We’re going to start with Halloween because, even thought it’s not technically Halloween yet, Halloween has certainly started in the Land of Cheltenham.

I had grand ideas that Steven, Sammy and Amaya would dress as Millie, Geo and Bot from Team Umizoomi this year but they definitely had ideas of their own and honoring those choices is as m uch fun, maybe more, than anything I’d come up with.

I present Steven the Bumblebee, Amaya the pink, blue and purple elephant and Sammy the croc.

Steven’s was the easiest costume to pull together. I got a yellow unitard and a bee costume. Easy peasy, and he’s adorable! For Amaya, I found a purple unitard, a pink elephant costume and I ordered some blue furry fabric for the spots. A little effort but not bad, and she was very specific about including those three colors. Then there’s Sammy, lol. A croc! I have no idea where he came up with this idea but he said it more than once and I was determined to make it happen. He originally said an orange croc but foammart.com didn’t have orange so he landed on green. (Yes, foammart.com! There’s a website for everything! This one is out of Burbank, CA which makes sense since this foam is regularly used for costumes.)

Here’s the evolution of making the costume, starting with measuring Sammy.

Jason drew the outline for me on tracing paper which I taped to the foam and cut.

I tried to use scissors to the cut the holes but the lines were really jagged and a box cutter didn’t work, either, so I ended up ordering a foam cutter to do the job. You need ventilation for the fumes so I set up shop in the garage.

Constructing the shell. For this, I used neon green gaffers tape.

Checking the fit!

A happy, happy customer. (Rounded out with a black unitard.)

So, starting on Saturday (yesterday), Sammy woke up and asked to have pancakes at a restaurant. Jason was going to be working in the basement all day so I liked the idea of getting out of the house and I was able to rally Steven and Amaya. I even let the kids go in their pajamas.

When we were leaving, we realized that there were a ton of people dressed in Halloween costumes heading toward the center of downtown Northville. Turns out there was a big trick or treat event going on! We tried to walk down to check it out but we weren’t dressed for a walk in the 36 degree weather and had to turn back. Everyone really wanted to go to the Halloween party, though, so we decided to go home, quickly put on costumes and head back!

What a great idea! It was SO much fun!! Steven loved seeing all of the costumes. “I see Iron Man!” “I see another bee!” The kids were excellent listeners and loved getting all of the candy! At one point I called Jason in tears and told him that this was everything I ever wanted. It really is. Such a magical morning.

Steven’s face. <3

Steven was thrilled to see Captain America and Sammy was proud to have asked him how he holds his shield.

This guy put on his talking wookie mask for Sammy. They loved it.

Showing Daddy their stash!

Sharing a lollipop with Baby Jenna.

Backing up to Monday… Sammy and I got back from NY around 9:45pm on Sunday night. I woke up Monday morning to Amaya saying she felt sick and like she was going to puke. She looked terrible so we were really lucky to have Grandma Sunshine at the house to stay with her while I took the boys to school.

By afternoon Amaya was back to herself but we still got in some extra cuddles.

Making herself comfortable with a book. 🙂

This is a 9-12 mo sweater that we keep ion a stuffed puppy. Steven was determined to put it on!

After sleeping in the sweater, lol, Steven woke up early, early, early. Everyone was asleep and I didn’t want him to wake up Sammy so I let him draw on my iPad while I got ready for work. It was really nice morning quiet time! Oh! And now I remember why I wasn’t getting him dressed for school. On Monday night a local pipe burst and we had no water! School didn’t either so Megan came in to work the full day and the kids stayed home. They had a full day with Tiny Town and a picnic lunch at May May’s mommy’s house.

Showing Sammy his football socks.

“Who woke up Daddy last night?”
“I did!”

Breakfast with Taco!

Steven put on a pair of Sammy’s new underwear. Still not interested in wearing them under his pants, though.

On Wednesday afternoon Megan had a dr appointment for Taco and Jason was on vacation so he took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to dance class! What a treat!!

On Thursday Megan was sick so I took the kids to school. The routine is to drop off the kids in the appropriately named “drop-off room” and then sign-in downstairs in their classroom. I got the kids to school later than usual so, by the time I was leaving their classroom at 8:40am, they were already on their way downstairs. Sammy looked at me and said, “Mommy! I didn’t expect to see you here!” So sweet.

The boys’ dresser (which used to be everyone’s dresser), still has magnetic locks that we put on as a safety precaution back when the kids were first mobile. The magnets are pretty strong and Sammy loves making one magnet move with the repulsive force of the other. We’re having some pretty neat conversations about magnets!

Megan was still sick on Friday so I left for work in the morning to the sight of my four favorites at the breakfast table. Still dark out, too!

Friday afternoon, “The Brothers” were serenading their sister. The kids are playing so many fun games together lately! They make up rules for their games and can play so well together when they want to. I love sitting and listening to their conversations.

We already talked about our awesome Saturday which brings me to Saturday night. Back when the kids were about 18 or 19 months I got backpack leashes thinking maybe we’d need them when everyone first started walking. We never ended up using them but the kids love to wear the animals around the house. They clip in front and, Saturday night, I clipped Steven’s skin in the buckle. 🙁 He’s such a tough guy! I felt awful!!

By morning he was feeling fine and showing off his bruise. Sorry Steven!!!!

Today was our 3rd Annual Triplet Family Halloween Party! We took it easy at home while we got the house ready. Here, Tiger Steven is taking a nap on his tiger bed.

Everything old is new again! SSA have rediscovered these foam blocks that we were gifted about a year and a half ago. Amaya sat for ages carefully building with them.

So proud of her creation!

And then it was party time! We had 6 families join us – 21 kids in total and 10 adults. All of the kids were born in 2014 with the youngest of the bunch turning three in November. The kids were amazing and played so well together! The grownups actually had a lot of time to talk!

Trying to wrangle 21 three year olds for a photo is a special experience.

Happy Halloween!

Our 2016 photo

Our 2015 photo

Lunch time! Thanks to Daddy for, once again, manning the kitchen and griddle so we could all eat!

And as soon as everyone got there, it was over! So much fun!! One friend stayed with her kids to help clean up which was very, very helpful. And, by 1:30pm, you’d never know we’d just had a 2 pre-school classes worth of three year olds in our house.

Here’s Steven helping Jason with the last touch – putting the coffee table back.

Tomorrow is trick or treating at my office and then, of course, trick or treating on Halloween night. I love this holiday.

Have a great week!

Our Monday started with some Amaya adventures. You know those little circle cheeses wrapped in wax? Turns out if you take off the wax, roll it in a ball and smush it in your hair it makes quite a mess. I put Amaya in bed without realizing she still had some wax in her hand and, shortly after, heard her calling for me. Uh oh!

Daddy to the rescue!

She didn’t realize this would be the outcome but sure was pleased about sitting in our bed after bedtime, with focused attention from her daddy.

By the morning she was too cool for school and none the worse for the wear.

This week was gorgeous. On Tuesday afternoon, Megan took the kids to Three Cedars Farm since we missed our trip to the Pumpkin Festival on Saturday when it rained all day. These kids. <3

Corn instead of sand! Genius!!

Wednesday was dance class and Steven was ready.

Sammy left class this week and said, “I love dance class!”

Sammy, lol.

Jason took this photo of me on Wednesday night. Can you see me up there in the chairs? Steven really, really wanted me to sit outside their door while he fell asleep and I really, really wanted to watch the Yankee game. I was able to see the TV downstairs which was a reasonable compromise but definitely in Steven’s favor. 🙂

Sammy, on Thursday, ready for his tour with the Village People!

All week Steven talked about wanting to go back to the pretend train at the farm. Friday was nice again so Megan took the kids after school and also met up with her family there.

Happy Bobes!

Sammy and Taco are total buds.

Mikey pushing Steven.

Sammy burying Amaya in corn.

After the farm, Megan brought Sammy to my “workplace” so Sammy and I could head to NY. Amaya was so sad to say goodbye! She kept crying, “Sammy! Sammy! Sammy!” I had to bring him back into the van for more hugs before we could leave.

Off we go!

Waiting for “the train that goes back and forth”.

Ready for our flight! Sammy scored his 1st first class upgrade. He’ll tell you, “the flight attendant let me pick food from a basket.” He got a drink before take-off and I told him that before we took off, they’d take his cup from him so it doesn’t spill. When we started pushing back from the gate he still had his cup and called to the flight attendants, “Take my drink! Wait! Take my drink!”

It’s funny to watch him watch Team Umizoomi with headphones because he responds to the show when prompted but, to me, it would come out of nowhere. “To the farm!” “Four!”

Checking out the view.

At the end of our flight a flight attendant came by to tell me how well he did on the trip. I’m definitely proud at what good fliers the kids are becoming. Practice makes perfect, I guess!

Excited to walk down the steps on his own while I took the escalator.

My helper.

Making sure we had a ride back to Nana’s house.

And finally asleep (in my childhood bed)!

Saturday morning we had a little bit of time at home before we headed out to watch Chase play baseball and visit a nearby playground.

Running to Aunt Sara <3

Watching Chasie.

Chase and Charlie are so great with Sammy. They’re patient, interested and totally engaged.

Back in NY, Steve and Amaya went to Three Cedars Farm again! This time they were with Rosie and they actually got to ride on the train. As nice as it is for whoever I’m traveling with to get one on one time, I think it’s also nice for the two at home to have a bit more focus than usual and that sibling time together with just each other. They always seem to have so much fun together – in every combination.

Holding hands in line for the train.

We wrapped up our day with an afternoon at Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave’s house.

This was Nana’s rocking chair when she was little!

Steven wrapped up his day with a trip from Daddy. Handsome boy!

Steven and Amaya, heading off to a Sparty game. 🙂

Saturday night was a cousin sleepover while Papa, Aunt Sara and I went out to see Smokey Robinson.

This morning at home was a littler lazier than yesterday, and always fun when Chase and Charlie are around.

We had the opportunity to watch Charlie cheer today! So, so cute.

There was a dog park next to the game field. SSA are all nervous around dogs but Sammy found a calm 10 year old dog who barely moved when he was by her and he finally got up the nerve to pet a pup! There were a ton of active dogs around and he wanted nothing to do with them but he was completely into this dog. Go Sammy!

We had lunch at Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave’s house where Sammy ate his weight in lox. My boy! We wrapped up the afternoon at Nana & Papa’s house.

Sammy, where you can always find him – in Savta’s lap.

I promised him we’d go to the ice cream store and delivered at the 11th hour. Vanilla ice cream, colored sprinkles and a cherry on top. Four or five bites and he was content. 🙂

Back in MI, Grandma Sunshine came over to spend the night and help get SSA to school tomorrow! Sammy’s so excited!

And then it was time to go! I have to be at a morning meeting tomorrow so it’s a Sunday night return to MI. We had an awesome weekend!

Riding the airport shuttle to our gate. Sammy thought it was so cool to ride a bus “on the runway.”

And here we are on the plane! I’m typing this while Sammy watches a show on my iPad. We had a perfect weekend together but can’t wait to get home to see the rest of our family. Daddy, Steven and Amaya – We’re coming for you!!

Have a great week!

Monday was Sammy’s turn to be class leader! He was so excited and chose to bring a bag of coins for the start of “C” week. I’m loving the leggings over the “nana pants”.

We had a few more days this week where we were able to get outside for after-work walks. I’m going to try to do it daily for as long as we can, before it’s too cold and too dark.

On Tuesday, Megan took SSA to their dance studio to get the paperwork we needed to complete. It was a good chance for them to check out the space before day one.

They also had time for a visit to the playground. It’s really interesting to see the kids’ differences in a play space. Amaya is most likely to want to climb high. Sammy is most likely to want to swing high. Steven is most likely to go down a big slide. And it’s not just “most likely”, it’s very distinctive preferences. Amaya gets nervous if swings go too high or too fast. Sammy is not interested in big slides at all. Steven is still working on his climbing skills.

“I did it!”

Just in time for Wednesday’s dance class, Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s dance gear arrived. They were SO READY to dance!! Their enthusiasm and joy is the best. I can’t love this more. ♥ ♥ ♥

Books, books, books these days. It’s awesome.

Wednesday was dance day! But first, school. And this gem of an outfit. Amaya is an original, lol. I can’t wait until she’s older and I get to show her some of these photos. (Actually, I can wait. Time really needs to slow down.)

Dance class!!! Their teacher is Miss Christina. I love that they can see Megan in the window to help with the transition and I also love that it’s a relatively small class.

Megan said that Amaya was too cool for school at first and didn’t initially join in with the group activities. Sammy teared up when he first went into the room but, quickly, he and Steven were with the program.

Stretches!

Pliés in second position. The cuteness is killing me here.

This video is everything. I feel like there are these parenting moments where you think, “I can’t believe these are my kids and I’m at this stage.” Such big kids! In dance class!

I had to watch the video three times so I could follow Steven, Sammy and Amaya each through their routine. If you focus on Sammy and Amaya holding hands, you might miss Steven walking on tippy toes and vice versa. I can not get enough.

Thank you, Megan, for the photos and video! It was almost like I was there!

Nana flew in to visit on Thursday so, on Friday, she went with SSA to their weekly Shabbat service at school. Instead of the usual fair, rabbis from local synagogues came by and there was a Simchat Torah celebration. I was telling Jason that I distinctly remember the exuberance of Simchat Torah from when I was a kid. Everyone would carry the Torahs out into the street and there was so much singing and dancing.

Friday, Steven was the class leader. He brought a car! You can see him leading the line in the photo below. 🙂

Pony rides on Daddy before bed!

Saturday morning I was able to get the playroom organized, including reassembling the train tracks. The kids have been asking for a while but it takes time and they always break it apart again shortly after. This time, Jason came in behind me and used double sided velcro to keep the tracks together.

5-4-3-2-1 Blast Off!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya got new rain coats on Friday, just in time for a rainy Saturday. Steven was insistent that they could play outside in the rain now that they have rain coasts. It was a warm day, and not raining too hard, so I decided to say “yes” and off we went for a walk! Sammy said it was his favorite walk ever. 🙂 I think jumping in puddles was the highlight for everyone.

Our afternoon activity was painting canvases. Steven has asked that we hang these in the playroom.

Love that little tongue.

Jason and I went out for dinner on Saturday night with Nana holding down the fort. Happy kids! (Except when we forgot to honk the horn as we passed by the front window. We always forget!!)

This morning, at 7am, only Sammy was up! It was a rare opportunity for quiet Nana cuddles and a slow roll to start the day. Such a different experience.

Today was Amaya’s turn to go to the grocery store with Daddy and she was ready before he was even out of bed!! “I’ll just wait for Daddy.” ♥

Daddy!!

Waiting for Daddy to honk.

Once again, Nana came to visit with a suitcase full of clothes from Charlie. I feel like Charlie was just wearing this faux leather skirt Amaya has on. She’s so lucky to get all of these awesome hand-me-downs from her big cousin and she knows it!

Lunch out with Nana. This was a regular trip to Deadwood where the manager always takes time to come over and remark on how big the kids have gotten from the days we kept them in their infant carriers at a corner table.

It was a quiet afternoon at home. Amaya asked to “cut lines” and, once again, blew me away with her cutting skills. She has such focus and she doesn’t get rattled if it doesn’t go quite her way.

The finished product! Amaya did all of the cutting with the exception of the top candles which I cut out for her to color. I’m so impressed with how well she did the candles on the bottom of the page.

And that’s it for this week! Next weekend Sammy and I are off to NY together!

Sunday evening ended with a big bump on the noggin for Sammy. He told us that we shouldn’t keep the bean bag so close to the edge of Amaya’s bed. Point taken, Sammy.

Tough guy recovered quickly, though.

We’re enjoying as much of the fall weather as possible before it gets cold. SSA get outside daily at school and we’ve been doing a lot of late afternoon / early evening walks in the neighborhood. They’re getting very good at stopping at driveways!

Earlier in the school year, the director of the JCC child development center asked me if Amaya picks her own clothes every day. What gave her away???

On Wednesday I had a meeting change which freed up a good portion of my day. I took advantage of the extra time and met everyone for lunch at Chilis after school. The looks on their faces when they ran around the corner to greet me were amazing.

Watching me go from the window.

Boo boo healing!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya didn’t have school on Thursday because of Sukkot so they went to Tiny Town in the morning and out for “ice cream” in the afternoon. Steven still takes one bite of ice cream/frozen yogurt and then just eats a cup full of fruit. Amaya, on the other hand, tried to finish what was left of both of The Brothers’ fro yo.

Little Steven face. He totally cracks himself up.

At school this week, they started class leaders each day. For the Clines, Amaya was up first as leader on Friday. In addition to being line leader and helping with circle time, the leader also brings a show and tell item for the letter of the week. Amaya brought blue blocks in a butter container.

Steven and Sammy wore their new matching Star Wars Halloween shirts. Amaya has one, too. We’ll have to see if she’ll wear a grey shirt, lol.

Even walk in jammies!

Steven came up with this “exercise”. Everyone followed suit, though the boys had to show Amaya how to do it. She kept going at it backwards.

This week, Steven, Sammy and Amaya will start dance class!! Amaya has been talking about her “ballet class” for weeks so we went for it! The class is once/week from 4- 4:45pm which is perfect in their schedule. I hope everyone likes it!!

Amaya, already prepping! She wanted me to send Charlie a picture of her in Charlie’s leotard.

We had a nice, lazy weekend. Just enough to keep the kids from going stir crazy but not enough to wear us all out.

Crafts!

Pretending to be sad.

Jason took Steven to the grocery store and Home Depot on Saturday. It was a Kids Workshop day at Home Depot with a firetruck crafts and a real fire truck there. He sent me a text to let me know about it and Amaya, Sammy and I were out of the house and on our way within 10 minutes, including changes of clothing for everyone. It felt so easy! I’m not counting chickens because listening to directions has been a battle lately, but maybe somethings are easing up.

Fun at Home Depot!

Steven was excited to bring this new balloon home from his outing with Daddy.

One more walk! Steven carried shoes for Amaya and Sammy in his backpack.

Holding hands. ♥

Last night there were big storms in the area and Steven woke up crying around 9:30pm. Since we knew they might continue for a while I took him into bed with me. Sammy ended up in bed with us, too, which meant that no one got a lot of sleep last night. (Except for Amaya!) This morning I was too tired to face the day so we all watched a show before heading down for breakfast.

This face. There was a lot of fighting over toys and space in the early part of the day. Sammy solved it by declaring the space in his hula hoop his and his alone. Amazingly it worked and Steven and Amaya set up picnics in their hula hoops, too. They have a lot of joy together but it’s got to be hard to be a 3 year old triplet sometimes.

Last week I mentioned that Amaya made some pictures for Princess Elsa. Today we put them in the mail to send them to Amaya’s favorite princess. She’s so excited!

The highlight of the day was a visit from Ashley. SSA were practically jumping out of their skin waiting for her to arrive.

Don’t leave us!!

Train ride from Engineer Steven.

We wrapped up the weekend with a homemade dinner made by mommy and my helpers!

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

Monday started our drop-off room adventures. There were a few tears the first two days but, by Wednesday, Jason reported that it was smooth sailing. The kids are in this big room for just under an hour before heading to their classroom.

Daddy’s first day walking everyone in to school. <3

When there are too many bees at the park, picnic in the car!

Steven put everyone on the train. He was the captain.

I wish I could remember what Amaya was telling me here. I’m sure it was very important and she was very certain about it.

Amaya loves saline spray in her nose! It’s the funniest thing. She wasn’t even sick last week but she really wanted to try to do it by herself. Mission accomplished! I think she’ll be my neti-potter.

Steven has been busy reading a lot of books this week. A few times he very specifically asked me to let him read it himself rather than have me read to him.

On Wednesday I met Megan at the pediatrician’s office for flu shots. Our office lets parents get them at the same time so I waited to get mine with the kids so they could see that it wasn’t so bad. Steven and Amaya were pretty worked up. 🙁 Sammy went first and was so brave. It was obvious he was nervous but he worked so hard to hold back tears. I think “stoic”  is probably the best word to describe him in that moment. We all did talk about the fact that it’s okay to cry when you’re scared and that even people who are brave sometimes cry when they’re scared.

Raise your hand if you were brave!

I took the kids out for dinner after their shots. Amaya didn’t want her photo taken, lol.

Not for this one, either.

I had Jason’s car because a car seat tech and I worked on the three-across seats at lunch that day. This was the inaugural ride of three Cline kids in a row.

The high chair is still a hit for feeding our babies and these little building toys make a nice snack.

Steven’s physical therapist thought his shoes were too big so his orthotist came out for a visit to check it all out. Verdict is they’re too big! This guy is so good. We changed companies with this pair and it was a great move. He’s great with kids and parents. (Speaking of Steven, I’m not sure if I mentioned that Steven is done with PT for the year. Insurance maxes out at 30 sessions/year and is physical therapist thinks he’s in a good spot for a break. We just need to be diligent about his at-home exercises. I think we’ll need a calendar or something to help us stay on track.)

Double up to get ready for school!

Cheese!

Amaya has been so obsessed with meeting Princess Elsa that I ordered a few prints of the photos I took and put them in a frame for her room. She was so excited.

After a long week with the new routine, we had a lazy weekend at home. Yesterday was nice enough to get outside for a bit. The kids are getting so much better at climbing!

Sammy and Amaya were giving Steven directions on how to climb up. 🙂

SSA went through a routine where one of them would climb the hill and ask for help getting down. Another one would walk up and hold their hand down the hill. Cutest.

It was a ball card afternoon with Daddy and, via FaceTime, Grandpa Homey. Everyone got in on the action. The Star Wars cards were the biggest hit with SSA.

Just a cute picture of Sammy watching his shows with Baby Elsa.

When the kids know I’m going out at night they always want me to check on them when get home. I’ve started taking photos of me checking on them at night so they know I’m telling the truth in the morning. (Jason – I should text these to you in case you need this proof when they wake in the middle of the night, lol.)

Our lazy Sunday started off as lazy as Saturday. Now that we’re up at 6:30am during the week, and out the door in an hour, lazy weekend mornings have taken on an entirely different meaning.

“My milk is too cold.”

Frog Sammy!

Megan got the kids a Melissa & Doug scissors activity book for their 3rd birthday and they’re really starting to get the hang of it. Sammy dove right in. Steven tried but he wanted perfection and kept getting frustrated. We’ll keep working on that. Amaya was so skilled. I really can’t believe how well she did. I think her patience with crafts helped her focus.

Amaya cut out all of those shapes and glued them on a piece of paper. She did so well!!

(I made the “A”. 🙂 )

All on her own, Amaya cut out the car, the wheels and then glued the wheels in place. I can’t believe how old these kids are.

This was Steven’s face when I told him to fix his legs. (He still “W” sits.)

It was Sammy’s day to go grocery shopping with Daddy. He offered up some hugs before he set out!

This face.

Sammy was so excited to come home with this BIG balloon! Steven is currently convinced it’s just his.

After nap, Amaya went to help Steven wake up. <3

Then she was his mommy, “rubbing his back open”. Seeing Steven, Sammy and Amaya play together really is one of the best things in my life.

We wrapped up the day with some more art. Sammy really, really wanted glitter glue last night (meltdown) so he and Daddy bought some today.

“Grandma Sunshine will looooove this. Grandma Sunshine will have to hang it up. And she loves sparkles! And she loves gold! I hope I do what she wants it go look like. And it’s going to be arrowy. It has arrows!”

“I am making this for Daddy.”

“I am making this for Elsa.”

Have a great week!