Amaya started the week with fashion flair. Four years old and her sense of style shows no slowing down.

When I dropped the kids off at school on Monday I saw these family portraits posted. I love that Sammy and Steven included Sally Cat. (Steven’s drawing is nearly impossible to see because of the colors he chose but I didn’t want to exclude his drawing.)

Jason was home sick on Monday and SSA asked him to sort his ball cards at the table while they ate lunch.

These poses are SO my kids. I feel like they capture them perfectly.

Steven drew a picture of Morminer! Totally unaided. He’s got her down.

I love his love for his friend.

SSA’s class made collages with loose items this week. Buttons, bottle caps, pine cones – lots of items that can be found around the house or in nature. The letter of the week was Q and we had two leaders this week. On Monday, Sammy brought Quarters. On Tuesday, Amaya brought Q-tips.

Dance this week! Mr. Steven had a difficult time following class directions, as you can see in these photos lol. Sometimes we leave our listening ears at home. It’s a work in progress.

We’ve had a lot of success bribing the kids to stay in bed until wake-up time. I’ll take it. We started with 5 days to earn a prize. Now it’s 7. We’ll go to 8 and keep creeping up to, maybe 10 days, as a max. It really is incredible to see the shift from waking up at 5am, sometimes earlier, to staying in bed and often asleep at 6:30am.

The first rewards were a Storm Trooper doll (Steven), Anna doll (Sammy) and Princess Leia doll (Amaya). Here, the Storm Trooper is giving Anna a medical checkup.

On Friday, Amaya and I set off for New York! “I can push the stroller by myself, Mommy.”

We landed around 9:30pm and it was off to bed once we got to Nana and Papa’s houses.

We had a nice lazy Friday morning at Nana and Papa’s house with visits from Savta, Auntie and Dod Shuki while the Goldberg family was at work & school.

Back in MI, it was a snow day for Steven and Sammy! Jason was home with them and the Cline men made a quick trip to Home Depot and Target.

And came home with light sabers! Chase looked at these photos and said, “this could go one of two ways.” lol Amaya was very excited to hear that there’s a light saber waiting for her at home, too.

Friday afternoon was a reunion for Amaya and her cousins. ♥ ♥ ♥

My first best guy.

Amaya and Charlie got dressed up and put on an show to “Let It Go”. They spent a good 30 minutes in Charlies room with Savta putting the details together.

Friday was our first Cline kid sleepover at the Goldberg’s house! The plan was for Amaya and Charlie to sleep in Chase’s room so all of the kids could be together.

They were ready! And it was short lived. Amaya was excited to sleep with her cousins but not quite ready. She just could not settle down. In the end, Amaya slept in Charlie’s bed and I slept on an air mattress on Charlie’s floor. We can try again when I have my next solo trip in June, with Sammy. April is all of the kids and we’re definitely not ready for that. At least, I’m not! 🙂

The morning plan was Chase’s soccer game and Amaya and Charlie were matching and ready!

We had a casual afternoon with Nana and Papa before everyone came over.

Amaya and Charlie spent the afternoon at a make-shift salon in Nana’s kitchen. It was hot pink hair all around!

This is what I get from my girl when I ask for a smile. She really knows how to through some attitude toward her mo.

This is what happens when she wants to send a picture to her daddy. Small difference, there. 🙄

The finished product! (Amaya insisted they take a selfie together.)

The kids had a treat and watched the Olympics while they ate dinner and then everyone called it a night.

Today is our last day in NY! We were scheduled for a 3pm flight which was intended to get us home before bedtime so everyone could spend time together before bed. The weather thwarted our plans and, after a canceled flight, we were rebooked on a 6pm flight that should get us home around 9pm. Booooo. At least we were scheduled early enough that the cancellation doesn’t get us home too late. I’ll have to wait until the morning to hug my boys.

Back in MI, Rosie brought supplies so the boys could make birthday cupcakes!! So much fun! She even put fruit in them because she knows how much Steven loves fruit.

The finished product. A for Amaya. S for Sammy. M for Morminer. ♥ Thanks Rosie!!

The Goldbergs, Savta and Auntie came over for brunch and the kids had a little more time to play.

Amaya asked me if I packed her nightgown for the trip “because you know I love Charlie.” It’s so cool to see the relationship between my kids and Sara’s. And we’ll all be back in NY in less than two months!

Right now Amaya is napping and I’m finishing up our packing. If all goes as planned, when this post is live Amaya and I will be up in the sky making our way home to MI.

Have a great week! And Happy Birthday, Grandma Sunshine!!!