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! ♥ ♥ ♥