Spring school pictures are in, taken on Monday, 3/18. I always say I won’t buy two sets of photos per year but, every year, they get me.

Steven and Morminer. <3

Usually he’ll say that he’s her daddy, though her age varies. The other day, Steven told me something was “Sheep-a-rific!” “That’s what I say when something makes me happy!” (Later he told me that Saturday would be “Family-rific” because he’d get to spend the day with his family.) And, yes, she’s a monkey except that Steven designated her a “sheep” ages and ages ago so that’s just how it is.

Bubbalish and his Puppy.

Amaya chose to bring Ariel this spring. She looks so old to me in these photos. Maybe it’s the pink highlights.

The whole gang.

These photos take us back to last week but I can’t pass up the opportunity to share them. Nana and SSA at Chuck E Cheese, while she was holding down the fort for Team Cline! I love these!

We had a glimpse of spring this week. There’s snow on the ground right now but I see the light.

This child loves to pose. She’s also in love with this doughnut (donut?) nightgown from Charlie.

Go Fish with Madison. SSA still love games and they’re managing emotions better when they lose. Amaya still has the hardest time when she doesn’t win but she’s getting better.

Don’t Break the Ice. This is one of Steven’s staying-in-bed prizes so he tries to make up his own rules like “Skip-a-turn” doesn’t apply to him.

Five years in, the kids still play with these bears that they got from Aunt Dale and Uncle Arnie as being-born gifts. I need to pull up some photos of them with the bears as itty bitties as a comparison.

Sal. <3 <3 <3

Thursday was Dress Like Your Favorite Character day at school. Here they are with Ms. Jena. We’ve been dressing up all month and I was kind of done with it so we went with their character themed sweatshirts – Twilight Sparkle, Ryder and Marshall.

With Ms. Bri.

Amaya was not herself after school on Thursday. Maybe the ear infection caught up with her or she slept poorly the night prior but this girl needed a NAP on Thursday afternoon. I can’t remember the last time she napped. It did the trick, though, because she said she felt fine and was ready for dance later in the day.

Jazz dance in their costumes! It’s a lot of work for Madison to help all of the kids quickly get dressed while the rest of the parents just have one child to focus on. One of the other kids asked her what was taking so long lol.

Some of the big kids watched them dance and then they watched the big kids. Sammy said it was amazing. “It was amazing! One of the girls dance with a piece of paper in her hands the whole time even when she was in the air or upside down.” Steven said, “The music was sad but the dance was really good.” I happen to know that this class is dancing to the theme music from Schindler’s List.

On Thursday night we had two kids who were afraid to go to sleep because of a book they read.

Amaya explained to me that there was a teacher who went away and a mean teacher came back in her place but it was just the nice teacher pretending to be a mean teacher. Steven told Jason that it had “Miss” and “Swamp” in the title and there was a good person that dressed up like a bad person in black with green and white pants.

Miss Nelson is Missing!

I can see where Miss Viola Swamp would be a little upsetting. Even more so when I found out that one of the school teachers dressed up as Viola Swamp for Favorite Character Day.

The kids didn’t have school on Friday because it was parent/teacher conference day. New this year, school is off twice a year to give the educators a full day to focus on conferences with the parents. It does work out better. With three kids in the class I had a full hour with Ms. Bri and Ms. Jena and, to my surprise, we used it all.

Everyone’s right on track with their letters and numbers. They’ve got most lower case (and all upper case) letters down and are starting to read numbers in the 100s. All three kids are doing well with their rhyming words and know that they live on Cheltenham Drive, though we’ve got to work on the 5 digit street number. They had to complete shape patterns and then make their own. Amaya and Steven made their own A/B pattern and Sammy stepped up with AAB. Thanks Team Umizoomi! SSA are also where they should be with classroom skills and self-help skills – possibly some of the most important skills to have as they get ready for kindergarten.

Some specifics:

Steven is the engineer in the classroom. He builds cities with blocks all over the classroom and is first to head toward the building materials. He’s great with independent play but sometimes his energy can create distractions in large group play. Steven gravitates toward the more outgoing kids in the room and his teachers said he’s one of the kids most likely to follow his own path rather than be swayed by peer pressure. He’s been working on managing his temper and there have been a few times in recent weeks where his teachers saw him get angry but he was able to collect himself and reign it in before exploding. I’m so proud to hear that! Steven’s teachers also know all about his sheep friend, Morminer, and artwork of her has been a regular theme in the classroom this year.

Sammy is a sweet child in the classroom. He is more likely to play independently or side-by-side with another quite child than to get into the middle of louder kids. There’s a small red couch in the reading area and the teachers often find Sammy there first thing in the morning either playing quietly, lounging or “reading” a book. They said that he seems to value that quiet transition time unlike some others who just want to run in and play. While I tend to see Sammy lose interest in projects at home, his teachers said that he is often the last to get up from a project at school. Looking at his art and handwriting, it’s obvious how far he’s come in the past 6 months. At the beginning of the year his drawings were scribbles and he struggled to write his name but both skills have really evolved. He still has some challenges holding his pencil correctly so we’re going to use thicker pencils and try a pencil grip. Sammy also has a tendency to move slowly so Ms. Jena was proud to tell me about the day, last week, when Sammy was the first to get dressed after swim. Just like at home, Sammy loves water and is generally last to the table because he spends so much time washing his hands. Ms. Bri joked that they want to use Sammy as the example of hand washing practices when licensing comes to visit the school.

Amaya is so dominant at home but she’s not an alpha girl at school, which is interesting. But the teachers have shared that there are some very strong personalities in their classroom. Amaya plays with all of the other girls in the class and is extremely independent, just like at home. While Amaya can be quick to cry when upset at home, she’s less inclined to cry at school but she will sulk and give her teachers the silent treatment (with a glare) if she isn’t happy with what’s going on. Amaya is the the first one to the table when there’s any art to do and she has phenomenal fine motor control.

While I was at conferences, Madison took the kids to Tiny Town along with her cousins Landon, Jaxon and Own. It’s amazing to think back to the kids’ first visiting Tiny Town before they turned 3 and now seeing them as some of the bigger kids in the space.

Apparently Steven and Landon (7) were thicks as thieves, playing together.

Running to the bubbles.

Bubbles!

Everyone came back to the house for playtime, lunch and Wreck It Ralph.

Three wiped kids, watching their movie.

After work, everyone was ready for the weekend!

The kids have been into their abacuses lately. They’re starting to get the idea that each row is 10 and each color change is 5. It’s pretty cool to see.

Thanks, Aunt Annette, for 45 minutes on FaceTime with Steven!

Side note: earlier this week, Steven was texting with Jason and Jason got a text that said, “STOPDADDY”. Jason texted back, “OK Stevie.” Steven called Jason and said, “Did you text ‘OK Stevie” because you saw my text that said ‘Stop Daddy” and knew I wanted to go to bed?” He’s legitimately communicating via text!

Saturday morning was all about a new Lego set I bought last weekend. It’s one of their expert Creator sets and I got Jo’s Garage because I knew SSA would love to play with it once it’s complete. (And it’s Jo’s Garage! Perfect coincidence!)

Everyone contributed but Amaya was particularly interested in helping this time. (Not surprisingly, Steven was most interested in playing with the end result.)

Part 1. The garage and gas station. We’re about 1/3 done and will work on more next week.

While some parts were still lying around, Steven made this geometric design. He has fantastic spacial relations skills. He’s great an envisioning both 2D and 3D designs.

Playing Sum Swamp with Daddy.

Deep in conversation.

Practicing our writing. (You can see where the pencil grip will be helpful for Sammy.)

We had a perfectly lazy morning at home.

Sammy loves “Go, Dog. Go.” He likes the story itself, but he especially likes that he’s able to “read” along with a good portion of the book.

Learning with Daddy about volcanoes and tornadoes and tsunamis and the movement of tectonic plates.

Our adventure today was a playdate for Amaya with my friend Nina and her daughter, Sarah. (Sarah just turned 5 last week and was one of the triplets who had the Chuck E Cheese birthday party.) It’s a big step to start 1:1 play dates so I was relieved to see the boys roll with it. We went to a ceramics place in downtown Northville and painted pottery together. So much fun!

Amaya really got the hang of it – three coats per color, lighter colors first, wipe the brush dry between colors. She picked a fairy to paint.

The finished product! She asked me to add the pink lip gloss lips and blue eyes. Now the store will fire it and, when we pick it up next week, the colors will be brighter and the piece will be glazed. Can’t wait!

The whole gang! Nina painted a beer stein for her husband for their anniversary and I painted pieces for Steven and Sammy.

I painted a Captain America themed dish for Steven an ice cream cone shaped dish (chocolate/strawberry swirl!) for Sammy.

Some fun artwork from the past week:

If the Dinosaurs came back…

Steven would “play tigers with them.” (You can see the kids working on their lowercase letters.)

Sammy would “run away.”

Amaya would “take care of them”.

The creation of silly Dr. Seuss characters.

Names, with lowercase letters.

One last picture – Ms. Bri sent this to me after our conferences to show me an example of one of Steven’s block creations. I can’t get enough. <3

Finally, we all want to congratulate Megan, Mike and Taco on the birth of Eden Hadlee, known in our home a Rainbow Heart. <3

Have a great week!

This is another week where Monday feels like it was a lifetime ago. Time flies when you’re having fun!

On Monday, SSA had more fun playing Swamp Sum. Madison said that they’re doing pretty well with it on their own, needing only a bit of support and guidance along the way.

Sammy, practicing his stretches.

Amaya’s old beach hats are too small so Madison kindly picked one up for her at Target while she was there shopping. Amaya loves it!

I had a special delivery of my own. A triplet mom I’m friendly with makes hair bows as a side business. She had a special order of My Little Pony bows and clips which I couldn’t resist. When I ordered this Twilight Sparkle bow for Amaya I had to toss in a Fluttershy clip for Sammy and a Rainbow Dash clip for Steven. The won’t work in the boys’ hair but they’ll find uses. Madison also got a Pinkie Pie clip of her own.

On Tuesday morning Amaya got dressed and said to Steven, “Do you want to wear your Rainbow Dash shirt today, too?” He told her, “I didn’t pick that shirt out for today but I can go get it.”

So sweet!

Trip to the post office with Madison.

Wednesday was a busy, busy day. It was the kids’ Purim carnival at school and also the day that Jason and I were heading to Vegas! This school year I’ll have had a 1:1 trip with all the other Clines in our household. Is that special or what!?!? Jason and I haven’t had a vacation together in almost 3 years so we were due and I couldn’t wait.

But first… as I have for the past two years, I joined the kids at the their Purim carnival. Everyone was very excited about the costumes they picked out.

The JCC photographer got this photo of me dancing with Sammy. He was such a happy boy.

After the songs, we had the annual parade around the hockey center & track where stations were set up for the kids to get non-food treats. (Two years ago, the parade was through the JCC. Up stairs. Down stairs. Up more stairs. I was trying to manage with three slow 3 year olds. It was not efficient for anyone and the change to the track works much better.)

SSA’s class with Ms. Jena (as Madeye Moody) and Ms. Bri as a Hogwarts student.

After work I headed to the airport to meet Jason with Nana at hour house holding down the fort. I said goodbye to the kids who were so busy with Nana they barely noticed me leaving. 🙂

Amaya’s had a cough so Nana make sure she was propped up well to help through the night.

Ichabod welcomed us to Vegas!

Happy kids on Thursday morning.

Happy Mommy, lazing in bed.

Amaya’s cough was bad when they arrived at dance so Ms. Christina had her sit out for the day.

Bubba, in tap class.

Steven, in jazz.

That’s Steven holding boat pose so nicely in the front row! Awesome exercise for our guy.

On Thursday Sammy got to see his shirt for his tap costume and he was over the moon. I love this child’s smile.

This spring, all three Cline kids are signed up for t-ball! Amaya was a hold out until the end (which would have been fine) but eventually decided to join her brothers. We’ll see how it goes! We watch a lot of baseball in the house and it’s a little less demanding than soccer so hopefully one or all of them enjoys it (more than they enjoyed soccer). I believe the season runs May through July.

As always, Nana joined the kids for Shabbat at school. What a big transition it will be into Kindergarten.

Friday was pajama day!

Checking out the hail with Nana after school, and comparing it to snow.

In the meantime, Jason and I were relaxing in Vegas. I spent most of my time at the spa and pool while Jason primarily surrounded himself with tvs to watch March Madness early rounds.

Making Hamentashen for Purim with Nana. One of the kids (Amaya?) remembered that we used their snack cups to cut out the circles of dough.

Lighting the Shabbat candles.

On Saturday morning, Jason and I hopped on FaceTime with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. It’s so cool that they were happy to see us but also totally fine with us being away.

Sammy spinning and spinning. He asked why I got dizzy if he’s the one spinning. 🙂

Late Saturday morning, Nana took the kids to their first Chucky Cheese birthday party to celebrate our friends William, Kenny and Sarah who are turning five. They had SO much fun. I’m excited that they have another Chucky Cheese party in two weeks.

Friday night Amaya told Nana that her ear hurt. By Saturday morning she said it was fine but it was hurting again after the party. She didn’t have a fever but every time they say their ear hurts they have an ear infection so, straight from the party, Nana took the kids to urgent care.

Waiting and waiting and waiting….

But entertained by Nana!

From the way she was acting, you’d never know this child had a double ear infection.

Watching Frozen while Nana made dinner.

While Nana did the heavy lifting, Jason and I continued to relax. On Saturday, I spent almost 6 hours at the pool. Perfection.

This morning Jason and I were scheduled to return home. Before we were even awake, Nana took SSA to Starbucks. It’s so nice that Nana has all of these great traditions for her visits to Michigan.

Art time

Sammy time

While we headed to the airport, Nana took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to Applebees for lunch. So many adventures!!!

Aaaaaaaaaand, Jason and I are not home yet. We boarded our plane. Sat for two hours. Deplaned due to a mechanical issue. Now we’re scheduled for a flight that leaves tomorrow (Monday) at 6am. Thanks for rallying for us, Nana!!

We’re checked in at the Wynn and definitely making the most of our extra night here.

The kids wrapped it up with My Little Pony, Sofia the First and pizza. I can’t wait to give them big squeezes tomorrow!

Have a great week!

Monday! When the kids got home from school, Sammy told Madison that her car looked beautiful and asked to take a picture in front of it.

SSA earn a prize for every six days they get stars at school. They earn a star if they’re a good listener and a good friend, as reported by their teacher. (Side note: If I haven’t mentioned it, Steven has recently struggled with school behavior a bit. He can get handsy with his friends and sometimes chooses not to listen. To help keep the rewards top of mind, his teachers created a chart that lets him earn one star/hour toward his star for the day. It seems to be helping.)

Here, Sammy is playing with an alien that he earned last week. He had to be patient while it took a day or two to hatch in water. It was a bit of a struggle at first because the prize didn’t have immediate gratification but, in the end, I think he liked that Amaya and Steven were so interested in his prize. Plus, he got to keep a bowl of water in his room for two days.

Bubbalish – lining up his squishies.

Lots and lots and lots of legos in our house.

On Tuesday, the kids had a treat when Madison’s mom took them to lunch after school. Madison said that Sammy’s face lit up when he saw her. In fact, they were going upstairs as a group at the same time as Ms. Shannon and Sammy had a hard time figuring out where to focus his energy and excitement when he could be with Ms. Shannon and Madison’s mom.

Big goodbye hugs

Sammy, sporting some Belle dress-up.

I mean, who wouldn’t like to twirl?

Sammy also got a much-needed new sweatshirt for spring. He picked Marshall!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya have been very into these Melissa & Doug painting sheets lately. I love them because they’re mess free. No need to put paint in trays or do a ton of clean-up. (I do wish the sheets were perforated, though.)

Steven’s cheetah

Sammy’s shark

Amaya’s owl

Bonus Bee for me, from Steven. I want to save every piece of artwork that says “Mommy”. <3

On Wednesday the JCC had a Red Robin fundraiser to raise $ for the kids’ school so Madison and SSA at lunch out for the 2nd day in a row.

After lunch, they stopped by home depot to pick up some potting dirt for seeds that needed new pots.

Steven wasn’t thrilled about the Hi-Lo cart.

For the kids’ birthday, Grandma Sunshine got them an Amazon STEM kit subscription. This month’s gift came and it’s great math-based board game.

Thursday dance class! Madison texted me as class was starting to let me know that Sammy was very upset and crying. There was an incident where he was caught in a lie and Sammy really struggles when he’s called out for doing something “wrong”. He couldn’t get himself out of it so I jumped on the phone with him. I shared that, when I’m upset, tap class is a great place to go because it helps me forget what’s bothering me. (True.) He wanted to see me right away, which obviously wasn’t possible, so I also promised him that he could sit on my lap while he ate dinner – a rare treat. The pep talk did the trick and Bubba was back in action.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya saw their first real rainbow on the way home from dance class! They asked me to put the pictures in the blog so they can see them again. Here you go, kiddos!

Sammy love after work.

I couldn’t help but get Amaya a set of Captain Marvel pajamas. She looooooooves them. This girl is ready to save the world from danger. (And she loves to pose.)

A pooped Captain Marvel, with a bunny on her head. (Amaya sleeps sideways on her bed with her feet dangling off. I just thought to ask her why and she said it’s because she wants to keep it beautiful like how it looks after Claudia [our housekeeper] makes it when she cleans our house.)

We had some thunderstorms on Thursday night. At one point, Steven facetimed me to ask how to spell “there”. He called back later to ask how to spell “lightening storm.” Then he called back again to show me this sign.

At the time the lightening had paused so I said, “no” and, in return, ended up with a crossed off sign (above) and the one below.

Friday was Disney day at school so we had Captain America, Captain Marvel and Sammy in a superhero cape that wasn’t Marvel (or Disney) but continued the theme and made him very happy.

Madison was off on Friday but the school allowed us to pay a full day rate and keep the kids at school from 8:30am- 4:30pm. Jason dropped off and I picked up.

The night before Sammy asked me to keep reminding him about what would happen because he didn’t want to forget. When I got to school to pick up the kids, Steven ran over to me and said, “This was awesome!” He was particularly excited about getting to go into the Kindergarten room and play with a toy from that classroom. Sammy told me the day was overwhelming and Ms. Bri confirmed that he had a lot of questions throughout the day. “How will I watch my shows if I’m at school all day?”

When we left, Steven gave Ms. Shannon a piece of art he made for her and she showed the kids where she keeps all of the art that the kids make for her. She’s wonderful.

More art from Steven on Friday. He called to ask how to spell “from” and was very proud that he knew how to write “to”. That’s a picture of the two of us. I love it.

On Saturday, in preparation for school photos on Monday, I added a little pink to Amaya’s hair. It’s been a while!

Happy Samscicle. He was excited to do a pupped show.

The magnatile creations are getting more and more complex so we ordered some more pieces for the kids. Can’t wait to see what they can do!

On Saturday afternoon I drove to Columbus (Dublin, really) to meet my friends Heather, Karie and Dianna for a short girls’ weekend. It’s a 3 hour drive for me. Heather’s about 2 hrs away and Karie and Dianna are in the area. We’ve been trying to do this for a while and I’m so glad we made it work! 17 kids between us – incredible.

While I was off having fun, SSA played a game of Blokus together. I love how they’re evolving with game play together. It’s fun to play with them but it’s also a lot of fun to watch them play independently.

Free from Three in Columbus!

The kids had a nice morning with Jason and I was home by 2:30pm, in time for MSU to win the Big 10 tournament.

Sammy, specifically and in particular, likes independence in the kitchen. He was the first to want to pour his cereal milk on his own and the first to want to do his own dishes. He also likes to get things from the fridge and pantry independently and there are semi-frequent meltdowns if he someone does it for him or “helps” him in any way. I’m convinced that the extremes come when he’s hungry.

Here, you can see his instructions to me to “stay back and don’t look” while he was getting his sandwich out of the fridge.

Daddy Steven and Baby Amaya were on the walkies with Sammy who was taking care of things at Steven’s workplace. Leading up to this, Sammy and Steven were playing together – just the two of them – which I love to see. Sometimes I feel like Amaya is the glue in their friendship.

Me: Amaya, did you wear a skirt with your tights when you went out with Daddy today?

Amaya: Nope!

On the recommendation of my friend Ames, we rounded out Amaya’s PJs with Captain Marvel’s mohawk mask.

Finally, sweet Bubbalish.

Have a great week!

Happy Sunday! We’re having a quiet Spring Forward day in the Land of Cheltenham. With nowhere to go, nothing really had to change for the kids but, come bedtime, they’ll be going to be an hour earlier than they have been so we’ll see how that goes. I suspect Sammy won’t skip a beat.

This picture is of Sammy, which seems obvious when I look at it, but he’s in Steven’s shirt and with the wave in his hair I thought it was Steven at first glance when Madison sent it to me. The boys look so different so that doesn’t happen to me very often.

Monday night I finished the Enterprise! We have our kitchen table back. It’s sweet.

Amaya called us the “Girl Lego Builders” team. I love it. <3

Amaya made this picture for Sally to keep by her water bowl. She ended up also writing her name on it so Sally would know it’s from her. 🙂

It was Dr. Seuss week at school with a theme every day. Monday was Red & Blue day. Tuesday was crazy sock day and Amaya was ready!

Tuesday was a big day. First, I registered Steven, Sammy and Amaya for Kindergarten. SOB. It’s still 6 months away but shit is getting real.

Then we had SSA’s 5 year well check. Sammy said that it was the “best day ever” because I was going to the doctor appointment with they during the day. The plight of a child of two working parents.

Waiting to be seen…

The kids were excited because this appointment had NO pokes!

Everyone was very fascinated with blood pressure checks.

Ready for Dr. Heinen! Steven liked to sit on that side of the exam table because it was closest to the steps the use to climb up and down. He was a little less comfortable up there than Amaya and Sammy and felt safer knowing he could get down easily.

Here are the stats from this year’s visit. Everyone is staying right on the growth curves they’ve had since birth.

Steven:
41.25″; 14.8th percentile (compared to 29^th percentile in May)
35lbs 4oz; 10.6th percentile (compared to 10^th percentile in May)

Sammy:
43″; 45.9th percentile (compared to 63^rd percentile in May)
36lbs 4oz; 15.8th percentile (compared to 22^nd percentile in May)

Amaya:
43.5″; 65.7th percentile (compared to 82nd percentile in May)
37lbs 6oz; 31.6th percentile (compared to 31st percentile in May)

SSA had hearing and vision tests which they passed without problems. It was interesting to see how they understand the vision test instructions so much better this year than at their 4 year appointment in May.

The card they use has block E in the center that points at one of four pictures. The kids have to tell the nurse which direction the E is facing. When Steven was being tested he was struggling to understand what she’d ask for when the nurse said, “Which way are the openings pointing?” Once we called it an “E” he got it easily. The next time she asked, “Which way is the E pointing,” he told her, “You don’t have to ask the question each time. Just go to the next one. I know what to do.” She said it’s the first time anyone’s said that to her. 🙂

Dr. Heinen asked the kids questions about nutrition, safety and self care. Our only assignment is to put a fire safety plan in place with the kids. Even typing that makes me panic so I asked Jason to take point on that for the family. They need to know to stay low. To leave the house without looking for us. And they need to know where to meet up outside. It needs to be a warm weather & cold weather plan.

All in all, a great appointment!

On Wednesday morning, Amaya was narrating the morning to Jason and making a check mark in the air saying, “Check”, with her “trusty marker”. 

“Daddy said I am awesome…Check!”

This child. <3

Some afternoon reading…

Thursday was Crazy Hair Day at school. It’s hard to tell but Amaya has “unicorn hair” which is what she calls alternating pink ad purple hair chalk.

Bubba Lish had spiky hair.

Steven wanted to be sure his hair stayed curly so we just teased up his curls a bit.

Dance Thursday. I can tell the kids are practicing their shuffle-step-hops.

Amaya and her friend were praised by Ms. Christina for being ready and in place without direction.

Amaya is proud that she can touch her head with her toes.

Sally got a new kitty sister & brother on Thursday night. Meow.

Steven and Jason often text while Steven’s waiting to go to bed. Here are some of of his drawings with Jason. Vehicles, dogs and a bumble bee.

When I was putting Steven to bed, I was telling him how happy I am to be his mommy and how special I think he, Sammy and Amaya are. He said, “Technically, I’m guessing that every mommy and daddy think their babies are the best.” Such a wise kid.

Also this week, when I was putting Amaya to bed we had this exchange:

Me: Who’s the luckiest Mommy?

Amaya: You?

Me: Yes, me.

Amaya: Because you have three kids.

Me: No, because those three kids are Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

Amaya: Why are those names so important to you?

Not the names, kiddo.

We made it to the last day of Dr. Seuss week which was hat day!

Sammy was excited to hear that Madison had fun plans this weekend. 🙂

Saturday was a lazy day for SSA.

The kids explored their viking roots.

This is Elsa, in a Jasmine costume. I really can’t get over how old she looks. But Elsa is a grownup so…

Helping clear off the deck. Sammy was excited about all of the ice they found (placed on top of their toy chest).

It was another quiet day today. The highlight was a lunchtime sushi outing. We were the only ones there for about 1/2 our meal.

The boys are still working on their on-demand smiles lol. Since they’re not toddlers anymore, are these deranged-kid smiles?

Sammy loves miso soup. Steven tried it too, today, but wasn’t a fan.

Steven lives large when we go out for sushi and tends to order steak which, at this restaurant, is a delicious filet mignon.

Sammy got an orange slice with some crab sashimi that he ordered. Amaya saw it and commented that she wished she had oranges, too. I guess one of the sushi chefs overheard because he made us two of these orange chariots on the house. The kids were so excited.

While Jason played Monopoly Jr with Sammy, I played Scrabble Jr with Steven and Amaya. They still miss opportunities but are both getting much, much better at the game than the first time we played.

I started the blog this morning and now it’s about 8:15pm. Sammy is fast asleep. Amaya is playing quietly in her bed. Steven is on FaceTime. As Jason said, that’s each of their strengths. <3

Have a great week!

Sammy was feeling the Wookie spirit at the start of the week. That hat… <3

One of the ways I can spend time with Sammy is reading books. With Steven and Amaya more likely to ask me to do activities like legos, I’m trying to make a point to offer to read to Sammy when I get home from work. Right now, his go-to books are Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. They’re long ones, too, so he’s got me for a while when we dive in.

Crossing Guard Steven made himself some new Stop & Go signs.

Playing Crossing Guard with Daddy

Steven loves to stretch out bedtime and one of the ways he does that is by telling us how much he loves to cuddle. He does love it and it does keep us with him longer because we love it, too. On Monday night, Jason wasn’t home when Steven went to bed so I told him Jason would cuddle after he was asleep. I took some pictures so we could show Steven that the cuddling happened.

The sweetest.

Giggles with Sammy after work on Tuesday.

Rearranging the Valentine’s Day decor.

During the day on Tuesday Madison did an “All About Me” book activity with SSA. They all did a great job!

Showing me their booklets.

Steven! His favorite color is blue and he wants to be a police officer when he grows up.

Sammy! His favorite is red. (That’s a giraffe he drew.) When he grows up he wants to be a popcorn seller. That’s a picture of Sammy with his popcorn cart.

Amaya! Her favorite color is pink and she wants to be a princess and a queen when she grows up.

“Mooooooooom. I want to do Legos.”

Amaya and Steven have been helping me with the Enterprise all week long. Amaya, in particular, has been really into it. We don’t often have enough time in the evenings because it takes time to find pieces so, this past week, I made a deal that we could do Legos together in the morning if they got dressed right away. To help, I got the pieces ready each night before bed.

On Tuesday night while I was cuddling with Steven we had this exchange:

Steven: Do you miss Poppy Steven sometimes?
Me: Yes, I do.
Steven: How old was he when he died?
Me: 32
Pause
Steven: We’ll that’s not that old at all.

What an insight. For a long time, at ages well older than Steven, I thought 32 was practically ancient. The kids love to talk about how Savta is 90 so that contrast may help.

7am on Wednesday… Legos!

This child loves her JoJo bow.

Our housekeeper is pregnant and the kids learned on Wednesday. When they got home from school they walked up to Claudia and said “Congratulations on getting a baby!” (Amaya and Sammy) and “Congratulations on finding a baby!” (Steven) lol

A little “Guess Who” on Wednesday before my tap class.

7am on Thursday… Legos!

“Like my skirt? It’s from Charlie.” And I’m glad to see that Amaya’s “cheery on top” headband is still getting use.

Steven’s orthotist, Josh, came by his school on Thursday to delivery his newest pair of orthotics. Pair #4. He got his first pair at 15 months old in May of 2015 and has worn them consistently since them except for a few months 2 years ago when they tried orthotic inserts instead. The new pair is longer at his pinkie toes to aid with balance. For this pair, the picked yellow straps and a police theme.

Dance class! We’re going to have to start recital practice at home soon. (Not just the kids. Me, too!)

Tap class just has 5 students but jazz is jam packed. They tried to split the class in two but there weren’t enough people willing to attend on a different day.

6pm on Thursday… Legos

7am on Friday… Legos 🙂

Friday night was our long awaited Mother/Son dance. It was a country/square dance theme so we did our best to get into the spirit. <3

Wanted Outlaws! Watch out!

The boys each got a cowbow (farmer) hat and a sheriff’s badge. As soon as we took photos the boys wanted to go right to the dessert tables. Boy did they eat. And eat. And eat.

Steven was pretending to be asleep.

With the square dancing, the music was sporadic as the callers taught the dances. They were a bit beyond us so we occupied ourselves in between the songs. It took a little while for the boys to get into it but, once they did, there were Yee Haws and lots of hat tossing.

We called Nana on our way home from the dance and had this exchange:

We called Nana on the way home from the dance and had this exchange:  Me: Did you have fun at the dance?

Steven: It was boring. Just eating and dancing.

Sammy: What Steven says shocks me! It was awesome! 

It shocks him lol.

8am on Saturday… Legos

Jason and the kids went to visit Grandma Sunshine on Saturday and I spent my annual home-alone day parked on the couch. Whoo hoo! One episode of Star Trek: Discovery and 7 episodes of The Umbrella Academy. Perfect.

Everyone had a great time with Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette.

Taking care of Grandma after her knee replacement surgery. We have an EMT, a doctor and a chef.

Perfect timing for Dr. Seuss week at school!

No hands!

Taking Grandma’s temporary walker for a spin.

My family came home to me around 4:30pm and they were excited to get back to……. legos!

Steven turned the Enterprise into a diving board for Kirk & Spock.

7:30am on Sunday… Legos

We were lucky to have a visit from Ashley today!!

The imaginary water wasn’t sufficient so Steven improvised with magatiles and even brought in his police boat to help Kirk and Spock, should they fall in the water.

I’ll wrap up this week with two pictures Amaya drew of Ursula and Ariel on a journey to Arendale. The lines are the path they followed and the dots are places they stopped along the way.

Have a great week!