Monday always feels like it was so long ago when I’m writing the blog on a Sunday. I think it’s especially true when we have out-of-the-ordinary weeks and a holiday week definitely applies.

On Monday morning, at breakfast, Steven told me that his ear hurt. I asked if it hurt inside or outside and he said, “Inside. It feels like it does when I’m on an airplane.” So interesting! I didn’t realize they had any discomfort or pressure on airplanes. I’ll pay a little more attention to encouraging them to drink on ascent and decent, and to let me know if their ears feel funny while we’re flying.

I made Steven a doctor appointment for the afternoon and, sure enough, he had an ear infection. I think the kids have had ear infections every time they’ve complained about ear aches. They know when they’re not right.

Monday night I got some treasured Amaya cuddles. They don’t come as easily or as frequently as they do from the boys.

The kids looooooove texting emojis to Jason. Sammy and Amaya tend to send as many as possible. Steven deliberates over each and every choice.

Before bed, Steven told me this (again): “Don’t forget. You can still kiss me if my eyes are closed. And don’t forget! You can still kiss me if I’m facing the shade. Remember all the things I told you. And don’t forget you can still kiss me if I’m doing both of the things at the same time.” As if I’d ever forget to kiss his sweet face before I go to sleep.

We seem to have turned a corner with regards to staying in bed in the morning. After a long road to each 6-heart achievement, Steven is staying in bed almost every morning now. Next up – the kids need to start staying quieter while they’re waiting for their green light to go on.

Tuesday was mild enough that SSA were able to play outside after school.

Rolling down the hill!

Chanukkah bingo with Madison

On Wednesday, Steven, Sammy and Amaya were invited to stay at school for lunch to enjoy the “Thanksgiving feast”. It was really nice of their teachers to include them with the full-day kids.

Wednesday afternoon the kids had a special treat with a visit from Ashley! It’s so nice that we’re still in touch 15 months after she stopped working for us. It’s really special.

Making turkey hats!

I had a short day on Wednesday which gave us time to make chocolate pecan pies. Everyone was a helper! Steven was thrilled to pour the whole bottle of Karo syrup into the bowl.

Sammy was our principle mixer.

Placing pecans. Steven went with a devil-may-care approach and Amaya worked on a carefully place swirl.

On Tuesday Amaya asked if we could get sushi so, with my early arrival home, I had the chance to do something new – take SSA to my sushi restaurant for dinner. It was fantastic. Sammy at 6 pieces of sashimi, including a new kind he hadn’t tried, as well as half a California roll and shrimp tempura. Amaya devoured two different vegetarian rolls and Steven ate a NY strip. They loved sitting by the sushi bar, especially when the folks making the sushi used the blow torch. It was fun to share my favorite restaurant with them.

Happy Thanksgiving from our three turkeys in their turkey hats!

Sammy was working to copy Amaya’s pose. It really is amazing how Amaya seems to just intuitively know how to pose. That knee pop in the photo above? 🙂

Prepping rolls with Grandma Sunshine

Our delicious meal – with turkey from Aunt Annette, sides from Grandma Sunshine, veggies from Daddy and desserts from me!

Sammy, at his request, continued last year’s Thanksgiving tradition and ate crab legs instead of turkey.

Post-meal game time!

One quick Amaya story – We were watching the parade and there was a performance from the Broadway show, King Kong. King Kong has some strings to help with his motion and they made it looked like he was tied up. We had talked about how it seemed like King Kong was mean but he was only angry because he was hurt and how, once he was taken care of, he wasn’t so scary any more. Amaya asked if he was hurt “because the strings were cutting off his circulation”. It’s so interesting to me to see all the things the kids know.

Some Thanksgiving crafts.

Feather families – made at school while Steven was home sick.

Fall trees. I love these because they show Sammy’s approach compared to Steven and Amaya. He’s a free spirit.

What we’re thankful for…

Another story… at dinner on Thursday night we were talking about letters and vowels. It started when I said “o” makes an “oh” sound and the kids corrected me to “ah”. That makes sense because I believe kids initially focus on the soft vowel sounds that are in early reading words (hot, cot, etc.). They then explained that “e” doesn’t always say it’s name like in “Cline”. They’re learning all of this at school! It’s so cool. It might be time to break out their beginning Bob books.

Sammy did an amazing job doing the dishes. He scrubbed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. All I had to do was turn on the water. Maybe a little supervision, too.

My office was closed on Friday but Madison was working. It created a rare opportunity to spend a day with the kids but also take some time for me. I headed to the movies (Crimes of Grindlewald) while SSA watched Brave, drank hot chocolate and ate pumpkin pie.

Madison planned a great afternoon craft with the kids to gear up for Hanukkah – one we can use for holiday decor in future years, too.

Amaya, laughing at Steven.

Steven looks even older like this with his face thinned out as he jokes around.

Piano duet!

Silly Mommy – I tried to nap on the couch. Instead, I was in Sammy and Steven’s hair salon. 🙂

Madison was the next customer!

Steven and Sally shared a moment on Friday! He sat so patiently and waited for her to come to him. He wants to pet Sally so badly and is doing all the right things to start to build her trust. She’s still very skiddish around the kids.

Saturday morning was a building day. Legos and Magnatiles – our current favorite!

Amaya built a house with a splash pad including two diving boards – a low dive and a high dive.

“Take a picture with it, Daddy! Smile!”

Sally has been throwing up lately, with too much frequency, so I got brave enough to get her in a carrier and took her to the vet. She’s so nervous and, as I could have predicted, was not having it when the vet tried to do x-rays and take blood. After some sedation they got the job done. Poor Sal. The x-ray shows that movement in her GI track seems slowed and she may have a stone in her bladder. We’re waiting for her blood work to come back to see if it tells us anything more definitive. Sweet, sweet Sally girl.

After 2 days in the house, it was time to get out! The Clines started at Chile’s for lunch (where the kids can circle the pictures of what they want on the kids’ menu) and then headed to Belle Isle to check out the Aquarium and Nature Center.

Amaya and Sammy ordered their standard Shirley Temples.

Me: “Amaya, which Cline is most likely to fall asleep in the car.
Amaya: “Sammy.”

We all know our Bubba. <3

Belle Isle Aquarium! When they’re checking tags, you just need a State park pass to visit the island and then the attractions are all free. The aquarium is the oldest operating aquarium in the US. One highlight was a fish that dates back to before animals evolved out of the sea. It even has fins that it can use as “legs” when it’s in shallow water. Pretty cool.

“Take a picture of me by myself.”

Off to the nature center.

Checking out the bees – a highlight for Steven.

A natural playground. Very cool, and would have been even better if it was warmer and drier.

The highlight at the nature center was the opportunity to feed deer. They have 8 or 9 deer on the premises that are the last remaining deer from the island – previously brought over from France in the 1800’s. Here we were waiting to go into the enclosure.

Sammy was the only Cline kid who wanted to try to feed a deer but it worked out well because, Steven, Amaya and I were distracted by really awesome, fuzzy caterpillars. They curl up in a ball when you pick them up. I was surprised that Steven and Amaya were willing to hold them.

And Sammy was successful! Jason said he wasn’t sure the deer was going to come over but it did and Sammy got to feed it. I love him in this little video.

Our final adventure of the day was a ride through Wayne County Lightfest. (Thanks for the rec, Madison!) “Merriman Hollow Area Lightfest features more than 47 giant animated displays and more than one million lights; it is the Midwest’s largest and longest light show. The complete Lightfest route is over four miles of Hines Drive.”

It’s a nice slow drive through the lights – which include a Hanukkah display. SSA looooooved the experience. They didn’t know where to look first! Sammy said, “I thought it was going to be boring to sit in the car and look at funny lights but this is a lot better than I thought!” (The kids have called Christmas lights “funny lights” for about as long as they could talk.)

And here we are at today. What a week!

As usual these days, it started with building.

Jason has connected his keyboard to our smart tv and can work on fantasy football spreadsheets on our big screen. He gave each of the kids a chance to work on their typing.

While Jason went into the office, I made playdoh for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Sammy had been asking for it and I needed to wait until we had a new stove top. (We were without one from 11/3 until 11/21.) Grandma Betsy has made it for them before which is how they know about the homemade variety. Mine isn’t as good as Betsy’s but it was good enough to play with. (In fact, Amaya said that both were good but Grandma Betsy’s is better.)

Amaya is showing off the new slippers she got at the aquarium.

For the first time in a long time (July, I think), I took all three kids to the grocery store. It’s rare that I do our grocery shopping to begin with and even more unusual for me to have all of the kids with me. They spent most of the time pretending the cart was a pirate ship. “Hoist the sails!” “Raise the anchor!”

A goal of our trip was to pick out toys for the Toys For Tots collection at my office. We prepped for it, but this poor kiddo still had a very difficult time with the concept of a gift for someone else. 🙁 She rebounded quickly once we decided to pick out something that she already has.

Just a few more photos to wrap up the week.

Amaya made these plates for everyone in the family. “How do you spell ‘Joanna'”?

A self portrait!

Finally, this is me! The photo is probably 20 or 21 years old and I stumbled on it today. I was in VT with friends and we were jumping off the 2nd story deck into the huge snow piles below. It’s fun to remember this trip and being that young. Also reckless, it seems. Things I would never to today… (Don’t do this, Steven! Don’t do this, Sammy! Don’t do this, Amaya!)

Have a great week! On Wednesday, Steven, Sammy, Amaya and I are off to NY for a long weekend.

This was week three of colds in our house and it was Steven’s turn. I wish the germs knew that it would be more convenient if they could all get colds at once.

Madison is doing a great job involving kids in daily clean-up in the house. At this age, their help is actual help. Can you spy Amaya in a winter hat? Madison often wears winter hats in the house and Amaya was trying to copy her style.

This child is working the poses. She cracks me up. Here, she’s wearing a pair of baby leggings over her tights as leg warmers. Creative and functional.

Curly pony from an overnight braid.

On Tuesday night, Amaya visited Sammy’s hair salon.

“Are you making a braid?”
“Well, I have your hair in three pieces so I might be.”

By Wednesday morning, Steven’s cold was on full force. We decided to keep him home from school so he could get some extra rest. It’s nice to have that flexibility with Madison, this year.

I was off to DC where I was speaking at a conference and got lots and lots of hugs before I left. Sammy had a hard with me leaving – my 4th trip in 6 weeks – so there were more tears than usual. He hung onto my leg for as long as he possibly could. I’m glad this ends my run of trips for while – save for the week after Thanksgiving when I’ll be traveling with SSA.

This sweet, sweet face. <3 <3 <3

Two Cline kids dipping apples in ketchup. They absolutely did not get this from their mother.

Thursday morning was another sick day for the Bobes. He vomited twice, very early in the morning. I’m still convinced it was from all of his drainage because it didn’t happen again, but it meant that he had to stay home from school and everyone needed to stay home from dance class so he didn’t risk infecting anyone else in the lobby/waiting area.

Making tracks in the snow after school…

By afternoon you’d have hardly known he was ever sick.

The kids asked for a picture in front of the snow. They’re getting SO BIG.

Always posing.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya had a real treat on Friday. It was “Special Person Shabbat” at school and Madison made plans to attend with the kids. Since drop-off was only an hour prior, Ms Bri and Ms Jena invited Madison to stay in the classroom with the kids for the morning.

Steven, working on his typing.

Sammy & Amaya coloring with Ms Bri

Steven and Shoshana did Madisons make-up.’

Special Person Shabbat! I was so grateful that Madison was available and interested in attending with the kids. I’d have hated for them to be without a special person. <3

Running to Ms. Shannon. I can’t overstate how much the kids love Shannon, their center director, especially Sammy. If you ask the kids who their favorite person is at school, Amaya says Henry, Steven says Evelyn and Sammy says Ms. Shannon. It’s so sweet & special.

The whole gang.

After Shabbat, the kids asked Madison to stay for the rest of the day. She got some photos of the kids sliding down the snowy hill and even joined in herself.

This is Amaya playing with Henry. He’s her favorite at school but she’s pretty clear that she’s marrying Elsa. Or has already married Elsa. The status of her nuptials varies by the day.

Waiting for me to get home from the airport! Jason and Madison both reported that the kids were so excited for me to come home. Amaya would never actually let me see her excitement but she admitted it to her daddy. 🙂

Homecomings are the BEST.

My secret sister sent us a great Hanukkah gift – DIY candles! I’ve never seen them before and we had a great time making them.

She also sent us a Haunkkah bingo game, that both Jason and I had fun playing with the kids this weekend. (As you can see the background of this photo, we have Hanukkah decorations up around the house. Those were carefully placed by Sammy.)

Sammy is super independent with food and loves anything he can do himself. He’s making a tasty butter sandwich – and Steven is having a meltdown because he’s eating the last two pieces of bread.

Amaya stayed in bed until her green light went on for 6 nights in a row. As a result, her hair grew a long braid overnight! 😉 She’s so pleased.

We spent a lot of time playing with legos this weekend. It’s nice that I enjoy it so much, too. Steven does a very good job following the instructions. He’s right when he says, “I’m very good at legos.”

We built this house together. I found the pieces in the big box and he followed the instructions to build it.

All of the kids are so creative. It’s really interesting to see what they come up with when they’re left to their own devices.

Jason spent a good amount of time today making custom pictures for each of the kids. 🙂

Talent!!

Jason saw these Under Armour shirts that match one he has and got them for the kids. He gave them to the boys but also had one for Amaya. It went something like this:

Amaya: Those shirts are just for boys.
Jason: I have one for you if you want it.
Amaya: Yeah! *rushes to change into her new shirt*

She later told us she looked like a boy which opened up a whole new discussion. Amaya’s pretty cute trying to say “social constructs”. I hope the message she took away is that she should like what she likes and be who she is. The end.

Someone tell me how she looks so old. Mind boggling.

Sammy wanted his shirt buttoned all the way up.

The whole gang in their matching shirts. I hear there’s even one for me, too!

They’re cute when they play together. Dr. Amaya was taking care of Sammy’s puppy who’s allergic to everything except his special food. It was a lot of fun up until they couldn’t save Puppy and he died.

Steven was watching a show and was full on belly laughing. I should have recorded it – the sound was so amazing.

Finally, what the kids are thankful for!

Steven: Nana, Mommy, Daddy, Amaya, Sammy, Madison, Ms Bri & Ms Jena.

Sammy: Savta, Mommy, Chairs, Daddy, Grandma Sunshine, Nana, Amaya, Steven, School & Pictures

Amaya: My Brothers, Madison, Mommy, Daddy, Gifts

Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

This picture is so, so Steven. Sleeping cuddled with Morminer, and half his possessions in his bed. I mean, what it he needs to make a call or measure something in the middle of the night? He’s prepared!

Monday was a pretty mild day so Madison and the kids got outside to take advantage of it. We were just asked to send snow pants, hats and gloves to school, too, so it sounds like SSA will be getting outside even in the coming cold, snowy weather. That’s good, because I certainly won’t be taking them outside when it’s cold and snowy. I’m adventurous, but I prefer that my adventures are warm.

Tuesday morning I left early to go vote before an 8am meeting. Steven was having a hard time saying goodbye so I promised I’d wave as I drove away. I forgot. 🙁 🙁 🙁

Jason called me about it just as I was getting to the polling place and, if I knew just how sad he was, I’d probably have turned around right then. Instead, I promised to come home after I voted and go to my meeting late, if necessary. Once I saw this picture of my sad Bobes sitting at the window waiting, I knew he needed me to come in for extra hugs instead of just a drive-by wave. Sweet, sweet boy.

Here’s Madison with the kids after work. I was home later than usual so she had them upstairs & ready for bed so our time together could be with story books instead of the administration of the bedtime routine. It was perfect.

Cool Bobes. I think his favorite sweatshirt is officially too small.

By Thursday, Amaya had Sammy’s cold and wasn’t in shape for dance class. She was more than happy to just color while her brothers sashayed around the dance room.

Air time!

Madison reports that Sammy is a lot more focused in tap when Amaya isn’t there. (This was his second class on his own. The first was when we were in CA.) I was really proud of him for going in by himself while Amaya and Steven were waiting outside. I think it’s a sign of his interest.

Focus.

Both boys, dancing around with ribbons in jazz class.

Strong helpers. Getting more and more helpful by the day, in fact.

On Thursday night, Steven surprised me with his ability to write the alphabet. He made his way through by singing the ABC song and stopping when he got to his next letter. The only tricky part was “lmnop” which tripped him up. He kept thinking the next letter was p, because of the way it all ran together. I didn’t realize he knew how to write his letters so well!

The finished product. Once he got to “X’ he decided that X needed to mark the spot so he detoured a bit and drew a path between the X and a pirate ship. 🙂

Even sick, Amaya has her sass. You can definitely see the cold in her eyes, though. We decided a day at home would serve her well, and made plans for her to stay home on Friday.

Even sick, and even staying home, this girl gets herself dressed.

Sammy loves to help his Daddy shave. He’s so focused and gentle.

Friday was our first snow of the season. Booooooo. I’m not ready! The kids were excited, though, and Madison had prepared for a first day of snow craft. In order, it’s Steven’s, Sammy’s and Amaya’s.

Gratuitous pic of sweet Sally, who doesn’t get enough love in the blog.

Friday night cuddles, near as best I can do with all 3 kids these days.

The Cline family had big plans for Saturday. Sammy really wanted to go out for breakfast with pancakes which led to us planning 1:1 meals with each of the kids. Amaya had a scheduled haircut with plans, afterwards, to take treats to firefighters. I wasn’t sure how the coordination would work out but it all fell into place – starting with Sammy ready to go to breakfast at 6:45am. I think they were out the door shortly after 7!

I remarked that this was the table I sat at last week with Steven, Sammy and Amaya and Jason told me that it’s why Sammy picked this table. <3

Jason was going to meet us at the fire station to get Steven for lunch but Steven didn’t want to leave someone he loves home alone, so they stayed together while Amaya, Sammy and I headed out.

Giant floor puzzle!

Lately, Steven has really been enjoying writing and copying words he sees. Saturday he copied the writing at the top of his puzzle. He even gets the airplane in there.

This was only Amaya’s 2nd haircut and it was at a new-to-us place in Livonia. Steven saw this picture and immediately decided that he wants his next haircut to be in the blue airplane.

The have cool vehicles and shows to watch. Hard to beat! It definitely helped Sammy pass the time.

Amaya’s Elsa braid. It was super cute.

Trader Joes, picking up treats for the fire fighters and police officers. I could spend ALL THE MONEY in Trader Joes.

We got lucky with our delivery! There were two EMTs there when we arrived and, while we were checking out the ambulance, a fire truck returned.

Touring the ambulance! Everyone was so nice to Sammy and Amaya. They were very patient and generous with their time.

Learning to use a stethoscope.

Sitting in the fire truck.

And off to the police station for our last stop. It was a quiet morning but we were able to find an officer to deliver the cookies to.

We were all home by noon and had a quiet afternoon tomorrow. I played a game called “Four of a Kindness” with the kids. It’s a card game played Go Fish style, where you have categories to talk about ways you’re kind. We skipped the formal game rules and mostly focused on answering the kindness questions.

At Trader Joes we picked up cards to send to someone’s special. Amaya made one for Charlie. Steven made one for Chase and Charlie. Sammy made one for Savta (not pictured).

At his request, I tried to make Sammy homemade play doh the way Grandma Betsy does but just ended up with neon green slime instead. Sammy ended up having a (messy) blast with it but I’ll have to try to figure out what I did wrong and keep practicing.

When Mommy naps, kids climb on board.

Also when Mommy naps – Daddy gets the kids to work shoveling. They did a great job clearing the deck!

The 1:1 meals ended with a Mommy/Amaya dinner date at Applebees. We sat at the bar. She had a shirley temple. It was a perfect dinner out.

No more pictures.

At dinner we had this conversation –

A: Your job is a really important job.
Me: My job being your mom or my job at my workplace?
A: Your job at your workplace. 
A: So you can buy your kids toys, Joanna.

This child. When I call her on using my name she generally tells me that she’s Elsa and Amaya is visiting Arendelle. Today, in fact, she told me that she (Elsa) left Amaya in charge of Arendelle while she (Elsa) visited me.

Our adventure today was a trip to the Jewish Book Fair at the JCC for Dino Day! There was a huge event set up with crafts, fossils, live animals, story time and more. The kids even got to eat “dino poop.”

Amaya was ready with her dinosaur tail, tiara, necklace and gloves.

The tail was a huge hit. She got so many comments that I felt a little badly about making the boys leave their tails at home but the boys’ dino tails are 4x the size and totally unwieldy.

Checking out reptiles. There was an awesome, colorful lizard there. I said to the kids, “A lot of people used to think that reptiles are related to dinosaurs but what animal really evolved from dinosaurs?” Amaya: “Birds.”

She’s repeating what she’s heard before, but it’s still cool to know it’s sinking in.

Steven and Sammy, digging for fossils. For most of the time we were there, Amaya didn’t want to go in the sand. They received passports, though, that got stamped at each activity and Amaya wanted to earn every stamp which eventually motivated her into the sand pit.

So independent, off on her own doing this craft.

The favorite activity was dinosaur sand art. All 3 kids were totally focused, even Sammy who often taps out before a long project like this one is complete. Goes to show he has the focus when he’s truly interested.

Steven’s.

Amaya’s.

Sammy’s.

Building giant lego towers. Steven and Sammy were very proud of theirs.

Steven and Sammy, making their scrap art dino footprints.

We finished our day in the sand pit. Lots of children playing carefully while my Sammy army crawled across the sand. A lot of which is now in our house lol. But he had a blast.

The Clineosauruses had so much fun at the event and they are now fast asleep. It’s been a rough week adjusting to the time change but hopefully they’re worn out enough to get back on track to the new clock.

Have a great week!

Writing the blog on a Sunday, it’s always weird to think about the family/guests who were still here on Monday. The prior Monday always feels like a lifetime ago!

This past Monday, Nana and Savta were still visiting and the SSA had a very busy day which included their semi-annual dentist visit, preceded by lunch out.

Finding letters in a word search…

Amaya was ready! We’ve come a long way from when they’d sit in my lap for these visits.

Sammy was nervous when the chair went back (very nervous) but got through it!

Steven was ready to go! We avoided xrays by the skin of our teeth. With how crowded his mouth is, we’re expecting to need them in the spring. It’s also time to get flossing into their bedtime routine.

It was nice enough for a walk outside, which you can’t pass up at this time of year.

This picture floors me. Steven looks like a KID. More and more it’s hitting me that we’re moving out of the little kid season of our life. It’s wonderful, and it’s also hard to say goodbye to this time in my life.

Tuesday morning we said goodbye to Nana and Savta. This week the kids had lessons on feelings and colors were assigned to each feeling. Before I left for work, Sammy said he was feeling blue. I said I was feeling pink (love) and he said, “Shouldn’t you feel blue because your mommy is leaving?” This boy has so much love. On Sunday he asked Savta, “Why do I love you so much?”

Tuesday afternoon was one of our favorite events of the year – trick or treating at Mommy’s work place! You can’t tell from the photos but we had about 90 kids attend the event. Each department decorates and has treats to hand out.

Little face. <3 It’s fun to see how much more comfortable the kids grow year after year.

The annual “hello” with my boss Mark, who used to be Jason’s boss at Borders.

“Bawk bawk bawk”

Finally! Halloween arrived! What a build up for 4 year olds. (Though they did get quite the haul at my office.)

Off we went, right at 6pm. We got so lucky with the weather. It rained all day and cleared up in time for us to head out.

The kids developed very specific doorbell rules:
*The order – Steven, Amaya, Sammy
*If no one answered the door, you got another turn
*If candy was left on the porch, you got another turn
*No ringing the doorbell until everyone as there
*If someone opened the door before you rang the bell you got another turn. (Eventually, I just asked a homeowner if Amaya could ring the bell after going to four houses without getting through her turn.)

We were out for a little over an hour and the kids did great, overall. Steven seemed to have a bit of a hard time keeping up with Sammy and Amaya and, later in the night, Sammy was slooooooooow. Amaya was the Little Engine That Could the entire time.

We also had a weird experience where Steven thought another child called him disgusting. Out of nowhere he burst into tears and was near inconsolable. I didn’t hear it and it was a very random thing for an older child to say to a 4 year old dressed as Captain America. I think he misheard something but that wasn’t the point in the moment because he believed it was said to him. I asked Amaya, “What do we say if someone calls us disgusting.” She answered, “That’s not true! I’m not disgusting!” Steven couldn’t quite get into that head space, though. It took three other moms fawning over his costume to turn him around. We’ll keep working on how we can respond when someone says something that hurts our feelings. (“What if someone said, ‘You have brown hair and brown hair is yucky’.” “I’d say, ‘I don’t care what you think. I like my hair.”) Hopefully the reinforcement will help when it happens for real.

After trick or treating, everyone picked a piece of candy to eat in front of the fire. (First time we’ve used the fire place since I was pregnant!)

Thursday was a no-school day so they started their morning with Frozen. Little makes the kids as happy as starting their day with a movie.

Sammy had a cold this week and wasn’t feeling well enough to dance so Amaya was the only Cline kid in tap. I love how focused and happy she is in dance class.

Steven, showing me the Grapevine. It’s a short little video and he’s so cute explaining it to me.

Steven got hold of my phone on Friday morning and photographed his favorite subject. <3

Sammy was still sick on Friday and Amaya seemed like she was catching the cold so we kept everyone home on Friday to fight off whatever was going around.

This child. She gets up in the morning and, without fail, puts on tights and a skirt or dress. And, now, a tiara.

Saturday gave me a chance to finish my Saturn V rocket and I had helpers. The kids – particularly Steven – love finding the pieces I need. There was even a section of the rocket that Steven and Amaya were able to put together on their own. The end result is awesome.

Sleeping beauty lol.

After too long with a half functioning dishwasher, it was finally delivery day for our new appliances. Steven helped by making sure that everything would fit.

Installation started at 4:30pm (and went until 10pm) so I took the kids out to eat. Sammy wanted pancakes so the diner it was!

Before

After

We had lazy, lazy day today and did a whlole lot of nothing. It was really nice! The kids played with magnatiles, play doh & made up a ton of games together. They boys stayed in their PJs all day while Amaya was dressed in a dress & tights by 7am. 🙂

Big. Kid.

And that’s it for this week. Have a good one!

There was a lot going on this week! We wrapped up our wonderful visit with Grandma Betsy. The kids fall school photos came in. I took a quick trip to CA. Nana and Savta came to visit. We hosted our annual triplet family Halloween party!

The weather was beautiful on Monday and taking advantage of it was a no-brainer. We have to maximize nice days in October. Madison and Grandma Betsy took the kids to Three Cedars Farm for a hay ride and pumpkin picking.

A phone booth! The kids love “old time” phones with cords like when mommy was little..

On Monday night, Madison was teaching Amaya dance moves.

I took a break from my new legos to watch.

Monday night, the kids got the idea of sleeping on the floor. It seemed like a fun idea but, quickly, Sammy realized his bed was much more comfortable. Steven seemed to be up and out of “bed” earlier than ever.

School pictures! Amaya looks nothing like herself with that stiff smile but they’re cute photos, none-the-less. We even have cameos from Morminer and Puppy.

After work on Tuesday, Steven was soooooooo excited to show me how he organized the fridge. I think he gets the instinct from his daddy though Jason says this particular organizational style is most reminiscent of Grandpa Homey. 🙂

Before bed, on Grandma Betsy’s last night, everyone “read” stories together on the iPad.

Jason called on his way home from work and, while Sammy was talking to him, he decided he wanted to have a call with Daddy and Grandma Sunshine. Happy guy.

Steven needed a turn, too. Amaya, however, said, “I don’t want to talk to any people. I just want a back massage.”

While she was waiting for her back massage (yes, she gets one every night before bed instead of a back rub), she worked hard on her dolls’ hair styles. So proud of herself!

“Now take a picture from the front so we can see them smiling.”

Wednesday, October 24th was my 14 year Sallyversary. Three states. Seven homes. One marriage. Three kids. Still my best big girl. <3 <3 <3

Wednesday afternoon I flew to San Francisco for a work meeting. Madison made sure to send me pics of my sweet kiddos. She’s got this gig down pat (and you can see that Sammy’s well beyond his eating issues).

Our for dinner with 4 SFO area triplet moms. Wherever I go, there we are! All bonded by the birth of triplets in 2014.

Ready for school on Thursday!

I’m obsessed with Amaya’s perfect little hands, mirroring Ms. Christina, in this photo. (She’s got the ballet bun, standing next to Sammy.)

We paid for recital costumes this week. (In October! For a June recital!) Steven officially withdrew from tap. He’s content waiting for jazz each week and is still insistent that tap is too loud. Sweet boy.

While I was waiting to fly home from, Nana and Savta arrived!

A new Saturday tradition is Starbucks with Nana! The kids love it and Jason and I love it because we both get to sleep in!! Big, BIG smiles.

Sammy, in his Savta’s lap, watching shows while we waited for our annual Halloween party.

Halloween 2018! We have Captain America, an Ice Cream Cone and a Chicken!!

I remember thinking we’d be picking coordinating costumes for the kids at this age but they have idea of their own and it’s fun to see those ideas come to life.

We had 4 other families join us for the Halloween party on Saturday morning – all families who’ve been with us for the prior three years, as well. Every year it’s easier and, this year, the kids actually played together – a first.

Sammy Chicken, cutting his grapes.

It’s always fun to go to a friends’ house and find new toys to play with. The kids visiting were very busy, right away.

Storming the castle!

15 kids and four were girls. They gravitated toward each other pretty quickly – especially Amaya and Sarah (Belle) who both wanted to spend their time doing crafts. Sarah’s mom and I are going to work on a play date for the two of them. They’re both the only daughter in a houses of brothers – plus Sarah has a older brother, too.

Steven made Liam his pet Lion. “Do you want to pet my Lion?”

Sarah and Amaya

Sammy wasn’t interested in playing with the other kids. I think it was a bit much. Fortunately, his Daddy was there to snuggle with.

And, when Daddy wasn’t there, he had the chair. lol

The moms! Bethany – Julie – Me – Julia – Nina.

The whole gang!

Four Years Running. <3

We wrapped up Saturday with a visit from Megan and Taco! The kids were so excited. Amaya explained, “We have to have playdates with May May now because she’s not our nanny anymore. She didn’t want to leave but she has to take care of Baby Taco and the baby in her belly.” Well said, kiddo.

Today was a relaxing day at home, bookending brunch out.

Amaya earned her prize for staying in bed so we were very focused looking for her next prize. (A set of costume jewelry.)

Nana is creating crossword puzzles for the kids! Four word crosswords, all three letter words with answers like “hat”, “tug”, “mat”, etc. The kids love them.

I picked up this set of Montessori sandpaper letters after seeing them in use at a school in Texas. The concept is you trace the letter with two fingers in the same way you’d write the letter. Afterward, you say the sound of the letter. From what I’ve read and been told, it helps learning to write letters but also helps dramatically with reading because of the repetition of letter sounds. (Always the soft vowel sounds to help with vowel placement in introductory words – hat, let, bit, rot, hut.)

Super Captain Elsa!

Nana spent the morning playing with the kids – crossword puzzles, board games and a ton of make believe on a ship that Steven captained. I also played Chutes and Ladders with the boys and Jason & I had to spend some time consoling Sammy who couldn’t quite get past his loss to Steven. It’s a good thing he beat me at the game a short time later. It reminds me of Chase at this age, actually.

Matching shirts!! SSA have always loved Nana’s “hand” shirt and now they have their own! Everyone together… working on tree pose in their matching shirts.

Tic Tac Toe while we wait for brunch.

Sammy really wanted coffee today so I ordered a cup of decaf for him. He added two half & halfs and a splenda and proceeded to drink 2/3 of the cup of coffee. It was adorable. He was so stinking proud.

We wrapped up the afternoon quietly at home. The kids got up to shenanigans and, in the midst, Sammy spent an age just sitting and talking with Savta. Oh, how he loves his Savta. It’s special.

And that’s it for this week! Have a great one!

Sammy does such a good job staying in bed until his green light come on. He comes in in the morning and says, “Mommy, the green light went on.” He always has puppy and he never wants to get dressed unless I have a decent bribe for him. Usually that bribe is playing with the map on my phone or using the stopwatch function to see how quickly I can shower.

Amaya and Sammy both earned their “staying in bed” prizes on Monday. I took this picture, though, because I loved this outfit to pieces. It’s so much fun to see what Amaya will pick to wear. As Steven says, she “wears really nice styles”.

She’s got sass and style. And is starting to look like such a big kid. I can’t take it.

The power of the stopwatch. (And maps.) Jason’s usually still asleep when I start getting ready and the boys are almost always awake. Literally watching time pass if often enough to keep them occupied in the morning. Other times they want to use Google Maps on my phones. Steven likes to try to find the “path” to school and Sammy tends to want to see Nana’s house.

This face. <3

All three Cline kids are ready for the cold weather! (Their mother is not.)

On Tuesday night, I asked Amaya if she had a good day at school and she made this face. lol

I asked again and was rewarded with this reaction. Somehow I knew something was up. 😉 Steven eventually ratted her out and said the didn’t have a good day at school because she wasn’t listening when Ms Bri asked her to come in from the playground. (Later, when I asked Steven if he learned anything at school, he told me, “I learned how not to be bad on the playground from Amaya.”)

Wednesday morning I was off to Dallas/Fort Worth for a work trip followed by a triplet mom getaway. It was early and everyone else was asleep so I set Steven up with Sofia the First in our closet to help him pass the time until wake-up time. He could barely look up to say goodbye. 🙂

I missed it in person but Madison had braided Amaya’s hair the night before to make curls. She was pleased!

I think I mentioned that I ordered a pillow for Amaya featuring photos of her princess meet-ups at Disney. She immediately knew this was the package and couldn’t stand to wait to open in up.

A happy, happy child with a perfect souvenir from our trip. Again, she looks like such a BIG kid!

Wednesday play time!

These scooters were gifts for their 3rd birthday from a fellow triplet mom and they’re still going strong!

My turn! This getaway was in Fort Worth and we had about 40 moms join the trip. We stayed in the Stockyards.

Riding a real long horn. It was huge.

While I was living it up in TX, the kids had dance. The tap class is just 4 or 5 kids which is nice for all the attention they’ll get. Steven is still saying that he’s not interested in tap so he waits with Madison while Sammy and Amaya dance.

Jazz class, with all 3 Clines.

Friday was picture day at school. We had outfits set in advance and Madison was on point to get the kids set.

Megan would always call this look “Banker Bobes”.

The kids could get photographed with a favorite friend. Sammy and Steven wanted to bring Puppy and Morminer. Here, Madison was showing me that they were safely on their way home from school.

Class growth chart! Interesting to see how SSA measure up (literally) with their peers. If you can’t read the labels, from L to R, Steven is first, Amaya is 2nd in the row and Sammy is 5th.

Goofing off during TV time.

Back in TX, we were ready for authentic TX BBQ for Friday night dinner.

All the moms! I think we have 143 kids between us.

Some of my first true (and dearest) triplet mom friends… all with triplets born in January 2014.

While I was gone, Jason sent me a text that summed up our kids reactions to my absence:

From Sammy…”I’m not right without my Mommy.”
From Steven…”I love Mommy more than you.”
From Amaya…”I’m good regardless.”
🙂

The Cline kids had a lazy day at home on Saturday hanging out with Jason, Rosie and Grandma Betsy who made plans to visit from IA this weekend!

I had my last day with my friends, taking in Sundance square, eating Mexican food, hitting up a dueling piano bar and dancing at an 80’s bar.

On the board for us at the dueling piano bar. It’s true!

Saturday evening, Madison came to hang out with the kids. The plan had been a hay ride but the weather didn’t cooperate so she improvised and brought hot chocolate (a first for SSA!) and treats for them to eat which watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. (Also a first!)

Today I had a day of travel and the boys started early working on their spreadsheets, connected to our TV display. Learning young! 🙂

I am HOME to my family and had a wonderful homecoming. As always, it’s a treat to see Grandma Betsy interacting with Steven, Sammy and Amaya (like no time has passed).

I also got to start work on my Apollo Saturn 5 rocket with special help from a special girl.

I’ll leave you with a video of Steven drawing a map.

And that’s it for the week. Have a good one!

Jason was off from work on Monday & Tuesday so, Monday, the kids had a chance to help him with yard work. One of their favorite activities!

A chance to use the blower is a particular favorite for all three kids.

Through the week, I had helpers continue to help me work on Voltron.

Tuesday morning smiles!

It was one last day of warm weather and the kids made the most of it. I’m really going to miss nice weather & outdoor time as it gets colder. Sammy told me he’s excited for winter, though, because it means snow and his birthday!

We also had someone come out for Best Buy to do some measurements and advising on new kitchen appliances. As reported by Jason, Steven sat on the couch with his tape measure in case “Best Buy Nate” needed help. And he did. 🙂

On Tuesday night we finished Voltron! It’s really cool. Even better looking than I anticipated and the project was as much fun as I’d hoped.

Next up, the Apollo Saturn 5 rocket.

Wednesday was another warm day and Madison had the good idea to have a lunch picnic with SSA after school.

Madison said, “I don’t know what they’re doing but they’re having a lot of fun!”

Mugging for the camera.

Fall leaves to stomp in before dance class. That crunch is so satisfying.

Sammy and Amaya are really loving tap! I can’t wait to have a chance to see them in action. It’s a small class, too. Just 5 or 6 people which means lots of individual attention.

Jazz!

This girl sleeps with so. much. stuff. So much stuff. A million friends and just as many blankets.

I got myself a little 6×6 Shutterfly book with pictures from my trip to CA. Amaya went through page by page to show her brothers. Steven is already counting down to his trip, which isn’t nearly as soon as he’d like, and Sammy says June is way to far away.

Bedtime shenanigans. The kids were playing pirates and I asked them to pause to pose for a picture. Amaya has really been getting into posing lately. (And, yes, she’s sleeping in a bathing suit.)

Most of our weekend was wonderfully lazy. I even saw two movies this weekend! TWO. (A Star Is Born and First Man.)

I got myself some legos to try to build the kids a jewelry holder but they were promptly, and probably rightly, appropriated.

Steven took his helicopter apart to make a sled!

Amaya was excited to see a picture of her curly hair. (Thank you, braids.)

The boys got haircuts from Jason yesterday which you can clearly see here around Steven’s smiling face. He was explaining to me that he was frozen and I needed the magic word to unfreeze him. The magic is new. On Friday he was not listening at school to the extent that his teacher asked the center director, Ms. Shannon, to talk to him about it. He told Shannon that his dinosaur, Charlie, but a spell on him that made him not listen. Shannon did some counter magic and “called” Charlie which seemed to do the trick but “magic made me do it” popped up on and off all weekend. We’ve had a few conversations about being responsible for our actions as well as counter spells to use if there’s “bad magic” around us. This morning, there were a ton of words that made Steven freeze, including the word “yes”. Fortunately, there were also a ton of words that unfroze him. His imagination is so much fun and, still, he also needs limits it’s used as an excuse for not listening or inappropriate behavior.

Knex with Daddy

The kids did a bunch of puzzles this morning. It was interesting to see the variation in their skill level. Steven really impressed me. He can do 35 piece jigsaw puzzles without a visual reference while he works. He was so focused and just had a really good sense of how it all came together. Sammy still needs (and wants) more hands on support while he’s doing puzzles which probably means one-on-one puzzle time could be a valuable activity.

This afternoon we went to a Halloween play at the children’s theater with plans to see the Northville skeletons after, followed by dinner at Garage. On the way there, Amaya and Sammy were pretending to be asleep. Can you see Sammy snoring? lol

Spoooooooky. (I am saying that in Steven’s voice. He says, “spoooooooky” cuter than anyone I know.”

The kids got to dress up for the play. Sammy chose the Cinderella dress. Amaya chose Elsa. (Of course.) Steven was a police officer. Jason and I let the kids wear what they chose.

Sammy is a smart kid. I think he knows that he’s not surrounded by other boys in princess dresses. I worry about assholes being mean to him but I’ve had friends remind me that there will always be assholes ready to be mean about something, and he wore this dress with so much happiness and confidence.

After the play we walked around town looking at the skeleton display. We were standing all together and some guy walked by and said, “Is your son in a dress?” I looked at him and immediately said, “WHAT ABOUT IT?” The woman he was with said, “It’s Halloween”, and put her hand on his arm. He took a step back and said, somewhat apologetically, “I was just asking.” He wasn’t just asking, though. He was judging out loud in front of my kids.

As he walked away I said to Sammy, “He was saying he liked your dress.” And Sammy smiled and said, “I’m glad I wore it.” My heart just about exploded.

I’m so glad he didn’t pick up on the judgment or tension.

At bedtime I talked to the kids about how it’s okay to like things even if our friends don’t or say we shouldn’t. We all took turns role playing responses to people who tell us something we like is “yucky” or “silly”. We said things like, “I don’t care if you don’t like it. I do and that’s all that matters.” Some of our examples were about Captain America, Elsa, Shimmer and Shine, what we wear to bed & adults who play with legos. “Adults can play with legos if they want to! I don’t care if you think it’s silly. I like playing with them and that’s all that matters.” SSA seemed to have a lot of fun with it. I hope talking about these things now, at an age appropriate level, helps even a little when someone, inevitably, makes fun of them.

I also ordered two books about boys who, sometimes, like to wear dresses. The books seem to take more of a focus of explaining that it’s okay, even if other people say it’s not. I don’t think we need to read these books yet because no one is saying that to the kids. It’s just…I don’t want to overthink all of this, but I thought it could be good to have them ready in the house in case someone does tease at some point.

For all we know, Sammy will grow out of this soon. Whether he does or doesn’t, I want to be able to help him always feel as secure and confident as he did today.

Steven was so into the play. He was the cutest when he clapped. He told me he’s going to dream about the witches tonight. They were his favorite. Oh! And he also said he wishes he was a grown-up so he could be on stage! If he keeps up the interest there are lots of kids’ theater workshops he can try in a few years..

I looks silly here but Steven said he liked the picture so here it is. <3

Checking out the skeletons. They really are super cool. They’re posed ALL over Northville and the displays are so creative.

Perfect triplet doorways. 🙂

Dinner at Garage!

I have one last story this week. At lunch today, we were talking about dinosaurs and Sammy asked if they went extinct because they didn’t eat enough healthy food. Great question! We talked about theories of dinosaur extinction and Sammy asked how a meteor could fall to the earth if there’s no gravity in space. THIS KID. It’s so cool to start to see Steven, Sammy and Amaya apply these concepts in new contexts.

And that’s it for this week. Have a good one!

I’m going to start this week toward the end, on Thursday, when Amaya and I set off for CA for a girl’s weekend. My friend Addie lives in Orange County and has a daughter who was born a month after SSA, as well as a 6 year old son. I couldn’t pass up the chance for our girls to meet and there was an added bonus of Addie living just 30 minutes from Disneyland. I never expected any of my kids to have an early childhood Disney experience!

We set off early and, as always, the fountain at DTW was the first sight to see.

READY!!

Amaya was awesome on the flight. She was easily entertained for the 5 hours with snacks, shows and her notebook. No naps, though. This girl doesn’t sleep on airplanes.

We made it to LA!! Addie’s husband, Matt, came up to LAX with Mary to pick us up. Amaya was immediately thrilled with the TV in the van. No surprise there.

We spent the afternoon at the California Science Center. It was a perfect place to visit for this space geek. So much to see from the early days of the space program and Amaya & Mary hit it off right away. One of our friends commented that this photo is like young Jodie Foster & young Britney Spears lol.

I always feel like my nose is cold and this infrared imaging proves that I have a cold nose!

My girl. <3

See our necklaces? I bought this Disney Princess neckace kit for Amaya at the airport on the way out LA. She gifted me with Cinderella, kept Ariel and Tiana for herself and gifted Snow White and Belle to Mary.

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR! I’ll be honest, the girls weren’t quite as impressed as Matt and I were. They were much more interested in the gift shop. I’m so excited I got the chance to see the shuttle, though. So cool.

Very early in the trip Amaya figured out that Matt could pick her up pretty easily. And, thus, his nickname “Uppy” was born.

When get got back to Orange County, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the house with Mary. Amaya loved to see that Mary has a rock collection, too.

Back in MI, it was dance day! Since Steven isn’t taking tap, Sammy was on his own without Amaya. He was a little unsure but Madison walked him in and he did it! I’m proud of my Bubba. I’m sure it was a bit unsettling when he’s used to having Amaya there with him.

Passing time during tap.

Steven walked right in to join Sammy for jazz. I’m glad he has a class/activity he likes.

Friday morning was DISNEY DAY! I tried very hard to manage my expectations but I knew how excited Amaya would be to see all of the princesses. She brought her Elsa dress to wear even though I told her I couldn’t be sure we’d see Elsa. (In fact, up until Wednesday I was sure we wouldn’t because Elsa and Anna are at California Adventure and I didn’t realize we had park hopper tickets thanks to Matt’s brother who works at Disney and got us highly, highly discounted passes.)

This girl was ready to go!!

A real castle!

One of our first stops was the carousel in Fantasyland. It was the first time Amaya was willing to go on a moving horse on her own and had a blast. I think the recent fair rides helped her get past her prior hesitation. She had this same smile all day long.

Our first princesses – Ariel and Snow White! So much wonder and joy. It was magical. These “princesses” are so engaged and sweet with the kids. Amaya felt special in each and every conversation.

Here, they’re noticing that Ariel is on Amaya’s necklace.

Riding Dumbo together.

Storybook land ride.

Princess Elena! Amaya was the last one in line to meet Elena. Lucky break! While we were waiting she said to me, “Mommy, if Princess Elena is real, that means Sofia is real, too!” I can not break that little girl’s heart. She’ll figure it out in time.

Elena thought they should do an “Else pose.” Perfection.

After meeting Elena we headed into Royal Hall where we heard Cinderella had joined Snow White and Ariel. Both Snow White and Ariel remembered meeting Amaya earlier in the day and asked all about her day so far. She couldn’t stop beaming.

Cinderella!

We finished with the princesses in time for Amaya & Mary to watch a show that featured Belle. It was a princess smorgasbord.

It wasn’t all princesses. Amaya and Mary had a great time exploring Tom Sawyer Island.

They also took in the Small World ride. I was slightly disinterested to start, having forgotten how absolutely engaging it is with a particularly satisfying wait time:ride time ratio.

So much to see.

Amaya had a rainbow cookie with lunch and did nothing but lick off the icing while painting her face multicolor.

Our final princess at Disnelyland was Aurora. I got the hang of the app in time to take Amaya to meet her in the scheduled location.

With our park hopper passes we made our way to California Adventure. Disney in CA is so much more easily navigated than in Orlando. The parks are right across a small plaza from one another making it truly easy to back and forth. After an amazing ride, Soarin, we headed over to meet Elsa and Anna.

This was Amaya’s face the entire time she was watching the prior visitors meet with their royal highnesses.

When it was Amaya’s turn, I was quick to mention that Amaya was happy to see Elsa and Anna because the last time was back in January at her birthday party. They played right into it for Amaya. Didn’t miss a beat.

Even I got a turn in a photo!

Our penultimate Disney activity was the Disney Jr. dance party. Amaya was right there in the mix and it was adorable. After the dance party we wrapped up on an Ariel ride. We bought souvenirs before heading out of the park after an amazing 10.5 hr day at the parks. It was just incredible and I’m so grateful Amaya and I got to share the experience together.

Among the presents for Jason, Steve and Sammy and Amaya’s own souvenirs, I ordered this pillow for her as a permanent keepsake of her day at Disney. <3

Back at home, I had some happy boys.

Jason was working on something with the cabinet lighting and Sammy put up a barrier to be sure Jason would have a segregated work area.

Helping with dinner.

Madison learned about how much the kids enjoy Snapchat lol.

Amaya insisted I write the names of all of the princesses she met but was very frustrated that she can’t read them so we put symbols to use as cues.

Saturday morning started with a trip to Addie & Matt’s house.

This was Amaya’s chance to meet Nathan and my first meeting since he was ~6 months old.

Collecting rocks. As one does.

And art work. As Amaya does.

We spent the perfect afternoon at Laguna Beach. Amaya continued her campaign to get Matt to carry her around.

Checking out the tide pools. Amaya was hesitant at first but seemed to warm up fairly quickly – enough so that we practically had to drag her away.

We planned to go to a playground but found these sand dunes instead. (Maybe not quite dunes, but same general idea on a smaller scale.) Amaya spent the next hour rolling down sand hills. Because why not? They did this for, I’d say, at least an hour. Rolling, rolling, rolling.

And flying a kite for the first time!

We wrapped up our day, and our vacation, with ice cream.

Now here we are, heading back to our men after a mommy/daughter weekend we’ll never forget. <3 <3 <3

Just a little bit more from the rest of the week.

On Monday afternoon, SSA had a chance to play outside in the wet weather. Perfect when you’re 4!

Steven got new hightops that zip up the front around the toe. The goal is for him to be able to put them on himself, even with his orthotics on. So far, they’re just a bit too tight for him to make it work on this own but I’m hoping that changes with repeated use.

My little fashionista.

She’s also working on mastering doing her hair on her own. Not bad, in my opinion!

It took a while for the kids to get the coordination to hold the stencil down in one hand and trace with the other but they finally seem to have it down. Steven and Amaya do for sure.

Rescuing worms outside their school!

A little Steven piano playing.

Lunch out with Madison before picking out pumpkins.

Finally, we got photos back from a photoshoot that Megan did with the kids before her final days as our nanny. They’re wonderful and really capture the special relationship that she has with our kids.

And that’s it for our BIG, BIG week!! Have a great one!

On Monday, Madison had a “make your own pizza” night with the kids. Sammy has been going through a phase of refusing to eat dinner and Madison had the good idea of letting him participate in the cooking. The week was up and down with Sammy’s meals. There were one or two nights this week when Sammy went to bed without eating at all. I’m hoping we turned a corner but tomorrow will tell. Fingers crossed.

This is Sammy’s fit on Tuesday morning because I touched his shirt and now it was dirty and he couldn’t wear it unless it was washed first.

Amaya, showing off her outfit. Earlier this week Steven commented that, “Amaya has some really nice styles.” <3

My company operates the iCare Foundation and, on Tuesday, we had a charity golf outing to raise money. I played foot golf!! Soccer balls and larger holes on the course. I’ve actually never been out on a golf course before and it was a lot of fun for a great cause.

The weather was crappy and fields were flooded so the kids’ soccer practice was canceled. Instead, they went hunting for puddles to jump in.

Wednesday afternoon was the annual Snack in the Sukkah event at school in honor of Sukkot.

Sammy was excited to get to hold (and shake) the lulav and etrog.

I have tap class on Wednesday nights and getting out of the house is challenging. My mornings often look something like this, too. Amaya, of course, can’t be bothered. 🙂

Kids – your mommy plays with legos!

Steven decided that this tissue box is Morminer’s bed. Tight fit but Morminer seems happy.

Madison wanted to mix things up a bit for lunch on Thursday so she made a deck fort for the kids!

I mentioned that Steven has been resistant to soccer. On Thursday he refused to get into his dance clothes. In fact, when everyone was getting in the car, he took his backpack with all of his stuff and hung it back up in the hallway. I spoke to him about it and he said he really didn’t want to dance. I explained that he’d still have to go with Amaya and Sammy and the only thing to do would be sit and wait, which is pretty boring. But no one would force him to dance. Ultimately, he decided that he didn’t want to do tap anymore because “it’s too loud” but he still wants to do jazz. The teacher was nice and let him participate on Thursday barefoot in his street clothes. We’ll take it week by week for now and see how it plays out.

Sammy looooooves tap. He told us that he did “dig, brush, stomp.” Sounds right to me!

Steven, back in the mix!

The excitement for Friday was a weekend visit from Papa and Uncle Austin. While the kids waited for them to arrive, they did this fun scarecrow craft with Madison.

Sammy, waiting eagerly.

I tend to bring home sushi when we have out of home guests on a Friday night which makes Sammy very, very happy.

Uncle Austin drew some snakes and Amaya wanted to try to copy them. Madison patiently gave her step by step guidance to try to draw them on her own.

Success!!

More help from Uncle Austin.

Uncle Austin was also an excellent story book reader on Friday night.

Saturday was the final game for the Airtime Tweeters and it was our best! Steven, who asked me not to sign him up for soccer again, went onto the field every time he was called in by coach. Sammy made a great block! And Amaya was set up for the chance to score a goal.

Sammy’s block! Keep in mind, every other time he tended goal the opposing team went right by him to score. This was HUGE!!

Post game huddle with the coach.

Wearing his medal, making a quintessential Steven face.

As always, we hit up the playground afterward and the kids roped Uncle Austin and Papa into pushing them on the swings.

Amaya got some real height!

After the game we unlocked our flu shot achievement – kids and mom. Our pediatrician’s office lets parents get them at the same time. It was pretty brutal. I had to hold down three sets of arms to get the job done and there were many, many tears but, afterward, everyone agreed that it didn’t actually hurt. Plus, there were lollipops and stickers as prizes. And, hopefully, no flu.

Nervous, pre-poke face.

We all had lunch at Garage and then added Yogurtpalooza to the list of post-poke treats. It’s perfect for Steven because he can fill his cup with all the toppings, no fro-yo.

Checking out Uncle Austin’s pipe.

This morning Papa was up early and watched Coco with the kids.

This morning, Amaya was SO proud to have put her hair in a bun by herself. She’s been very into doing her own hair lately which has it’s plusses and minuses. 😉

Who likes lemons???

The last time we went to Bricks, the kids went to the bar to ask for lemons. When we arrived, Steven mentioned that and the hostess heard. When our waitress arrived with our drinks she was carrying a whole bunch of lemons for the kids.

This afternoon we went to Maybury farm and took our first trip to their corn maze!

Petting a friendly cow.

Heading to the corn maze in the wagon.

9 acres! We spent about 30 minutes in the maze. We made it through the pig to the pumpkin up through the words to the corn and back own around to the pumpkin and out the pig. We were lucky I took this picture before entering or we’d have been in the maze for a lot longer.

We had a lazy evening at home watching the Giants and wrapped up an awesome weekend with Papa and Uncle A!

Here, Sammy and Daddy are building jewelry together.

The day ended with bedtime stories from Uncle Austin. <3

Before bed, Steven told me, “If my eyes are shut when you come to check on me, that just means I like dreaming. Even if my eyes are shut, you can still kiss me.” Sweet boy.

Have a great week! Amaya and I are off to CA together on Thursday so we certainly hope to have one for the story books.

We’re trying to make the most of the warm weather while we still have it. I hate the end of summer because it means winter’s getting closer. I’m not ready for coats and hats and gloves and rushing in and out of the car to stay as warm as possible. I will hang on to summer and the early days of fall for as long as possible.

That said, Madison’s got the kids doing some great fall artwork as the leaves start to change colors.

This picture is so representative of the kids. From L to R, Steven, Sammy, Amaya.

Steven took great care to represent the diversity of colors in the fall leaves. Sammy moved through it as fast as possible, not concerned about the boundaries imposed by the lines. Amaya focused on precision in her art.

On Tuesday night we had an evening soccer game. It was a gorgeous night. Steven and Sammy seemed to find their niche goal tending, though it would be even better if they were focused on stopping the ball before it entered the net lol. Sammy did get into the game on and off and Amaya was right in there, chasing the ball every time she was on the field but never getting too close to the fray.

I was off on Wednesday for Yom Kippur and, with kids services scheduled for the afternoon, we took the morning to meet up with Megan and Taco for a trip to Three Cedars Farm. SSA have all been to the play area there but it was my first trip! It’s a really great space and I’m hoping we can get back one more time before it’s too cold – maybe even go on a hay ride.

Train rides! Steven said, “Amaya and I went on the train with Rosie when you were in New York with Sammy. We’ll show Sammy how it works.” He’s right! I think it was last fall that Rosie took Steven and Amaya to Three Cedars.

“Hi May May! Hi Taco!”

Made me smile. 🙂

Put $1 in the machine – get a Country Jamboree.

“Milking” a cow. When they pull on the udders, water comes out and fills a bucket.

We wrapped up the morning picking mini pumpkins.

Amaya got mail from our triplet friend Hadley! You can’t tell but the picture also says, “Amaya” on it. She was thrilled!

Steven decided to make a chart with his super hero & villain stickers He wanted to see how many he had of his favorites.

We worked together to write the numbers. Steven told me what came next and I dotted it for him to trace. That “Steven” is all his own!

Amaya wanted to do the same thing but by herself so Madison wrote out the numbers on a different piece of paper as a reference point. Not bad work! And a reminder that we spend a lot more time practicing writing letters than numbers.

On Thursday afternoon, Steven, Sammy, Amaya & Madison picked up Nana at the airport and Nana had a chance to watch the kids at dance class! She took a ton of pictures for us, and an almost equal number of videos. Steven had a bit of trouble focusing and staying with the class in tap but rallied well for jazz.

Heel walking.

Thursday night, Nana read their bedtime stories. Here, she’s reading poems in a book from Grandpa Homey.

As she always does when she flies in on Thursday, Nana took the kids to school on Friday and went to Shabbat with them. Sammy was quick to tell me that he spent the most time with Nana at Shabbat. 🙂

Quiet time. I’m so curious about what’s going through their minds while they “read.”

Friday afternoon the kids collected leaves for a new project.

Leaf monsters! Here’s Sammys, “Leafy the leaf monster.” Steven had “Witch the leaf monster” and Amaya’s was “Ghost the leaf monster.”

Wrapping up the day in the Cline Bros Salon.

Saturday morning was soccer picture day. We got there bright and early to shell out $$$ for photos of the kids in the first sports uniforms. The boys immediately cuddled up to Amaya (which wasn’t quite look the photographer was going for).

The Airtime Tweeters! (As a side note, their coach – Coach G – is great. He does an awesome job engaging all the kids and never, ever showing frustration.)

In addition to Nana, we had Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette at our game! The boys were eager to help. (Sammy took of running to his Grandma. <3 )

Me, standing by Steven, who was adamant he was cold and didn’t want to play and needed to wipe his nose on my shirt and, and, and, and… It was a tough one. Eventually I had to just leave him in the capable hands of his father and watch from the other side of the field. He legitimately seems uninterested in soccer but he’s also working the (mommy) system.

Post game snacks!

Jason got the new iPhone and the camera is fantastic. I’m jealous!

As always, we hit up the playground after the game.

In defense of my 4 year olds in the baby swings, the big swings sit up so high its hard for even me to get on them.

TV time with Daddy.

Saturday afternoon, Nana and I went with the kids to see Hansel & Gretel at the kids’ theater in Northville. It looks empty but that’s only because they block off the back part of the theater. I’d estimate about 100 people in the audience. Everyone was a fan! Steven came home and told Jason, “I loved the play!” When Jason asked his favorite part he said, “A witch turned a lady into a cookie and then she got turned back into a lady.”

Tooling around Northville before dinner. I love this dress. 🙂

Can’t go wrong with Garage! Sammy abandoned noodles in favor of calamari for dinner.

Last night Nana fulfilled SSA’s wish and slept in the princess guest room. (I think she actually set her alarm for 6am and then went into the princess guest room but the effect was the same for the kids.) Since she was there at wake-up time, I got to sleep in. To make it even better, Nana took them to Starbucks for breakfast. Win for everyone! Steven, Sammy and Amaya love going to Starbucks with Nana and Jason & I loved a quiet morning at home.

After breakfast we hit up Brickfest at Suburban Showplace. We saw an ad when we were at the State Fair and, after seeing the way Steven obsessed over the Lego city, we knew we had to check it out. It’s really convenient living so close.

Reviewing the rules…

For most of the time, Sammy was my buddy, Steven was Jason’s buddy and Amaya was Nana’s buddy. There were some pretty impressive constructions including a massive Rube Goldberg machine.

Steven could barely contain his excitement. This was right up his alley!

Sammy made this tower (with a base) and was excited to leave it on the table as an example for other people who came to build after him. Sweet boy.

Steven was in his element. You can spy Amaya in the background (and me! sitting next to Nana).

Lego robot cars!

I’m obsessed with Bubba in this red Lego bow tie.

Each of the kids got to pick out a treat at the event. Sammy and Steven picked Lego sets. Amaya picked a necklace with a pink yellow heart. We also got the kids a big set of bricks for more building. And I got myself a treat, too! The Women of NASA set! I had so much fun putting it together that I ordered myself a 2000+ piece Voltron to put together.

Aside from Sammy’s trip to Kroger for groceries and treats, the kids spent the rest of the day outside in the beautiful weather. I want to hang on to it as long as possible!

I’ll leave you for the week with Chocolate Face Sammy.

Have a great one!