Wow. Here we are. Week 1.

It went as well as it could, I suppose. Which says a lot.

The kids are home. Gabby and Penni are holding down the fort while Jason and I work. Jason is still going in every day. I went in Tuesday and Thursday but I’m not sure how long that will last. I think I’m nearing 100% WFH now.

Right away on Monday we dove into our weekly schedule and we were able to keep it up through the week. Very quickly the kids understood their schedule and their willingness to follow it said a lot to me about it’s value. In fact, Gabby asked if we could take our 2 hrs of Free Choice and add more structure so the kids now have options to do some video time focused on yoga, wildlife with the Cincinnati zoo, or story book read alouds. Later in the week I made mention of not being in school and one of the kids commented that the have school but it’s at home. We’ll keep at it.

Each morning kicks off with independent reading time and, afterward, the kids take turns reading books aloud to the group.

After reading we have 45 min of STEM time which is intended as building play with legos, magnatiles, marble runs, etc. That seems to work well, too. I was wondering if SSA would get bored of that as a daily activity but so far, so good!

After STEM time is a snack and then recess. On Monday and Wednesdays, Gabby has a class from 11am- 12:20 so I’m on point from about 10:45am- 12:30pm which works well, based on the activities planned.

Morning “recess” is going well. I wasn’t sure if they’d like the required outside time but, again, no complaints. They’re used to recess at school and seemed to slide right into it at home. It’s hard to be stuck here. They need to get outside. (Thank goodness it’s not January.)

One of the favorite times of the day is eLearning time. The kids all rotate through online learning programs provided by their school. One is math based and one is reading based. During this 90 minute block they also eat lunch, do their writing workshop and, at their request, work on some math worksheets (also provided by their school).

Here are some writing workshop sheets from Monday. (Which reminds me that I need some new options for this week! We have “This weekend I…”, “I like…”, “I love to…”, “I am happy when…” and one more that I can’t remember at this moment.)

Most of Amaya’s have been about Amie and Krystal from Lego Masters. Here’s a rare one about something else.

Steven

Sammy (“Is Queem” <3)

So Monday started well and ended well, but it’s still a lot of change. I’m trying to give lots and lots of extra hugs and as much emotional support as possible. I’m trying to find a balance between routine and structure and “business as usual” and understanding that this is anything but business as usual.

Tuesday I went into the office while Penni was with the kids. I don’t know how long I’ll go in but it’s literally a situation where I sat in my office with the door closed and took every call from my office. So it’s a change of scenery but certainly not different from working from home and I expect we’re about to be full work from home with about 80% of people already there.

I love that Amaya has Home School Style.

During STEM time, Penni worked with the kids on their KiwiCo kits from Grandma Sunshine. They were a great way to spend time and the projects were awesome.

Steven made a manual sweeper. It works!

Sammy made a marble timer.

Amaya made a working lantern!

I forgot to mention that we have Specials on the calendar. This is what the kids’ school refers to as their out of classroom classes like French, Art, Music, etc.

On Tuesday, Amaya led music class. First she led them in a couple of songs and then they took turns trying to make up a song together.

Afternoon recess seems to be focused around bike & scooter rides. Again, saving grace that it’s not the dead of winter.

All Hail Mo!! Mo Willems was such a godsend this week. He’s doing daily weekday Doodles with Mo on YouTube and they’re awesome. For me, he’s an amazing blend of Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross. We already love his books (especially ones that feature Piggy & Gerald) so this is a perfect afternoon activity.

I love that Steven, Sammy and Amaya are still innocent enough to show their artwork to Mo when he asks.

Here are drawings of a creature with a lot of legs.

Steven

Sammy

Amaya

And the kids’ interpretations of Gerald!

The OG.

What day is it? Oh, Wednesday. It’s going to be hard to keep track, soon, I think.

Sammy at writing workshop.

For their math activity, they had to find circular objects in the house, draw them, and then count them. The kids got really creative! Shower heads, screws on light plates, the bun in Amaya’s hair.

Very little tops their Dreambox and Raz-Kids time.

Amaya wanted to stay in her footie PJs for the day so she shoved her feet in rain boots and made it work.

Thursday, rinse, repeat. For STEM time, the kids made these cool Lego bracelets I got for them based on this new Dots line that Jason found.

Cosmic Kids Yoga is the best! The kids did yoga with Trolls and friends from Frozen. I hear there’s Minecraft, too.

We’re still reading. Though the schedule for bedtime books has been off a bit this week between weird schedules and Mo Willems. I want to get back to it regularly. I think I like consistency as much as the kids do.

Amaya’s favorite camp counselor, CC, was supposed to come on Friday morning until Gabby was done with class but she canceled last minute so I worked my work around the kids. While I was busy, they used their independent reading time to play Sight Word Swat. I love it!!

Steven wanted me to see everything they were doing with Magnatiles but I was working so he took my phone and brought me photos.

The kids have these star machines and I was doing a shadow animal show on the ceiling. Steven, in particular, thought it was hysterical.

We had a quiet, schedule free weekend. I worked most of it. Jason held down the fort an exercised. The kids got out today but yesterday was just a needed lazy day.

Amaya made a sign to cheer me on for my game of Scrabble Jr. with Steven. Loving the bubble letters!

While I worked in my room, I had periodic visitors.

Captain America

A Queen delivering lunch. (Thanks honey.)

Labeled kids!

A leftover promise from yesterday, I went for short 1:1 walks with each of the kids. Amaya left a note in front of her classmate Nico’s house.

Art time

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Game time

Snuggle time

Have a safe and uneventful week everyone. <3

Well, here we are. Anywhere but normal. It’s unbelievable to think about how different life was just a week ago. So we’ll go back there, first.

March is reading month (still is, always is) and the Cline kids had lots of time reading to us and being read to.

Amaya was worried that Daddy couldn’t pull off a “girl voice” for Fancy Nancy but I heard him and he nailed it.

On Monday night Steven had his piano lesson and Sammy & Amaya made the formal decision to join him. So it’s three 30 min sessions in a row coming our way. For now, we’re going to continue lessons with everyone washing their hands before and after, including Mr. Anthony.

Mr. Ed, the kids’ bus driver, has an art contest with a Spring or Easter theme. On Tuesday we were home for primary day in MI and Amaya and Steven got right to it.

Amaya’s idea was to trace the outline of leaves from our backyard and them fill them in.

At the bus stop on Wednesday I took a picture of the kids with their entries and Sammy cracked me up by holding up his imaginary picture. 🙂

(Looking at this picture makes me so sad. No bus stop. No bus. No school. What a mess.)

I worked from home on Tuesday morning while Gabby was at our house. When she went off to class, the kids and I went to vote and to Steven’s eye dr appointment. They were really interested in the process and loved their “future voter” stickers but seemed to unanimously agree that they thought it would be exciting.

What did parents do at long appointments before tablets??? We had a 2 hr appointment thanks to dialation and the tablets were a life saver. (That first photo is waiting in our exam room, not the waiting room.)

Getting comfortable.

Look at this guy lounging. <3

This was an appointment with a new provider for a 2nd opinion. I got a lot of great info. First of all, she said we’re doing the right thing by patching. She said Steven is farsighted and that she thinks that he’ll actually outgrow it over time if we continue to patch and have him wear his glasses. That was new news!

The poor kid struggled a bit with the eye drops but persevered and earned a new lego set for his troubles.

Sammy remains our best sleeper and the Cline Kid most likely to fall asleep in the car.

Gabby was back from class when we returned and dove into a number of Jenga games with Sammy. I think he smoked her!

In addition to Steven’s big lego set, Sammy, Amaya and I each got a small flower lego set from Jason so the kids were all excited to build.

Steven’s airplane!

It’s amazing how every picture just highlights how much changed, so quickly. On Thursday this week I had the joy of being the Mystery Reader in Steven and Sammy’s classroom. I’ve spent so much time in Amaya’s class that I was thrilled to get a chance to visit the boys’ room.

About 90 minutes before I was due at school, I got a call from the office to tell me that Amaya was there complaining that her stomach hurt and she was nauseous. I got on the phone wiht her and could tell, pretty quickly, that she was just fine. Earlier that day we’d been talking about COVID-19 and Amaya was saying she wanted to catch it so she could stay home for 2 weeks. I think this was her subtle attempt.

She agreed to stay at school and I said I’d check in on her because I was going to be a Mystery Reader in Ms. M’s class, but not to tell the brothers. Apparently she did her best but couldn’t help but to give The Brothers clues that gave it away.

Regardless, the boys were thrilled I was there. I picked Fox Make Friends and Ms. M offered to have me read a 2nd book because I have two kids in the class.

My boys!

Peeking in on Amaya doing her work.

She told me her stomach still hurt but she was completely fine in the classroom until she saw me so I agreed she could sleep with me that night and she went back happily to her classroom.

St. Patrick’s Day artwork in the hall.

I woke up Friday morning to the now all to common news that school was closed until April 13th – after spring break. I knew it was coming but it still felt like a shock.

The kids took it in stride. In fact, they were so excited that the all seemed to feel a need to express their love to me!

We made it through the day and, to our great fortune, were able to line up child care for the work week between Gabby, Penni and CC, their camp counselor. Even if we aren’t going into the office for much longer, it’s nearly impossible to work from home long term with three young kids around. And there’s a lot to do at work right now.

But moving on… this weekend we finally bit the bullet and removed the beds that are never used from Sammy and Amaya’s room. It’s freed up a ton of space in their room and in Steven’s because we were able to move one of the dressers. They seemed thrilled!

My colleague Christine texted me about a Lego challenge to build a bridge the way the Lego Masters did on the show this week. It was a great activity for us. We spent 30- 45 min building and had a great time doing it.

Amaya appointed herself the judge and said, “I might like someone else’s bridge better than mine and vote for them. I might!” But (of course) she didn’t lolololol.

I’m darn proud of my drawbridge even though I came in last. 🙂

Bedtime was a breeze. Here are the kids in the their new set up.

Aunt Ouize & Uncle Todd – we still love Carcasonne!

Jason kept the kids entertained today with helium balloons. I think their favorite part was hearing his helium voice.

Today was Morminer’s birthday! Steven set up a party where you could to three things: draw a picture of Morminer, get Morminer’s autograph and get Morminer’s phone number. I opted for station 1.

Showing Mormier my work.

Some art from the week.

Steven made a rock ladybug.

Amaya is ready for the warm weather.

And off we go to the world of homeschooling. At least some version of it.

I want to be sure the kids stay on some kind of schedule and that it’s thought out enough in advance to draw from the myriad of available resources. They do well with routine. In fact, Amaya can tell you her class’ entire daily schedule. So I made one for us to use while we’re home. We’ll see how it goes and adapt as needed.

Amaya loves these writing worksheets so I made some for the kids to use.

The kids made Book Buckets back in October and they haven’t gotten much use in the form we had them but they’re perfect for at-home literacy. I loaded each bucket up with books the kids can read during independent reading and group reading time. It won’t be the same, but it will help.

And that’s it for this week. Stay healthy. Stay sane. Love each other.

I’m going to eat some ice cream.

It’s another week where Monday feels like a lifetime ago. Jason and I both had board meetings this week with mine taking me out of town. Jason had to leave for work around 6:30am on Thursday morning, with no room for error, so Grandma Sunshine came and stayed for a few days to be sure everything went without a hitch. (It did!)

Sammy sometimes gets the Sunday Night Blues but these kids are always happy at the bus stop on Monday mornings. I really hope they continue to have such good experiences at school with great teachers and great classmates.

Amaya’s interesting fashion choices continue. On Monday it was a button up – buttoned all the way up – with rainbow tiger leggings. Because why not? I can’t wait for the day she sees these pictures and asks why I let her wear these outfits. 🙂

Piano lessons! This week Steven learned about the pedals on the piano. It will be a little while before he can use them independently, though. (This reminds me that he hasn’t practiced all week. We need to remember to suggest he practice for at least 5 minutes every day or so. But with his eye patch and school reading and everything else going on, it’s so easy to forget. For him and for us.)

The way Steven shows his love for me is really something special.

Tablets can get a bad rap but Steven has discovered audio books. And he loves them! The ones on his kindle are great because they highlight the words as they’re read. On Tuesday morning I let him stay in bed a little longer so he could finish his book. (And, wow, can I relate to wanting to stay put until a book is done.)

On Thursday morning I asked Grandma for a pic of the kids before school so I could see their gorgeous little faces. My little loves.

At school on Thursday the kids had an event called “Science Switch”. All three kindergarten classes rotated between classrooms for science activities. I love that we get pictures like this or I wouldn’t know a thing about it. Questions like, “Did you do anything fun at school today?”, generally end up with answers about recess or French class or Art.

In this game, the kids had to use the push pins to guide a ball from the top cup to the bottom cup.

This smile!!

I think Sammy explained this as some sort of bowling game using books to guide the ball.

I got back to MI on Thursday night, in time to help give the kids a hand using their new umbrellas. (Funbrellas. Hahaha.)

Jason and I had dinner plans on Friday night but, when Sammy heard I was going out, he got really upset. “But you just got home to us!” He was right, and truly sad that I was leaving, so Jason and I canceled our reservations and Sammy and I got some quality time together. It was 100% the right choice. <3

OMG, so apparently Steven had a rotting pumpkin in his room. It was a little white pumpkin that he named Pumpky and he was very sad when I told him that he had to throw it out. To ease the blow, he asked if he could make a card for Pumpky. It says, “I love you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much Pumpky. Love Steven.” Then he put the pumpkin and card together in a bag so they’d get “crushed” together.

Every Saturday we watch Lego Masters together and, from the beginning, Amaya has been “scoring” for Amie and Krystal. They were in the bottom two the past two weeks and she was really nervous all throughout the episode. Sure enough, they were eliminated and Amaya immediately burst into tears. She was so sad that I almost started to cry, too.

To help her process I suggested she make cards to send to Amie and Krystal. That idea helped a lot and she also asked if she could dye her hair blue because Krystal has blue hair and Amie has pink and blue in her hair. We’ve never done a whole head of hair dye for Amaya but we went for it.

Here she is in her tinfoil bonnet.

Making her cards.

Our blue haired girl! (As a bonus, she looks like Evie from Descendants.)

Her matching cards for Amie and Krystal.

Rather than try to mail the cards, I decided to tweet Amie and Krystal.

Within a few hours, we heard back!! Amaya was so excited. How cool is that? A message from Amie straight to Amaya. And how awesome is it that little girls can see builders like Amie and Krystal on TV?

Krystal and Amie

For now Amaya says shes not watching the show anymore but well see how that plays out. Sammy has decided hes scoring for Christina and Aaron and Steven is scoring for Tyler and Amy. “Do you remember when I was scoring for them and then they won!?!”

Such a fun show for us to watch as a family.

Our March Raddish Kids package arrived this week. First up on the menu was a country breakfast with eggs, ham and (our addition) steak. We also had some amazing onion & pepper seasoned tater tots. Amazing what seasoning can do. 🙂

We’re ready to work on egg cracking skills! I was really impressed with all three of the kids’ efforts.

Steven really loves cooking at the stove. Here, he was transferring pan seared steak to the ham & eggs.

Today was a big day of Purim festivities at school. The kids could dress in any costume (minus masks and weapons) but SSA all wanted Purim themed costumes. We had two Hamans and a Queen Esther.

At Hebrew school they went to a Purim Spiel that was Frozen themed. The kids raved about it. Amaya even got to go on stage for part of it. Afterward, we stayed for the Temple Israel Purim Carnival. They had games, bounce houses, crafts and food for the kids and it was Frozen themed, too. Even Anna was there. I was really impressed but, after the time we’ve spent at Temple Israel, not surprised.

The bounce house obstacle course was Sammy’s favorite.

The boys’ Haman hats cracked me up, and got a lot of compliments.

While Steven was coloring this clown I told him I like his design and he said, “Well, I usually know what looks good.”

From yesterday morning, here’s Amaya’s telling of the Purim story.

When we got home, Jason and the kids went for bike/scooter ride around the neighborhood.

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Today the kids and I cooked jambalaya and blueberry lemon bars. It was a good recipe in terms of the distribution of jobs for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Steven got his first cooking cut so we bandaged him up and popped a cooking glove on his hand.

This girl loves lemons.

Did I mention that March is reading month full of all sorts of reading challenges activities? They have reading bingo. A reading log. Friday in-school themed activities. And a bookmark challenge. Only Amaya and Steven participated. Here are their entries…

Amaya’s is a Super Gator for their school mascot. (She wrote CT, meaning TC for Thornton Creek.

“On a snowy day, I like to bury myself in the snow.”

“This weekend I watched Lego Masters and I like it. I did not eat anything at all.”

In art class this week the boys did finger paintings. As is often the case, the difference in their art aligns so well with their personalities. Steven has the barn and the tornado, specifically planned and executed. As my friend Ames said, “I see Sammy’s as art done by a kid who enjoys it but would happily do anything else. ‘Paint paint paint done! What’s next?'”

And that’s our week. Have a great one!

Steven was so excited for his piano lessons on Monday. Mr. Anthony said that he has wonderful questions. Steven’s very excited to earn the certificate at the end of his beginner piano book.

Checking out his certificate…

On Tuesday, at lunchtime, I took Steven back to the eye doctor for a check in after ~5 months of patching. The eye doctor saw progress! She said that his left eye had been 20/20 corrected and his right as 20/40. Now his left is seeing at 20/30 and 20/25. His depth perception is also improving. Go Bobes! We are supposed to keep patching for another 4 months and are getting a 2nd opinion in early March just to be sure we’re on the right track.

With their weekly reading assignments, the kids also got a sheet of 100 CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant). They’ve loved reading through the list.

Mr. Piano Practicer pounding out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Baa Baa Black Sheep.

This two were playing “Family” during story book time and Steven was cuddled up to his “mommy”. 🙂

Goofballs. (Amaya wouldn’t sit up because she wanted to be sure you can tell that Steven is sitting on her lap.)

Jason recently added labels to our pantry which, I think, was the inspiration for Steven to create labels for his room.

Sleeping spot, picture spot, book spot, clothes spot.

It was a very creative week for Steven. Here’s his ambulance and hospital and his school bus and school. I’m particularly enamored with the sound waves coming from the ambulance.

This week brought us two snow days. The kids were thrilled. Jason and I, not so much. On Wednesday Jason stayed home until noon when Gabby arrived. On Thursday I worked from home and Gabby came early afternoon when her class was through. I didn’t want anything to do with the outdoors but Steven, Sammy and Amaya all had fun sledding, playing on the play set and shoveling our deck.

Sammy has been into Mario lately, thanks to Owen from school. He needed a new sweatshirt and picked this cool Mario hoodie.

Friday night was the Novi mother/son dance! We had a great time. It was casual and easy. The boys picked out new button downs and even put on jeans!

A photo staged by Steven. (Preceded by a photo shoot carefully art directed by Amaya.)

Sammy was most excited for the chocolate fountain, which he was sure would be there after Amaya’s report from the father/daughter dance.

Steven and Sammy bumped into a 3rd grader from their bus. He was a nice boy who paid attention to them and they hang on his every word, especially Sammy.

A highlight of the night was the balloon drop. Sammy parked himself right in the middle of a ton of bigger kids. I could barely see him in the mix. I think he was really proud of himself for getting in there.

Lots of moms with cameras waiting for our boys to catch balloons lol.

My boys. <3

Steven has a rubix cube that he couldn’t solve so he gave Jason a challenge to complete two sides for him. Surprise! Jason did it!

Our Saturday morning routine now includes watching Lego Masters together. Our Lego Masters it the making are all loving the show and have their personal favorite teams.

Sammy literally had holes in his shoes so the kids and I ventured out to get him some new sneakers. Amaya, too. I love watching them make decisions. Sammy tried on three different pair and ran around the store to see how fast he was before picking a pair.

Amaya was mostly concerned about style. Which isn’t surprising in the least.

This weekend Steven and Amaya got back to sewing. Steven has been working on this fox for a while now. He likes to sew but has doesn’t have a terribly long attention span for sewing. Which is, of course, totally fine.

Amaya worked on, and finished, a cute little snake. She’s interested enough that she can sew and stuff and sew until she’s done.

A proud girl.

Amaya wanted to be patch buddies with Steven yesterday. I told her we can’t make a daily habit of it but she could try it for a day, as long as she was willing to wear the patch the whole time Steven did. (Because it’s not a game or a toy for Steven. He doesn’t have flexibility.) I was actually surprised she went for it because she’s afraid to use band-aids out of fear it will hurt when she takes them off. But she did, and she lasted about 15 minutes lol. Sweet, sweet Steven saw she didn’t like it and told me, “It’s okay if Amaya takes off her patch. She doesn’t have to wear it as long as I do.”

I love this picture of my macaw twins.

Book time with daddy.

This morning Jason took Amaya to Hebrew school and I took the boys to a classmate’s birthday party. It was a sports party and they got to play flag football and dodge ball. They loved it!

Before the sports started, the kids battled with pool noodle light sabers. Such a clever idea!

The girl Steven is battling is Elin. She’s been a favorite friend of his since the start of school. When I ask who he likes in his class, her name has always been at the top of the list. When I told her mom that today she said, “Elin always says she’s going to marry Steven.” <3 <3 Unfortunately Elin is moving to Dallas in July so their future seems unlikely. 😉

This child was so excited about flag football.

Most of us stayed off the field for the sports until the kids came upstairs to tell us it was time for us to play Parents vs. Kids in dodgeball. The kids actually took a round – the first, when we were still timid.

Steven was his usual “loving his mama” self and, before each game started he’d yell, “I love you, mama!” Sometimes in the middle of games, too. Everyone got such a kick out of it.

A Storm Trooper cupcake!

The boys and I picked Amaya up from Hebrew school and surprised her with a cupcake of her own. Another happy child.

Steven, Sammy, Amaya and I went to a Purim event this afternoon. It was held at a place called Friendship Circle, co-sponsored by Temple Israel. Friendship Circle is right by the JCC but new to me. It’s an incredible center focused on programming for individuals with special needs. The programming teaches life skills and addresses sensory needs but is grounded in forming friendships and social skills. Pretty amazing.

The event we attended included lunch and a Purim scavenger hunt. Amaya and Sammy decided to make Haman’s hats from their Hamentashen.

The kids all colored Purim masks.

For the scavenger hunt, the participants toured around an indoor cityscape and answered questions about the holiday in exchange for treats for their misloach manot baskets.

A look at the cityscape.

It’s becoming tradition for the kids to help me with dinner over the weekend. They’re getting more and more comfortable in the kitchen and more and more proficient. I love it.

That’s it for us. Have a great week!

Hard to believe that on Monday morning we were still in NY. Since SSA were off from school Monday & Tuesday we were able to fly home early Monday and I still managed a half day of work.

After a lot of negotiation, Amaya sat next to the Friendly Stranger with the caveat that one of the brothers would swap seats if the person next to her had a dog.

I asked Jason if he could get an organization system for stuff the kids need to bring to school. Everything sat in one pile and I mentally remembered what went back when but that’s not efficient, particularly when I travel for work. He had this set up in our mud room when I got back from NY. A spot for each child with a pull out tray for each school day. Perfection. <3

Steven started piano lessons on Monday! He’s very excited and I think Anthony will work well with him.

Anthony suggested we get these piano key stickers to help with early piano learning.

Jason and I had work on Tuesday and the kids were still off from school for mid-winter break but, luckily, we were able to send them to break camp at the JCC for the day. It’s a great option for the kids. Each day is themed and they ‘re happy to go because it’s somewhere they’re comfortable. They even got to swim!

These huge lego bricks immediately got Steven and Sammy’s attention at “before care” drop-off.

Tuesday’s theme was Rock & Roll and the kids came home with these big guitars. Steven loved it.

On Wednesday it was back to school and another Reading Workshop volunteer day for me. When I arrived Mrs. Shuart was about to read the class a story and she let me sit on the carpet with Amaya on my lap. My girl was so happy. (So was I.)

Getting reading to “write the room”.

Seen in the hallway…

Steven needed to get a rash checked out by his pediatrician so Jason surprised him at school at 2:30pm and took him to his doctor appointment. “I didn’t expect to see Daddy!”

Meet Olivia Netwon Cline, clad in new dance clothes from Charlie.

It was a busy Wednesday for the Clines. I had a whirlwind trip to Denver via a late night flight and, as is starting to be tradition, when I travel Steven, Sammy and Amaya get a sleepover with their daddy.

Steven’s writing.

Third down is “Family” [famule] and 6th down is “I love Morminer” [I love Mrmunr].

Steven has coined a phrase for coloring that does not use realistic colors – Color Creative. He had a great time with his Color Creative lion. Amaya, however, has rejected Color Creative and said she prefers realistic colors.

I’m trying to get Amaya to let me style her hair more often so I’m also offering new hair styles. I think she was a big fan of the side bun.

For Hanukkah, Uncle Austin got Amaya this bracelet making kit. A good part of the weekend was spent making bracelets, rings and key chains for everyone in our family and May May’s family.

Special Delivery for Baby Rainbow Heart

Amaya got all dolled up for her visit from May May & family who were coming to visit today. Megan and I had been talking about getting together this weekend but hadn’t locked anything down. Yesterday, Amaya said she really wanted to see Megan so she called her up and invited her to come over today. It was definitely time!

May May!

Baby Rainbow Heart (Eden) is getting so big! She’s even taking her first steps.

Taco is three, and the most comfortable she’s been around Steven, Sammy and Amaya for some time. She worked with Amaya to make another bracelet and had fun in a PJ Masks Catboy cape.

The kids and I made a delicious dinner together and they got to take the cutting gloves for a test drive. The gloves are definitely helpful as they start to use sharper knives to cut tougher foods. Sammy also tried out the knew kids’ knives I got. They work well for some foods but we did end up switching to steak knives to cut the carrots.

Steven and I partnered on a delicious steak sauce.

Last but not least – Amaya’s Valentine’s note that came home on Monday. I appreciate that she put me in head to toe orange – my favorite color. 🙂

Wait! One more! Sweet, sweet Sal. My first best girl.

Have a great week!

This is a typical scene for how I find the kids on a school day when it’s time to each breakfast. Sammy is always on his table. Steven is almost always doing art. Amaya can be found doing either, but generally with her tablet close at hand. Say what you will about tablets, but they’re a lifesaver in the morning to keep the kids occupied while Jason and I sleep.

On Monday, at long last, the kids celebrated their 100th day of school. Mrs. Shuart sent us some photos of the class celebration.

SSA have been excited about Valentine’s Day. Steven didn’t want Sally left out so he made this for her and asked me to tape it to the door by her food and litter box. <3

Pizza!!

I’m not sure if she had guidance or did this from memory, but I love Amaya’s washer and dryer.

Thornton Creek had a change drive to raise money for wildlife in Australia. They raised enough money that they held a pajama day at school on Tuesday. We took these photos before the morning bus and, after this first photo, each of the kids took turns staging a photo. They had so much fun with it!

Amaya’s

Steven’s

Sammy’s

We’ve reached the stage of kindergarten where there’s prescribed weekly reading for the kids. <3

When your mom loves giraffes so you color one for her…

Winter kindergarten fashion – sweatpants, a swimsuit cover up, a cardigan, and booties.

For Valentine’s Day, Steven and Amaya painted about a dozen rocks to bring to NY as gifts. I couldn’t help but get into the mood, myself, and paint some rocks for my little loves. I traveled with their 8lbs of rocks in my suitcase but gave the kids the ones I made on Thursday morning because there’s only so many rocks one can reasonably bring to NY. 😉

On Thursday afternoon I picked the kids up from school an hour early and we headed to the airport for our next trip to NY!

They really like that DTW is shaped like an airplane.

In exchange for an extra treat and first dibs at which night he slept with me, Sammy agreed to sit next to the friendly stranger on the airplane. She was friendly and they did become friends. Patience of a saint, truly, as Sammy explained the details of his My Little Pony game. She said she doesn’t have grandchildren so it’s nice to get to talk to kids.

First things first on Friday morning was baking Valentine’s cookies with Nana.

And making more Valentines! I was really impressed with Sammy’s focus.

On Friday afternoon, the kids, Nana and Savta picked Charlie up from school while I worked at Sara & Dave’s house. So much love!

Which led to part 2 of cookie time – frosting!

Chase, unwrapping his rock from Amaya. He was so sweet to her.

Dinner and Shabbat. You can always count on Sammy to be right there when we light Shabbat candles with Nana.

Charlie slept over on Friday night and, on Saturday morning, Nana and the kids picked up Chase and the 6 of them went out for a pancake breakfast. It’s such a great tradition they’ve started.

Cousins.

On Saturday afternoon, Steven, Sammy and Amaya went bowling for the first time. They’d roll their ball sloooooooowly down the lane. All 5 kids played and Amaya actually won one of the games and Sammy got two spares in a row in his first game!

A couple of months ago a friend of mine shared photos of her kids at the Museum of Illusions in NYC. I showed the photos to Steven and he was totally enamored with what he saw, so we decided to make the museum a stop on this weekend’s NY visit. In preparation for my upcoming train ride to DC with the kids, we took the LIRR into the city today rather than drive.

It’s truly amazing how much is the exact same since I grew up on LI, and the LIRR is high on that list.

Auntie and Dod Shuki made the trip with us, because we met up with my cousins Mike & Joe and their families, too!

The museum was so much fun. SSA are the perfect age for it because they can participate in the illusions and appreciate them in photos afterward.

Tilted room.

This was my favorite!

The kids specifically remembered the photo of my friend’s son “in the table” so they were thrilled to get to do this one.

After the museum we got lunch at Chelsea Market and then walked the High Line before heading back to Long Island.

The whole gang!

Top row: Dalia, Eli, Naomi, Jake, Sammy, Steven. Middle row: Aunt Anita, Dod Shuki, Mike, Amaya, Joe. Bottom row: Nicole, Rachel, Me, Nana.

We <3 NY!

Tomorrow we head back to MI and two day off from school for Steven, Sammy and Amaya for their mid-winter break.

Have a great week!

I had more work travel this week. This time for a quick in and out to DC for some meetings. Jason sent me this picture of Steven, who is wrapped up in my blankie while I was away. It’s so special to think about my history with this 40 year old Sesame Street sheet and then see it wrapped around one of my children.

“Gabby, can you send me a picture of the kids?”

It turns out there were more 100th Day of School shenanigans. The boys needed to fill these bags with 100 units of an item. While I was out on a weeknight date night with Jason, Penni worked with the boys on their bags. Any guesses on the contents?

(Jason and I were on a date night because I took an earlier flight back from DC to beat the snow heading for Detroit. We already had Penni lined up so decided to make the most of it and get some us time.)

On Thursday I picked Steven up from school at 11:15am for a dermatologist appointment. Midday weekday time with the kids is such a treat, even if it’s for a doctor appointment.

While I was at Thornton Creek, Steven and I wandered the halls to find their HERO pictures. A couple of months ago the kids had to write about their heroes and those statements were turned into photos (~16″x24″) that are hanging through the school. I really love these. It’s the simple things that make an impact for kindergartners.

I couldn’t find Sammy’s, but here is Steven’s MLK Jr. portrait. When we go to NY in April for spring break, the kids and I are taking the train to DC for an overnight visit with Aunt Ouize and Uncle Todd. SSA are really excited to get to see the place where MLK gave his “big speech”. I think I’m going to print out some pictures of the speech to bring with me to help tie it together for them. (Cute story – Jason said that when cousin Abe was little, he called the memorial “Me Lincoln”.) More broadly, I’m super excited to bring the kids to DC and share the city with them. I don’t think we’ll have time to get to GW on this visit but I’m hoping to at least hit up the Lincoln and the Air & Space Museum where they’ll also be able to get great views of the Washington Monument and the Capitol.

On Thursday Steven was his class Super Pal! Ms. M said that he had a slow morning but then jumped right into his work when he was supposed to. He got to wear this cape all day! Ms. M was really sweet about making sure I got to see the cape and get some pictures of him wearing it. (She also told me that he said to her, “I get distracted very easily and I need some ideas to not be so distracted.” She seemed very tickled by the way he said it.)

Before bed on Thursday, and before Jason got home, I asked Sammy if he wanted to go outside and shovel to help Daddy. I wasn’t entirely serious but he said yes so there was no backtracking! Steven saw what Sammy was up to and wanted in, as well. Sammy: “We can work together, Steven.” When Jason got home the boys were so proud to show him their work.

Amaya, girl after my heart, stayed inside in the warm, toasty house. At her request, we played Sight Word Swat. When they play alone I mix up the rules a bit and have them read the words rather than find the words. I was honestly shocked at how many she knows. She was a machine! “Little” “Big” “Play” “Yellow” “Three”.

Amaya’s class has been working on “greater than” and “less than” so I made some number sheets for her to fill out. I love her crocodile eating 10,000.

This was also a great example of how same-age siblings help them all learn. The boys haven’t done this in their class yet but Sammy wanted to try , too, so I made him his own number sheet. I’d never have done that with him if he didn’t generate an interest from Amaya’s practice.

Steven concepted and then created this computer.

Steven and Sammy brought home their books for their academic conversations and they are so true to the boys.

Steven’s story – “Once upon a time I was at my friend penguin. He asked if we could go to space and I said yes. And we went to space and the problem is that we were heading for the sun.” [Can’t read the rest and Steven can’t decode it but in there is “that my friend penguin”.]

Sammy’s story – “Once upon a time I was at my house but. My head fell off! I found glue. I stuck it back on.”

Sammy was so cute reading the story. His 2nd page didn’t originally have an exclamation point but, as he was reading it, he realized he needed it to tie to the emphasis in his voice.

Steven is going to start piano lessons! We offered the option to all of the kids but only Steven is (currently) interested. I was able to find someone local who does in-home lessons and I expect we’ll get started by the 17th. This morning he said, “So soon I’ll be able to play songs with Daddy.” <3

Sloane, in the boys’ class, was sick for their birthday part so she and he mom dropped off belated birthday gifts. (Sloane’s mom is also the kids’ dentist!) Sammy got a dinosaur egg kit and Steven got a spiralgraph. They were extremely thoughtful and even brought a small gift for Amaya.

Steven needed a clean-up so the boys and I headed to the barber on Saturday afternoon.

Sammy’s before…

And after! He’s very clear about wanting short hair and, this time, he wanted more than one lightening bolt. I really love seeing the kids express themselves.

Steven’s before…

Steven’s after. I promise he was happy here. He’s looking forward to his next shower so his curls come back after being brushed out for his cut.

Sammy and I worked together on another Raddish Kids recipe – Lasagna Soup. We’re still working on cutting skills – figuring out what he’s ready for and what’s a challenge. I found a highly reviewed set of kid’s cooking knives for $8 and also ordered kid’s cutting gloves so, as he (and the Steven and Sammy) start cutting and chopping more regularly they can be just a touch safer and more comfortable with the utensils.

I never anticipated how much I’d enjoy cooking with the kids.

Does it get any better than hammering noodles?

A highlight of the weekend was Amaya’s long anticipated Daddy/Daughter dance. She had a new dress, new shoes and excitement that filled our house all day long.

Our girl. <3

Amaya thought it was so cool that the sleeves on her dress have “holes”.

My heart goes BOOM.

Living her best life.

A huge bonus was that Amaya’s friend Abby (famous Abby B) was also at the dance. (Seated beside her, below.) When Amaya heard she was going she started running around the house singing, “Best day of my liiiiii-ife! Best day of my liiiiii-ife!”

About the dance Jason said, “She’s amazing. She was the ring leader, but it didn’t bother her if Abby B didn’t follow…. she was happy if there was anything that was nice on her after losing Abby B. Treats, drawing on the wall, checking on our picture, more treats, dancing with Daddy, dancing on her own, balloons, more treats, most especially “doot doots” with Daddy on the dance floor where everyone could see…”

So special!

The kids had religious school in the morning and it still seems to be going well. They go willingly and it sounds like they’re having fun. After lunch, my Michigan babes spent a very long time playing outside in the snow. It makes me so happy that they’re finally at an age where they can play outside on their own and I love that they get outside even in the dead of MI winter.

Sally is increasingly comfortable with the kids. I guess it’s age. And time. I love it, whatever the reason. She’s so special to me and I love seeing SSA with her.

Amaya still seems to have some fear of Sally but she was willing to pet her again as long as it was from behind so her hand is away from Sally’s mouth. Bit by bit we’ll get there.

This big kid and I made the 3rd of the recipes from February’s Raddish Kids kit. It was an Italian salad with mozzarella, tomatoes, zucchini and homemade croutons. A hit with everyone!

Our family dinned was especially fun tonight. We went around the table telling “fiction” stories. One of Amaya’s went something like this: “Once upon a time there were three kids who didn’t have any parents. Their names were Steven, Sammy and Amaya. They didn’t have parents because their parents, named Joanna and Jason, didn’t like how Steven was wrestling with Sammy and Amaya. So they lived alone. And then Amaya and Sammy lived with their parents again and Steven got new parents.”

We wrapped up our weekend with story books and lots and lots of laughs, thanks to Tacky the Penguin.

My loves.

Finally, a little Tacky inspired nonsense before bed.

Have a great week!

***Sammy’s bag has crayons and Steven’s has stickers.

We’re nearing the 100th day of school. I thought we were going to skate by without shenanigans but, sadly, there are shenanigans. Fortunately, none of the shenanigans involve custom made t-shirts or dressing like old people. Honestly, I don’t have it in me.

The boys brought home capes that they have to decorate with 100 things. I should have insisted on some kind of organizational system to the decorating but I didn’t, and now we have capes with all sorts of things glued to them willy nilly, requiring constant recounting and discussion about what counts as an “item”. Glitter glue globs seem questionable to me.

Amaya’s was a lot more reasonable. She had to pick one thing to count and it needed to fit in a sandwich bag. We were asked to have her count out ten groups of 10, then count to 100 by 10s and then count to 100 by 1s as she put the items in her bag. Much more my speed than the capes.

My sweet Bubba isn’t bothered by the cold. <3 (Side note: The kids’ bus driver is recovering from knee surgery so they have a sub. The new driver asked Jason if we let the kids talk about home because they talk non-stop on the bus.)

On Wednesday I had to head to Nashville for a two night work trip so the kids and I took a quick bus stop selfie in the morning.

At dance on Wednesday, Amaya and Sammy got to try on their tap costumes. So cute! Gabby and Steven also got to watch the kids practice their dance routine.

With Mommy away, the rest of the Clines had a Wednesday night sleepover with Daddy! Jason gets relegated to sleeping across the foot of the bed but I suspect it’s worth it.

On Thursday evening, Penni came and took the kids to a STEM event at their school hosted by the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum. It sounds like they had a great time. I was really happy they could get there even with my travels and Jason’s long commute home from work.

Mrs. Shuart sent a few photos from class this week. I love seeing Amaya happy and engaged. The first picture was during a math activity and the second was during an art break. I spy Valentines!

Which leads me to Valentine’s Day…

At the JCC the kids didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day so this is their first year with in-school celebrations. It also means they need to write out Valentine’s Day cards for all of their classmates. I’ve been so proud of the kids for their focus and willingness to complete this project. All three kids dove right in.

(And, bonus, we don’t have to make Valentine’s Boxes for card collection. They’ll be decorating bags in school. Though now that I think about it, SSA will be in NY on Valentine’s Day. It’s a half day and we’re flying to NY the night before. I’ll need to remember to send in their cards on the 13th.)

HOME!

Our plans for Saturday included a visit from Sloane, who’s in Steven and Sammy’s class, to drop off their birthday gifts as well as a dinner event at Temple Israel. Around 7:45am, I heard Amaya calling me from the landing in the middle of the stairway. She said she felt sick, and she looked terrible. My poor girl. The order of operations was puke bucket to Amaya >> sheet on the couch >> carry my sweet girl down the rest of the stairs. 🙁

She made it an hour before she did get sick. You should have seen Sammy go running from the room. Afterward, though, she took a nap and was then fine for the rest of the day. No fever, no nausea – totally fine. Thank goodness!

Working on her valentines, you’d never know she’d been so under the weather a few hours earlier.

Even feeling fine, the social contract and 24 hr rules meant Amaya couldn’t join us at PJs and Pancakes at Temple Israel.

Steven and Sammy put on their PJs, grabbed some sleeping friends and off we went. The evening started with bedtime crafts and activities. Making frames to hold the sh’ma, decorating sleep masks. They even got Hebrew names for their sleeping friends. “Tson” for Sheepy which means “sheep” in Hebrew and “Sheleg” for Light Pup which means “snow”. I was able to make some crafts for Amaya, too.

True to form, Sammy’s sleep mask.

True to form, Steven’s sleep mask.

Steven and Sammy were so excited to add whipped cream, chocolate chips and sprinkles to their pancakes. “I wish we could eat pancakes like this every Saturday.”

The evening wrapped up with a short, child friendly Havdalah service. The kids had Havdalah on Monday’s in preschool so it was fun for them to revisit the tradition. Sammy was a little nervous to sit on the bimah but Steven was able to convince him to get up there.

Their dance moves slayed me.

Back at home, after a dinner of waffles and ice cream, Jason had the pleasure of (again) watching his all time favorite movie with Amaya – Descendants 3.

Our February Raddish kids recipes came so today we baked Love Muffins also known as raspberry chocolate chip muffins. Next week we’ll tackle lasagna soup.

The kids each got heart shaped measuring spoons and loved that it left heart shaped piles of ingredients.

Frosting!

A bit of Super Bowl with daddy before bed.

It’s so much fun to see how the kids are progressing at school. Kindergarten is such a big year!

Amaya did her footprint activity on Monday. She’s going to be a hero at school by holding doors for people and a hero at home by washing the dishes.

Hanging on the wall in our upstairs hallway

We had our third round of Academic Conversations this week. The boy’s books seem to have been sent home and returned without ever leaving their folders so I emailed Ms. M and she’s going to send them back home again this week.

For this round, we’re supposed to have a conversation with the kids’ about their writing and choices. There’s a whole list of questions to use to engage with them.

Here’s Amaya’s!

Some work from the boys. This weekend, Steven and I practiced his lowercase a’s. I think he has the hang of them now but we’ll practice some more.

I was very impressed with Sammy’s work on the rhyming words. He’s less likely to want to read or write at home so it’s extra special to see his school work come home.

I’ll leave you with this wonderful family song, compliments of Amaya and Sammy.

Have a great week!

SIX! Here we are. The world of counting our age on two hands. Out of littlest kid territory and inching their way toward big kid territory.

As I hear Steven, Sammy & Amaya read, play games with each other, talk about school and their friends and just, overall, navigate the world I can see how ready they are the move through their expanding world. It’s amazing (and a little scary for my mom heart).

Just prior to the kids’ birthday we had our annual family photo shoot. Here are some favorites. <3

Right here. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ My heart.

Next year, I think we’re going to push the photos out until April or early May so we can get outside, too. I’m keeping my eyes out for when the leaves are back on our trees.

I feel like I often say this on Sunday but it’s hard to believe that Monday was just a week ago. SSA’s 6th birthday already feels so far in the past. But it was just Monday that the clock officially ticked over.

The kids didn’t have school and either did Gabby which worked out well because Jason and I both had work. In fact, he had to leave for work and I had to leave for an airport run before our birthday kids were even out of bed!

Fortunately, I was able to meet up with Steven, Sammy and Amaya for a birthday lunch at Chili’s. Such a treat!

For their birthday afternoon, Gabby took the kids to Build-A-Bear! They got birthday stickers, crowns and even got to put special birthday hearts in their stuffed animals.

Steven selected a cat named Catty. Sammy went for a Darth Vadar bear. Amaya picked out a bear named Spotty.

It was so thoughtful of Gabby to take them. Thank you!!

We wrapped up the day with bedtime books and FaceTime with Nana.

A definite theme of this birthday was Legos. Legos, legos, legos. Not that I mind one bit.

Still to come…

The influx of new lego sets required a little organization of what we already have.

SSA haven’t had any real homework yet but this week the boys came home with an assignment to complete a math worksheet. While I’m sure this won’t last, they were excited to give in and do their work and it was so cute to watch them in action.

We also have a school wide project, following a assembly, to complete a footprint activity where you write how you’ll be a hero at school and a hero at home. Amaya only gets materials sent home on Mondays but the boys got to complete their footprints this weekend.

Can a weekend be calm and busy at the same time? If so, that’s how I’d describe this weekend but maybe it’s the contrast of the past 4 or 5 weekends which were full of travel, visitors, holidays and birthday events.

On Saturday, the Cline Men and Cline Women split up for the better part of the day. Jason, Steven and Sammy headed off to the Lansing area to watch Nancy play in a Quidditch tournament with her college team. This was also an opportunity to visit with Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette.

Amaya and I took sweet Sally to her annual vet appointment and then she had a birthday party for her friend Maia.

The appointment for Sally took forever and, even with her fear of Sally, Amaya was cooperative and patient. (Which was welcome after our morning together where I had to tell her I’d get a babysitter to come stay with her if she didn’t stop arguing with me about everything.) Unfortunately I have to take Sally back because my girl does not like pokes and they couldn’t get a blood draw. They sent me off with some gabapentin which I’m supposed to use to keep her calm. I think I need some of my own gabapentin if I’m supposed to get this cat of mine to take meds. 😉

“Make sure people know I’m actually happy in this picture.”

Sweet Sal

We made it to the party right on time and Amaya had a blast. She’s come so far! We used to go to Pump It Up for parties and she’d steer clear of the bigger slides. Now either from age, a desire to keep up with her peers, or both, she’s completely fearless. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that her favorite friend Abby loves the big slides.

Amaya and Abby

Today was Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s first day of school. When we arrived, one of the kids said, “All of these people are Jewish!?!” When I said, yes, they said, “I didn’t know that all these people celebrate Hanukkah in MI!”

It was an exceptionally warm welcome. Everyone was expecting us and the kids were thrilled to see their friend Brianna, from pre-k, in the class. It made Amaya feel much better about me leaving them there. When Steven got upset about me leaving, someone else asked if he wanted to be line leader and that did the trick.

When I picked the kids up 2 1/2 hours later they were all smiles, and not just because they get a piece of candy at the end of the day. They told me that they played “Jewish bingo”, did a get well craft for their primary teacher who broke her ankle and went to Hebrew class where they learned words like head, hand and foot.

From what I can tell, they’re looking forward to going back.

Red Robin. Yummmmmm.

Since we were in the area we stopped by the JCC for camp registration day and Winterfest. The kids were beside themselves to get to see Ms. Shannon. She seemed pretty happy to see them, too.

Sammy was my buddy today. We snuggled during lunch and cuddled at winterfest.

After we registered for camp, each kid had a chance to spin a wheel for a prize. Sammy won a Starbucks gift card so I told him we could stop for hot chocolate on the way home. Steven was fine with it because he won his own prize. He said something along the lines of, “When we spin the wheel we win different things.” Amaya was beside herself that Sammy’s prize was something that’s “not healthy”, though. It didn’t matter to her that she had a dumdum at the event and Sammy didn’t. It didn’t matter to her that, yesterday, she had a cupcake, cookie and ring pop at the birthday party and her brothers didn’t. She’s obsessed with junk food. (Yesterday at the party I had to draw the line when Amaya also wanted to add a piece of cake to her list of treats. More tears.)

But now she’s home and she has this great bird house that she got to built, Sammy’s hot chocolate is all gone, and she seems to be past it. And maybe even happy that she has a prize that she can keep.

This handsome guy.

Just a few more highlights from the week…

Books! Goodness, we love books.

I loved Amaya’s scarf fashion.

Seeing the kids with Sally makes me so happy. I wish I could help Amaya get past her fear. She was better for a while and even started to pet Sally but she claims Sammy told her Sally will bite her and now she’s scared again.

I’m seeing progression on the kids’ phonetic spelling.

Amaya’s come a long way from conferences in November when we couldn’t discern anything she was trying to say. I was able to decode this one for myself.

Elifunt!

Finally, because it must be said, after 26 years, Jean Luc Picard is back on my tv and I’m beside myself. The show airs every Thursday at 12:01am PT which means I’ll be waking up early on Thursday mornings for the foreseeable future.

Have a great week!

This weekend we had the great fun of celebrating Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s 6th birthday. It really does feel like I blinked. Emotionally, though, 6 is a lot easier for me than 5 was. I think the kids entering kindergarten anchored me in the mindset of bigger kids. But still, SIX. How are we here?

As always, SSA have customized birthday shirts. I like to think this will be a forever tradition, even when they’re way too old for them.

We had guests join us for the birthday celebration. On Friday night, Papa, Aunt Sara, Charlie, Uncle Austin and Krissie arrived. <3 Such lucky kids.

We were a little worried that snow would interfere with the kids’ party but we lucked out and it wasn’t enough to keep Michiganders at home. Steven got a kick out of watching Jason clear the snow with our snowblower.

At noon, we all headed off to Chuck E Cheese, where Steven, Sammy and Amaya chose to have their birthday party. We invited both of their classes and ended up with a party of 33 kids. I really enjoyed knowing the kids from my visits to their classrooms, and some of the other parents, too.

We had some interesting “triplet” conversations as people arrived:

• From a mom of a child in the boys’ class: “What are your plans for Amaya’s birthday party?”
• From another mom of a child in the boys’ class: “[My daughter] said that Steven and Sammy are triplets but I told her she must be mistaken.”
• From a mom of one of Amaya’s friends: “I wanted to let you know the twins can come to the party, too, but I know Amaya likes to have her own space so I understand she might not want them there.” (I’m still cracking up at “twins”. And she’s right. Amaya would hate it if her brothers came to the party.)

As soon as we got our wristbands the kids are off and I barey saw them while I played hostess at our tables. We had a great day for the party because there was only one other small party happening at the same time and, other than that, it was pretty empty. The kids had a blast!

Sammy and his favorite friend, Owen.

Pizza and cake an ice cream time!

For cakes, Steven picked chocolate Paw Patrol, Amaya picked chocolate Barbie and Sammy picked vanilla Batman.

SSA each had an opportunity to go in the ticket grabber thing. Steven wasn’t feeling it so Amaya got his extra tickets for him.

These kids were spoiled by their friends.

Mommy and Chuck E!

This has been a weekend of sugar, sugar, sugar. We’re going to need a Cline Kid sugar detox next week! But SSA and Charlie ate it up. Literally.

When we got home from the party, the kids dove right into opening their gifts from their wonderful friends. Legos were a big theme in gifts for the boys which thrilled Steven. Sammy’s favorite gift is a Hot Wheels set. Amaya loves her LOL doll.

Sammy and Charlie playing the Headbanz guessing game.

<3 <3 <3

We had an awesome, lazy morning today which let the kids dive into their gifts. Charlie and Amaya spent a good portion of the morning twinning.

Amaya is in new PJs that she received as a gift. She loves them.

What? More candy at 10am?

We’re so lucky to have a hill in the backyard. On days like today, the kids can have a ton of fun outside and I can peek from the comfort of my warm house.

In the afternoon, after lunch at Deadwood, we made some birthday cupcakes – Amaya’s request thanks to the baking shows she watches.

Happy Birthday!!

+ Tears because the wax dripped on her cupcake and ruined the pattern and design in her frosting.

But she recovered. 🙂

While we missed the family that couldn’t spend the weekend with us, it was a great birthday weekend for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. I’m a very grateful mom.

And just a few other highlights from the week…

I was away for my work trip until Tuesday afternoon but got this photo of my smiling brood from Penni on Monday night.

On Wednesday morning I took Steven to get an orthitics fit check. It was with someone new who confirmed that he does still need orthotics and his current ones still fit. Steven was disappointed. His first choice was that he doesn’t need them anymore. His second choice was getting to pick a pattern for new orthoics. But he handled it like a champ.

The timing worked out well for me to volunteer in Amaya’s class after dropping of Steven. Amaya was so cute while the class finished their activity. She kept peeking at me and giving me sly looks and sweet smiles. I love that she loves me there.

One activity I assisted with is “read the room.” The kids get a sheet that has two columns with a vowel at the top of each column. In this case, Aa and Oo. The kids walk around the room and look for cards that have a picture e.g. rat. They have to sound out the consonant-vowel-consonant (cvc) word and decide if the vowel is an A or an O and then spell and write the word in the correct column. I was really impressed with how well the kids did!

During independent reading time Amaya was so proud to read Sam the Cat to me. And I was so proud of her!

Finally, on Friday I joined the kids for their long-awaited stint at the cafeteria birthday table! For a $10 donation to the PTA, you can sign up to eat with your child(ren) at the table on their birthday. We were all really excited. I loved being with them and also getting a chance to see school lunch in action.

So now it’s Sunday night and we’re getting read to say goodbye to everyone AND celebrate Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s actual birthday tomorrow. Amaya is so sad to say goodbye to Charlie so we’re getting through it with a picture of them on her wall and a strategically pointed night light. I know how she feels. 🙂

Have a great week and a great January 20th!