Fall school pictures are back! I will admit that I promised the kids each 3 m&ms after school if they promised to smile in their pictures. The school was totally on top of it and asked me to remind them if we prefer SSA in a specific order for photos (which I definitely do).

Steven and Sammy have their deranged toddler smiles which is definitely a sign of the times and, in my mom opinion, adorable. Amaya nailed it. She really, really wanted those m&ms. 🙂

For comparison, here’s one year ago. What a difference!

Steven!

Sammy!

Amaya! I love these so much.

I got some really cool new books for the kids when I was in Atlanta last week. This one is Jabari Jumps. It’s about being brave.

When Steven, Sammy and Amaya aren’t fighting, they have so much fun playing together.

Each of the kids brought home swim reports this week! I told Steven that his said he can “enter the water safely” and “blow bubbles” and he asked, “Do I have to do that in the deep end?” Which is perfectly reflective of  his report. No lessons for Steven, yet.

It was a short work week and everyone was back in school by Tuesday. (Amaya was home on Monday.) When Megan picked-up the kids on Wednesday, Steven told her that his ear hurt. I was leaving work at 3pm so I made an afternoon appointment to get him checked. With the holidays coming and two other ear infections under our belt, I didn’t want to chance it. 4 sick visits in 8 days!

We waited in the room for over 30 minutes and Steven talked the entire time. “I see a truck coming out of a parking spot! Mommy! Look at the truck! It’s going to go on the street! Ooooh! I see our car on the roof the parking garage! The bottom of the parking ramp is the roof of the parking garage! Why is there a wheel chair on that parking spot? Mommy look! Mommy look! Mommy look!”

Sure enough, 3/3 on ear infections. This is Steven’s first since his amoxicillin reaction at 15 months so he’s on Cefdinir. He was very, very proud of himself for not crying at the doctor appointment. “May May! I didn’t cry at the doctor appointment!” I’m going to have to be sure they know it’s okay to cry because they’re getting 3 pokes at their 4 yo well visit. Yikes.

Here’s what it looks like to keep track of medicine dosing for 3 kids when they have different start days, different schedules and different doses.

Amaya and Sammy love taking their medicine all by themselves. 🙂

With that settled, it was time to get ready for Thanksgiving!! Thursday’s plan was just Team Cline during the day, with a lazy day at home and a steak, crab legs and scallops feast, followed by a visit from Aunt Ouize before bedtime!

The kids all drew a picture of what they’re thankful for this year. Sammy is thankful for milk, Steven is thankful for rainbows and Amaya is thankful for either her family or her friends Nora R and Nora T. If you ask Amaya, it’s The Noras. If you look at her paper, it’s her family. Either works!

Thanksgiving day was L-A-Z-Y and perfect.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya loved the parade this year. Steven: “Amaya! Come quick! There’s a new balloon!” It was so much fun to watch with them. The only bummer is that we don’t get the NBC broadcast of the Macy’s NY parade. I’m going to have to see if we can find a way to stream it next year because it’s the NBC broadcast that really feels like Thanksgiving to me.

Yes, everyone is in bathing suits. They were going swimming, lol.

Too cold to wear by itself, put it on over your clothes!

This pretty much sums up the tone of our day. 🙂

Dinner was a lot of work, but awesome. Steven ate mashed potatoes, Amaya ate cucumbers but Sammy ate everything and really, really likes crab legs. Our boy.

Gotta have pie!

By shortly after 6pm, Aunt Ouize arrived!! Yay!!! Steven was sooooooo excited to have another person to talk to.

Friday was awesome. Megan was with us from 7:30am- 2pm and SSA spent a ton of time crafting. They also got outside for a walk with Aunt Ouize. I saved the messy crafts for a day when this many adults were around. 😉

Amaya

Sammy

Steven

Ready for a walk! How lucky are the kids that they had a chance to get outside this weekend? (Friday, Saturday & Sunday, actually.) Any days outside in MI between November and February seem like a gift.

More fun with Aunt Ouize. ♥

Now that we’re past Thanksgiving, it was time for Hanukkah decorations! Yay!! The boys had funny telling Daddy where to put the paper lanterns.

Then they had fun showing Aunt Ouize their doll house.

The kids Hanukkah presents from Aunt Ouize, Uncle Todd, Abraham and Nancy arrived during the visit which was perfect. As were the gifts – personalized Wonderbly books for everyone.

“Is her name Amaya? Is that me!?!”

Our street!

On Friday night, Ashley came and stayed with SSA so the grown-ups could go out for dinner. These kids looooooove their Ashley!

We were lucky to have Grandma Sunshine join us from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon.

Lots more book time!

Aunt Ouize was a total trooper and took the kids outside for TWO HOURS on Saturday morning. Amaya was in and out but Steven and Sammy were out there the entire time. I’m thrilled they got out as much as they did this weekend and they had SO much fun.

This will be a GREAT sledding hill.

Aunt Ouize and Grandma Sunshine were set to head home by 4pm so we had some last snuggles and TV time before they left.

I was sad when our house emptied and Jason was watching Sparty football so I took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to dinner at Applebees. They were amazing. It’s a ton of work to take them out to eat alone but I really couldn’t have asked for more from three kids in their late 3’s. Even with two trips to the potty and changing up seats because Steven’s stomach hurt, they were awesome.

Sammy loves salad!

Steven was in really bad shape for the beginning part of dinner, complaining about his stomach. He came around though!

Last day of our Thanksgiving break! We started it with some shows in bed while I got the day started.

Ashley came for a play date!

Blowing leaves with daddy! (Literally. That’s Sammy holding the snow blower.)

It was Amaya’s turn to go grocery shopping with Daddy. She’s too cool for school.

Sammy photobomb. 🙂

The last activity of the day was one Steven has been waiting for foreeeeeeever. Jumping in the leaf pile!! I’m so glad it was just warm enough for them to make it happen.

Bedtime stories and then it’s back to routine tomorrow! It was a great holiday weekend but I think we’re all ready.

One last story. This is Steven and Morminer. She was originally “Mortimer” but you know how that goes. Steven and Morminer are soul bonded. Well, Steven is. I’m pretty sure Morminer is inanimate, though you’d never know it from Steven’s relationship with her. I’d say, 7 times out of 10, his bedtime song is about her. He can tell you her favorite foods and he’s let me know that she doesn’t like kisses, only hugs. All of that is to say, apparently Morminer’s favorite song is “Steven has a little lamb.” ♥ ♥ ♥ x ∞

He knows he’s adorable.

This was a long one! Did you make it all the way? We thank you!! Happy Thanksgiving and have a great week!

Tuesday morning I was prepping for a trip to Atlanta and Jason and I had worked out a intricate dance to get the kids to school on time, both of us to work on time, and Jason home in time to relieve Megan. That was all thrown when Steven woke up early with a fever. We made an on-the-fly call to keep everyone home and rushed to make plans with Megan so she could arrive in time for me to make an 11am meeting and, then, my flight.

It turned out Sammy and Amaya also had low-grade fevers so it was a quiet morning in front of the tv with three sickies before I headed out for work and my business trip. Never did I expect they’d all be out of school for the rest of the week!

Steven wasn’t feeling much better Tuesday evening. Poor Bobo. He looks so drained and sick here. 🙁

Steven got it into his head that he was going to sleep in bed with Jason on Tuesday night. When the kids were getting ready to bed he grabbed his stuff, climbed in, and promptly fell asleep.

On Wednesday, Megan saw spots in Steven’s mouth so we made a quick dr appointment for him. He’s trying so hard to simile in this picture! You can see the flush in his cheeks.

The NP diagnosed Steven with Hand Foot Mouth based on the spots in his mouth, but it never really progressed from there so I’m still a little skeptical.

Wednesday afternoon & evening, Anna picked up the ball to care for our sickos. At this point, Amaya and Steven both had fevers and Sammy was feeling more like his old self.

Sammy: Amaya, will you feel better if I play a song for you?

Happy Sammy!

Nana and Savta came to town to save the day on Thursday. Thank goodness they were here this weekend! Jason and I are sick, too, and I didn’t even get back until Friday afternoon so this visit was a huge help.

After nap on Thursday, Sammy complained that his ear hurt. He was still complaining about it at 4pm so I got him a last-of-the-day 5:30pm dr appointment. Nana, Savta, Steven, Sammy and Amaya fought traffic and literally arrived as the doctor was leaving the building. She graciously came back and diagonsed Sammy with a terrible ear infection. It seemed like it came out of nowhere! Poor Bubba. I was on the phone with my mom while she was with the doctor and Sammy was just whimpering and whimpering the whole time.

To keep a closer eye, Jason had a guys sleepover on Thursday night. <3

By Friday morning, everyone was returning to their usual selves. Steven and Sammy, in particular, were in much better shape. At some point, Sammy’s ear drum burst which the dr said might happen. She also said that it would ultimately relieve the pressure causing him so much pain which seemed to be the case.

Amaya was still under the weather but doing her best to rally.

For Baby Taco’s FIRST birthday, the kids made her this video.

Amaya was on day 4 of a fever on Friday so I made the call to get her to the doctor. I was sick and took an early flight back from Atlanta so I was able to take her to the appointment right when I got home.

You can see how sick and congested she was. Poor girl.

The NP saw her and diagnosed a double ear infection. She said that one ear was one of the worst ear infections she’d ever seen! We had no idea. Amaya never complained about her ears.So glad I trusted my instinct to get her seen before the weekend.

A few meds are all Amaya needs to get right back to crafts.

Saturday was, of course, a lazy day at home so everyone could keep recuperating.

Nana snuggled Steven under her sweater. So sweet.

Savta held court. She’s the best at engaging these kids. Savta’s imagination is unrivaled.

Amaya is continuing to work on her name. She’s confident with her Ms but still asking for help with Y.

I took a break from the sick house to go to celebrate Taco’s first birthday!! How can it have been a year already??? Happy Birthday, Taco!!

Today has been a day of more crafts and more play time. I’m hoping the boys, at least, will be ready to go back to school tomorrow.

Just a few other photos from the week.

A bee eating breakfast before school.

Steven sleeping with his mommy’s blankie.

Decked-out Sammy.

Focused Amaya.

Fussy Amaya, annoyed that Sammy is playing with the ball she wants. (And, yes, the kids all put on bathing suits the day of our first snow.)

In the past two or three weeks, Steven’s scissor skills have come so far. I really can’t believe it. Just a few weeks ago he cried when he tried to cut out this boat. Today, all I did was the water. He cut out the rest impressively well, glued it down, and wrote Nana’s name on it as a gift. I’m really proud that he’s practiced and persevered to get to this point. I was a little worried that his perfectionism would get in his way and I’m so glad that wasn’t the case. Go Bobes!

Sammy was in bed his bed with Jason, early, because he wasn’t listening at bed time. Meanwhile, Amaya tells me, “we’re reading together!” She and Steven were so cute together!

Steven and Sammy seem almost back to full health. Not quite, but well enough to go back to school tomorrow. Amaya had a fever on and off today and seems to need one more day at home to recuperate. Hopefully she’s back at school with The Brothers on Tuesday.

I’ll end this week with this screenshot of a FaceBook post that Megan sent me. This is from an exchange she had with her friend Bridget 4 years ago on the 16th. Three babies! Indeed. 🙂

Have a great week!

Monday was exciting because Papa and Uncle Austin got to help take Steven, Sammy and Amaya to school! We were early enough that I was able to give Papa and Austin a great extended tour of the Child Development Center and the JCC. After drop off, we said our goodbyes and they were on their way.

Amaya has been nervous about swim lessons at school. It’s somewhat out of the blue because she started the lessons last January. But the anxiety has kept her out of the pool the past few weeks so I today I took an early lunch and went to her lesson for moral support. So grateful I could do that! She was scared and, I think, very proud of herself for trying. I certainly was!

My girl. ♥

SSA continued to cut, cut, cut this week. Every night after work they asked if they could cut. So we did!

One of their teachers told me you can tell that they have experience with scissors. It was Megan’s idea to let them start practicing last year when they turned 3 and were first exposed in school. Thanks Megan!

Except for the wheels, Steven cut out this car by himself. He has improved dramatically over the past week.

Amaya’s bird.

Last week I talked about Amaya and Sammy but, this week, Amaya opened hear heart and Steven was right back in the mix. 😉 Here they are playing Ring Around the Rosie before school.

Dance class! Boy, they love it.

Sammy is enthusiastic, and also a part-time direction follower.

Amaya is a pout pout fish with a pout pout face. 🙂

Saturday morning I had to run out to get my phone fixed and decided to bring Sammy with me. Amaya wasn’t having it. <3

Excited for a trip to the store with mommy!

Mommy and Steven were leggings buddies on Saturday! It is SO sweet that he wants to wear the same pants as his mommy. It’s hard to think to a future where that won’t be the case. (Jason – any interest in matching pants with Grandma Sunshine!?!?)

Today the kids and I headed out to a Sammy Spider event at the JCC! Everyone was excited and also a little unsure of what it would mean to “meet” Sammy Spider. There were crafts, a kids’ musician, food and a guy with exotic animals.

Making friendship bracelets. Amaya brought that spider picture with her to give to Sammy. (Not actually possible because one version of Sammy was stuffed and the other was a live tarantula.)

Sammy and Balloon Sammy

Stuffed Sammy! (When we first started reading the books, Steven and Amaya wanted to find Steven Spider and Amaya Spider in the books lol. They’ve grown up enough to realize that the book is about a spider named Sammy which is also their brother’s name.)

Ready for the animals!

So many cool animals for the kids to see. A tarantula! (We said this is Sammy Spider but Steven said, “Mommy. The real Sammy Spider is rainbow colors.” Can’t trick that kid! 😉 We also saw a hedgehog, snake, 2 armadillos, a slot and a bearcat.

Even with kids who were exceptionally well behaved, it is exhausting. Some Sundays I need a weekend from my weekend!

I will end this blog with a video of a regular bedtime routine with Sammy – singing “Maybe” from Annie together. I recorded in the dark so it’s just audio but it’s pretty darn sweet.

Have a great week!

Our Halloween adventures continued on Monday when the kids came to my office to trick or treat. 75 kids parading around our office in costumes! It was so much better than last year. SSA were more comfortable and it’s just a better age for this type of event. They all loved showing off their costumes.

We don’t celebrate Halloween at the JCC Child Development Center so Tuesday, at school, was your typical day. I was able to sneak some photos of the kids in the drop-off room before Sammy spied me and came running for more hugs.

Steven is in the back in the blue shirt, deep in conversation.

I took a few pictures of the classroom displays while I was signing-in in the kids classroom. (I asked Amaya who she likes best in her class and she said, “The Noras”. I guess, like The Brothers, she she’s a fan of people who come in pairs. 😉 )

Tuesday night it was finally time for real door-to-door trick-or-treating. Steven, Sammy and Amaya all did great. They loved ringing the bell and always remembered to say “Trick or Treat”. After a few houses I carried Sammy’s costume until we got to each door. It turns out I didn’t make it easy for him to bend his knees. He was totally unphased, though.

 

Wednesday morning, Amaya woke up calling for Sammy. Sammy held her hand for a while until she wanted to get out of bed to give him a hug. She’s really been on a Sammy kick, lately! It’s very cute until it includes excluding Steven from the mix. Jason and I are totally aligned on the expectation that the kids don’t leave each other out. Three can be a tough number but we need to be clear that they can’t exclude one another.

Amaya didn’t quite want to hold Steven’s hand but agreed that he could hold her arm. (To be fair, there have been times when it’s Steven she specifically wanted. Interestingly, though, she seems to be the link. The boys will play together but it’s Amaya who’s tends to be the anchor of affection.)

Amaya! Don’t put your finger in your nose!

As soon as I said that, Sammy needed to put his finger in his nose, too.

Amaya and Sammy wanted to hold hands walking downstairs for breakfast. Steven wanted to join in but there wasn’t enough space for everyone to walk down together and Amaya was being difficult about walking with Steven, anyway. When they got downstairs, I asked Amaya to come back up and walk with Steven. I even offered to carry her up. Maybe I’d have let it go but she’d been excluding him all morning and I didn’t want it to continue. She was resisting and walked away. Steven looked at me and said, “I don’t think she’s coming back up.” Now I’m all for teaching the kids to manage through disappointment but not at the hands of one of their siblings being unnecessarily unkind. I went downstairs and explained to Amaya that Steven was sad because he was left out and I really needed her to be a great sister and walk down with him.

Here they are hand in hand. Good work, Amaya!

Here are a few photos from dance class on Wednesday. 🙂

Steven and a new friend.

Sammy and Amaya.

Thursday was a professional development day for the teachers at the JCC so there was no school. It had been a busy, busy week so we planned a lazy day at home. Megan kept everyone in jammies, built a fort and introduced the kids to Moana.

The highlight of the day was this guy decided to try to use the potty!! Everyone was SO proud of Steven!! He was really proud of himself, too.

He tried four times throughout the day. No successes but it’s a start! He was waiting on the potty when I got home from work so he could surprise me. Steven told me, “Amaya and Sammy are proud of me, too.” And, “I think Daddy will be really proud of me.”

Here he is surprising Daddy after work. This little proud face!!

Amaya asked me to send the photo above to her friend Hadley, which I did. I’m sharing this screenshot because it’s also Amaya’s very first text. 🙂 She spelled her name on the keyboard all by herself!

Friday morning started with more cuddles…

And ended with a visit from Papa and Uncle Austin! YAY!!!

We started off Saturday with some lazy time at home.

While Daddy was busy filling up a dumpster, the rest of us headed to Jungle Java.

Places like this really highlight some of the differences between the kids. Amaya is, by far, the most adventurous when it comes to gross motor activities. She was nervous at first but, pretty quickly, she ended up running all around the structure on her own (or with Mommy or Uncle Austin in tow). She’s still not a fan of the big slides but the phrase I heard most often during our visit was “I can do it by myself.” Way to go, little mama!!

Sammy really, really wanted to go in the tree house but was very nervous. Finally, he did it!!! Go Bubba!! He was so proud.

Lunch time!

An applesauce sandwich.

Brave Papa taking two boys to the bathroom.

Don’t worry about all of my stories about Amaya and Sammy. Steven’s not really left out. Here you can see just how close Amaya and Steven are, too, while we all cuddled during TV time. <3

We rounded out the day with an early dinner out at Garage.

Why take off your coat and hat inside, right? (Amaya and Sammy both really liked calimari. Steven didn’t want to try it.)

I helped with the Y, but Amaya wrote her name! She actually got the letters in order but started on the right side of the page instead of the left. I suppose it helps that she only has to learn 3 letters but I’m still impressed.

While we waited for food, Uncle Austin explained the gas and air pumps.

Interlude because I love this: Nana took Chase and Charlie out for dinner and they insisted on sending me this picture of their cups because they could see the statues’ butt cheeks. I don’t care what anyone else thinks – I absolutely LOVE that they see butt cheeks on their cups and think of Aunt Jo.

After dinner it was a last tv show and then bed. Which I share only because of these two photos.

Normal cuddles.

Mommy cuddles.

This morning was a lot slower. Everyone got new “stamps” and we did arts and crafts for at least 2 hours.

Amaya’s pizza.

Steven’s pumpkin. (Help with the cutting, obviously.) He really wanted to add that candle. 🙂

While Daddy went grocery shopping, the rest of us went out for brunch.

Papa and Uncle Austin had great cuddle time after naps.

We wrapped up the day with a trip to Bounce It Up. I’d never been but Rosie took the kids while I was in Denver in September.

Before we left, Steven told me he was going to get Daddy hot dogs at the bounce house place. Now I understand why. “That’ll be $5 for a hot dog,” he told me.

I really thought we were going to end up spending the entire time in this little corner. No one was interested in the bounce houses!

Finally I got Amaya out of her corner and she started exploring. At first she needed the section to be totally empty (tough on a rainy Sunday afternoon) but, before long, she had enough confidence to run and play even with a ton of other kids around.

Once Sammy saw Amaya in action he was game, too!

They had a blast. Next time we’ll try to go on a quiet weekday, if possible, so Steven can explore a little more comfortably, too. But he did love his time selling hot dogs.

And that’s it for our week! It was so, so great to have Uncle Austin and Papa visit The Land of Cheltenham for the weekend.

Have a great week!