Monday morning Sammy woke up insistent on wearing a dress to school. Their school is very excepting of kids exploring and being kids so it was a good opportunity to be able to say “yes”, unlike the party at the bounce house place where “yes” wasn’t quite as easy. He wore it over jeans and was content all day.

Too cool for the playground.

Mike and Taco met up with Megan and SSA at the playground, which was a treat for everyone. They loved pushing her in the swing. Taco is almost 18 months old!

We got new cups for the kids and, for the first two days, Steven was very nervous about the transition. He doesn’t love change. On Monday, though, Megan helped him crack the code. He was so proud of himself!

Tuesday morning. Thank goodness for king beds!

The kids’ dentist appointment was scheduled for January and I had to keep pushing it out because of work conflicts. I had another conflict on Tuesday but really didn’t want to move it again so Megan stepped up like a rock star and took the kids on her own. For context, we’ve had tears at all of our past appointments and no one would sit in the chair. This visit was totally different. We had three BIG, BRAVE kids who sat in the chair without any tears at all.

On Tuesday night, Sammy scratched Steven as part of some kind of bedtime tussle. Sammy wouldn’t apologize and Steven was annoyed enough that he wanted to sleep alone. Fortunately, Amaya was very excited about the idea of sleeping in Steven’s bed so they made a trade!

We had an exercise at work that involved paint so I made this watermelon boat with a teacher and three students. Everyone was quick to point out, though, that it was more likely me with my kids. Funny how I work in threes.

Here’s a bedtime meltdown for you. Steven was upset that I went upstairs without him. “You left me downstairs alone!”

Wednesday night was another bedroom swap, and why not sleep in a bathing suit.

Poor Sammy. He had a rough Thursday morning because I told him there wasn’t time for me to make him pancakes. “Pleeeeease! Please make me pancakes!”

Apparently there were also some bad moods leaving school for the day, too.

The Honeybees class made an “I want to be…” book at school. Here are the Cline kid contributions. Interesting to see how their ambitions change from week to week. 🙂

More meltdowns on Friday night! Whoo! It helps to have my triplet group and see that this is just par for the course for their age, and not specific to our trio. But still… work to do helping them handle big feelings. To that end, I just ordered No Drama Discipline and The Whole Brain Child and plan to read them on some upcoming flights. I’ve heard great things about both books so hopefully there will be useful tips and tricks.

Here, Sammy is upset because Amaya took the fork he wanted. I can’t even remember why Steven was upset.

Friday night Steven and Amaya continued their swap but, this time, Amaya decided she’d prefer to sleep on the floor. Sammy joined in for a bit before realizing his bed is much more comfortable.

Saturday morning was awesome because I got to take Steven, Sammy and Amaya to a make-up dance class. It’s my first time taking them, other than last week’s costume photos! It was nice to get to be there with them and see the class in action. Either their following directions better at this point in the year or they just happened to be in great form in this particular class.

Steven and Sammy are warming up with twirls.

Amaya wore her construction goggles and, since it was a Saturday special class, Miss Christina said she could wear them for class.

Getting a little help with her ballet slipper strings.

Sammy’s got it down. Check out his perfectly placed arm above his head.

His pointed toe.

These arms above his head!

I’m already picturing him on stage in 16 years in the New York City Ballet.

I got a preview of their recital dance which I was happy about because I think there’s about a 5% chance the kids actually dance on stage and a 95% chance they just cry through the whole thing.

Sweet construction ballerina. <3

Jason held down the fort on Saturday afternoon while I got a haircut and some work done. Of course that meant ball cards! (This morning, Amaya was working on her ball card organization and told me she needed help with her “spacer”. I could tell what she was talking about but really had no idea how to help so we had to wait for daddy for the assist.)

Steven spent part of the afternoon drawing pictures of each of the planets. He asked Jason for a description and then set out drawing. When he was done, we put the pictures together in a book for him.

Some samples…

He also got up to some cute imaginary play at the doll house. He and one of the figures were working together on some handyman jobs, fixing broken chairs.

We wrapped up our Saturday with magazines, books and nose picking. <3

And, very exciting for the kids, they had a sleepover!! Amaya and Steven on the floor and Sammy in his bed. It was adorable and, remarkably, they fell asleep pretty quickly.

Today was beautiful and we spent 3.5 hours at a playground with my friend Nina and her four year old triplets. The kids played so well together and I think seeing how adventurous Sarah, Kenny and William are motivated Steven, Sammy and Amaya to try parts of the playground they might not have otherwise.

Amaya was so proud when she discovered she could make this walk.

Sammy rode his biggest slides yet.

Amazingly, the kids all spent nearly an hour playing together in the dirt around this tree stump. Two huge playgrounds right there and all they need was dirt and “nature” to keep them happy. “We’re digging for nature!”

Sammy and a bunch of other kids had races down the slides while Amaya and Steven took care of “ready, set, go!”

By the end of the day, Steven was comfortable enough to climb the rock.

Arrive in jackets and hoods, leave in a tank top!

Kenny spent a while sitting at the bottom of the slide reading to Amaya. It was really cute.

I’m so excited we found this playground! It’s 5 minutes from our house and has enough to keep the kids entertained for hours. They’re already excited to go back!

That’s it for this week! Next week I have a trip to Savannah, Grandpa Homey is coming to visit and we have a special birthday! Have a great one!

Amaya started her week pretty in pink. I learned that she knows how to do buttons and she was probably the only person in MI happy to see snow because it meant that she could wear her snow boots.

I came home from work to find Megan and three happy kids ready to present me with this early birthday cookie. “Mommy! It has orange because you love orange!” So, so sweet. Thank you, Megan!

“Hold up the big cookie in the picture, Mommy!”

My birthday, on Wednesday, was perfect. I woke to Steven, Sammy and Amaya so happy to wish me a happy birthday. Steven said it over and over and, when they left for school, told me he’d see me at my birthday party. I wish I could capture it in his sweet little voice.

Jason even had some of my favorites waiting for me as a surprise and, later, a crab dinner and a trading card autographed by Clark Gregg from Agents of SHIELD.

Amaya dressed as she does on, on Wednesday in preparation to come to my office for lunch, she asked me to please wear my matching leggings. When your 4 year old wants to match, you find a way. Even when those are the leggings. 🙂

My final morning surprise was a card waiting for me in my car. <3

My generous colleagues decorated my office and also had a cake, that they planned to serve when SSA were visiting. It was so thoughtful. Amaya loooooooved our CMO, Sean. She gave him hug after hug and told me she wants to have lunch with him. If you know Amaya, you know that she doesn’t offer affection unless she really means it.

Can you see that I put on my leggings? 🙂

“Mommy! I see a picture from when we were at Texas!” (It was a photo of Amaya with Elsa and Tinkerbell.)

Steven fell for Sean, too. When he left he was upset that he didn’t get to give him a hug goodbye. Sean’s a child-whisperer!

My necklaces from the kids. The best! Thank you for orchestrating this, Megan!

A birthday message from Amaya!

This week, Steven’s Hair Salon has been quite busy. He’s got quite the set up, and a very willing customer.

Sammy is getting his own practice in on Barbie.

There has been a lot of talk about puppies in our house, but we have kids who aren’t actually excited about dogs. (And, to be clear, Amaya is NOT on Team Puppy. At all. “Ever,” she says.) To see how they’d do, Megan took the kids to the pet store at the mall for a chance to play with a little puppy. Steven was enthralled. It was an itty bitty little guy and Steven couldn’t have been happier.

Sammy was willing to come down off the bench and pet the puppy as long as he was on Megan’s lap.

Little face.

Amaya was not having it. Poor thing was afraid the dog would eat her.

On Friday night, both boys got it into their head that they needed to sleep with me. For reasons I can’t explain, I agreed. It took a while for Steven and Sammy to understand that I wasn’t going to get into bed right then. I loved this view waiting for me at bedtime, though, and all was well through the night until 3:45am when Amaya decided to join the party. I love sharing a bed with Amaya but it got just a little too crowded at that point. This was a “they’ll only be little for a while” moment for me where it was too hard to pass up the chance. I often think about the days my kids won’t need me or want me in this way and I’m going to maximize it while I can. (But not every night!)

On Saturday we had plans to go to see The Velveteen Rabbit at the children’s theater in Northville – part of SSA’s birthday present from Nana and Papa. The men and ladies split up so Amaya and I could stop at CVS for dance picture supplies. I had to take these photos for two reasons:

1. I did my trial run of a ballet bun. Not bad!
2. Amaya is wearing jeans. Never happens!!

We met up with our men right before the show. The boys wanted to dress like daddy in the same type warm-up pants and grey shirts.

The show!

We went out for dinner afterward where the kids were about as difficult as I’ve ever seen them in a restaurant and our patience was tested in all new ways. We survived, though, and you’d never know about the antics from these post-dinner photos when, on the way to the car, Sammy and Amaya made a point to find every “jumpable” surface they could.

Ms. Diaper Hat got cranky again by the ride home. (Found a diaper in the center console for use as a tissue which, instead, was used as a hat.)

Today!! Today were photos for the kids’ dance studio! I debated putting these in the blog because I’m waiting on the professional photos but it was such a big day (for me lol) and I want to have a record of it so I decided to preview their costumes in advance of the big day.

Amaya was so excited to get to wear make-up – pink lipstick, blush, a little purple eye shadow and mascara.

My kids! In dance costumes! It was adorable. I was plotzing.

I just can’t with these costumes. I hope their pictures together are as cute as they looked in person. <3

They were all so interested in the big kids walking around. An older boy came over to talk to Steven and Sammy since the men are definitely outnumbered.

I’m sure the actual recital will be an uncoordinated mess of 4 year olds but everyone is definitely having fun in the process.

After photos, I took Steven and Sammy to my colleague Chris’ house to meet his new dog, Gary. Gary is a 3 month old pomskie and so cute.

Steven was more intimidated than with the little cocker spaniel puppy earlier in the week and neither boy worked up the nerve to pet Gary but they did have a great time playing fetch with him. Gary seemed to learn very quickly that he should bring the toy back to me regardless of who threw it.

When you’re over tired from a big morning, you eat lunch under the kitchen table.

Spring is here!! We’re ready!!

Bedtime stories are a continuing theme. I’m glad I’m know that reading the same books over and over again is actually a good thing. (For them. Not us. Definitely not for us.)

Finally, three random pictures of Steven from the week.

1. When he’s a little too quiet in Amaya’s room.

2. When he’s having a tough morning and can’t let it go so he eats his breakfast at the bottom of the stairs.

3. When his pants are pulled high for comic relief, just like his daddy does.

And that’s it! Have a great week!

It was a week of settling back into routine after spring break. Monday morning was rough for everyone.

This is a pic of the kids watching Octonauts for the first time. Steven was completely mesmerized. The kids would watch TV allllllllllll day long if we let them.

Bedtime wrestling with Jason. No one does it like Daddy!

Tuesday teased us and it was just warm enough for a trip to the playground. There’s snow on the ground right now and it snowed at least twice last week so it was short lived.

Amaya is still hung up on sleeveless dresses and tights. I think I know what she’s going to need for spring.

I was trying to do her hair and realized it was greasy. I asked her if she put lotion in her hair and she said, “No. I put it on my face and it got in my hair.” She also asked for 5 clips. I pick my battles at 7am.

How long does she look here?!?!

Oh, Wednesday morning. We have a new Wednesday routine where I’m taking the kids to work so that I can have one day/week to work late. This was our first day running the new program. I should have known that the universe wouldn’t make it easy.

I gave the kids crackers and peanut butter for breakfast because crackers for breakfast are a treat and I was feeling generous. Everyone started with 6. While Sammy was counting his out of the package, Steven started counting his own. Now I know it’s suuuuper annoying and distracting to have someone count over you. I try to do it to my mom whenever she’s counting spoonfuls of coffee at night for the morning coffee. It’s doesn’t take much to throw you off. But Sammy was totally thrown by it and got pissed. In anger, he dumped half the packet of crackers on the floor. Because of that, I finished counting out his last three crackers and that’s when all hell broke loose. “I wanted to take my own crackers!!!” He smashed them up to little pieces and was inconsolable.

I got lucky because right about when I was out of patience, Jason came down and I got to escape to get ready for work while he played good cop.

Everyone was recovered by the time we got to school, though once Jason left for work it was Steven who started dragging his feet. This is why I have my own personal start chart for the mornings. A star for mommy if I can stay calm in the face of whatever is thrown at me. (Negative 17 million stars for me last Wednesday!)

Racing to get to their classroom before I do!

Now racing back to their hiding spot!

Off the go! The hiding spot is behind that wood cabinet. They think it’s hysterical.

Costumes are coming in and next weekend is the dance recital photo shoot. One more way to milk me for money that I will gladly hand over if the photographer gets a great shot of Steven, Sammy and Amaya together in their dance recital costumes. It’s really too much to think about.

Next dress! This one is so cute! I hope I can get her to wear it again.

This is the kind of 12:30pm photo I get from Megan when one of the kids is having a rough day after school. I think Sammy wanted something he couldn’t have. As it goes…

It’s so interesting to watch Steven create. Here he was gluing two pieces of yellow paper between two pieces of brown paper to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

Now he’s making a toilet paper roll into a robot. “Bee boop bee boop.”

Finally Friday. But the morning had it’s own challenges.

Here, Sammy is melting down because I dared to close his sandwich and Steven is telling me that I don’t know anything.

I’m sure some day they’ll ask why I take pictures in moments like this but, really, what else is there to do when you can’t make sandwiches and don’t know anything?

Amaya and Steven eventually asked for their headphones so they didn’t have to listen to Sammy scream and Sammy asked for his because he didn’t want to hear anyone talk. 🙂

Megan came down with a stomach bug on Friday morning so added to the chaos was figuring out child care. Grandma Sunshine came to the rescue (yay!!) and was able to spend the afternoon with SSA but I was on board to pick them up at school and bring them back to my house.

This was Steven’s face when I showed up on the playground to get them. All joy! What a great mom moment. He came down from the play structure and ran over to the sandbox – “Sammy! Mommy is here!!” <3 <3 <3

Happy Sammy! The boys kept running in circles, they were so excited. Steven was yelling, “I don’t know why I can’t stop running!” And he made sure all of the teachers knew his mommy was there to pick them up. Where’s Amaya? Playing it coy. She needed to see how this was going to play out before she got excited.

Thank you, Grandma Sunshine!!!!

Saturday morning Steven opted for waffles instead of playroom pancakes. Before he would eat, he had to get this set up perfectly inside the tent.

Our morning activity was a school friend’s birthday at Pump It Up. Everyone was excited to celebrate Emily’s birthday. We had some work to do before the party, though, because Sammy was insistent that he wear this dress. I told him it wasn’t good to wear dresses to jump in so he showed me how nice the dress looks when you jump. He really, really wanted to wear it. I spent most of the morning struggling with what to do. I want them to be free 4 year olds. Why can Amaya wear the boys’ clothes without question but they can’t wear hers? Is it such a negative for a boy to be seen as feminine while, at the same time, we are telling our girls they can be whoever they want? I wanted to be the mom who could just say “fuck it” and send him to the party in the dress. But I’m not. Not quite. I’ve let them wear dresses to school and to travel but this felt different in a way I can’t quite explain and still struggle with. In the end, the compromise was that Amaya and Sammy both changed out of their dresses (and I had to give Amaya a little blush on her cheeks as a bribe to do it). Once the change was made Sammy seemed fine but part of me still wonders about whether or not we made the right decision.

SSA are not the kind of kids who rush into bounce houses. They’re cautious and a little reluctant. Sammy and Amaya were able to quickly find some spaces they were comfortable with, though, which made me happy to see.

Steven was not into it. Even with me inside the bounce house he really didn’t want any part of it.

He found the toddler area and was very content with this little problem solving toy on the wall.

In fact, all three kids spent a nice amount of time in here between other activities.

Air hockey was a HUGE hit!

Steven, showing Sammy and Amaya they way out. 🙂

Steven finally found his jam with this basketball game. Go Bobes!!

And Sammy wrapped up playtime going down one of the BIG slides! Go Bubba!!

It was a fun morning, which led to a fun afternoon & evening at the CIRCUS!!

First, Steven read his first word in the wild! He asked why this sign said “No”. It’s a start!!

The Shrine Circus was right around the block from us at Suburban Showplace (where we go to Motor City Comic Con) and we pass the tents every day on the way to school. On Friday, on our way home, the kids did the heavy sell and it wasn’t hard to convince us to check it out.

We’re ready!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya were mesmerized. It was so cool to watch them watch the performances.

Two guys on bicycles supporting a woman on a pole who’s sitting on a chair. Madness.

Amaya had a 103 fever last night and complained of a sore throat so Jason took her to urgent care this morning to be sure it wasn’t strep. Of course by the time she got there she had no measurable fever but better safe than sorry.

In the meantime, the boys and I were the only ones who braved the April ice storm to go to yoga so we had a private lesson! That meant we all go to try inversions. Steven and Sammy were soooooo cute.

Steven looks focused here but he spent about 3/4 of the class running around doing his own thing lol. Sammy, however, was completely focused and did every single pose. Also soooooo cute.

I wrapped up my weekend at a screening of I Am Evidence. It’s a documentary about the rape kit backlog, with much of the narrative taking place in Detroit. It was powerful, infuriating, discouraging and hopeful. I attended with the friends I made working on Detroit’s backlog crisis, which was particularly special. After the screening, Prosecutor Worthy, Mariska Hargitay, the directors and three survivors took the stage for a panel discussion. It was such a powerful night. The documentary airs on HBO starting tomorrow night (4/16) at 8pm ET.

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

I’m back! I had every intention of publishing a blog post last Sunday but I was taken out by a stomach virus that made it impossible for me to do anything besides be sick and moan, “oh no, oh no, oh no” over and over again. Uncle Dave & Nana really stepped up to the plate to make sure everyone was taken care of that night. It was such a bad virus that 10 of the 24 people at our seder got sick! So now I’m backing up with what I’ll call a Super Blog because it’s two weeks of updates including a full week in NY.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya love taking turns to use the key card at school. On Monday, 3/26, Sammy was having a very rough morning and the promise of the key card was all it took to help him get back on track.

The kids love to run up ahead and hide in the hall before I get there. They hide in the same spot every week and are still so thrilled to jump out and surprise me.

Last year I had a wonderful triplet mom secret sister (and do again this year) and she went above and beyond by sending us some new puzzles in a format that SSA have loved (16 pc licensed characters). Steven and Amaya breeze through them pretty quickly and Sammy is still working on the focus to take it step by step.

Tuesday night I got ambitious after work. I bought some Star Wars cookie cutters from William Sonoma and really wanted to bake cookies with SSA.  It was a success, thanks to Megan who suggested we cut the cookies when they were just about done baking rather than while the dough was still super sticky. Perfection!

Chewy for Sammy, RD2D for Steven and Darth Vadar for Amaya. (Plus Yoda for me! And off-camera cookie for Jason.) It was fun but I’m almost inclined to use these for play doh and/or kinetic sand instead.

Another Steven original. This time a drawing of Daddy. Looks just like him! <3

This was so cute. Amaya said she hurt her leg so Sammy and Steven jumped in to help. Sammy was the tech who took pictures of her knee and Steven was her doctor.

Sammy – getting the photos.

Showing the photos to Dr. Steven

He’s on the case!

A full work-up for Amaya! It was so cute to watch the whole scene play out. Everyone was very into their roles including Amaya who limped around expertly when she first got up.

The week leading up to Passover we spent breakfast time telling Passover stories and watching YouTube videos of Passover songs. This is Amaya’s imitation of Pharaoh. And, yes, her dress is on backwards.

Sammy decided he wanted to dye his hair for NY so, on Thursday afternoon, we did our best! We went for blue and he was so patient but, unfortunately, it didn’t take in his darker hair the way it does in Amaya’s. He was adorable through the process, though, and amazingly he wasn’t too disappointed when it didn’t really take.

Amaya was going to get her hair dyed, too, but she got the same virus Steven had the weekend prior and Sammy had the week before that. Poor thing. Nausea is the worst.

Sick kids get to sleep with Mommy or Daddy. How sweet are these two together?

By Friday morning this girl was pretty much back to herself, even enough to get her hair dyed. I still wanted to be sure she’d be okay flying that night so we made our way to her doctor’s office to be for zofran. Amaya needs Benadry to fly as it is (for nausea) and I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

Little Mama did not like the car ride.

Just fine by the time we left the dr’s office, though. And thank goodness.

We were ready for our trip to NY!! YAY!!

“I’m a really strong guy.”

Last April was my first time flying alone with Steven, Sammy and Amaya and it was unexpected after Sara’s flight to Detroit was canceled. I fly alone again in August and, by this trip, I felt like I really had a handle on things. A year makes a huge difference in the lives of 4 year olds and the bribes were ready just in case.

Before the flight, everyone got their wings from our pilot. This still hasn’t gotten old for the kids.

Not only were there pilot wings but SSA were invited to the cockpit! Only Amaya took advantage of the opportunity. She climbed right into the captain’s chair and pushed all of the buttons. Poor Sammy had to be reassured that Amaya wasn’t really going to fly the plane.

And off we went! Sammy was ready to sit across the aisle next to a stranger motivated by full access to my iPad.

“Mommy! I see the Delta symbol. Do these letters spell Delta?”

And there were were! New York!! Sammy took off running into his Nana’s arms.

We got back to Nana’s house at 10:30pm but Sammy didn’t want to go to bed until Nana lit Shabbat candles. So sweet.

Saturday, the kids were besides themselves for the opportunity to see everyone. It was a morning of playtime followed by an awesome Seder with family and our friends the Honigs and Lewises.

These girls had been counting the minutes until they were together again.

We love Uncle Dave!

Before the Seder the boys were still tired from their nap so I offered Sammy a small taste of grape juice to give him a boost. We don’t do juice often at all and this was a first time for grape juice. He took one sip, looked at me and said, “I love it.” No surprise there!

It’s hard to tell but this is Amaya dipping her pickle in gravy at the seder dinner. And later in the week she dipped her pickle in ketchup. Odd little girl. 😉

Nana, in her traditional Matzah apron. 🙂

Steven, Sammy and Amaya brought a whole host of Passover supplies to NY. Seder plates. Elijah’s cup. Afikoman bags. Matzah covers!

There was also the parsley. So, about 6 weeks ago the kids planted parsley in plastic cups and the intention was to grow it for the Passover seder. (This was a school project.) It started getting moldy and had to be tossed but SSA were so excited to eat their own parsley at the Seder that I told them I’d mail it to Nana’s house. When we arrived, Nana had little bags of parsley labeled with each of the kids’ names. It was perfect. I think this big was the highlight of Sammy’s day. For weeks he’d been talking about eating his parsley. <3

Chase and Nana doing the 4 questions.

Very focused on his matzah.

Amaya, Joe and Eli. Says Joe, “I’m going to make the blog!” Hahahaha.

It was a great day with friends and family, wrapped up with a sibling photo + Nana. Passover is my favorite holiday and this one totally delivered.

Sunday was a much needed quiet day. We spent the morning at Nana’s house doing crafts. Steven, Sammy and Amaya tried perler beads for the first time. I think they’re still a step away from independently ready (or patient enough) but it was fun to try.

Steven, working on his horse. Of course it’s all green.

In the afternoon we went to the Goldberg’s house. Steven and Amaya went out back to play with Chase and Charlie while Sammy and Uncle Dave played demolition monster truck. He looooooved it.

You can’t have a night with Charlie without a fashion show.

So all was going well until about 5:30pm when I started to feel sick. Sometimes you know it’s the real deal. And it was. 🙁 I’m so grateful to Dave who made sure Sammy, Amaya and I got home and to Nana who took care of everyone while I was soooooooo sick. Sadly I wasn’t the only one. Over the next day and a half, a lot of us went down including Chase, Charlie, Sara and Austin. Our saving grace was that whatever it was was fast moving.

Everyone was recovered by Monday but it was still a quiet day at home for the kids. Nana held down the fort, Papa got in playtime and Savta came over to visit.

“I lost my hand!”

By Tuesday we were ready to head out again and took everyone to an indoor play place called Cup ‘O Fun. It was kind of old and run down, especially for the admission, but the kids had a blast which is really all that mattered.

Of all the times I’ve been to NY with Steven, Sammy and/or Amaya, we’ve never been to NYC. Can you believe it? So Wednesday was a dream day for me. We left early and drove into the city to go to the dinosaur bone museum (American Museum of Natural History). Steven and Sammy loved the drive through the city. They were captivated by the skyscrapers, emergency vehicles and fire escapes. 🙂 I answered question after question. “Mommy, do you know a lot about New York City because you used to live here?” I even took a route that ensured I’d drive by 96th and CPW so I could see my old neighborhood.

Dinosaur Bones!! (Which reminds me that I want to mention something Steven said at the seder – “Is Moses dead like the dinosaurs and Poppy Steven?” He’s making connections lol!

Lots and lots of dinosaur bones!

ROAR!!

GRRRR!

Making a souvenir penny for Aunt Sara.

Poor Steven really struggles with public bathrooms. It’s particularly difficult for him in large ones with all of the toilets flushing. He’s nervous to use public bathrooms as it is but all of the toilets at the museum really stressed him out. Amaya was a little uncertain, too, so I told the kids they could get small 2nd prize at the gift shop if they peed on the potty. I even had their potty seat. Amaya bit immediately but Steven just said, “I think my 2nd small prize should be a pull-up.” And so it was. He’s still new to all of this and was seriously distressed so I didn’t push. He knew what he needed.

After a great day at the museum, the boys and I headed home only to learn that the battery on Nana’s car died! After a 45 minute wait they got a jump only to put the wrong address in the gps and ended up at her address in Brooklyn instead of West Hempstead! What should have been a 1:15 drive home took about two and a half hours instead. I’m told Amaya and Charlie were total troopers the whole time.

It wasn’t hard for the rest of us to kill time while we waited.

Steven picked out this vehicle set as his present from the gift shop and we spent time together building it.

Thursday was also the requisite cousin sleepover. In the past, the Cline kids were all together in one room and the Goldbergs were in their room but, this time, there was a lady room and a man room. SSA’s first real sleepover experience!

Nana kindly let me sleep in the next morning while the cousins played together.

Someone was happy to see me when I finally materialized.

It was another evening at Sara and Dave’s house, this time for some overdue baths.

The kids were so excited to play with the bath toys at Aunt Sara’s house. “Isn’t the mermaid beautiful,” says Sammy.

On Thursday night Steven insisted on sleeping right on the floor instead of his air mattress or the bed. It turns out he wanted to be like Chase who slept on the floor in his room the night before. That is so precious. I love it.

“I don’t want to get dressed yet, Mommy”, was the start to our Friday. But we had a big morning planned at the Long Island Children’s Museum. It was incredible! I can’t believe how much there is to do. We were there for almost 2 hrs and could have easily stayed another hour or more.

Digging for dinosaur bones! A perfect compliment to our museum trip.

A fossil etching, with help from Aunt Sara.

The bubble room.

There was a “tool” room that had woodworking activities for kids 5 and older and an “odds & ends” craft center for kids of all ages. It was one of the highlights of the visit for sure.

Sammy’s craft. Amaya’s was similarly abstract.

Steven’s craft. He had a very clear vision and just needed a little help cutting the cardboard.

The biggest hit, though, were the telephones. You could hear each other through the receivers and Steven and Sammy were completely enthralled.

“Who is this?”
“Sammy.”
“Who’s Sammy?”
“Your brother.”

There were a whole bunch of different phone set-ups (for kids who’ve never spoke on a rotary phone and aren’t actually sure what they’re doing). Sammy and Chase are at one phone with Steven in the bottom of the photo facing away. You can also see Amaya in one corner speaking on another phone (to me, up on another level). Such a simple concept and they loooooooved it.

Shoe shine guys.

Gears!

The afternoon was spent with my college roommate, Rachel, who always makes a point to get to Long Island to visit when I’m in town for a week. We had a grown-up only lunch and then took the kids (along with Nana and Auntie) to a carousel. Only when we got there the carousel was gone! The website still says it’s there, complete with hours, but the space is completely empty! Fortunately I was able to improvise with a quick stop to the cheesecake factory. A sliver of cheesecake for everyone and all was well (along with a promise to visit another carousel the next day).

Decisions, decisions…

Dancing to pass the time.

Before we left the house, Steven insisted we draw a carousel. He directed me to make two circles, one inside the other. Then he drew a pole and had Auntie draw a horse and a bench next to it, which he said didn’t need a pole. Finally, he added these scribbles around the carousel which he said were to show that the carousel was moving. 😮

I’m honestly astonished by this. I asked him who taught him to make squiggly lines to show something is moving and he says he taught himself. If that’s true, it shows such a deep level of conceptual thinking. We have such interesting kids.

Saturday was our last day in NY and we capped off the visit with our first outing to live theater. Peter Pan was playing locally and we got a block of 11 tickets. I was so excited about this. Nana and Papa got SSA a family package to the local children’s theater here in our area and I was excited for both the experience and to see how they’d do.

They LOVED it! Before the show started we were telling the kids what to expect and Steven said, “I love costumes and music!”  Sammy had a ton of questions about what was real and what was pretend. The show was about an hour long which was the perfect length. (And, for some nostalgia, the first Broadway show I ever saw was Peter Pan. My mom and I went with our friends Louise and Sarah Cogan.)

Steven wanted to sit on my lap. The theater seats made him a little nervous and he was uncomfortable with the boosters Amaya and Sammy used to get a better view.

After the show we got to meet the cast. Charlie, Sammy and Amaya were all excited to take a picture with Peter Pan. 🙂

Our last adventure of the trip was a visit to the Nunley’s Carousel to make up for our Thursday mishap. Amaya and Steven were sure from the get-go that they wanted to sit on a bench with me rather than ride horses.

Sammy, on the other hand, went for a horse!

And didn’t like it. 🙁  Poor Bubba. He hung in there, literally, until the ride came to a stop.

Fortunately he rallied and went for another round, this time on a bench.

Amaya wasn’t ready to try a moving horse but she did try a static one and loved it. Sammy said this is what he’ll try next time.

By Amaya’s third ride I had to recruit help from Nana.

We finished up with dinner at Nana & Papa’s and that was it for our amazing week in NY! It always flies by.

And back to MI we went. I’m so proud of how well Steven, Sammy and Amaya do when we fly. We’ve got a great routine in place and they handle air travel exceptionally well. They’re definitely frequent fliers by now. I’ve really crossed over to a point where flying alone with them is barely intimidating at all.

This time Steven wanted the aisle and Sammy wanted a window so Steven was the master of the tablet.

Not sleeping, just bored lol.

And we’re home! All four of us are sad to say goodbye to NY but very, very happy to be home with Jason.

I’ll wrap up this double-up catch-up blog post with this spring’s school photo of Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

Me: What did the photographer say to make you laugh?
Steven: He told us to kiss Amaya’s cheeks and that was silly.

Have a great week!

Amaya is very fickle about letting me do her hair. It’s hit or miss and the hits usually only come when either it’s a) her idea or b) I convince her that I’m doing her hair like Charlie wears hers. So on Monday I was a happy mama when I convinced Amaya to let me do a side braid “like Charlie”. I was also happy to finally see Amaya in this adorable cat sweater. I can’t remember for sure but odds are that she’s wearing some crazy mismatched pants lol. But I’ll take what I can get!

Oh! Nope! A nice purple. Good work, Amaya!

Amaya had a very, very hard time saying goodbye to Jason on Monday morning. I think she was still recovering from his week in Vegas. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs.<3

I snapped this quick picture of Steven in the drop-off room on Monday morning. He went in and sat down right among the group of girls who were playing and reading books. I feel like SSA tend to stick together and are a little less social with the other kids so it’s always fun to see them paying with their “friends”. (The class got a new kid this week – Gavriel – and Miss Faith did tell Megan that Steven, Sammy and Amaya welcomed him immediately and made a point to play with him. I love that.)

Miss Eugenia sent this picture of Amaya at swim. She loves to tell me she put her head in the water. 🙂

On Monday afternoon, Megan led a meeting where they discussed that no one would cry or whine that afternoon. And since everyone was going to be good listeners, they could go to the park after nap and then come home for baths. It looks like it worked!

The kids have those Color Wonder markers where the color doesn’t show up until you use the marker on special paper. The coloring book had an illustration on it that Steven wanted to draw himself. He was so focused and cried and cried when we told him he had to stop because it was bedtime. I left everything out overnight and got him out of bed just a few minutes ahead of schedule so he could finish it before school.

Working hard in the morning…

The finished product! He did such a good job! “Mommy, monster tails have scales.”

Last week I recorded some of the Paralympics and we’ve been watching a bit in the evening before we go upstairs for bed. It’s led to such interesting and valuable conversations. Maybe, now, if the kids see someone with a prosthetic instead of staring they’ll ask if he or she skis!

For a long, long time we’ve done songs at bedtime but SSA have returned to bedtime books. No arguments from the Cline parents!

Around 3:45am on Wednesday poor Sammy came down with an awful stomach bug. He was only sick twice but he was distraught. “Daddy! Help me feel better!” “Oh darn it! Oh darn it! Oh darn it!” “I’m going to feel like this forever!” For about an hour and a half he was the saddest little boy. Shortly after 5am he decided he wanted to watch Mickey in bed and that seemed to do the trick to settle him.

Of course that meant no school for The Bubs on Wednesday. Jason took Steven and Amaya to school and I got Sammy settled with some toast while I waited for Megan to arrive. Only Taco was sick, too! Child care emergency!! I had a big vendor meeting that day so Jason turned back around and relieved me so I could head into the office. Teamwork!

Sammy spent most of the day on the couch with a fever that reached 104 by late afternoon.

The kids kind of like it when a sibling is sick because it means they get to watch TV all day, too. 🙂

By Thursday Sammy’s fever was gone but it earned him one more day at home – this time with May May.

I came home from work to three kids happily playing.

And it was my turn for bedtime stories.

On Friday everyone was ready for school, and it was Sammy’s leader day (after a Thursday swap with Steven). They had a great day at school and came home talking about Passover non-stop. “Moses was in a basket in the River Niles but then he got to go live in a palace.” The kids are even singing the same songs I sang as a kid. “No, no, no. I will not let you go.” I love tradition.

Amaya’s really working it here! Tyra would approve. 😉

This is a typical afternoon shot. One kid, eating fruit in a basket, while the other two have an elaborate game involving a big tiger.

Steven decided that Jason was a sandwich. He loaded him up with tons of fixing and then everyone piled on to eat him. Tastiest sandwich we’ve ever had.

Saturday morning, Sammy woke up and asked to “do science”. I grabbed our science kit and off they went! Everyone loved it but Sammy was so engaged. He sat and played with the equipment and water for about 2 hours.

His sweet, shy face when I asked if he’s a great scientist. 🙂

Having Daddy help out using a spatula to capture the water that spilled on the table. Sammy was absolutely soaked and didn’t care one bit.

Independence! Spreading our own peanut butter!

Amaya still doesn’t nap, except for when she does.

I’ve been trying to get a good picture of Amaya’s eyes. I often think they look more grey than blue.

Bedtime books! If you look at the bedtime pictures from this week you’ll see that Amaya is in a different dress every night. I think we might have to invest in some nightgowns if this keep up.

Aaaaaaand, then it was Steven’s turn. 4:30am and this poor kid was sick, too. He’s so stoic about it all, but sad. 🙁

This little face just slays me.

You can always count on Morminer to cheer up a Bobes.

While Jason stayed home with Steven, I went to yoga with Amaya and Sammy. They did even better this week. I think the familiarity helped a lot. I hope we can make it a weekly thing!

Amaya is helping Miss Marlee open her heart.

And Miss Marlee is helping Amaya open her heart!

In case you thought Amaya’s 4 yo style applied only to her clothing, let me be clear it applies to head wear, as well.

And while I’m talking about Amaya… this girl. Oh, this girl. She wanted desperately to open the vitamins herself. Through tears, she forced herself to try to ask nicely instead of throwing a fit. I could see the effort so I put the caps back on and gave her the bottles, telling her she could try to do it. She got upset again so I said, “Amaya, I told you that you can try to do it.” With fury and fire in her voice she yelled, “No! Don’t tell me I can try! I can do it!”

I have a Sammy story, too. He’s sleeping with Jason tonight so I can sleep in his bed with Steven. (Who’s fine, btw, but really wants to be with me tonight and we think he earned it.) I was saying goodnight to Sammy and he started massaging my forehead over my eyebrows.

“Is this relaxing, Mommy?”
“Yes, it is, Sammy.”
“Do all people think this is relaxing.”
“I bet a lot of people do.”
“You can close your eyes if you want to be even more relaxed.”

How does this 4 yo know that massaging my forehead is relaxing? He must have seen it somewhere but I felt like I was having a conversation with a much, much older kid.

I’ll wrap up this week with two photos from the kids’ school. The first shows a game of numbers bingo. That’s Miss Eugenia at the table and Amaya’s at the far end in her painted shirt. In the 2nd photo you can see Steven working on Elijah’s cup for Passover.

And that’s it! Have a great week!

Jason jetted off to Vegas on Saturday night for a week of fun so I was flying solo this week. The big changes it that I usually get the kids ready for school at 6:30am and, when Jason leaves with them at 7:30am, I hop in the shower. Doing it solo means getting up by 5:45am so I can be ready for work before the kids get up. Doable, but not my first choice for an every day kind of thing.

We had a successful Monday morning and I came home to Steven excited to show me this beautiful dress with beautiful rainbows. It sure is!

At school, the kids made Matzah Men (and maybe some Matzah ladies?) in preparation for Passover. These samples perfect reflect Sammy and Steven’s respective artist styles. 🙂

Monday night, Amaya had a fever again! This was going on 11 days of on and off fevers so Tuesday it was back to the doctor and no school for Amaya. She was acting fine in the morning but it was time to go back. The dr ruled out a UTI, strep, flu and an ear infection as the culprit (though her ear was getting red) and decided since it could possibly be pneumonia we’d try a stronger antibiotic than amoxicillin which would take care of her ear and any possible pneumonia. It seems to have done the trick! She still has a lingering cough but no fever!

On Tuesday, Steven asked to wear the beautiful dress to school. Ms. Faith said he was very excited to show it to everyone in his class, and they all seemed to like it enough to satisfy him. Though today he did ask me if something (lip gloss) is just for girls. We had a talk about how some things are more traditionally used by or for just men or just ladies but, really, everyone can make their own choices about what they like. Our example was hair length.

He made up this game and clearly instructed Sammy and Amaya how to play complete with “good jobs” and prizes at the end.

You’d never know this girl has been sick on and off for so long!

The JCC Child Development Center (CDC) has a new app they’re using to share photos of the kids during the day. I love getting these glimpses into their class time! Here the boys and their class are making cinnamon toast as part of cooking class.

Wednesday was a rough drop-off for Amaya after Tuesday at home but the boys were happy, happy, happy thanks to red lincoln logs. “Just like we have at home but red!” I”m sure they’ve played with these before but they were thrilled as if they were new.

By Thursday Amaya was back to herself and ready for spring! I love this dress (from Charlie, of course). I hope she’ll actually wear it again through the spring and summer. My girl is fickle.

Sorry for the drool photo – and sorry to Sammy for taking it in the middle of his trauma – but Sammy freaked out crying that his mouth tasted like soap. It was out of the blue and he was beside himself. We sat there for a good 15 minutes while he just kept spitting into a towel. Not sure what shifted for him but he got through it and it wasn’t an issue again. So, so weird.

Thursday at school the kids went to the mobile matzah factory where they got to make matzah. In the afternoon, Megan took them back to the JCC for a school Passover party. They got to eat matzah with all sorts of toppings. Amaya had chocolate frosting and sprinkles, Sammy had 1/2 with marshmallow fluff and chocolate chip and 1/2 with chocolate frosting and sprinkles & Steven had butter and cinnamon sugar. Nothing too sweet for the Bobes.

Thursday, Steven finally earned his Olaf pajamas for staying in bed 6 nights in a row. Whoo!

Amaya was excited to take a picture of the seder plate she made. “We will use these at New York!”

I got this photo during the week. Apparently Steven and Amaya acted out morning meeting. Amaya got all of the name tags and put them in their places in the circle. Steven got a pointer and counted from 1 to 100 on the number sign.

Just a goofy girl on a Friday night.

Saturday morning Daddy returned home to us on a red eye! Yay!! We had a lazy Cline day at home.

Amaya made a head band out of some packing material.

Steven organized plane trips to New York. He’s backed and ready to go!

So is Sammy!

As well as Bat Girl!

Steven lined up every emergency vehicle we own. That line got very, very long.

Sammy had a fit because we didn’t have buns for this pb&j and he was forced to eat regular bread. A fit.

I told Amaya how nice it was that she put her name on her artwork and she said, “I didn’t do it. Stevie did.” What???

So I asked Steven who wrote Amaya’s name and he said, “I did.” What??? I didn’t know he could do that! He can’t write his own name yet, though the S is pretty tricky.

I challenged him to do it again and he did!

This morning the kids and I went to family yoga at the JCC! It’s free and run by one of the preschool teachers who’s also a yoga instructor. So much fun! I hope we can start going regularly. It’s perfectly geared toward the preschool crowed.

Afterward we hit up Applebees. I’ve got great little diners.

Sammy really wanted to pour his own milk into his cup. He was so focused.

When you still cut your kid’s hot dogs but she wants the stick for the corn dog you figure out a way to make it work.

“Take a selfie with me, mommy!”

It was a gorgeous afternoon and we made the most of it. The 10 day forecast doesn’t have us hitting 50 again in that time so I’m glad we didn’t waste the afternoon indoors. It felt like we picked up right where we left off in October. Scooters, bikes and lawn mowers, but also an added level of maturity on the kids’ part.

We wrapped up our wonderful, busy day with ice cream! HUGE cones of ice cream.

Except for Steven who, par for the course, just wanted fruit. Fruit in an ice cream cone. Sounds perfect to me!

Have a great week!

It’s been a long week of illness for the Cline kids, specifically for Amaya. On Sunday night Amaya developed a fever which meant she needed to stay home from school on Monday. Since Steven was fighting his ear infection and Sammy was fighting a cold we decided to keep everyone home from school and give them a chance to recuperate. We were lucky that Nana could stay with the kids until Megan came early at 10am. And then Nana was off to NY!

Sick days mean lots of TV.

Amaya’s fever kept climbing, and Sammy was complaining his ear hurt, so Megan took the kids to a dr appointment where we confirmed that Sammy and Amaya’s ears were both clear and Amaya didn’t have strep. Her fever was high enough that she was definitely down for the count on Tuesday too.

She definitely seemed to be on the mend by Tuesday, though, with just a low-grade fever.

She even seemed well enough for dance on Wednesday but, as you can see from the kid on the floor at the front of the room, didn’t want to actually dance. (Side note: The kids will do various balancing tricks and when I asked where they learned it, they invariably say “dance class.” So cute.)

By Thursday afternoon, Amaya’s fever was climbing again. Sweet girl felt pretty awful. Steven went over to her, kissed her forehead and said, “Are you okay, Amaya?”

He even got a big laugh out of his sister. 🙂 They can be viscous toward each other but also so, so sweete.

We’re still working on staying in bed in the mornings. It’s a looooong work in progress but, on Thursday, Sammy earned his next prize! He asked for pajamas that are still en route but he earned some immediate gratification in the form of spicy potato chips. I try to do non-food rewards but you gotta do what you gotta do and 6 stars means a prize right.now.

Our bedtime friends have to stay upstairs but, occasionally, one makes it’s way downstairs. On Friday morning, Steven and Morminer had a long goodbye full of hugs and kisses before she returned upstairs.

It was Disney day at school so Sammy wore his Anna shirt. Steven was in a Mickey Mouse pajama shirt so we went with that which was fun for him and easy for me!

I stayed home with Amaya in the morning to get her to the doctor which also gave her a chance to sleep in. I call this look, Fever Chic.

Despite how she looks, her fever was down and she wasn’t feeling as badly as she had been by the time we got to the doctor.

This is more dramatic effect than anything else. We were waiting for a while.

The only true sadness came when she had to get a flu swab. I don’t blame her! Plus, the nurse walked in and said, “This will be uncomfortable and she’s not going to like it” as if Amaya can’t comprehend what she’s saying.  But no flu! Ears still clear, too! Our pediatrician said it’s possible she’s on the tail end of flu and it’s no longer registering but we’ll never know.

On Friday, Amaya got her 6th star for staying in bed and her PJs were already here. This did the trick to put a smile on her face! Such be head. It’s Sunday now and I don’t think we’ve brushed it since Thursday.

Saturday morning Amaya’s fever was low grade again and she was as sassy as ever, giving me her expert stink eye.

My excitement for Saturday was a date with Sammy! Two weekends ago, after our aborted trip to Benihana, I promised Sammy we’d have a date and go back to the restaurant where the stove is on your table. He’s been talking about it ever since. When he woke up in the morning he even asked Jason if he had nice clothes to wear for his date. ♥

We had so much fun. I didn’t anticipate that it would be such a long lunch (2+ hrs) but Sammy did great. He was a little nervous when our chef started cooking and stayed on my lap for a few minutes but eventually relaxed. He knew there would be fire at some point and climbed back on my lap for that part, too, but was totally engaged in everything that was happening.

I forgot about this chopstick trick! Works like a charm!

Smashing his fried rice. Of which he ate none. Sammy ordered lobster and didn’t want to eat anything else on his plate until his lobster was ready. 🙂

My sweet, excited boy.

SO. MUCH. FOOD.

After lunch I told him that ice cream came with his lunch and he said, “I was hoping there was a treat and there is!!”

It really was the best time.

We rounded out the day with a collaborative art project…

…that was soon co-opted by Steven. He had this idea of cutting off the side pieces of cardboard and gluing them on top of the other pieces to make a sign. He is so creative but also a perfectionist. When things don’t go as planned Steven gets pissed and it’s hard for him to get himself out of it. He’s got some temper, and then 5 minutes later is the sweetest guy ever, ever. (Like last night in bed. He pulled me down to kiss my forehead and said, “I love you so much. Our whole family loves our whole family.”)

We had a lazy day light savings morning which gave Amaya a chance to sleep in and the boys a rare opportunity to watch tv in the big bed.

Today I checked our mailbox and found Sammy’s prize pajamas waiting for him! He’s so happy! He changed into them right away.

This afternoon, suddenly, Steven told me he needed to paint. He picked his colors – green, blue and brown, and sat down at the table.

And painted this. I know I’m probably biased but I’m so impressed. “Mommy, I’m going to make the sky come down some more.” Everything was so intentional.

I’ll wrap up this week with two things.

First, Sally Cat who stands guard for the family.

And, second, these two videos of Swivel Hips Sammy doing his thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAE4Yy0FLBI

Have a great week!

It was Ruach Week (spirit week) at school, in honor of Purim, and Steven, Sammy and Amaya got to dress for theme days all week long. The week started with Superhero day! We had Steven as Captain America. Amaya wore her “C for Charlie” cape, her 4 shirt and Supergirl socks. Sammy wore a Wonder Woman cape, a Superman shirt and Superman socks. So much fun!!

Last weekend, Jason updated the mudroom and put in a full length white bench in place of a brown ottoman that had been there. When the kids got home from school on Monday, Sammy refused to take off his coat and shoes because the ottoman wasn’t there. Change is hard. 😉

I came home from work to find am evil superhero elephant scientist on the loose!

She’s trying to get me!!

This week Sammy was interested in practicing tracing. It’s interesting to realize all of the things we do that really are practiced skills but I could see how hard he was concentrating.

Tuesday was Pajama Day! Amaya was working it.

Tuesday was a gorgeous 60 degree day so Megan took the kids to the park after naps. I love these smiles. I’m already dreading sunscreen application but I’m still SO ready for the warmer weather.

Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday!! Steven picked out this dress days in advance. “It’s so wacky!” The homemade shirts were perfect for Amaya and Sammy and Amaya added her cat skit to the ensemble. “No one will know who I am. They’ll think I’m a cat!”

When Jason first dropped the kids off at school, one of girls in the drop-off room told Steven he looked like a girl. Ms. Faith shut that down right away and I got an end of day report that there were no other comments. She told me, “Our class isn’t like that.”

Thursday was Purim and SSA got to dress up in any costumes they wanted. Before I took their picture, Cinderella got her camera to make sure the staging was right. 🙂

We had a firefighter, Cinderella and a doctor!

Just like last year, I ducked out of work to attend the kids’ Purim carnival. I had an early meeting with our board and then dashed off to make it back to the JCC by 9:30am. It was hectic but also completely fulfilling to be able to move so seamlessly between my work life and family life. I’m grateful to work somewhere that I can easily make that happen.

The first half hour of the program was songs and dancing with all of the kids, teachers and many, many parents. One of the teachers dressed as Sully from Monsters Inc. and poor Amaya was terrified. Sammy said, “Mommy, Amaya thinks the monster is real. But it’s just a teacher.” Fortunately, she was happy as can be on Pilot Mommy’s lap.

After the songs, we went to the indoor hockey rink and walked the track where teachers gave out non-food treats to all of the kids. Earlier in the week they’d decorated bags so everyone was ready!

Megan told me that Steven, Sammy and Amaya told her that I was at their school for a long time – even for the parade on the track! It’s so special for me to be able to be there and I love that it’s special to them, too.

The afternoon plan was lunch out with Megan and then a ride to the airport to pick up Nana. Yay!! I was watching the snow start to come down, though, and made a last minute call to ask my mom to take a car service instead. Didn’t stop these kids from having a great lunch out, though!

So much snow! 60 degrees on Tuesday and 6″ of snow on Thursday. What???

And we have Nana!!

The kids like jumping off the beds onto their beanbags. Steven had a very elaborate routine leading up to each jump.

Sammy came to give him a hug and said, “Good job, Steven!” They’re amazing together (sometimes).

Friday was blue and red day for Dr. Seuss. After breakfast, Steven got out art supplies – paper, scissors, glue – and decided to make a red and blue butterfly. He’s always imagining.

Last day of Ruach Week!

As always, Nana joined the kids at school for Shabbat.

In the afternoon, she made bagels with Steven and Amaya.

Sammy didn’t want to bake. He was in barber mode with the Barbie head.

Friday wrapped up with Sammy’s request to light Shabbat candles with Nana.

At bed time we were reading “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” and Steven wanted to show Morminer another sheep. 🙂

At 9:30pm Steven woke up with a fever, complaining that his ear hurt. I put him in my bed and crawled in with him soon after because he really, really wanted his Mommy. I rubbed his back until he fell asleep – one of those moments where I was tired by totally fulfilled.

And then, as kids do, Steven made himself very comfortable.

Our pediatrician is open on Saturday mornings so I called right at 8am and got an 8:40am appointment. Sammy was complaining of a sore throat so I brought both boys with me. They climbed up on the exam table and Sammy laid down immediately. At first I thought he was just being silly but, when I asked him if he wanted to sit up, I saw panic in his eyes. He was lying down because he was scared to sit up on the exam table! Ooops! Holding my hand did the trick.

Sammy was fine but Steven did have a nasty ear infection. If I can toot my own horn, I’d like to say that I’m 5/5 taking the kids to the doctor for suspected ear infections.

Back at the Land of Cheltenham, Nana and Amaya did puzzles together and then Facetimed with Charlie.

Steven and I went to get his subscription and he was a hoot. He walked around showing me all of the things that we have in our house – and he was right about all of them. The other people in line for the pharmacy giggled at his enthusiasm over gift cards. “I see a Chili’s gift card! Ooooh! And I see Applebees, too!” You can tell where we frequent.

“Is this toothpaste for 5 year olds?”

This morning was relatively lazy. Steven got a much needed hair cut and the kids played with the grown-ups before Nana and I took SSA out for brunch.

Finding food to feed animals at the zoo.

Steven’s the cutest little “I Spy” player. “I spy with my little eye…”

Last but not least, a picture for me from Amaya! ♥ ♥ ♥

Steven, Sammy and Amaya are getting more and more independent. The kids love to get their own breakfast from the pantry and Sammy especially loves being FIRST to get downstairs. It’s the best motivator to get him dressed. On Tuesday morning I came downstairs and found Sammy sitting at the counter with his cereal at the ready. Such a big kid.

Tuesday afternoon was unseasonably warm and rainy so Megan took the opportunity to take SSA for a walk in the rain for some good old fashioned puddle stomping! We didn’t have rain boots so decided snow boots would have to do. Unfortunately, it turns out snow boots aren’t water proof. Oops!

Wednesday was a treat for the kids because Taco came for the afternoon! They were really excited to show her off to their friends in the Romp ‘n’ Roll room.

Amaya’s my little fashionista. She’s rockin’ the Cinderella dress and shades.

She’s obsessed with this sequin shirt. In fact, she wore it two days in a row and would still be wearing it if she had her way.

Day two, now sporting her brand new rain boots!

And rain boots for the boys, too! I was able to find boots for everyone to match their rain coats. Of course they wanted to take them out for a spin. There were no puddles but you can tell that didn’t dampen Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s spirits.

There is always time for cuddles with May May. We were at dinner on Saturday night and our waitresses name was Megan. Steven said, “Our waitress is May May like we have a May May.” 🙂

I got a new computer a few weeks ago so I decided that SSA could use my old laptop to learn computer skills. We tried it out while Sammy was a IKEA with Jason. Steven and Amaya were enthralled, and surprisingly adept, but managed to mess up the keyboard within an hour.

Meanwhile, Sammy and Daddy had a GREAT time together!

While they were gone, Sammy sent a special request for us to make a magatile robot. We were happy to oblige!

This weekend Grandma Sunshine came to visit so we could have a belated birthday celebration. The kids were so excited, especially because it was a sleepover visit.

Amaya came to help me get ready for dinner. She likes watching me put on my make-up. These days I feel like her eyes are almost more grey than blue.

The big birthday plan was to got to Benihana for hibachi. Steven took one look at the chef at a nearby table and promptly lost his mind. I hoped we’d be able to get him comfortable but he was in Jason’s arms and wouldn’t let go of the doorway to our eating area. Poor kid was terrified. We made the call to leave and ended up at Garage, with Sammy consoled by the promise of a trip to Benihana on a solo date with me. But everyone recovered well and we had our opportunity to celebrate Grandma!

We had a bit of drama this morning. I’ve mentioned before that we have a reward chart to use when Steven, Sammy and Amaya stay in bed until wake-up time. Sammy has been more consistent than Steven and Amaya and today he got his prize. Poor Steven lost it. It was so, so hard for him to see Sammy get a prize when he didn’t. And he knew what he missed out on, too, because I showed them their packs of stencils yesterday as motivation to stay in bed. He cried and cried and cried. It was hard for all of us. Rewards have no purpose if you earn them for just wanting it but saying no over and over again was hard. I think this is one of those times when it’s particularly difficult because they’re triplets. Instead of just competing with themselves to meet the goal, they also see someone else get the reward when they don’t. It’s a good life lesson, but still hurts my mommy heart.

Fortunately, Steven eventually recovered and Sammy was very generous letting Amaya and Steven use his stencils. Here, Steven’s getting some help from Grandma Sunshine.

The kids enjoyed the rest of the morning with Grandma. Lots of play time and lots of cuddles.

If you look at the bottom of the photo, you’ll see a cat door that Jason added to the laundry room door for Sally. Here, Steven is leaving a note for Sal so she’ll know the door is for her. ♥

That’s it for the week! Next week is Ruach week (spirit week) at school so SSA get to wear all sorts of themed costumes. We also have a Purim carnival at school and a visit from Nana. Have a great one!

When I posted the last blog I said I hoped, by the time it published, I’d be in the air on my way back to MI. That totally wasn’t what happened. Not even a little.

Around 4pm I got a notification that my flight was delayed until 8:00pm. Sad, sad, sad. To make the most of our time, we headed over to Auntie and Dod Shuki’s house to see my cousin Joe and his kids Eli and Dalia. In the midst of the travel chaos, it was a treat. Amaya took a little while to warm up but, by the time we left, she was loving playing with Dalia.

 

Our men were ready for us to come home!

By the time we got to the airport at 6pm, our flight was delayed until 9pm. 🙁 We settled in at a nice restaurant and Amaya was thrilled to get to watch as much tv as she wanted. She was a phenomenal travel partner right out of the gate.

So here’s how it went down. We got to the gate around 8pm and I had awful heartburn. Awful. I was doubled over in pain. Other passengers were coming over to me offering  me their meds. It was brutal. At 9pm we finally boarded our plane. At 10pm we got off our plane because of a mechanical issue. 😢 This picture of Amaya was taking at 10:30pm shortly before we boarded our new plane. Thank goodness I let her nap a little longer that afternoon. 10:30pm and she was still raring to go! (Randomly, the CEO and CFO of my company were on the flight we ultimately boarded for Detroit. Odd little meet up there at La Guardia, way too late on a Sunday night.)

Shortly after 11:20pm take off (finally!), I started feeling even worse and very sick. I told Amaya I was going to throw up and made a beeline for the bathroom. BRUTAL. It was absolutely brutal. I was so sick!! The flight attendant was amazing and tried to help me as much as she could. I couldn’t go back to my seat and poor Amaya was out there on her own. The whole time I was texting with my mom and some friends and am so grateful I had them with me while I tried to figure out what to do. After about 30 minutes, the flight attendant, Tia, told me that Amaya was starting to get anxious. I couldn’t take her in the bathroom with me so Tia helped me out and made sure Amaya was safe, happy and entertained for the rest of the flight.

I took these photos out the bathroom door. Way to go, Delta!!

My stomach started settling before we landed but my predicament was that I didn’t think I could drive us home. We were scheduled to land at 12:45am which somewhat limited options. My mom called the hotel at the airport but they were booked solid, probably from all of the flight delays. In fact, none of the local airport hotels had any rooms. If I could even get a car service, I wasn’t comfortable using one of their car seats and I didn’t have the strength to get to my car to uninstall and then install it in another vehicle. Fortunately, my mom was able to reach Jason who woke up the boys and off they came in their chariot to gather up their women. ♥ ♥ ♥

The other hurdle was that the pilot wanted EMS to meet me at the plane. UGH. It’s pretty mortifying to have the pilot ask the other passengers to remain seated until the EMTs can remove a passenger with a “medical emergency”. From what the flight attendant said, it sounds like he was particularly concerned because I had Amaya with me and he wanted to be sure I got out of the airport safely. Which I appreciate.

After I was checked out and declined transportation to a hospital, Amaya and I were wheeled to baggage claim to wait for our men.

It was 1:10am when we settled in to wait and, almost instantly, Amaya was asleep. What a trooper! I am so, SO proud of how she handled everything. The delays, the late night and, especially, my illness. She was incredible. ♥

Monday, Megan arrived at 7am so Amaya and I could sleep in. Thank goodness. We were beat.

I was so happy to be back with my boys.

Amaya was thrilled to get her “Rey” light saber.

For their birthday (or Hanukkah), Grandma Sunshine got the kids binders for their artwork. Steven is obsessed with his! It’s already full and I think he might be ready for a 2nd. It was such a fun idea and it’s really cute to see how Steven’s taken to it.

On the left is a picture in a book we have. On the right is Steven’s version. 🙂

I don’t know what happened but, as Jason was getting the kids to school on Tuesday, Sammy got sick. Look at those big, sad eyes. It looks like it was a fluke because he was totally fine for the rest of the day but SSA got a morning at home with daddy out of it.

One follow-up from our trip to NY was new hair accessories. I thought it would give me a chance to work on my hair styling skills but Amaya had other ideas and insists on doing her hair herself. Of course she does.

Doesn’t everyone sleep with 24 clips in their hair?

The Brothers always want in on the action.

Amaya has a new Rey shirt (she’s friends with Princess Leia) and put her outfit together in true Amaya fashion.

“I can NOT go to bed until this whole page is blue.”

Amaya’s regularly been falling asleep after 9pm which is an issue when she needs to be up at 6:30am. Then she naps hard, which seems to perpetuate the cycle of falling asleep late. At least for how her body operates. To help her get better sleep at night, we started cutting out Amaya’s nap. Instead, she can play with puzzles in her room while Steven and Sammy are sleeping. It’s been going well except for Friday when the desire to sleep proved too much for her. This is how Megan found Amaya at the end of nap time, snoring away.

Friday night, Jason and I went out for dinner. While we were out, Amaya asked Steffie to send me this photo of Amaya and Sammy sharing the step stool nicely.

Saturday, Steven joined me out for some errands. Looking at this, I should have realized he was under the weather. I can see it in his eyes in this photo. He was a great companion, though. “It’s just going to be me who goes with you, right Mommy?”

Sammy and Jason were deliciously lazy together. Look at how perfectly Sammy fits between Jason’s legs and how at ease he is, lounging there.

By lunchtime, it was obvious Steven was sick. He was glassy eyed and fatigued and warm to the touch. He had a fever and, when I asked if he wanted to just go to nap instead of eating lunch he said yes – and off he went for a 2.5 hr nap. Sweet boy struggled most of the night and ended up sleeping in bed with me. His temperature peaked at 102.5 which isn’t terrible but I’m a little more on edge this year with all of the flu reports and edge case stories of hospitalizations and worse. By this morning he was down to a low grade fever and had much better energy.

Sadly, Steven had to sit out of plans to celebrate our friend Nora T’s birthday. It was at a bakery/cafe and the kids were going to make pizzas and decorate cakes. He was so excited and made me promise we’ll find a time for him to make pizza and decorate a cake by himself. I’m going to work on it!

As you can see in these photos, Sammy and Amaya dressed themselves. Sammy’s shirts and shorts were on backwards. “I want to see just red on my front.”

The party was so much fun! Sammy and Amaya were a little clingier than most of the other kids, which was interesting, but Amaya did want to sit by her friend Shoshana which was cute. They decorated chef hats, held pizza dough, made personal pizzas and decorated huge mini-cakes. I was smart about the pizza-making and was sure to tell Amaya ahead of time that she didn’t need to use the red sauce if she didn’t want to. She hates pizza with red sauce and I know my girl. I could see that meltdown coming miles away if she didn’t know upfront that she could pass on the sauce.

A ton of people commented on how Sammy demolished his cake. He smashed it to bits!

When we got home, Amaya and Sammy were excited to give Steven his goody bag and watch him go through the contents.

Just two more quick things this week. We got some prints of our family photos and Amaya insisted on just photos of Sammy and Steven which she promptly taped to her wall, complete with gel hearts. I love that so much.

The letter of the week at school was R and the kids made rectangle robots. This art example is just like ones from last year where I could pick out Steven’s artwork even without names.

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