Spring school pictures are in, taken on Monday, 3/18. I always say I won’t buy two sets of photos per year but, every year, they get me.

Steven and Morminer. <3

Usually he’ll say that he’s her daddy, though her age varies. The other day, Steven told me something was “Sheep-a-rific!” “That’s what I say when something makes me happy!” (Later he told me that Saturday would be “Family-rific” because he’d get to spend the day with his family.) And, yes, she’s a monkey except that Steven designated her a “sheep” ages and ages ago so that’s just how it is.

Bubbalish and his Puppy.

Amaya chose to bring Ariel this spring. She looks so old to me in these photos. Maybe it’s the pink highlights.

The whole gang.

These photos take us back to last week but I can’t pass up the opportunity to share them. Nana and SSA at Chuck E Cheese, while she was holding down the fort for Team Cline! I love these!

We had a glimpse of spring this week. There’s snow on the ground right now but I see the light.

This child loves to pose. She’s also in love with this doughnut (donut?) nightgown from Charlie.

Go Fish with Madison. SSA still love games and they’re managing emotions better when they lose. Amaya still has the hardest time when she doesn’t win but she’s getting better.

Don’t Break the Ice. This is one of Steven’s staying-in-bed prizes so he tries to make up his own rules like “Skip-a-turn” doesn’t apply to him.

Five years in, the kids still play with these bears that they got from Aunt Dale and Uncle Arnie as being-born gifts. I need to pull up some photos of them with the bears as itty bitties as a comparison.

Sal. <3 <3 <3

Thursday was Dress Like Your Favorite Character day at school. Here they are with Ms. Jena. We’ve been dressing up all month and I was kind of done with it so we went with their character themed sweatshirts – Twilight Sparkle, Ryder and Marshall.

With Ms. Bri.

Amaya was not herself after school on Thursday. Maybe the ear infection caught up with her or she slept poorly the night prior but this girl needed a NAP on Thursday afternoon. I can’t remember the last time she napped. It did the trick, though, because she said she felt fine and was ready for dance later in the day.

Jazz dance in their costumes! It’s a lot of work for Madison to help all of the kids quickly get dressed while the rest of the parents just have one child to focus on. One of the other kids asked her what was taking so long lol.

Some of the big kids watched them dance and then they watched the big kids. Sammy said it was amazing. “It was amazing! One of the girls dance with a piece of paper in her hands the whole time even when she was in the air or upside down.” Steven said, “The music was sad but the dance was really good.” I happen to know that this class is dancing to the theme music from Schindler’s List.

On Thursday night we had two kids who were afraid to go to sleep because of a book they read.

Amaya explained to me that there was a teacher who went away and a mean teacher came back in her place but it was just the nice teacher pretending to be a mean teacher. Steven told Jason that it had “Miss” and “Swamp” in the title and there was a good person that dressed up like a bad person in black with green and white pants.

Miss Nelson is Missing!

I can see where Miss Viola Swamp would be a little upsetting. Even more so when I found out that one of the school teachers dressed up as Viola Swamp for Favorite Character Day.

The kids didn’t have school on Friday because it was parent/teacher conference day. New this year, school is off twice a year to give the educators a full day to focus on conferences with the parents. It does work out better. With three kids in the class I had a full hour with Ms. Bri and Ms. Jena and, to my surprise, we used it all.

Everyone’s right on track with their letters and numbers. They’ve got most lower case (and all upper case) letters down and are starting to read numbers in the 100s. All three kids are doing well with their rhyming words and know that they live on Cheltenham Drive, though we’ve got to work on the 5 digit street number. They had to complete shape patterns and then make their own. Amaya and Steven made their own A/B pattern and Sammy stepped up with AAB. Thanks Team Umizoomi! SSA are also where they should be with classroom skills and self-help skills – possibly some of the most important skills to have as they get ready for kindergarten.

Some specifics:

Steven is the engineer in the classroom. He builds cities with blocks all over the classroom and is first to head toward the building materials. He’s great with independent play but sometimes his energy can create distractions in large group play. Steven gravitates toward the more outgoing kids in the room and his teachers said he’s one of the kids most likely to follow his own path rather than be swayed by peer pressure. He’s been working on managing his temper and there have been a few times in recent weeks where his teachers saw him get angry but he was able to collect himself and reign it in before exploding. I’m so proud to hear that! Steven’s teachers also know all about his sheep friend, Morminer, and artwork of her has been a regular theme in the classroom this year.

Sammy is a sweet child in the classroom. He is more likely to play independently or side-by-side with another quite child than to get into the middle of louder kids. There’s a small red couch in the reading area and the teachers often find Sammy there first thing in the morning either playing quietly, lounging or “reading” a book. They said that he seems to value that quiet transition time unlike some others who just want to run in and play. While I tend to see Sammy lose interest in projects at home, his teachers said that he is often the last to get up from a project at school. Looking at his art and handwriting, it’s obvious how far he’s come in the past 6 months. At the beginning of the year his drawings were scribbles and he struggled to write his name but both skills have really evolved. He still has some challenges holding his pencil correctly so we’re going to use thicker pencils and try a pencil grip. Sammy also has a tendency to move slowly so Ms. Jena was proud to tell me about the day, last week, when Sammy was the first to get dressed after swim. Just like at home, Sammy loves water and is generally last to the table because he spends so much time washing his hands. Ms. Bri joked that they want to use Sammy as the example of hand washing practices when licensing comes to visit the school.

Amaya is so dominant at home but she’s not an alpha girl at school, which is interesting. But the teachers have shared that there are some very strong personalities in their classroom. Amaya plays with all of the other girls in the class and is extremely independent, just like at home. While Amaya can be quick to cry when upset at home, she’s less inclined to cry at school but she will sulk and give her teachers the silent treatment (with a glare) if she isn’t happy with what’s going on. Amaya is the the first one to the table when there’s any art to do and she has phenomenal fine motor control.

While I was at conferences, Madison took the kids to Tiny Town along with her cousins Landon, Jaxon and Own. It’s amazing to think back to the kids’ first visiting Tiny Town before they turned 3 and now seeing them as some of the bigger kids in the space.

Apparently Steven and Landon (7) were thicks as thieves, playing together.

Running to the bubbles.

Bubbles!

Everyone came back to the house for playtime, lunch and Wreck It Ralph.

Three wiped kids, watching their movie.

After work, everyone was ready for the weekend!

The kids have been into their abacuses lately. They’re starting to get the idea that each row is 10 and each color change is 5. It’s pretty cool to see.

Thanks, Aunt Annette, for 45 minutes on FaceTime with Steven!

Side note: earlier this week, Steven was texting with Jason and Jason got a text that said, “STOPDADDY”. Jason texted back, “OK Stevie.” Steven called Jason and said, “Did you text ‘OK Stevie” because you saw my text that said ‘Stop Daddy” and knew I wanted to go to bed?” He’s legitimately communicating via text!

Saturday morning was all about a new Lego set I bought last weekend. It’s one of their expert Creator sets and I got Jo’s Garage because I knew SSA would love to play with it once it’s complete. (And it’s Jo’s Garage! Perfect coincidence!)

Everyone contributed but Amaya was particularly interested in helping this time. (Not surprisingly, Steven was most interested in playing with the end result.)

Part 1. The garage and gas station. We’re about 1/3 done and will work on more next week.

While some parts were still lying around, Steven made this geometric design. He has fantastic spacial relations skills. He’s great an envisioning both 2D and 3D designs.

Playing Sum Swamp with Daddy.

Deep in conversation.

Practicing our writing. (You can see where the pencil grip will be helpful for Sammy.)

We had a perfectly lazy morning at home.

Sammy loves “Go, Dog. Go.” He likes the story itself, but he especially likes that he’s able to “read” along with a good portion of the book.

Learning with Daddy about volcanoes and tornadoes and tsunamis and the movement of tectonic plates.

Our adventure today was a playdate for Amaya with my friend Nina and her daughter, Sarah. (Sarah just turned 5 last week and was one of the triplets who had the Chuck E Cheese birthday party.) It’s a big step to start 1:1 play dates so I was relieved to see the boys roll with it. We went to a ceramics place in downtown Northville and painted pottery together. So much fun!

Amaya really got the hang of it – three coats per color, lighter colors first, wipe the brush dry between colors. She picked a fairy to paint.

The finished product! She asked me to add the pink lip gloss lips and blue eyes. Now the store will fire it and, when we pick it up next week, the colors will be brighter and the piece will be glazed. Can’t wait!

The whole gang! Nina painted a beer stein for her husband for their anniversary and I painted pieces for Steven and Sammy.

I painted a Captain America themed dish for Steven an ice cream cone shaped dish (chocolate/strawberry swirl!) for Sammy.

Some fun artwork from the past week:

If the Dinosaurs came back…

Steven would “play tigers with them.” (You can see the kids working on their lowercase letters.)

Sammy would “run away.”

Amaya would “take care of them”.

The creation of silly Dr. Seuss characters.

Names, with lowercase letters.

One last picture – Ms. Bri sent this to me after our conferences to show me an example of one of Steven’s block creations. I can’t get enough. <3

Finally, we all want to congratulate Megan, Mike and Taco on the birth of Eden Hadlee, known in our home a Rainbow Heart. <3

Have a great week!

This is another week where Monday feels like it was a lifetime ago. Time flies when you’re having fun!

On Monday, SSA had more fun playing Swamp Sum. Madison said that they’re doing pretty well with it on their own, needing only a bit of support and guidance along the way.

Sammy, practicing his stretches.

Amaya’s old beach hats are too small so Madison kindly picked one up for her at Target while she was there shopping. Amaya loves it!

I had a special delivery of my own. A triplet mom I’m friendly with makes hair bows as a side business. She had a special order of My Little Pony bows and clips which I couldn’t resist. When I ordered this Twilight Sparkle bow for Amaya I had to toss in a Fluttershy clip for Sammy and a Rainbow Dash clip for Steven. The won’t work in the boys’ hair but they’ll find uses. Madison also got a Pinkie Pie clip of her own.

On Tuesday morning Amaya got dressed and said to Steven, “Do you want to wear your Rainbow Dash shirt today, too?” He told her, “I didn’t pick that shirt out for today but I can go get it.”

So sweet!

Trip to the post office with Madison.

Wednesday was a busy, busy day. It was the kids’ Purim carnival at school and also the day that Jason and I were heading to Vegas! This school year I’ll have had a 1:1 trip with all the other Clines in our household. Is that special or what!?!? Jason and I haven’t had a vacation together in almost 3 years so we were due and I couldn’t wait.

But first… as I have for the past two years, I joined the kids at the their Purim carnival. Everyone was very excited about the costumes they picked out.

The JCC photographer got this photo of me dancing with Sammy. He was such a happy boy.

After the songs, we had the annual parade around the hockey center & track where stations were set up for the kids to get non-food treats. (Two years ago, the parade was through the JCC. Up stairs. Down stairs. Up more stairs. I was trying to manage with three slow 3 year olds. It was not efficient for anyone and the change to the track works much better.)

SSA’s class with Ms. Jena (as Madeye Moody) and Ms. Bri as a Hogwarts student.

After work I headed to the airport to meet Jason with Nana at hour house holding down the fort. I said goodbye to the kids who were so busy with Nana they barely noticed me leaving. 🙂

Amaya’s had a cough so Nana make sure she was propped up well to help through the night.

Ichabod welcomed us to Vegas!

Happy kids on Thursday morning.

Happy Mommy, lazing in bed.

Amaya’s cough was bad when they arrived at dance so Ms. Christina had her sit out for the day.

Bubba, in tap class.

Steven, in jazz.

That’s Steven holding boat pose so nicely in the front row! Awesome exercise for our guy.

On Thursday Sammy got to see his shirt for his tap costume and he was over the moon. I love this child’s smile.

This spring, all three Cline kids are signed up for t-ball! Amaya was a hold out until the end (which would have been fine) but eventually decided to join her brothers. We’ll see how it goes! We watch a lot of baseball in the house and it’s a little less demanding than soccer so hopefully one or all of them enjoys it (more than they enjoyed soccer). I believe the season runs May through July.

As always, Nana joined the kids for Shabbat at school. What a big transition it will be into Kindergarten.

Friday was pajama day!

Checking out the hail with Nana after school, and comparing it to snow.

In the meantime, Jason and I were relaxing in Vegas. I spent most of my time at the spa and pool while Jason primarily surrounded himself with tvs to watch March Madness early rounds.

Making Hamentashen for Purim with Nana. One of the kids (Amaya?) remembered that we used their snack cups to cut out the circles of dough.

Lighting the Shabbat candles.

On Saturday morning, Jason and I hopped on FaceTime with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. It’s so cool that they were happy to see us but also totally fine with us being away.

Sammy spinning and spinning. He asked why I got dizzy if he’s the one spinning. 🙂

Late Saturday morning, Nana took the kids to their first Chucky Cheese birthday party to celebrate our friends William, Kenny and Sarah who are turning five. They had SO much fun. I’m excited that they have another Chucky Cheese party in two weeks.

Friday night Amaya told Nana that her ear hurt. By Saturday morning she said it was fine but it was hurting again after the party. She didn’t have a fever but every time they say their ear hurts they have an ear infection so, straight from the party, Nana took the kids to urgent care.

Waiting and waiting and waiting….

But entertained by Nana!

From the way she was acting, you’d never know this child had a double ear infection.

Watching Frozen while Nana made dinner.

While Nana did the heavy lifting, Jason and I continued to relax. On Saturday, I spent almost 6 hours at the pool. Perfection.

This morning Jason and I were scheduled to return home. Before we were even awake, Nana took SSA to Starbucks. It’s so nice that Nana has all of these great traditions for her visits to Michigan.

Art time

Sammy time

While we headed to the airport, Nana took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to Applebees for lunch. So many adventures!!!

Aaaaaaaaaand, Jason and I are not home yet. We boarded our plane. Sat for two hours. Deplaned due to a mechanical issue. Now we’re scheduled for a flight that leaves tomorrow (Monday) at 6am. Thanks for rallying for us, Nana!!

We’re checked in at the Wynn and definitely making the most of our extra night here.

The kids wrapped it up with My Little Pony, Sofia the First and pizza. I can’t wait to give them big squeezes tomorrow!

Have a great week!

Monday! When the kids got home from school, Sammy told Madison that her car looked beautiful and asked to take a picture in front of it.

SSA earn a prize for every six days they get stars at school. They earn a star if they’re a good listener and a good friend, as reported by their teacher. (Side note: If I haven’t mentioned it, Steven has recently struggled with school behavior a bit. He can get handsy with his friends and sometimes chooses not to listen. To help keep the rewards top of mind, his teachers created a chart that lets him earn one star/hour toward his star for the day. It seems to be helping.)

Here, Sammy is playing with an alien that he earned last week. He had to be patient while it took a day or two to hatch in water. It was a bit of a struggle at first because the prize didn’t have immediate gratification but, in the end, I think he liked that Amaya and Steven were so interested in his prize. Plus, he got to keep a bowl of water in his room for two days.

Bubbalish – lining up his squishies.

Lots and lots and lots of legos in our house.

On Tuesday, the kids had a treat when Madison’s mom took them to lunch after school. Madison said that Sammy’s face lit up when he saw her. In fact, they were going upstairs as a group at the same time as Ms. Shannon and Sammy had a hard time figuring out where to focus his energy and excitement when he could be with Ms. Shannon and Madison’s mom.

Big goodbye hugs

Sammy, sporting some Belle dress-up.

I mean, who wouldn’t like to twirl?

Sammy also got a much-needed new sweatshirt for spring. He picked Marshall!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya have been very into these Melissa & Doug painting sheets lately. I love them because they’re mess free. No need to put paint in trays or do a ton of clean-up. (I do wish the sheets were perforated, though.)

Steven’s cheetah

Sammy’s shark

Amaya’s owl

Bonus Bee for me, from Steven. I want to save every piece of artwork that says “Mommy”. <3

On Wednesday the JCC had a Red Robin fundraiser to raise $ for the kids’ school so Madison and SSA at lunch out for the 2nd day in a row.

After lunch, they stopped by home depot to pick up some potting dirt for seeds that needed new pots.

Steven wasn’t thrilled about the Hi-Lo cart.

For the kids’ birthday, Grandma Sunshine got them an Amazon STEM kit subscription. This month’s gift came and it’s great math-based board game.

Thursday dance class! Madison texted me as class was starting to let me know that Sammy was very upset and crying. There was an incident where he was caught in a lie and Sammy really struggles when he’s called out for doing something “wrong”. He couldn’t get himself out of it so I jumped on the phone with him. I shared that, when I’m upset, tap class is a great place to go because it helps me forget what’s bothering me. (True.) He wanted to see me right away, which obviously wasn’t possible, so I also promised him that he could sit on my lap while he ate dinner – a rare treat. The pep talk did the trick and Bubba was back in action.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya saw their first real rainbow on the way home from dance class! They asked me to put the pictures in the blog so they can see them again. Here you go, kiddos!

Sammy love after work.

I couldn’t help but get Amaya a set of Captain Marvel pajamas. She looooooooves them. This girl is ready to save the world from danger. (And she loves to pose.)

A pooped Captain Marvel, with a bunny on her head. (Amaya sleeps sideways on her bed with her feet dangling off. I just thought to ask her why and she said it’s because she wants to keep it beautiful like how it looks after Claudia [our housekeeper] makes it when she cleans our house.)

We had some thunderstorms on Thursday night. At one point, Steven facetimed me to ask how to spell “there”. He called back later to ask how to spell “lightening storm.” Then he called back again to show me this sign.

At the time the lightening had paused so I said, “no” and, in return, ended up with a crossed off sign (above) and the one below.

Friday was Disney day at school so we had Captain America, Captain Marvel and Sammy in a superhero cape that wasn’t Marvel (or Disney) but continued the theme and made him very happy.

Madison was off on Friday but the school allowed us to pay a full day rate and keep the kids at school from 8:30am- 4:30pm. Jason dropped off and I picked up.

The night before Sammy asked me to keep reminding him about what would happen because he didn’t want to forget. When I got to school to pick up the kids, Steven ran over to me and said, “This was awesome!” He was particularly excited about getting to go into the Kindergarten room and play with a toy from that classroom. Sammy told me the day was overwhelming and Ms. Bri confirmed that he had a lot of questions throughout the day. “How will I watch my shows if I’m at school all day?”

When we left, Steven gave Ms. Shannon a piece of art he made for her and she showed the kids where she keeps all of the art that the kids make for her. She’s wonderful.

More art from Steven on Friday. He called to ask how to spell “from” and was very proud that he knew how to write “to”. That’s a picture of the two of us. I love it.

On Saturday, in preparation for school photos on Monday, I added a little pink to Amaya’s hair. It’s been a while!

Happy Samscicle. He was excited to do a pupped show.

The magnatile creations are getting more and more complex so we ordered some more pieces for the kids. Can’t wait to see what they can do!

On Saturday afternoon I drove to Columbus (Dublin, really) to meet my friends Heather, Karie and Dianna for a short girls’ weekend. It’s a 3 hour drive for me. Heather’s about 2 hrs away and Karie and Dianna are in the area. We’ve been trying to do this for a while and I’m so glad we made it work! 17 kids between us – incredible.

While I was off having fun, SSA played a game of Blokus together. I love how they’re evolving with game play together. It’s fun to play with them but it’s also a lot of fun to watch them play independently.

Free from Three in Columbus!

The kids had a nice morning with Jason and I was home by 2:30pm, in time for MSU to win the Big 10 tournament.

Sammy, specifically and in particular, likes independence in the kitchen. He was the first to want to pour his cereal milk on his own and the first to want to do his own dishes. He also likes to get things from the fridge and pantry independently and there are semi-frequent meltdowns if he someone does it for him or “helps” him in any way. I’m convinced that the extremes come when he’s hungry.

Here, you can see his instructions to me to “stay back and don’t look” while he was getting his sandwich out of the fridge.

Daddy Steven and Baby Amaya were on the walkies with Sammy who was taking care of things at Steven’s workplace. Leading up to this, Sammy and Steven were playing together – just the two of them – which I love to see. Sometimes I feel like Amaya is the glue in their friendship.

Me: Amaya, did you wear a skirt with your tights when you went out with Daddy today?

Amaya: Nope!

On the recommendation of my friend Ames, we rounded out Amaya’s PJs with Captain Marvel’s mohawk mask.

Finally, sweet Bubbalish.

Have a great week!

Happy Sunday! We’re having a quiet Spring Forward day in the Land of Cheltenham. With nowhere to go, nothing really had to change for the kids but, come bedtime, they’ll be going to be an hour earlier than they have been so we’ll see how that goes. I suspect Sammy won’t skip a beat.

This picture is of Sammy, which seems obvious when I look at it, but he’s in Steven’s shirt and with the wave in his hair I thought it was Steven at first glance when Madison sent it to me. The boys look so different so that doesn’t happen to me very often.

Monday night I finished the Enterprise! We have our kitchen table back. It’s sweet.

Amaya called us the “Girl Lego Builders” team. I love it. <3

Amaya made this picture for Sally to keep by her water bowl. She ended up also writing her name on it so Sally would know it’s from her. 🙂

It was Dr. Seuss week at school with a theme every day. Monday was Red & Blue day. Tuesday was crazy sock day and Amaya was ready!

Tuesday was a big day. First, I registered Steven, Sammy and Amaya for Kindergarten. SOB. It’s still 6 months away but shit is getting real.

Then we had SSA’s 5 year well check. Sammy said that it was the “best day ever” because I was going to the doctor appointment with they during the day. The plight of a child of two working parents.

Waiting to be seen…

The kids were excited because this appointment had NO pokes!

Everyone was very fascinated with blood pressure checks.

Ready for Dr. Heinen! Steven liked to sit on that side of the exam table because it was closest to the steps the use to climb up and down. He was a little less comfortable up there than Amaya and Sammy and felt safer knowing he could get down easily.

Here are the stats from this year’s visit. Everyone is staying right on the growth curves they’ve had since birth.

Steven:
41.25″; 14.8th percentile (compared to 29^th percentile in May)
35lbs 4oz; 10.6th percentile (compared to 10^th percentile in May)

Sammy:
43″; 45.9th percentile (compared to 63^rd percentile in May)
36lbs 4oz; 15.8th percentile (compared to 22^nd percentile in May)

Amaya:
43.5″; 65.7th percentile (compared to 82nd percentile in May)
37lbs 6oz; 31.6th percentile (compared to 31st percentile in May)

SSA had hearing and vision tests which they passed without problems. It was interesting to see how they understand the vision test instructions so much better this year than at their 4 year appointment in May.

The card they use has block E in the center that points at one of four pictures. The kids have to tell the nurse which direction the E is facing. When Steven was being tested he was struggling to understand what she’d ask for when the nurse said, “Which way are the openings pointing?” Once we called it an “E” he got it easily. The next time she asked, “Which way is the E pointing,” he told her, “You don’t have to ask the question each time. Just go to the next one. I know what to do.” She said it’s the first time anyone’s said that to her. 🙂

Dr. Heinen asked the kids questions about nutrition, safety and self care. Our only assignment is to put a fire safety plan in place with the kids. Even typing that makes me panic so I asked Jason to take point on that for the family. They need to know to stay low. To leave the house without looking for us. And they need to know where to meet up outside. It needs to be a warm weather & cold weather plan.

All in all, a great appointment!

On Wednesday morning, Amaya was narrating the morning to Jason and making a check mark in the air saying, “Check”, with her “trusty marker”. 

“Daddy said I am awesome…Check!”

This child. <3

Some afternoon reading…

Thursday was Crazy Hair Day at school. It’s hard to tell but Amaya has “unicorn hair” which is what she calls alternating pink ad purple hair chalk.

Bubba Lish had spiky hair.

Steven wanted to be sure his hair stayed curly so we just teased up his curls a bit.

Dance Thursday. I can tell the kids are practicing their shuffle-step-hops.

Amaya and her friend were praised by Ms. Christina for being ready and in place without direction.

Amaya is proud that she can touch her head with her toes.

Sally got a new kitty sister & brother on Thursday night. Meow.

Steven and Jason often text while Steven’s waiting to go to bed. Here are some of of his drawings with Jason. Vehicles, dogs and a bumble bee.

When I was putting Steven to bed, I was telling him how happy I am to be his mommy and how special I think he, Sammy and Amaya are. He said, “Technically, I’m guessing that every mommy and daddy think their babies are the best.” Such a wise kid.

Also this week, when I was putting Amaya to bed we had this exchange:

Me: Who’s the luckiest Mommy?

Amaya: You?

Me: Yes, me.

Amaya: Because you have three kids.

Me: No, because those three kids are Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

Amaya: Why are those names so important to you?

Not the names, kiddo.

We made it to the last day of Dr. Seuss week which was hat day!

Sammy was excited to hear that Madison had fun plans this weekend. 🙂

Saturday was a lazy day for SSA.

The kids explored their viking roots.

This is Elsa, in a Jasmine costume. I really can’t get over how old she looks. But Elsa is a grownup so…

Helping clear off the deck. Sammy was excited about all of the ice they found (placed on top of their toy chest).

It was another quiet day today. The highlight was a lunchtime sushi outing. We were the only ones there for about 1/2 our meal.

The boys are still working on their on-demand smiles lol. Since they’re not toddlers anymore, are these deranged-kid smiles?

Sammy loves miso soup. Steven tried it too, today, but wasn’t a fan.

Steven lives large when we go out for sushi and tends to order steak which, at this restaurant, is a delicious filet mignon.

Sammy got an orange slice with some crab sashimi that he ordered. Amaya saw it and commented that she wished she had oranges, too. I guess one of the sushi chefs overheard because he made us two of these orange chariots on the house. The kids were so excited.

While Jason played Monopoly Jr with Sammy, I played Scrabble Jr with Steven and Amaya. They still miss opportunities but are both getting much, much better at the game than the first time we played.

I started the blog this morning and now it’s about 8:15pm. Sammy is fast asleep. Amaya is playing quietly in her bed. Steven is on FaceTime. As Jason said, that’s each of their strengths. <3

Have a great week!

Sammy was feeling the Wookie spirit at the start of the week. That hat… <3

One of the ways I can spend time with Sammy is reading books. With Steven and Amaya more likely to ask me to do activities like legos, I’m trying to make a point to offer to read to Sammy when I get home from work. Right now, his go-to books are Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. They’re long ones, too, so he’s got me for a while when we dive in.

Crossing Guard Steven made himself some new Stop & Go signs.

Playing Crossing Guard with Daddy

Steven loves to stretch out bedtime and one of the ways he does that is by telling us how much he loves to cuddle. He does love it and it does keep us with him longer because we love it, too. On Monday night, Jason wasn’t home when Steven went to bed so I told him Jason would cuddle after he was asleep. I took some pictures so we could show Steven that the cuddling happened.

The sweetest.

Giggles with Sammy after work on Tuesday.

Rearranging the Valentine’s Day decor.

During the day on Tuesday Madison did an “All About Me” book activity with SSA. They all did a great job!

Showing me their booklets.

Steven! His favorite color is blue and he wants to be a police officer when he grows up.

Sammy! His favorite is red. (That’s a giraffe he drew.) When he grows up he wants to be a popcorn seller. That’s a picture of Sammy with his popcorn cart.

Amaya! Her favorite color is pink and she wants to be a princess and a queen when she grows up.

“Mooooooooom. I want to do Legos.”

Amaya and Steven have been helping me with the Enterprise all week long. Amaya, in particular, has been really into it. We don’t often have enough time in the evenings because it takes time to find pieces so, this past week, I made a deal that we could do Legos together in the morning if they got dressed right away. To help, I got the pieces ready each night before bed.

On Tuesday night while I was cuddling with Steven we had this exchange:

Steven: Do you miss Poppy Steven sometimes?
Me: Yes, I do.
Steven: How old was he when he died?
Me: 32
Pause
Steven: We’ll that’s not that old at all.

What an insight. For a long time, at ages well older than Steven, I thought 32 was practically ancient. The kids love to talk about how Savta is 90 so that contrast may help.

7am on Wednesday… Legos!

This child loves her JoJo bow.

Our housekeeper is pregnant and the kids learned on Wednesday. When they got home from school they walked up to Claudia and said “Congratulations on getting a baby!” (Amaya and Sammy) and “Congratulations on finding a baby!” (Steven) lol

A little “Guess Who” on Wednesday before my tap class.

7am on Thursday… Legos!

“Like my skirt? It’s from Charlie.” And I’m glad to see that Amaya’s “cheery on top” headband is still getting use.

Steven’s orthotist, Josh, came by his school on Thursday to delivery his newest pair of orthotics. Pair #4. He got his first pair at 15 months old in May of 2015 and has worn them consistently since them except for a few months 2 years ago when they tried orthotic inserts instead. The new pair is longer at his pinkie toes to aid with balance. For this pair, the picked yellow straps and a police theme.

Dance class! We’re going to have to start recital practice at home soon. (Not just the kids. Me, too!)

Tap class just has 5 students but jazz is jam packed. They tried to split the class in two but there weren’t enough people willing to attend on a different day.

6pm on Thursday… Legos

7am on Friday… Legos 🙂

Friday night was our long awaited Mother/Son dance. It was a country/square dance theme so we did our best to get into the spirit. <3

Wanted Outlaws! Watch out!

The boys each got a cowbow (farmer) hat and a sheriff’s badge. As soon as we took photos the boys wanted to go right to the dessert tables. Boy did they eat. And eat. And eat.

Steven was pretending to be asleep.

With the square dancing, the music was sporadic as the callers taught the dances. They were a bit beyond us so we occupied ourselves in between the songs. It took a little while for the boys to get into it but, once they did, there were Yee Haws and lots of hat tossing.

We called Nana on our way home from the dance and had this exchange:

We called Nana on the way home from the dance and had this exchange:  Me: Did you have fun at the dance?

Steven: It was boring. Just eating and dancing.

Sammy: What Steven says shocks me! It was awesome! 

It shocks him lol.

8am on Saturday… Legos

Jason and the kids went to visit Grandma Sunshine on Saturday and I spent my annual home-alone day parked on the couch. Whoo hoo! One episode of Star Trek: Discovery and 7 episodes of The Umbrella Academy. Perfect.

Everyone had a great time with Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette.

Taking care of Grandma after her knee replacement surgery. We have an EMT, a doctor and a chef.

Perfect timing for Dr. Seuss week at school!

No hands!

Taking Grandma’s temporary walker for a spin.

My family came home to me around 4:30pm and they were excited to get back to……. legos!

Steven turned the Enterprise into a diving board for Kirk & Spock.

7:30am on Sunday… Legos

We were lucky to have a visit from Ashley today!!

The imaginary water wasn’t sufficient so Steven improvised with magatiles and even brought in his police boat to help Kirk and Spock, should they fall in the water.

I’ll wrap up this week with two pictures Amaya drew of Ursula and Ariel on a journey to Arendale. The lines are the path they followed and the dots are places they stopped along the way.

Have a great week!

Monday was another day full of snow and Madison helped Steven, Sammy and Amaya take advantage of it after school. It wasn’t perfect sledding snow but it was good enough for the kids to have fun outside. (Though I think they’re ready for spring. Earlier today Steven was begging me to let him ride his bike.)

What a difference! This is MI weather for you.

Play time with Lego sets. Amaya is hoping I’ll start my 3000 piece Enterprise soon. She’s itching to build something new. 🙂

Sammy asked me to read Snow White when I got home from work. I try to always say yes to story book time. I love how he settled into the cushion tops for the story.

Our Sal.

This was Steven’s “stampede bell.” He rang it to warn us when a stampede was coming. I asked him if he knew what a stampede is and he said, “it’s when a lot of animals come running really fast.”

Amaya was a Rainbow Princess on Tuesday. (Last week she told me, “I want to be a princess when I grow up but I’ll probably be a scientist.” lol)

When I got home from work on Tuesday Sammy immediately asked me to build with him. I’m in. He is such a sweet, sensitive child.

Building a racetrack ramp!

Amaya holds “research class” with her dolls every night at bedtime. At research class you learn your letters, you lean to read and you learn which letters are which colors.

Madison and the kids stopped at Target after school on Thursday to get glue for slime and they stumbled on these wood designs. This was the pic they sent to appeal to me to approve the $3pp spend. 🙂

Steven’s bumble bee.

I was a little worried that his perfectionism would create an issue with the black and yellow blending but he rolled with it beautifully and has an awesome bee.

Amaya’s flower.

She had a very precise vision for her design.

Sammy originally chose a ladybug but ended up with this cool snail.

It’s common for Sammy to lose interest before a project is complete but he was all in on this one!

They want us to hang their creations on their bedroom walls.

SSA and I (you can’t see that Steven is on my lap) were watching a video from our favorite episode of My Little Pony, when they sing the song “True True Friend.”

Here you go. Now maybe you can wander around all day singing it just like I do.

Sammy had a fever on Thursday! His teachers reported that he laid around all day. (Which makes me think about Kindergarten when you don’t have an option to just lie around when you aren’t 100%. The real world is coming for my kids. 🙁 ) I turns out he had a fever which meant no dance class and no school on Friday.

Ready to sit with his tablet while Amaya and Steven danced.

Just two tap dancers this week. They’re starting to practice doing their recital routine without their teacher. Yowza.

(Not their music that you’re hearing.)

Steven, watching his sister.

I took this picture while Amaya was getting ready for bed. It’s crazy to me that this little baby is a self-sufficient kid.

Sammy stayed home from school on Friday and even asked to take a nap. His fever had been gone since the night before but he obviously needed the r&r.

Friday afternoon, Madison, Steven, Sammy and Amaya went to pick up Nana at the airport! Yay!

One extra perk of Friday nights with Nana is sushi. This summer Steven didn’t really want to touch it but he’s come a long way and has favorites now! (Though he did ask Madison to deconstruct his roll and remove the seaweed.)

Shabbat!

Nana and the kids kept up their Saturday morning tradition – getting up together and going to Starbucks. SSA love it and I definitely appreciate the opportunity to sleep in.

Making glow-in-the-dark slime! The recipe never seems to work quite as written but we always figure it out. Key: more baking soda.

Mr. Lashes

We had a pretty lazy day around the house. Steven and I played Carcasonne where he built a 30 point city – the biggest city we’ve seen yet.

Amaya played with some toys that Charlie sent with Nana. (Thank you, Aunt Sara.)

TV Time cuddles

Dinner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse

Sammy ordered decaf coffee again. This time Amaya joined him. They’re so funny with the coffee.

Savta isn’t feeling her best so Nana had to head back to NY on Saturday night. After dinner, everyone said their goodbyes and I took Nana to the airport. <3

PS. Jason’s shirt

Today was laaaaaaaaaazy. L-A-Z-Y. Just what was needed.

Practicing balance with pillows on their back.

“Can you make a ballet bun and put my Jojo bow on it with the pony holder?” “Thanks mom.”

She made me take 5 pictures and then picked her favorite. I am obsessed with this child. (She’ll also pretend she’s Elsa or Twilight Sparkle visiting our house. “Thank you for letting me visit today, Joanna.”)

While Jason was at the office this afternoon, Steven and Amaya convinced me to start my 3,098 page Mega Bloks Enterprise. Without new Lego sets of their own to build, they had their eyes on my big box. 🙂 The trick with Mega Blocks is that, unlike Lego sets, the bags aren’t numbered and organized to take you through sequential building. The bags are sort of organized by piece type but there’s a lot of searching. Once I got into the hang of consistent pieces I could find them easily but any new, small piece became a project of it’s own. Amaya and Steven were both very eager to help along the way.

We wrapped up the day with the Michigan State/Michigan basketball game. Steven was rooting for the “bumblebee team”. He was so cute. Every time Jason yelled, “Get the ball!” He’d yell, “Keep the ball!” And vice versa.

At the start of this video it sounds like Steven is yelling, “Sparty, get the ball!” But he’s really on the tail end of saying, “Don’t let Sparty get the ball!” Fortunately, the Bumblebees lost the game. Sorry Bobes.

That’s it for this week. Have a great one!

Steven and I were home from the airport around 10pm on Sunday night. LATE. It was hard to part ways so he had one more night sleeping with his mommy. By 8am, I had to wake him so the kids could get to school. It was a rough reentry for both of us but I was so happy to see Sammy and Amaya when I woke.

Amaya is still killing it with her outfits. 🙂

The kids had a quiet day at school and then play time at home.

Post-work snuggles <3

Steven was very excited to dive into his new 860 piece lego set. It’s a “hostibal” with an ambulance and a rescue helicoptor!

Telling Daddy all about his adventures in California.

Amaya needed her sheets changed which was the perfect opportunity for her to negotiate a night sleeping on her beanbag. But not until her friends were all set up perfectly with her.

There was ice in the forecast for Tuesday so Madison came back at bedtime and spent the night to be sure she could work the next day and Jason and I could get in to work.

Tuesday morning seemed even rougher for Steven. He said he didn’t feel well and wasn’t eating much. That, coupled with the ice on the road, led to a decision to stay home from school again. It’s been a long time since these kids have all had a full week of school! (Like most of the kids in MI.)

Amaya and Sammy wanted to check out the fog.

Thursday was the 100th day of school and the kids had an assignment to bring in 100 units of something – their choice. Sammy wanted to count his with me so we grabbed some pom poms and got counting!

Wednesday was back to school and a special visit from Megan! When I told the kids that she was coming by herself, without Taco, Steven said, “So she can just pay attention to us?” They get it lol.

The kids don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day at school but Steven came home on Wednesday (the 13th) with this drawing from his friend Gracie. If you can’t tell, it says “Steven and Grace”

Thursday was the 100th day of school which included lots of 100-themed crafts and activities. Sammy lost patience and scribbled on his worksheet but then was sad he didn’t have a complete one so Ms. Bri sent him one with one to complete on his own. Success!

Amaya can spell her last name!

The kids had dance class on Thursday and Amaya got her tap costume to try on. She also tied her own shoe! (Something Madison has been working on with them.)

Sammy, partnering in jazz.

The kids made 100 day of school crowns that Sammy modeled for me after work.

Drying her nails lol. I see a lot of Charlie in that second picture.

Jason, being the best Daddy putting a braid in a Shimmer doll’s hair. Sally was very interested.

Before bed, Steven got to work on a Valentine’s card for Gracie. He worked on version after version after version, getting angry and crumbling each one when it wasn’t just. so. Eventually I had to call it for the night which was met with a lot of anger and tears but it was bedtime and I could tell he was too tired to finish without more frustration. In the end, he decided this last one was sufficient. 🙂

Finally, Valentine’s Day flowers as a gift for ME, in my favorite color. <3

Friday night started the weekend of legos. (Not unlike a lot of other weekends around the Land of Cheltenham.) Amaya had worked on her castle independently and it needed some revisions, which I helped with. Steven got to work on the 2nd half of his hospital.

Steven’s Legoland pillow arrived!

Sammy got to sleep with Jason on Friday night. He was a happy, happy boy. (Sleeping next to a happy, happy man.)

We got right back to the Lego hospital and castle on Saturday morning.

This guy found his own fun. He’s always known how to lounge..

Helping Daddy get organized.

On a whim, I invited Gracie and her twin sister, Hannah, to come for a play date. I offered on Friday and they happened to be free Saturday afternoon so we made it happen. Hannah is in the alternate pre-k class this year and it’s SSA’s first time in class with Gracie.

Leading up to the play date, and as they arrived, the drama was around hiding special toys they didn’t want anyone else to play with. Steven wasn’t too concerned but Sammy and Amaya made a mad dash to get stuff upstairs. There were tears from Amaya which Gracie and Hannah’s mom totally understood.

Getting acclimated. I think this was a little easier for Sammy than other play dates with triplet friends because he sees Gracie at school every day.

Steven giving his Valentine’s Day card to Gracie <3 <3 <3

Hannah and Sammy and some hungry hippos.

Gracie asked, “Is that the three of you? Why are you in someone’s hand with your eyes closed?” lol Gracie is a spitfire. She’s outgoing with a quick temper – not unlike her friend Steven.

Steven and Hannah played a game with the map of the San Diego zoo where they found and shared their favorite “aminals”, their last favorite animals and animals that they don’t know. They were at it for quite a while.

Amaya was the least interested in playing with the girls. She mostly did her own thing.

Building.

It was a good time. They’re nice girls and I like their mom. Right now they’re not in our school district but they’re looking to move to our area so I pushed the Thornton Creek Elementary school zone. 🙂

TV time! My Little Pony, as always. I love Sammy’s face while he watches.

First thing this morning Steven was back at his hostible. I just checked and it’s 861 pieces and came in 9 bags. He’ll tell you he did it all himself which is pretty close to true. I’d say he managed 90% of it without help.

Showing Sammy how the x-ray works.

We made our bi-monthly trip to Five Below for staying-in-bed prizes. The store has an incredible assortment of My Little Pony stuff. I was talking to the manager and asked if they got Toys R Us closeouts. She said she didn’t think so. There are long plans to keep supplementing. I mentioned that I saw some of the same items on Amazon for 3x the price and she said that people come and buy them out to resell on Amazon. So interesting.

Sammy earned a prize today and picked a slinky. We put together some make shift stairs for him since ours are too deep to work well with the slinky.

DONE! Steven’s focus on the project was impressive and the end result is very cool.

The kids wrapped up the weekend with volcano videos…

…and light saber fights. We’re trying to get them to battle in slow motion to avoid a light saber to the hand or face.

That’s it for this week! Have a great one!

Oh, this week. Steven and I have been looking forward to our California Adventure since I returned from LA with Amaya back in early October. He loves legos and doesn’t love most adventurous rides so we agreed that Legoland in San Diego was the ideal choice for our getaway. After what felt like a long wait the day arrived and, on Thursday morning, off we went!

Looking at this photo it feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago. The perception of time is so odd. Steven noticed it too. When we were leaving this morning we headed back to our car which had been sitting in the parking lot since we arrived on Thursday afternoon. He said, “It feels like we just got here and are walking back to the car to get something we forgot, but today is Sunday and we got here on Thursday.”

It’s not a trip to DTW without a stop to watch the fountain.

A rental car on the flip side means a car seat on the plane. It’s cumbersome but we’ve got a good routine now.

We had a relatively uneventful flight and Steven was nervous but excited to ride the rental car shuttle bus. He wanted to hold my hand and a handle bar until he decided my hand wasn’t necessary after all.

Yay!!!!

Our first stop was the San Diego Zoo which took us right past a home I lived in back in 2000. Steven agreed that it would be fun to see the house. We spent a while talking about the fact that I was an adult when I lived here but he wasn’t in my belly yet. It was pretty overwhelming to be there, all these years later, with my child. I’ve been trying to think about what it would be like, even at my age, to see somewhere my mom lived just after college. Our parents are cemented so deeply in their roles that I think I could struggle to connect to my mom’s life there just as Steven (though he’s only 5) struggled to place the me he knows now as the person in that home.

It’s the peach colored one. Perfect location in Hillcrest, walkable to to Balboa part and a quick drive to the freeways.

Zoo!!

We totally lucked out with the weather.

OMG the gorillas. It’s impossible not to anthropomorphize. We were particularly excited to see the gorililililas because they’re Daddy’s favorite.

I was so proud of Steven for going on the sky tram. It goes up high! It’s not too fast, though, so it passed his review.

Planning our post-lunch route. “We haven’t seen the chawalas either!” (Koalas)

Steven had been most excited to see the bears but ended up liking the tigers most and even left with a tiger chomper and a stuffed tiger he has since named Tiger. 🙂 Admittedly, the tiger was pretty incredible.

And off we went to Carlsbad! By now it was about 3:30pm PT and Steven had been up since 5:30am ET. I was hoping he’d nap on the 45 minute drive and it was close there for a while but there was just too much to see. We even saw a hot air balloon over the hills of Solana Beach.

LEGOLAND!! The hotel did not disappoint. There were lego bricks and a lego play pirate ship & castle right in the lobby. Steven was in heaven. I can’t even count how often he said, “This is best trip ever!”

As promised, we were on the pirate floor with a pirate room. Every detail was lego mecca including the elevators.

Our room had a treasure chest with nightly lego surprises inside. Older kids can solve a code to get the combination. (Or more patient moms of younger kids.) I just asked at the front desk. 🙂

Despite the late (east coast) hour, we headed back downstairs at 5:30pm to check out the castle and pirate ship. Steven was totally in his element running around and playing. It was really cool to watch.

There were nightly interactive shows. Steven didn’t want to participate but he loved checking it out. They also have a DJ for nightly, little kid friendly dance parties.

We finally got to bed around 7:45pm and Steven slept for a whopping 11 hours. That’s incredible for this kid. I’m normally over the moon if he sleeps a full 10 hrs at night. That’s what travel and a full day will do for you, I suppose.

Every detail is lego to the max. Breakfast and dinner at at the same buffet restaurant which I think Steven liked because he got comfortable with the routine.

A look at the main part of our room. Down the hallway was also a small alcove with bunk beds and trundle. It’s definitely set up to be family friendly, even for slightly larger families. Here, Steven was building with the legos in our room while I got ready to head to the park.

It was time! We had a picture perfect morning to head into “Legoland Amusement Park”, as Steven calls it. I was so emotional at the start of the day, getting to spend this special time together.

First stop was the car track. Steven had been specifically looking forward to this activity. He liked it, but was disappointed he couldn’t go on the track for 6- 12 year olds. I get it. He was one of the best drivers the both times out and the 3 and 4 year olds often got stuck, blocking traffic. But he had fun and earned his Lego driver’s licence.

Steven’s favorite ride was a helicopter that you could move up and down and right and left. We rode it together four times over the course of two days. He’d decide which controller I was responsible for and had very definite hopes for which helicopter he wanted each time e.g. police vs. fire. We were lucky on Friday because lines were generally short.

Fairy Tale Brook was another ride we did more than once.

He also got to drive a boat!

There were lego characters around the park and lots of photo ops. Steven was nervous at first but finally agreed to take a photo after I said I was going to by myself. He was game from that point on but always wanted me in the picture with him.

The Ninjago ride.

I tried to convince him to try Deep Sea Adventure but it’s a “real” submarine and he said the answer is no. In fact he said, “When I say ‘no” I mean no and you have to listen to me.” Fair enough, Bobes. So we took this picture and then, shortly after, left the line.

Sour Steven. He didn’t like the way I loaded him into the boat – it made him nervous – and he got very angry at me. He’s having a hard time lately with the tone he takes with me when something doesn’t go his way or he gets nervous and it involves a lot of blame directed toward me. We’re going to keep working on that together.

Hands down, Steven’s favorite part of Legoland was miniland. He loooooooooved it. I think we spent a good 2 to 3 hours there over the course of two days. He was super fascinated by the moving vehicles and loved all of the buttons to push to interact with the components.

R2D2! He also had me take a photo of Leia for Amaya and Chewbacca for Sammy.

He didn’t want to take a photo in the lion but asked to take one of me.

Driving boats!

This was pretty cool. The kids were able to build logo boats and then race them. We spent a while here. It was good to see Steven assert himself with older kids though we did have to reign in aggression towards some littler kids a few times.

We wrapped up the day around 4pm after hitting the gift shop and getting presents for the whole Cline family.

A character at the hotel buffet. I love this picture. Such natural joy.

We finished up the night with another show (“this is so funny!” and a few more lego adventures.

What a wonderful day!!

On Saturday morning Steven had some fun in the lego pit before heading into the amusement park.

It was colder and overcast but we planned for the weather and were ready to go.

Today Steven was more excited about photos because he remembered he’d get a photo pillow after the trip and wanted options to choose from. “Take a picture of me with the dinosaur for my pillow!”

We hit up Fairy Tale Brook again.

And back to miniland!

It rained pretty hard while we were back at the boat racing but it didn’t seem to phase Steven a bit. We just dried off with hand driers once the rain stopped.

More lego friends.

A highlight of the trip was a chance to see Addie and her son Nathan, who’s 7. They drove down from Orange County to spend the day with us.

Best pic. 🙂

There were a lot of rides that Steven wasn’t interested in but he was totally into the Knight’s Joust. He patiently waited for half an hour for his turn to ride the horse.

Then Steven spent a full 40 minutes waiting patiently for one last chance to ride the helicopters again!

Up in the air we go!

After meeting up with Addie and Nathan for more rides, we rounded out the day on the stationary cars and a visit to the Duplo playground.

This kid was a force at the playground. He decided he was a police officer and ran around arresting other kids. I had to remind him to keep his hands off other people unless they wanted in on the game. Fortunately he found willing participants (and I was in jail for a good 30 minutes).

After 8 hrs at the park, we headed back in for dinner and a quiet night in our room. While waiting for my to-go wine Steven put his head down on the bar and said, “Are you as sad as I am that our trip is almost over?” Yes I am, bud. <3

This morning as we were walking through the hotel with our suitcase he said, “Do you think everyone will know why my face looks sad because they see our suitcase?” Such sweetness.

Today we headed out relatively early but, with a sudden flight delay, we took the time to drive to Del Mar beach! We even drove down Via de la Valle in Solana Beach to check out the building where I used to work.

It was the perfect way to move past some of the “end of trip” blues and we left with pockets full of rocks.

Back at the airport, watching planes from the sky club.

It was a precious weekend that I’ll never forget. <3

Because a week isn’t complete without Sammy and Amaya, here’s a bit of what they were up to.

Sammy was proud that the cuts on his arm were healing and he was able to take his band-aids off.

Always doing art, often with a reference picture to be sure she’s getting it right.

Two days of cute hair!

This child. <3 Ready for tap!

Looks like Amaya is making some friends!

It appears Amaya has aged significantly since I left on Thursday.

Bedtime stories with Penni.

Sammy and Amaya had two days full of Daddy fun time. Lucky kids!! They started their morning with the My Little Pony movie – a forever favorite.

I’ll wrap up this extra long blog post with two more photos.

First, my favorite character photo.

And an image of Steven’s special Legoland photo, being delivered soon to The Land of Cheltenham.

Steven and I land shortly (and late)! Have a great week!

Oh, this week. I don’t think I realized how much I rely on routine until routine falls by the wayside.

Monday started with a forecast for a doozy of a snow storm. Jason and I decided to keep the kids home rather than risk driving them home from school in the thick of it which turned out to be a good choice. By 11:30am even my office was cleared out for the day which is a first for most of the people I work with.

I pulled over on our street to take this photo on my way home, Happy Meals in hand.

I think this short little video of Steven is particularly adorable. He was eating and singing/dancing along to one of his favorite My Little Pony songs on Pandora. <3

I was working from home for the afternoon but found times to pop down and see everyone – even dance with them to my favorite My Little Pony song while they watched the MLP movie. (Ponies, ponies all the time in our house. And legos.)

It was a perfect snow day. Light and fluffy and just right for sledding. While I shoveled, Steven, Sammy and Amaya had one of their best days out in the snow.

Such a great sledding hill. They really got the hang of it after a few runs.

Joyfully throwing snow at her poor mother. 🙂

Steven was excited to help me out with the shoveling. Sweet boy.

Steven and FaceTime lol. Tonight I checked to see if he was ready to go to bed and he said, “I can’t go to bed yet. I still haven’t talked to Grandma Sunshine or Aunt Ouize.” Then he called me back 2 minutes later and said, “Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Ouize weren’t available so I guess you can put me to bed now.”

Tuesday was a normal day! Yay! Amaya had swim and took a lesson. The boys, unfortunately, haven’t had swim for 3 or 4 weeks because of snow and illness.

Wednesday was day one of the polar vortex. The real feel was in the minus 30’s. (Which has the odd effect of making 5 degrees feel warm.) Madison couldn’t make it to work that day so Jason and I tag teamed. He was home with the kids in the morning and I got home a little after noon to take 2nd shift. Claudia was at our house cleaning so we spent a bunch of time upstairs trying to stay out of her way. Fortunately, as I tried to work, there were birthday presents from Uncle Austin that had just arrived and it was great timing to keep SSA busy. Steven got legos. Amaya got a Twilight Sparkle hoodie. Sammy got a new microphone. A loud microphone lol.

Steven put this lego set together entirely by himself. He’ll ask me for help with the stickers and the wheel spokes but he can just sit down and follow the directions straight to the end. The age 5- 12 lego sets are perfect for him right now.

At one point, Amaya asked me if she could put on my make-up. I said yes, but only blush and eye shadow. She and Sammy ran to my bathroom before I could even finish my sentence.

A few minutes later she came by to show my her work in progress telling me that she wasn’t done yet.

The finished product lololol. It’s amazing what a five year old can do with eye shadow, blush and two make up brushes.

The boys made similarly interesting creations. It was the Cline Clowns around here for a short while. 🙂

More legos. It’s as much fun to see them create from scratch as it is to watch them follow a plan.

Thursday was another stay-at-home day but Madison was back in action. Amaya was excited to see that I slept in the same pants she picked out to wear for the day. This was the best I could do for a photo without forcing myself too more than I wanted to.

Little Mama was rocking an 80’s vibe with the hair and cropped sweat shirt.

Games all morning!

I wonder if Sammy needs more sensory input than we realize. He’s often lying off the ottoman like this. He says it’s comfortable.

It warmed up enough to get out of the house and go to dance class! Yay! Tap had 3 of 5 kids show and their jazz class was pretty full. Michiganders are hearty.

Hat hair, don’t care.

I love this picture of Steven watching Sammy and Amaya.

Hmmmm. Maybe Sammy even likes this sensory input while he’s asleep. 😉

Friday was back to school and work and routine. Whoo hoo! After school, Madison put Amaya’s hair in tight braids for a fancy hairdo at the next day’s Daddy/Daughter dance. Here, Amaya had been crying about something that wasn’t actually a problem and Madison was helping her problem solve. <3

FunnyFaceTime with Daddy

I got some new art from Steven this week. The first is a rainbow with Princess Celestia on one side (in yellow) and Princess Luna on the other. There’s the sun and the moon and, my favorite part, a waffle and a pancake.

“From Steven. To Joanna. I love you Mommy.” Nana helped him with the spelling via FaceTime.

On Saturday, Jason gave the kids a big box of ball cards that he’s been saving up – 2014 Rookies, just like them!

Steven got to work on some model emergency vehicles that he received for Hanukkah.

Playing around, trying to keep Daddy from going to The Container Store lol. Honestly, if Jason has reason to go to The Container Store, I don’t think anything will stop him from his mecca. 🙂

The first Daddy/Daughter dance! Amaya has been talking about this for weeks. <3 <3 <3

She’s wearing the same dress she wore when she was Jason’s +1 for a wedding back in June, only a size up. Same for her shoes. This is Amaya’s official “fancy outfit”.

The hair!

These two…

This weekend and back in June. Such a special bond.

While Amaya and Jason were off Daddying, Daughtering and Dancing, Steven and Sammy got to work on new legos – compliments of birthday money from Savta. (Side note: Amaya and I had a philosophical conversation about the nature of this gift. Amaya confidently asserted – after I made a comment about her “legos from Savta” – that the gift is the money she received, not the legos. I protested at first but she and Jason convinced me otherwise.)

This set is rated 6- 12 and Steven did a very nice job managing it mostly on his own. It’s 323 pieces and took him a looooong time. Sammy worked on it early on and then asked me to do the rest – which I was happy to help with once I was sure he really didn’t want to do it.

When Amaya got home, she dove right into her new set purchased with birthday money from Savta.

Last night Nana read a book to Steven! He held it up to her and she read it page, by page. Such a clever idea!

We started today painting.

Sammy painted a playground.

Steven painted a farm.

Amaya painted a heart.

While Amaya was coloring in a picture of Mulan, Steven decided he wanted to draw a “champion”. I did some googling with him to figure out what he meant and we landed on this character from the movie.

While Jason was at work, the kids convinced me to take them out for sushi and then for frozen yogurt (ice cream).

The sushi place doesn’t have kids menus so I always bring some pencils and paper with me.

I’m so proud of how Sammy wrote here! Even just 6 weeks ago he wasn’t this proficient.

Steven will eat sushi now! Amaya, on the other hand, had a bad run-in with the seaweed and is nervous to heat her rolls.

Fro yo! It was in the high 40s and the place was packed. Practically balmy compared to early in the week.

We wrapped up the afternoon jumping in puddles left by the melting snow. There were some good ones! And it was a huge attire change from earlier in the week when we were playing in the snow.

We had a bit of a rough end to the day. Sammy and Amaya were slow coming down to dinner. When they came downstairs, it looked like their hair was wet but, after discussion, they eventually disclosed that they put “soap” in their hair. The soap turned out to be most of the shampoo, conditioner and body wash in our master shower. Later in the evening Sammy also seems to have gotten to my razor and cut his hand and leg. He was beside himself. That, too, took a while to disclose which I can understand.

While all of this was going on, Steven showed up in his EMT uniform. Not necessarily the right time, but it was a sweet thought.

Sammy’s okay and the cuts aren’t terrible but he was in an emotionally rough place at bedtime. He and Jason had a long, supportive talk about everything that happened and I promised him I’d take him to bed with me when I go to sleep tonight. I’ll give my Bubba some extra love. <3

Oh, yeah. Poor Strawberry the 2nd died this week. He’d been with us since late summer. He was a good fish. The kids and Madison had a funeral and everyone said their goodbyes. They’re already talking about Strawberry the 3rd but I think it’s time for a break from fish in The Land of Cheltenham.

Have a great week! Steven and I are off to San Diego and Legoland this week. We can’t wait!

Monday morning we said goodbye to most of our visitors. 🙁 Aunt Sara, Chase, Charlie, Uncle Austin and Papa all headed out early but we were happy to Nana and Savta stay for one more day.

After school, Steven and Amaya got right into some of their birthday presents. Steven and Nana made a terrarium and Amaya painted magnetic tiles.

Madison brought an amazing assortment of birthday gifts for SSA. When I got home from work they were chomping at the bit to open them.

A tornado for Steven! WOAH!!!

Sammy was so excited about My Little Pony Guess Who? that he told me I could open his last gift in the pile.

Amaya’s favorite was this Jojo Siwah bow. I wish I had her reaction on video. She literally fell over on the floor squealing, “I saw this at the store and really wanted it and now I don’t have to get it as a staying-in-bed prize!!!!”

Thank you, Madison!

On Monday night, Steven realized the iPad has a calculator. He was very excited to do math. This week he told me that he knows that 5+0=5 because he “pushed five and then a plus and then a zero and then the done button and it said five”.

On Tuesday Sammy got into the post-birthday fun with rock painting! Today he also discovered that they come with transfer decals, too.

Amaya and Madison made her unicorn dream catcher.

Steven has been so into Legos and he’s really good at it! He’s got a ton of vehicles built. On his own, he can put together the sets in the 5- 12 age range. I’m not sure what I expected but I’ve been surprised to see him master it so quickly.

Tuesday was also our 8th anniversary! Jason and I were able to get out together to celebrate. <3

On Wednesday there was a ton of ice and after a lot of back and forth, and trouble getting the van down the icy driveway, SSA ended up staying home for the day. Nothing like a little hair chalk to reset the mood for the day.

Wednesday is my dance night but I’ve been managing to get home for some quality kid time before I head back out. I’ve got my Bubba. “Heart this one, Mommy.” (They’ve learned that you can “favorite” photos.)

Steven is still going to bed after Sammy and Amaya and, when it’s sleep time, I cuddle with him for a little bit. The hardest part is getting him to stay quiet. 🙂 On Wednesday night he told me, “I just love talking. Can’t you realize I love talking?” He sure does!

Dance Thursday. Sammy was learning to tie his shoes.

Sammy “hurt” his foot at school and was limping after tap so, exercising good caution, Madison let him sit out of jazz. Spoiler alert: He’s fine.

Friday was another pajama day at school. Sammy and Steven were sporting new slippers from Madison. (Star Wars and Rainbow Dash, respectively.)

We had some game time and lego time after work. It’s always nice to actually be able to relax with the kids for a bit before bedtime.

Steven made this boat! He’s run out of Lego sets to build and is pretty disappointed about it. Good thing someone I know is going to San Diego Legoland with his mom in 10 days.

The bowl from Grandpa Homey and Grandma Betsy was a water traffic circle.

Facetime with Charlie resulted in about 200 new screenshots on my phone lol. Steven will say, “I’m going to call people now.”

Saturday morning started with legos. Amaya and I finished a Minecraft city she’d been working on while Steven’s villains and superheroes came to cause and prevent trouble.

Yesterday we finally opened Steven’s tornado. Whoo boy! I think this is his new favorite toy. It has different levels ranging from EF1 to EF5 along with a little foam house, cow and tree to get swept up in the tornado. Even I’m having fun watching it.

Tornado, tornado all day long.

Game time with Daddy – the new Hatchimal game.

Ready, Set, Yeti with Mommy

Daddy is still a very comfortable resting spot for tv time.

Hard at work with the spirograph.

This child. <3 Her Sunday morning best.

Last night Amaya decided we should all have sushi for dinner and Sammy was excited to dig into some of his leftovers for breakfast, as you do.

It was time for a trim for Steven and, after seeing photos of Amaya at Cookie Cutters, he’s been waiting for his turn. He picked the airplane, Super Why? and an orange lollipop. There were some initial nerves for his first out-of-home haircut but he did great, with great results. And there were even seats for Sammy and Amaya while they waited.

Back at home, the fashionista was at it again. I love this cardigan. It was a Hanukkah gift from Madison and Amaya wears it so well. I don’t think I could pull it off.

Tornadoes, tornadoes, tornadoes. Back at home. During lunch. During a play date with our friends William, Sarah and Kenny. Tornadoes.

William, Sarah and Kenny are just two months younger than SSA and live around the corner. We’re in different school districts but the kids are starting to develop a really nice friendship that their mom, Nina, and I are hoping to nurture.

A 6-way game of Operation. Three buzzes and the next person gets to play.

Elsas!

This week felt a bit like the calm before the storm, possibly literally with the snow forecast ahead. It was nice to have some calm and quiet after the excitement of Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s birthday.

I’ll end this week with a video of a family game called “Smash”.

Have a great week!