was a magic kit which he tested out on Wednesday. I love the joy.

Bunny Amaya coming with me to get the mail.

From Penni: “He forgot to add ‘safety plan’ to the sentence ‘My family keeps me safe by fire’ and is super giggly about it.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Steven, Sammy and Amaya got to meet Mrs. O’Niel in person for the first time! She had a materials exchange and made arrangements to be there for a hour in the afternoon when the kids came. She’s a fantastic teacher and I’m really glad the kids got to say an in-person hello. What a weird year.

Amaya in her booster seat. Truly a big change for us. I love those five point harnesses but they’re tall enough, weigh enough and are mature enough to sit properly so here we go!

Steven really wanted time for just the two of us so, Wednesday evening before Gabby left, we had some together time for two games of Sum Swamp. (Each won one!)

Steven asked me to use the picture where our heads are tilted toward each other.

Night seven!

Sammy got a Nintendo Switch for Haunkkah and I got myself a Switch Lite so we are now gaming buddies. We both have Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening and are helping each other out with what we know. Photo credit for this photo goes to Steven who was also supporting our play and offering helpful tips.

Thursday snow day for the boys! Even a little snow can make for some good sledding on the hill in our backyard. I wish our yard was deeper (pool, anyone?) but the hill is a great perk.

Night eight! A wonderful Hanukkah for the whole family!

The kids do a wonderful job with the Hanukkah blessings. <3

Gifts from Penni!

Every other Friday, when Claudia comes to clean, the kids do school in the basement. They were learning about “needs vs wants”.

At three different times the kids were all gifted with these little kits where you dig toys out of eggs. (Think archaeology.) Amaya has fairies, Steven has pirate treasure and Sammy has dinosaurs. They’re a lot of fun and very very messy.

Playing dreidel with a box of gelt we had in the pantry.

Baking banana muffins with Penni.

Last zoom of the year! Steven said, “We won’t see Mrs. O’Neil until next year on January 4th!” Their final activity was painting snowmen.

Steven’s (Cucumber eyes)

Sammy’s (Red and white mint eyes)

Amaya’s (Not a man)

Jason got this amazing photo of Sammy and Sally sleeping together. Never did I dream…

As a family gift, Jason got a beautiful wooden monopoly set which we tested out together on Saturday.

Steven showing off a present he bought with a gift card from Uncle Austin.

Some Saturday time for the girls. 🙂

Jason started something new in the house which helps keep the house clean and helps the kids earn money. If he sees something that needs cleaning – outside of normal “you live in this house” responsibilities, he puts up a post-it note with the name of the task and the amount it’s worth. The kids can choose to do that task and, afterward, they bring the post-it to one of us so we can see the work that was done and, in return, they earn the dollar amount on the post-it.

Sammy played his “slime in the face” game with a twist – whipped cream! I love the goggles lol.

We had some good eats today. First up was Lunch by Amaya courtesy of a cookbook that Penni gifted her for Hanukkah. She made a delicious Hawaiian salad – served in pineapples! Everyone loved it.

Along with a renewal of Raddish Kids, Nana and Papa gifted the kids cutting knives. They’re the real deal but great for small hands because the blade is shorter and levers well. Amaya was excited to be the first to use a new knife.

Proud Girl.

Dinner was Cozy Chicken and Dumplings from this month’s Raddish Kids kit. Sammy did his usual good work with the chicken. Amaya chopped vegetables and made the dumplings. Steven cooked the veggies. We ate it all!

And it was a big game day, thanks to Aunt Ouize and Uncle Todd. We played two games of Carcasonne (winners were Steven and Sammy). The kids were also gifted three new games from the Scofields this year – Secret Code 13+4 for Steven, Ticket to Ride for Amaya and Catan Junior for Sammy. Today we tried out Steven and Amaya’s games. (I think Ticket to Ride is going to land on my favorites list.)

That’s a wrap on this week! The kids are off from school for winter break starting tomorrow. Options are limited when with the pandemic but we’ll do our best to have an eventful week! Have a great one and Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates!

What a week. It was so valuable to get away and such a special trip. The balance of school and work and play worked out well for all of us. Better, in fact, than our October trip to NY because my own work schedule was a little less intense this past week.

The house had three bedrooms. One for Penni and two left for the Clines. Each night the kids rotated sleeping with me. On Sunday night, while Sammy was with me, I found Amaya and Steven sleeping like this. Earlier in the night Steven had said to me, “Amaya loves me so much.” She does love her brothers so much.

Monday we got to it! Penni arrived late Sunday and we were all ready to go with our normal routine – but in FL. The kids rotated locations daily – one on the couch and two at the nicely sized kitchen table. I’m truly impressed with their ability to engage and focus on school from anywhere.

Monday was pretty warm and I turned the heat up on the pool to help account for the lack of sun on the pool. Right away, SSA got into the routine of school – swim – school – swim – school swim. Their recess and lunch and specials breaks were long enough to allow for multiple chances to swim throughout the day. Penni was great about working out a plan that gave them the time they needed.

Visiting with Mama while I worked outside.

On Monday the kids managed to swim four times. At one point Steven said, “Wow. It’s a lot warmer in the pool than it is outside. I love it. It’s so nice. I’m just going to relax in the water.”

Steven and Sammy alternated between wearing / not wearing their life jackets. The pool was shallow enough in most places to give them that freedom. I’m so impressed with how far they’ve come with skills and comfort. If you recall, less than 3 months ago – before they started swim class, the boys didn’t even want to put faces in the water. This trip they were going completely under water. I’m so impressed!

We’re lucky the tooth fair is magical because she had to make a special visit to FL when Sammy lost his first tooth!

Tuesday was sunny but colder. As (un)luck would have it, we were in FL for a few unseasonably cold days. The pool heater had to work extra hard to keep up and the nighttime chill didn’t help. Amaya and Steven seemed a lot less bothered by the cold than Sammy who decided to skip a few pool excursions in favor of just playing outside. Fortunately, by later in the day the pool was more comfortable.

Amaya and Steven, singing a FL song.

The screened in lanai was a favorite place to eat (and work).

I’ll keep saying it, but I was so impressed with how Steven, Sammy and Amaya jumped in and out of vacation mode.

Sammy, showing off that space where his tooth used to be.

When it got too cold for him, he worked on sorting some of his incredible shells.

Amaya got busy with her shells, too.

This boy was not deterred by the cooler weather.

Tuesday night the kids and I went out for a nice dinner together. Steven called it “fancy”, which was a fair assessment. The restaurant had beautiful outdoor seating and some much needed strategically placed heaters.

This is Amaya’s dreamy look thinking about the server she “loved”.

Dessert for all of the Cline kids to wrap up a delicious meal.

While we ate outside, so did Daddy back in MI!

Filling in the day’s “hours outside” log.

This trip allowed us to hit our first 50 hours out doors since tracking started. It took us 37 days and Sammy had guessed 35 so he’s our winner for the First 50.

Wednesday was even cooler than Tuesday but a pool tech came out and adjusted the heater to run for more hours to help keep the pool heated in the cold weather. They day included swimming (mostly for Steven and Amaya), lunch together outside, shell sorting and, of course, school and work.

I love the way the sunlight shines through the palm trees. Amaya didn’t miss a chance to swim. This trip she perfected her underwater front and back flips.

So many shells.

Wednesday night we decided to head over for Vanderbilt Beach for dinner and the sunset. It did not disappoint. It was cool, but comfortable, and so beautiful. Despite having lived in Naples, it reminded me of my time living in San Diego – watching the sunset over the Pacific. It was truly magical for Steven, Sammy and Amaya who have never seen anything like it.

Running in circles chanting, “Weenawana weenawana – AVOCADO!” Sammy started it and it caught on quickly.

So beautiful. Sammy particularly enjoyed the orange cloud.

Our one and only pre-bed book of the trip. Gearing up for Hanukkah with “Latka the Lucky Dog.”

On Thursday morning it warmed up and so did the pool. I worked on the lanai as much as possible and got to watch SSA continue to sort and organize their shells.

On Thursdays the kids have a longer lunch break due to the timing of their zoom meetings and specials. This week we decided not to worry about art, music or Spanish in favor of more PE in the pool. Knowing that the kids had a longer break on Thursday I was also able to arrange my schedule for a lunch time swim with the kids. When I had to get out, Penni joined in. It was phenomenal.

On Thursday afternoon, in honor of the first night of Hanukkah, Mrs. O’Neil did a Hanukkah lesson with the kids’ class. They were absolutely thrilled.

After school the kids swam in the pool until they couldn’t stand the Hanukkah excitement anymore and were ready to light the menorah and celebrate Hanukkah. (Gifts! They really wanted gifts!)

Hanukkah Time! We traveled down with one menorah and a few candles to get us through the first two nights of the holiday.

For months and months, Sammy has been asking for a Nintendo Switch. Maybe 9 or 10 months, to be honest. Thursday night was the night and this boy was (not surprised but) so excited! He was even dressed for his first adventure with Super Mario Odyssey.

Amaya got ice cream earrings, which was her #1 request, and a new sewing kit.

Steven’s first gifts were a stuffed pterodactyl and a new Vtech digital camera. The pterodactyl is brown with orange eyes so he named it “Brownarooah” because “arooah” is how you say “orange” on Moso.

Happy, busy kids.

Amaya’s ice cream earrings.

Amaya loves sleep masks so her first project was a new sleep mask. It’s adorable and well crafted. 🙂

On Friday, between classes and as part of a half day for all of us, the kids played an intense game of Jenga. I’ve truly never seen a Jenga tower built that tall. We were all on edge.

And it got bigger from here!

The kids and I all took a half day so we could spend our last, gorgeous day back at the beach. It’s this beach – where they warn you about alligators. Yikes.

This beach (at Delnor Wiggens Pass State Park, parking lot 4) is amazing. The sand bar goes out so far that you are at water no deeper than your calf for an incredibly long distance and it was so still. Like a wading pool.

For SSA, the highlight of this visit was Crabby – a sand crab that Steven found. For probably a good 90 minutes the kids following crabby around, building it a home and saving it from nearby seagulls.

Crabby’s home

After an amazing day at the beach we headed back to the house for a final swim. We all got in and had so much fun. Sammy even learned how to jump into the deep end of the pool!

Wrapping up as the sun went down.

Our final activity was night 2 of Hanukkah where the kids got gifts from Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave. A Scruffaluv family for Amaya. A unicorn stone garden for Steven. Super Mario Party for Sammy.

Last morning. 🙁 Honestly, as I type this, it’s hard to believe I took this picture yesterday. It already feels so long ago! But we had a wonderful trip and made so many memories that will carry us into winter.

On the way to the airport we stopped by the condo I owned when I lived in Naples. I left 14 years ago and never could have imagined the life I’d build in MI when I headed to Ann Arbor to work for Borders. <3

Off we went! Steven was my luggage helper. Our flight was on time and easy with my expert fliers.

DADDY!!! <3

We had a relaxing late afternoon & evening at home with night 3 of Hanukkah and family time. Steven got his big gift – a huge Lego police station.

Amaya worked on a heart stepping stone from Auntie and Dod Shuki.

Today was busy! We had Hebrew School online, zoom Hanukkah with our Goldstein cousins, zoom Hanukkah with Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette, a zoom date with Nana, Papa the Goldbergs, Austin and Krissy and then a school friend stopped by (outside only) to carol with her mom and sister and drop off some cookies.

In our Tyner Religious School To-Go box we had a dreidel making activity where the kids literally made a dreidel out of clay.

Goldsteins! (Before Spencer and Co joined.)

Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette!

Aunt Annette – keeping up the tradition of giving the kids fun winter hats!

Somehow, in all this, Sammy and I found time to make dinner. He’s our raw chicken guy.

Caroling. 🙂 Claire and her sister sang Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman. They asked if we had a Hanukkah song we’d like to sing and Amaya sang “I Have a Little Dreidel.” Cookies were gifted and, in turn, each girl got a shell from Florida. It was really sweet. I’m sorry it’s so difficult for SSA to socialize. Hopefully they’ll be a few mild days where we can do playground meet ups.

Finally, night four!

Have a great week and Happy Hanukkah to everyone who celebrates!

This is definitely one of those weeks where Monday feels like a lifetime ago. Look at the boys in the snow, and now we’re coming to you from beautiful, sunny, WARM Florida.

Amaya is not interested in playing in the snow while she has her cast but Steven and Sammy made the most of the winter weather this week.

Jason got them these snow brick-builders like he and Aunt Ouize has as kids.

Later in the week we replaced these ridiculous knit gloves with proper winter mittens. “They work so great! My hands never get cold!”

Mid-morning break with my girl. ❤️

Mrs. O’Neil let Steven show his class the castle he built. “Three people said it was cool! Claire really liked it.”

Hot chocolate time! A must-have on snowy days.

In the before-times, I told the kids that they could get their own carry-on roller suit cases for our next flight. I thought it would come a lot sooner than the 9.5 months it’s been but here we are, and here are their suitcases. They set up a maze in the hall to practice pulling them through the lined and around people.

It’s full Hanukkah mode for the kids. There are a ton of wrapped gifts in the house and they are READY. We decorated the house the day after thanksgiving and the kids made some other Hanukkah crafts during the week. Sammy thought of making big dreidels out of pieces of construction paper.

Some Penni love.

Reading together. (We had parent/teacher conferences this week. Everyone is doing so well in such an unusual year. I’m really proud of the kids’ effort.)

A few more pictures from the week before we get to the main event…

Of course Steven takes pleasure in noticing his whole meal is yellow.

I got this message from Amaya in Messenger Kids. She’s always telling me that she loves me more than I love her. I tell her not to make it a competition and she turned it around on me very nicely.

Snuggly Bobes

It might not look like improvement here but the foot of Amaya’s bed was so messy and she spent at least an hour cleaning it. I was really proud of the work she did and so was she.

Sammy sorting words by vowel sounds that he hears.

Steven made slime. This is how he thinks it smells lol.

Just wanted to share this from a work meeting. Sally is so well known, 9 months into this pandemic. 😻

Friday morning, Amaya and I went back to ortho to check on her arm and to get a new, waterproof cast. Her doctor showed us how her bones are healing and thinks, at our next appt on the 18th, she’ll be done with the cast for good. She may transition to a removable split but that’s no big deal.

I was a little worried that Amaya would freak out having her cast removed but the person who did it was great and Amaya didn’t bat an eye.

New cast, ready for the water!!

AND OFF WE GO!

I’ve never been so happy to fly. Being at the airport with the kids felt so normal.

It was quieter than usual. Some real was closed. Everyone was in masks, of course. But it was still normal.

Our flight was delayed almost 2 hrs but these kids are champion travelers. Truly. Someone in the row in front of Sammy and Amaya said she’s be happy to have them fly behind her any time.

We had our activities and our Happy Meals and we were all so energized to travel.

Messenger kids to pass the time…

Off we go!!

The kids all watched Painting with Bob Ross on the plane. They listen to him via some of their sleep stories on the Calm app.

Photo credit and text credit: Amaya

We got to the house around 10:30. Sammy has been asleep in the car for at least 20 minutes and transferred right to bed. Amaya and Steven wanted to see the house, and the pool, first. Couldn’t blame them!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya loved exploring the house in the morning. It’s a small one-story house about a mile from the beach. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms which is perfect for us. We’ll have to get creative with space for three kids in school and one mom working but there are a variety of options to play with.

Since everyone was up and raring to go by 8am, we started our day with a game of Life. First time for the kids! It took us through the evening to finish, with all we had going on, and Sammy was our winner.

Shortly after 9am we tested out the pool and got a good hour+ swim in. The pool is clean and warm and not terribly deep – in other words, perfect.

Sammy took this picture. Amaya was excited to get one where she was under the water. I wasn’t thrilled about an early morning swim but Steven was so excited to swim with me that I couldn’t possibly say no.

When I got out of the shower, I found SSA sitting at the kitchen table shooting the breeze and eating yogurt. It was a nice show of independence.

I thought it was going to rain on Saturday so, back in MI, I’d mentioned to the kids that there was a children’s museum in Naples. Even though it was sunny, Steven really wanted to check it out and Sammy and Amaya were on board. It was a really nice museum and wasn’t crowded at all.

Art projects

In this room they practiced with sewing machines, hand sewing, and tying knots. Kids could also learn to weave on a loom.

Outdoor chess with Amaya while the boys got wet at a water station.

Photo booth!!

We went to Old Naples for a late lunch/early dinner and then went for a walk on the dock. It was such a nice day.

Sammy and I treated ourselves to some king crab.

Catching up with Daddy via FaceTime.

Steven took a picture of us wrapping up our game of Life.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya love palm trees. (Like most of the rest of humanity, I suppose.) We have this one in front of our house and they’re really excited that they can reach the leaves.

Today was an amazing day. We went to Delnor-Wiggens Pass State Park which is a gorgeous beach about 8 min from our house. The shelling was incredible, the water was warm and the weather was perfect. We spent five hours at the beach collecting shells, playing frisbee and hanging out in the water. Honestly, the day was everything I was hoping for when we booked this trip.

Amaya wore this thick blue plastic contraption on her arm to keep the sand out of her cast. It was not pleasant and she was a total trooper. I’m really proud of how she adapted (with the bribe of a few oreos, to be totally honest). But who wouldn’t want some oreos after 5 hours in a plastic glove?

The water was so calm and, in some parts, just ankle deep and still.

The kids even got me in the gulf. And they saw a dolphin! I missed it but a number of people on the beach saw it and a local verified that there are two dolphins known to swim in this area.

This is the quality of shell on the beach. Truly incredible. Steven named this shell Beauty Wonder.

We wrapped up the beach with treats. As you do.

And we wrapped up the day with an hour and a half in the pool. The boys are getting so confident!

Now we’re watching tv, eating sushi and waiting for Penni to arrive. Penni will be here this week to help with school while I work. Hopefully, though, the kids are able to swim during the day and after school and I’m hoping to take some of my meetings outside.

Have a great week!

Most days, between when I wake up and the kids need to get ready for school, they take turns using my phone. Amaya watches videos on YouTube Kids and the boys generally play Minecraft. They’ve gotten really good at the game and even watch each other play and share tips.

Last week I mentioned that I forgot my wallet at home when shopping at Dick’s with the kids. I ordered the sneakers Amaya wanted on Sunday afternoon (from Dick’s) and they arrived on Monday. I’m glad I didn’t bother with an in-store pick-up. Sorry brick & mortar retail.

When SSA pay well together it’s magical. This week they spent a lot of time play games with balloons. There were team huddles, “hut hut”s and so much noise. Honestly, it’s exactly like I imagined it would be when I was pregnant. I hope they’re always friends.

Amaya realized that pushing on her slime in a certain way made it sound like a far. She and Steven worked out a routine to prank Jason.

Amaya pushed down on the slime. Then Steven said, “Who farted?” Amaya said, “me” and Steven said, “No! Just the slime!” They practiced together before Jason got home and then planned the time to try it out between episodes of Phineas and Ferb. “Don’t forget your line, Steven.”

Phineas and Ferb time is family time. <3

I’m still obsessed with this child in her sleep mask.

Later in the week…

Obsessed with this girl, too, who went to the vet this week and came back with a clean bill of health. Even her bloodwork looked good. Sally has some behaviors not atypical of old cats so it’s possible she’s losing her hearing or has some cognitive issues but we can all work with that. My sweet, sweet girl.

SSA are supposed to read for 20 minutes/day which Penni is managing on their downtime. Mo Willems is a regular favorite.

All the snow means it’s time for new snow boots for everyone. Steven was modeling his perfectly Steven pair of boots.

On Tuesday afternoon I had some errands to run. Since Steven and Amaya had alone time with me the week prior for dr appointments, I invited Sammy to join me. He was a great helper, as well. (Side note: I can’t believe how busy Best Buy was. It seems like they might have cracked the code for products people would rather buy in-person.)

On Tuesday evening we started our Thanksgiving prep. There was a lot to do and I didn’t want to leave it all for Thanksgiving day. One of our recipes was orange carrots (flavor, not just the color) so SSA got a chance to learn how to use the peeler. They did a great job. They can definitely add peeling to their repertoire.

With supervision, Steven and Sammy also practiced cutting with bigger knives. We worked on keeping one hand on the handle and one hand on top of the blade to push down, keeping fingers well out of the way of the knife.

Wednesday was another big prep day, aided by the kids’ half day of school. They grated about 2 lbs of cheese for baked mac & cheese.

I made 2 chocolate pecan pies and Sammy made pumpkin cheesecake bars. Another new skill was using the can opener – one we probably could have tried a while ago, to be honest.

Finally, on Wednesday, Steven made our orange carrots. I really love cooking with the kids. It’s such great time spent together.

The half day of school was understandably light on academics and high on fun. One project was creating these really cute turkeys – another craft possible because of materials sent home during a school work exchange.

Our Wednesday drama was candy related. Steven ran out of Halloween candy but Sammy and Amaya still had a lot left. They all had the same opportunity to eat two pieces of candy/day and they trick or treated together so I decided it wasn’t fair if Steven had none left while Amaya and Sammy still had candy every day. They could decide to get rid of the rest of the candy or divide it among them. I’m sure you can guess what they picked. Sammy and Amaya got to start by picking 6 pieces of their own candy that they wanted to keep. Then Steven picked any six pieces and on and on it went – 6 pieces at a time until every one had 28 pieces or, in our model, about 14 days worth. And it worked! (Then they found new hiding places for their candy so sugar-craving parents couldn’t steal any and throw off the plan.)

We’ve played so many board games this week. Guess Who, Sorry, Scrabble Jr, Blokus, and lots of games of Carcassonne. I love playing board games with the kids and also love seeing them play with each other.

Thanksgiving!! This year Sammy took charge of our turkey and “by take charge” I mean he did everything except manage it in the oven. He unwrapped it. He stuck his hands inside and pulled out the giblets. Sammy stuffed the turkey, buttered and brined it, and added carrots and onions. Soup to nuts – this was Sammy’s turkey. And it was the best turkey I’ve ever had – truly!

Steven and Sammy both helped make the roux for our baked mac and cheese (which was a huge hit with Amaya).

Steven and I tried to play a concurrent game of Memory but there was just too much going on so Amaya filled in for me.

Dinner!! We had turkey, baked mac and cheese, mozzarella spinach, orange carrots, stuffing, tater tots, pecan pie and pumpkin cheesecake bars. The carrots, spinach, mac & cheese and cheesecake bars were all Raddish Kids recipes, rounding out our first 12 months of kits. I know SSA are hoping Nana and Papa keep the subscription going for Hanukkah.

Well earned pride for a job well done…

Steven and Amaya made Thanksgiving cards for everyone. Here’s Mario who Amaya drew for Sammy’s card.

A card for Chase, thanking him for a stuffed raccoon she always sleeps with.

Carcassonne! It’s such a fun game. We’ve started tracking the winner of each game, too. So far, over the past week, it’s Sammy – Steven – Steven – Amaya. And I’m not even letting them win!

I was off on Friday and so were Penni and Gabby so the kids and I planned a day that included a hike at Island Lake State Park in Brighton. We took a 2 mile route and walked it over the course of about 1:15. The kids all brought plastic bags to collect nature items they found. It was a really nice day.

In 2020 my friend Nina has been tracking 1000 outside hours with her kids. I love the idea so we adopted it ourselves, starting on 11/2. We’re just tracking to 500, to start, and it’s definitely motivating outside time in a different way. After our hike we had a snack at some picnic benches so we could log the full 90 min for the hike time.

We also made a list of Things We Want to do After Coronavirus. <3

Hey look – more Carcassonne!

On Friday, Sammy convinced us to have a family sleepover downstairs and Steven convinced us to celebrate with the Phineas and Ferb movie.

Reading last week’s blog to Steven, Sammy and Amaya. I’d forgotten earlier in the week but Amaya remembered. Keep in mind that they’re my audience now. 🙂

On our Friday hike Steven was disappointed that we didn’t do the longer 3 mile hike so I agreed to go back with him on Saturday morning. We had a blast. It was cold but the sun was out and we made good time because 2/3 of the hike was already familiar. Steven took pictures at all of the marker signs, found some cool nature items and we both loved the view of Trout Lake – much better on a sunny day. Steven named this lake “Beauty Lake.”

This post has arrows pointing to the “Long” and “Short” trails. Steven is pointing to the “Long” arrow which is the direction we went.

Steven’s Beauty Lake hike collage, which is in his printed picture book.

These three had their own fun while Steven and I were off hiking. <3 <3 <3

Both boys got great haircuts from their daddy this weekend!

And, what do you know? More Carcassonne! (Sammy ran from the picture as a got-ya to me.)

How Steven watches Monk on Sunday mornings…

Steven watched an episode of Crafty Carol where she made a castle out of cardboard and he wanted to do the same so we cut up some boxes in the garage and he got to work.

A flag with his castle’s symbol. On the other side of the flag it says “Steven’s”.

Beneath the red decor you might be able to spot his mailbox.

While Sammy and Jason were shopping for pants, Steven, Amaya and I spent about an hour and a half outside. Steven also sorted and organized his pinecones from his hikes.

Jason and Sammy were gone for hours and Sammy came home with 5 or 6 new pair of pants that he’s excited to wear. Success!

While Jason grilled steaks, Sammy and I grilled asparagus with parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper.

After photographing the chefs, Amaya took a sweet picture of her daddy.

We wrapped up the weekend with a whole family game of Carcassonne. Mommy is officially on the winner board!

Finally… Charlie’s results are in and it’s a fractured growth plate – also her right arm. I’m still incredulous that these girls both fractured their arms within 48 hours of each other.

Have a great week!

The weeks are starting to blend together a bit with all the time at home but everyone is still trucking along.

Every now and then I pop downstairs during class time and love when I get to see the kids participating. It’s going to be weird for all of us when SSA are back at physical school. Some day.

Monday afternoon Steven had a check-in with his eye doctor. He’s still patching up to 4 hours/day in the hope that his right eye can gain enough strength to see 20/20 corrected. When we started patching he could see one letter at 20/40 and now he can see one letter at 20/20! With a row of letters, he can see 20/30. Pretty awesome. We’re going back in 3 months and the hope is that it will be the end of patching. Fingers crossed!

Sammy, experimenting in solidarity.

I got some special bedtime cuddles with by Bubs.

On Tuesday morning we woke up to our first sprinkling of snow. Before breakfast, Steven was outside on the deck shoveling. It was a very small dusting of snow but Steven was able to shovel a pile big enough for Sammy to use the snowball maker that he bought this summer. Gotta be honest – it makes great snowballs!

Very excited! I can only imagine how happy he’ll be when there’s enough snow for actual snowball fights.

Steven really enjoys reading. It’s pretty cool, and I can definitely relate. In 1st grade I read and read and read and read. (Which reminds me that, for school, we tracked the books I read on large index cards. I wonder if SSA would enjoy tracking the books they read.)

Sammy was trying to figure out how to access something on his computer and Steven and Amaya came to help him. They looks so old and competent. 🙂

Tuesday evening Steven was complaining about a stomach ache so he got into bed with some books while I finished up working. “I’m going to read in my mind, not out loud.”

While Steven was reading, Amaya and Sammy were playing in the basement and Amaya hurt her arm. She was babying it all night but was able to move it well so we assumed, at worst, it was a bit bruised. In the morning, however, it was swollen. Amaya wasn’t complaining about it but I decided to take her to the doctor just to be safe.

They were able to see her right away and the doctor agreed it was unusual for her to have that kind of swelling if nothing was wrong and suspected a buckle fracture. They don’t do x-rays at our pediatrician’s office so we headed home with plans to get an x-ray after lunch. We needed to get it done the same day but Amaya wasn’t in much pain so we decided we could wait until after my 11am meeting. (I’m really lucky to have a job where I can jump offline throughout the day for issues like this and the only concern anyone has is whether or not Amaya is ok.)

Pre-X-ray, sorting through ball cards that Jason left for the kids.

Jason left a note for the kids so Steven left one in return for his dad. (There was an interesting debate between the kids about whether or not “share” meant they all had to share every card or if they could share the card in a way that allowed them to pick ones for individual ownership. We settled on the latter.)

X-ray time! In and out, easy peasy. We got to see Amaya’s x-ray and, afterward, looked up images of buckle fractures to see if it looked like she had a fracture or not. We both voted “no” and waited for a call with the results.

I don’t think I mentioned that we had a few more days of amazing November weather this week. Amaya didn’t get to enjoy it quite the way she would have liked but Steven and Sammy made the most of it.

Aaaaaaand, by early afternoon we got the call from Amaya’s doctor’s office to tell us that the x-rays showed a buckle fracture. 🙁 The official report is “acute, transversely oriented, buckle fracture extending through the distal radial metaphysis and a concomitant acute transverse buckle fracture extending through the distal ulnar metaphysis.” It’s a stable fracture and pretty common in young kids but we still had to make an appointment with ortho and get a brace to stabilize it in the interim.

On Wednesday evening we had a school virtual science fair. We picked up science fair kits at the school earlier in the week and, after some technical difficulties, got connected. It was more like a magic show than a science fair. The “tricks” were cool but the guy running the program didn’t actually explain the science behind anything. SSA had fun, though.

Amaya negotiated sleeping with me due to her fracture. Couldn’t argue. <3

Amaya’s Thursday look. This child would have been in heaven in the 80s. (Also, it needs to be said again – thank you to Charlie, Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave for literally keeping Amaya dressed for years. We never have to buy her clothing because she has all of Charlie’s hand-me-downs.)

Penni is very good at pushing the kids outdoors. Amaya’s activities will be somewhat limited for a bit so we’ll have to see if we can still motivate her to get outside. She said she doesn’t want to play outside until she can go on the playset or sled.

Experimenting with writing with her left hand. No go.

Penni taught the kids how to make pom poms with yarn.

My sweet triplet mom friends Karie, Heather and Dianna sent Amaya these awesome flowers on Thursday (from their kids). She was over the moon. It was really special.

On Friday morning we were off to Ortho! I was wondering if they’d consider a splint instead of a cast but he thought her injury needed the plaster immobilization. Amaya was all smiles and a great patient. She picked a hot pink cast to match Charlie who, in some sort of psychic connection, fell and hurt her arm at school on Thursday and is in a hot pink soft cast until her ortho appointment next week. Three days in, her only complaint is the itching.

It’s hard to even see the swelling in this picture but it was pretty obvious when compared to her other arm. She has very dainty wrists.

A pleasant November surprise – lunch outdoors followed by soccer for the boys.

Amaya got such delight out of showing Jason her cast.

First order of business on Saturday morning – names on the cast. And first order of the first order? Writing Charlie’s name.

Steven, Sammy, Jason and I added our names, too. I acted as proxy for Sally cat.

I told Jason that the ball card industry should be very happy that he had kids. SSA are all interested to varying levels but it’s probably no surprise that Steven has an entire ball card organizational system. He was rooting for the Dolphins today because he has the quarterback’s card.

On Saturday morning, in honor of Aunt Ouize’s birthday, we Zoom’d with Grandma Sunshine, Aunt Annette, Aunt Ouize, Uncle Todd, Nancy and Abe. The pandemic totally sucks, but I do like that it’s normalized this type of connection.

Family monopoly! After three wins in a row for Steven, Sammy took the win this time and by a nice margin. Steven came in a very strong second.

Amaya asked me to include this picture. 🙂

This morning was another Sunday school session. Zoom is a rough format but they’re making it work the best they can. Just one more thing that will be better when it’s in person again. We were the first kids to join so Amaya got to give a full report on her cast.

A shot of Steven’s (adorable) name. Sammy wrote below it in yellow so it’s not easy to see but it made them both happy which was the point.

I took on the day with a trip to get the kids snow boots, new sneakers for Amaya and a grocery trip to get our Thanksgiving shopping done. After almost an hour at Dick’s, we were at the register to pay and I realized I left my wallet at home. I am a dedicated online shopper and am almost never in stores. Even this attempt left me finishing my purchases online.

Steven and Amaya are still afraid to use escalators so, before we took the elevator, I let Sammy ride the escalator up and down on his own.

New cast-friendly sneakers arriving by mail this week.

Since we had to come home for my wallet we grabbed lunch before heading out which gave SSA time to read letters from Grandma Sunshine. They love getting mail!

I really dislike grocery shopping but I have a vision for our Thanksgiving dinner and want to fully execute it. I had three great (and patient) helpers for the 90 minute shopping trip. Sammy was excited to pick out the turkey that he’ll stuff later this week.

More snowballs! Since the snow boots are also on the way, we went for rain boots today.

Finally… Amaya may have slowed down her outdoor activities but even a cast can’t stop her crafting. She painted this mug on Saturday and we treated it today. It’s supposed to be dripping pink frosting with sprinkles.

Have a great week!

I can’t believe I’m coming up on 7 years of this blog. Really crazy to think about. When I started, I thought maybe I’d try to keep it up until Steven, Sammy and Amaya turned 5 and that’s well in the rearview mirror now. At their age now, I try to only write things that I’d be willing to read back to them. They’re aware of the blog now, too, and even ask me to take pictures for the blog sometimes. I wonder when their attitude will shift toward wanting more privacy? (Which, of course, they’ll get.) Which actually makes me think I should start reading the blog with them weekly. We’ll start that this week!

Monday and Tuesday were two more, and final, beautiful days. SSA got to a playground, rode bikes, and spent lots of time outside.

Snuggles with Gabby <3

This past week was Spirit Week at school. Monday was pajama day. Tuesday was sports day. Amaya didn’t want to wear sports gear but the boys were excited to put on their baseball uniforms again.

This week, for school, the kids wrote about places they like to go.

Sammy likes to go to the school playground.

Steven wrote, “I like to go to Novi library and pick out a book for me to read and pick out two books for mommy to read to me.”

Tuesday was a BIG day for my girl at swim class. Amaya passed her level 5 test! She is (deservedly) SO proud of herself. She worked so hard.

Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday. The kids were so excited to get wacky and were really creative with their wacky ideas.

Sammy’s got underwear over his pants and on his head + balloons.

Steven is wearing 3 pairs of shorts and adorned his glasses with candles and a paper bridge. Oh, and his shirt’s on backwards.

Amaya was only willing to go so far. She’s got a wacky hairstyle, some facepaint, and layers of workout gear.

Reverse order for extra wackiness!

Penni wasn’t at work on Thursday and Gabby wasn’t arriving until later in the morning so I got to experience “working while schooling.” So much credit to Penni for the routine she’s set with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. They’re organized, focused, and know what they need to do. It’s pretty awesome.

Sammy was my table buddy which, incredibly, didn’t elicit any jealousy from Amaya or Steven. I loved watching him work.

“Mommy! Come here quick! The book Mrs. O’Neil is reading has my name in it!”

On Thursday at swim, this child just marched right into her new swim group without a care in the world. She kept up, too, and already met 5 of the beginner skills in level 6. It’s really hard timing because we’re going to have to pause swim for a few weeks due to “meanie coronavirus” and this girl is so sad – but handling really well for a 6 year old.

Steven and Sammy are getting more and more confident. They let the teacher help them go underwater like it’s nothing. This is from kids who didn’t even want to blow bubbles in the water 6 weeks ago. They still have their limits, though, and their instructors are good at letting them go at their own pace.

Friday was Spirt Wear Day. We were all ready to show some Gator pride! (Thursday was “Dress like your favorite book character day” which we definitely skipped.)

Gabby and Penni were both off on Friday so it was a full day of working from home while the kids had school. I was presenting at a meeting at noon and, when I got off the call, found Amaya and Sammy getting supplies to make themselves sandwiches. A-mazing. It really is the dawn of a new day in the Cline house. (In fact, this morning Sammy made himself some microwave pancakes.)

“Go outside. No really, it will be fine. It’s not that cold. Okay, anyone who goes outside for half an hour doesn’t have to put away their own laundry.”

“How to cut in the lunch line” – by Sammy, 1st grade

1. Get in the lunch line

2. Punch the person in front of you

Love how he wraps it up with “yum”. And don’t overlook his accompanying drawings. This one is definitely a keeper.

This weekend we put another splash of color in Amaya’s hair. She asked for alternating hot pink and blue and we both love how it turned out!

Daddy cuddles. <3

I am obsessed with Amaya’s use of sleep masks. She has such a strong sense of what she wants and needs. (I’m also impressed that it doesn’t freak her out. I feel very trapped in a sleep mask.)

Day two hair. The first picture is how I styled it and the 2nd is how she styled it. 🙂

Saturday might have been our last playground meet-up for a while. It was 35 degrees colder than the weekend prior! The kids may be able to play outside in that weather but I’m not sure the parents can handle it. I’ll do my best, though.

Sammy spent a while pushing 4 girls on this big swing.

Playground live.

We had a relaxing rest of our afternoon. We cooked some homemade hot cocoa, griddled up some pancakes and played Blokus. (One of my favorites!)

Someone did her make up…

All of the kids play together but Steven and Amaya have a particularly affectionate relationship. They like hugging and cuddles and it’s really sweet. In fact, they held their post so I could take this picture and print it for their “printed picture books”. I’d worry about Sammy feeling excluded if he showed any interest in physical affection with his siblings but it’s not his style – which they seem to understand and respect.

Amaya sent mail to Charlie. <3 I can’t overstate how much Amaya loves Charlie. Charlie’s name comes up so many times/day. Everything is Charlie. 🙂

Amaya is also, finally, best buds with Sally. She’s even willing to feed Sally treats. So I now get pictures like this of my best girls.

Jason got himself a sweet set-up to work on his fantasy football.

It was a really nice lazy day at home. Cold, windy and rainy so we just hunkered down – played games, watched football, got our magna tiles out. And I stayed in bed until 10am because the kids are old enough for that to happen!

Have a great week!

I’ll just start the blog with this picture because I love it so much. (Thank you, Jason.) All four of my kids enjoying some Mo Willems before bed. This is literally the stuff of my dreams.

It’s a tough world right now and there’s uncertainty about so many things but, every day, my family helps ground me in what matters most.

On Monday morning Amaya was rocking an 80’s vibe hard.

Now that it’s getting colder, or so we thought, I wanted a motivator for the kids to spend as much time as possible outside. My friend Nina and her kids have been tracking their hours outside all year and I always thought that was cool so she sent me her tracking sheet. (She’s at 827 hours as of November 6th!) I’m not quite as ambitious as Nina so we changed it to 500 hours and also have side bets on how long it will take to get to 50. First week in, thanks to the great weather, we’re already at 16.5 hrs. (Below is day 1, after the kids’ first hour.)

Racking up time during an unseasonably warm week. In fact, the kids spent most of the week getting to playgrounds. 5 of 7 days, I believe!

Gabby taught SSA how to play hangman. It’s a fun game for them to play to practice their spelling and they really liked trying to get each others’ words.

Did I put this in the blog last week? I could check, but I won’t. In the same spirit of the kids’ “About the Author” assignments, Amaya made an “All About Charlie” sheet. <3

Tuesday’s playground was Thornton Creek. Still cool enough to need jackets. That would change.

Wednesday, they were off to the playground behind Novi high school. And by “off”, I mean running as fast as they could as soon as they got there.

This week the kids worked on a “Friends” writing assignment.

Sammy: “Quinn and me like to sneak into creek at our school.”

Amaya: “Me and Maia like eating ice cream together.”

Steven: “Me and Quinn like to play ‘pizza place’. We call our pizza place ‘Domino’s’ – my favorite pizza place.’ (I love that Steven spelled “favorite” as “frafrit” because that’s exactly how he says it.)

Thursday, November 5th in MI, outside at a playground in shorts and short sleeves. Amazing.

Penni & Bobes

SSA had a science lesson this week that they absolutely loved. They were able to learn about the clouds and make this little flap card that has a “sample” of each kind of cloud and, when you lift the flap, information about it. Every other week we turn in assignments at the school and pick up new materials which allows us to easily do projects like this.

All week Steven, Sammy and Amaya have been looking to the sky to see what kind of clouds we have. And of course they’ve all picked their favorites. (Frafrits.)

SWIM! It’s a really nice part of my week, maybe because it’s the only place I go Monday- Friday lol.

Steven and Sammy are doing so well. Today Steven even asked to take a bath so he could practice putting his face in the water. I’m really proud of them both.

This week Amaya was tested to see if she’s ready for level 6! She’s not quite there yet but I truly can’t believe how far she’s come. When we started I was worried that level 5 was too advanced for her but that’s clearly not the case. What I love most is the way Amaya can articulate what she’s still working on. She’s totally focused on her goal.

Friday was so nice out that the kids at lunch outdoors! Incredible. I was even able to carve out time to join them.

Tank top. On November 6th. In Michigan. Whaaaaaat!?!?

It was so nice out that Gabby took the kids for ice cream. It’s going to cool off quickly around here but we’re not going to squander this.

All 3 kids really love online art tutorials. They can spend ages watching and drawing. Steven decided to move into the role of teacher and taught Jason how to make a surprise monster. He was a great teacher.

When Sammy has his nighttime Caribu visits with Nana, I often find images on my phone. It seems they were finding differences between the pictures. I liked his use of tally marks to keep track.

Now that SSA can tell time, they like to keep track. To help in their room, I got them this clock that projects the time onto the wall. It’s pretty awesome. I could use one in my room, too. (They also have stars on their walls at night.)

Saturday morning we made it back to the Thornton Creek playground for their class meet-up. The weather was incredible. We spent three hours here – staying long after everyone else left.

Checking that that creek that Sammy likes to “sneak” to with Quinn.

Last night we wanted another shot at Northville outdoor dining. So did everyone else in the area lol. We didn’t get a table exactly outside but we did get a booth right up against a floor to ceiling open window so it was even better, in some ways. Tons of fresh air but not quite as cool. We’re not comfortable eating indoors at restaurants yet so this might have been our last hurrah for a while.

Amaya likes to do her own hair. 🙂

Today was another incredible day. 70 degrees and sunny! We met their friend Ruxin at the playground again and this time I packed lunch so we could be sure to stay as long as we wanted. We were outdoors for another 3 hours today. It was amazing.

This picture is from my vantage point while hiding during a game of hide and seek. Steven is in the distance, counting.

We had a relaxing afternoon and then the kids and I made garlic chicken and cheddar biscuit casserole. (Steven kept asking, “but where’s the roll?”)

They’re continuing to build their skills. Everyone is trying things they wouldn’t have previously.

Amaya’s face when I asked her how she feels about raw chicken.

Loving Amaya’s look today. It’s fun to see what she puts together.

And, finally, some photos capturing the love between Sammy and Jason. <3 <3

Have a great week!

School photos are in! We had a transitions lenses fail, but these photos are a true snapshot of Steven, Sammy and Amaya at this moment in time.

I got some nice view of Fall on Cheltenham this week. First is a view from my work desk and the 2nd is a view from our back deck. It sounds like the earliest we’ll get back to a semi-regular schedule in the office is after Memorial Day so I’ll have another few seasons out out this window and, then, likely a continuation of a few days/week from this spot.

On Monday evening, 4/5 of the Clines had an appointment for flu shots. Jason got his a few weeks ago. Oh, boy. I was planning to go on my own but I’m glad Jason and I were both there because we did not have happy or cooperative kids. We had panicked and desperate kids, including one who tried to escape the room (Sammy) in a last ditch effort to escape his fat. But preventative health care prevailed.

Always with her signature style.

Tuesday morning we had a BIG FIRST. Steven lost a tooth! Last to get one, first to lose one. One down, fifty nine to go!

Steven told Amaya by showing her the tooth in a bag and giving her a big smile. She ran over to him and exclaimed, “Steven! You lost a tooth!” He’ll tell you that he gave a long hug. It was really sweet.

Sharing the news with Nana.

Sharing the news with Grandma Sunshine.

The Tooth Fairy came. 🙂

Some random pictures…

Cuddling with daddy and using the label maker.

Steven and Sammy have some coins they really like and had a difficult time keeping track of them so I got them each a coin collecting book. Both Poppy Steven and Saba Bob collected coins. (My dad had a bunch of pennies in cook books that I rolled and took the bank when I was in middle school. 🙁 )

Our Halloween season started on Wednesday afternoon with a class Trunk or Treat. I hate event planning but I wanted to be sure that COVID didn’t totally ruin the holiday season for SSA so planned an after school Trunk or Treat with their virtual class. They had 14 or 15 families of 24 participate, including another 12 or 13 siblings. It was really nice to see the kids with their classmates.

A little time at the playground afterward.

The kids have an “About the Author” all-about-me style assignment for school.

I love that Sammy included “cooking” as a hobby.

We need to work with Steven on his handwriting lol. He’s got a lot to say and he’s used to speaking so quickly that he rushes to get it all out.

Steven says his hobbies are legos, coin collecting and ???. He likes writing about “fun things that happen to me.”

SSA love to record shows on their tablets that they can also watch at any time on their tables via Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, etc. A quick check of my FB friends tells me this is normal (but still bizarre) behavior for kids their age.

Steven invented a game called “Go Money” which is the same as Go Fish but you play with his pretend money and make sets with like denominations.

Holiday gift catalogs are arriving and Steven, Sammy and Amaya are totally here for it.

Swimming! I can’t believe how much the kids are improving and how much progress they’ve made in just one month. On Thursday I saw both boys put their heads under water multiple times. I was so proud! And Amaya has developed tremendous control of her strokes. She’s learned to breath on every 5th stroke in crawl and has learned the backstroke.

Check out Amaya’s progress card. For her first few lessons she had 0 stars. Once her card is filled, someone will test her to see if she’s ready for Level 6. She’ll be there a lot faster than I anticipated. (And then we’ll have to figure out what to do about their schedule because right now they all swim at the same time.)

Steven, Sammy and Amaya got to wear their costumes “to” school on Friday. At the end of the day Sammy told me, “We didn’t have to learn anything in our last zoom meeting! We just played Halloween bingo and made a bat!”

Not needing her cat mask, we got to have fun with Amaya’s make up.

By absolute change, both Amaya and I were cats for Halloween at 6 years old. I love this so much. (Also, can you believe how much more mature Amaya looks than I did?)

On Monday the kids turn in their 2nd Small Moment Stories.

Amaya wrote, “My Birthday at Chuck E Cheese!”

“First I played at game. Me, Steven and Sammy are at Chuck E. Cheese. My cousin came, too! I love my cousin. I have two cousins. [4 actually; 2 are adults.] My cousins are older than me. Next it is time to eat our cake after we eat our pizza. I like pizza. Next we got to get our prize. I was happy! And I got a giant lollipop and I i also got cotton candy. The cotton candy tasted good. Yum. I had fun. Next we got to open our presents! I love presents! I got a LOL! The end.”

(This is a story about Amaya’s 6th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.)

Sammy wrote: “I Love the Beach”

“I got to the beach. I buried myself in the sand. It was hot. The sand tickled. I pushed myself into the sand. I fell into a whole that a person dug. It was hot. I felt like I was melting. I finally got up!”

(This is a story about visiting the beach in NY in August 2020.)

Steven’s story is: “The Joker” at Legoland

“I waited for someone to talk. I waited and waited. Someone finally said something. I asked my mom for fruit. The fruit was good but now I will tell you the joke. It was, ‘Why did the cookie to go the doctor?” And another and another. And another and another. The joke people left but it was night so me and my mom went to bed. One minute after that my mom fell asleep and twenty minutes after that I fell asleep.”

(This is a story about a kids’ joke contest our first night at Legoland in Feb 2019.)

Plus, a note from Steven:

“Dear Mommy – I love you so much. You are the best mom in the world. I also love you a lot – to Daddy.”

Sammy spent the week planning how to scare Jason with his Spooky Skeleton costume so we plotted and planned and Friday night was the night. The key was charging up his glowing costume and making sure it was dark enough. It took a few different times getting in and out of his costume but he got his chance! He went out the garage and came around to the front door and rang the bell. We turned off the porch light for extra effect. 🙂 Seeing Sammy excited and happy is pure joy.

On Saturday morning I panicked that the signature on my absentee ballot didn’t match my drivers license and my ballot would not be counted so the kids and I made a quick trip to the Clerk’s Office where I was assured that I would have received a call if that was an issue and that seeing my ballot receipt tracked meant that it would count.

It was a good civics lesson for the kids who asked why it mattered if my vote was counted. I asked them to raise their hand if they want us to buy a family rocket ship. All three kids (obviously) raised their hands. Then I told them that Daddy and I voted no. What would happen if Sammy’s vote didn’t count. Instead of winning the vote, it would be a tie. And then we talked about how we can’t buy a rocket ship even if the family votes for it lol. And that our house isn’t a democracy and sometimes mommy and daddy just get to decide. But, they got the point. They can help influence outcomes that they care about if they vote and if their vote is counted.

In the afternoon we went to a Halloween event at Maybury Farm. It was ticketed, with reserved times, and I was needlessly worried about crowds. The farm did an amazing job limiting the number of entries per hour to allow for more than ample distancing. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Jason was watching the Michigan/Michigan State game and we had an extra ticket so we took Amaya’s friend Maia with us. This was a first for us and I was really glad to be able to do it. Maia is very sweet and likes to spend time with Steven and Sammy, too.

The farm had a scavenger hunt, animals in costumes, games and a take-home craft. You can see just how few people were are the farm during our time slot.

Sushi and hot dog sheep!

The last activity was trick or treating where all of the volunteers used candy chutes to deliver the candy to the kids.

A little fall yard work with Daddy between Halloween events. Such a pretty day.

Our neighborhood sucks for trick or treating and we didn’t want to be ringing doorbells right now, so we headed to a neighborhood near downtown Northville where my colleague Lisa lives. She’s always talked about how great it is at Halloween and said that, this year, the neighbors all decided to put out tables so they could hand out candy safely.

Trick or treating hours by us are from 6- 8pm which gave us a bit of daylight to get started. You can’t tell in the pictures because I stopped taking them after a while but this area is absolutely hopping. The houses are all decorated in creative ways. The streets are packed – with most people in masks this year. Lisa said she usually busy 1500 pieces of candy. This year she bought 600 but bagged them in 2s and 3s and ran out in less than an hour. One house was completely done up as a Wizard of Oz theme. Another house had a keg and was handing out beers to adults. Lisa said that, in normal times, they close down the streets because there are so many people.

It got much, much busier.

The Wizard of Oz house.

Steven’s favorite house! You can see how the table is at the end of their steps. That was pretty common. The homeowners stayed on their porch and the candy was on a table at the bottom of the steps.

Doing some eenie-meenie-miney-moe to pick his candy for the night.

We had a lazy Sunday. In fact, I think we need to be sure we have ways to get the kids out of the house on the weekends in the winter during a pandemic. They get restless and don’t have the benefit of leaving the house for school in the morning. (It’s probably good for me, too. I get restless and don’t have the benefit of leaving the house for work in the morning. 😉 In fact, if I didn’t take the kids to swim on Thursdays I could go the entire week without leaving the house. Winter is going to be rough.)

For lunch, Steven and I made some carrot soup via a recipe from his religious school teacher, Ms. Amy. Thumbs up all around.

Amaya took some pictures of us cooking together. 🙂

Then at dinner time, Sammy helped out with the green onions and sauteed all of the chicken for us. He and Steven are both getting so good at the stove. They’re learning really good safety habits while they cook.

That’s it for us! Have a great week!

I’m really seeing Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s reading skills develop this fall. I’ll never know how their development at this stage would compare to the experience they’d have in-person at school but they’re reading regularly and reading better and better every day. Mrs. O’Neil also regularly keeps kids to read with her 1:1 so I know their teacher has a sense of where they’re at. My favorite part of the kids’ developing reading skills is seeing it open the world to them.

Steven: “Into” is one of my favorite words.

Tuesday was picture day! I’m so glad the virtual kids were able to go to school for photos. I suspected the lure of the profit share would motivate them to figure it out. 🙂

Amaya and I negotiated clear lip gloss only for photos. This child would have otherwise showed up in a full face of makeup.

Sammy did his hair before they left. I’m not sure it held through to photos but I love that he took the care and had a point of view about it.

Picture day outfits – handpicked by the Cline kids!

Tuesday SSA were back to swim. After each lesson we get an email with these progress cards. I like to see the skills they’ll master. Amaya started with 0 stars over the course of her first few lessons so its cool to see her progress. I thought level 5 is a little advanced for her but she’s working so hard and making progress.

Steven is waffling on putting his face in the water. He’s done it but he’s still not excited about it.

For the very first time, Sammy put his face in the water! He was rightfully so proud of himself.

I had a big work meeting on Wednesday and really wanted a good night sleep. It was our typical Tuesday sleep-with-parents night and Sally has been a loud old cat at night – in the middle of the night – so Jason took charge on what I’ll gratefully call “Operation Mommy”. <3

Jason and the kids gathered upstairs and, though whispers, put a plan together. I was working downstairs but, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the kids literally tiptoeing around the house. It was precious. They moved all of Sally’s stuff into our master bedroom so I could sleep elsewhere and Sally free and then Jason and the kids hunkered down and went to bed in a big Cline (minus Mommy) sleepover. It was so sweet.

Amaya thought to bring in Sally’s stairs so she could look out the window.

The kids also made me phenomenal art that I’ll keep forever.

“I Love You, Mommy by Steven. When you come downstairs in the week I smile. When you go back up I am sad but I know it’s ok.”

MY HEART. This is so true. I come downstairs for snack and get the biggest smile from Steven, with a request for a hug, and I’m so glad he knows it will be okay, even if he’s sad.

Mom Love, a poem by Steven

Mom love is the best when your mom is awesome.

Sally Cat, by Steven

Sally Cat is the best. She makes life so much fun. We all love Sally Cat. She’s the best in the best house.

From Amaya:

“Mom Works It’s Ok

Mom works in the night. It’s ok.

Mom works in the day. It’s ok.

Mom works in the evening. It’s ok.

Mom is all done!”

(I swear I don’t work all the time!)

From my sweet, sweet Sammy. <3

The kids definitely have the perception of me working more than I did before, even if only because we’re all home together, but my lack of commute (as short as it was) gets me back engaged with them earlier than I would have if I was going into the office and the mid-day Hellos are highlights of my day.

I get to see their morning recess slime / floof parties!

When synchronous classes end, Mrs. O’Neil offers to let anyone stay on if they need to talk to her. The Cline Kids love to stay on until the last kid leaves which has meant that, at times, they’re the only ones left chatting with Mrs. O’Neil. Right there you can see Steven, Sammy, Amaya and Mrs. O’Neil wrapping up the day together lol.

The kids needed to collect leaves for a school project. I love Cheltenham Drive in the fall.

Back to swim for me, too!

Sammy does not like to be touched in photos and Amaya loves to gather her brothers around her in photos so this is compromise that Amaya came up with. She’s too much.

Friday (or maybe Saturday, actually) was my 16 year Sallyversary. Sixteen years with the best cat a family could ask for. Truly the best cat.

During this week’s art class, the kids did some Van Gogh inspired pumpkin art.

Sammy

Steven

Amaya

This week SSA did a test run of their Halloween costumes. We have Darth Vader, a cat and a glow in the dark skeleton. Three happy kids!

Sammy looks so old and so handsome and he’s so funny.

Steven said, “Did you see how I lowered my eyebrows to look serious?”

Most darling cat I’ve ever seen.

Sammy glows! This is definitely, and understandably, his favorite part of his costume.

We wrapped up Friday with more Sally love. Look at how Sammy is looking at her.

Saturday the kids got busy decorating the house for Halloween. They had a ton of fun – and it’s continuing into today – but I suspect they may feel differently about it when they have to clean up on the 1st.

Steven used black painters tape for his decorations. He’d want you to know that the ghost has a “word bubble” to say “Boo”.

For the first Sparty football game of the season, Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette came to visit. We made it work outside with a heater, a tv and roku. Pretty, cool!

Unicorn faces, compliments of Daddy’s face painting skills.

This morning we had our first day of online religious school. There were lots of technical issues at the start and it’s not nearly as good as being there but the Hebrew lessons engaged SSA and our temple knows that it’s not the same so the schedule is every other week rather than weekly until we can be back in person.

Me: What do you want to do today?

Steven: Wrestle with daddy.

This pretty much sums up fall in Michigan lol. Sammy wasn’t ready for a jacket but wanted a little something to fight the chill. 🙂

Little Wookie in the background, checking out hangers. This child is <3 <3 <3.

We had a nice lazy Sunday afternoon.

The kids got busy with the continuation of their Halloween decorating. Streamers, streamers everywhere.

Steven and I played a bunch of games together. This is such a fun age for games.

Sum Swamp! It’s an addition, subtraction, even/odd game. Basic math but really good for the kids right now and they’re enjoying it a lot. We didn’t even have any fits when Steven won and I came in 2nd.

I took a shot at face painting. I can’t get as elaborate as Jason but managed some ladybugs and a finger carrot. 🙂

And we wrapped up the day with some Raddish Kids enchiladas. Everyone took care to fold in the cheese. 😉

Have a great, spoooooooky week!