Writing the blog on a Sunday, it’s always weird to think about the family/guests who were still here on Monday. The prior Monday always feels like a lifetime ago!

This past Monday, Nana and Savta were still visiting and the SSA had a very busy day which included their semi-annual dentist visit, preceded by lunch out.

Finding letters in a word search…

Amaya was ready! We’ve come a long way from when they’d sit in my lap for these visits.

Sammy was nervous when the chair went back (very nervous) but got through it!

Steven was ready to go! We avoided xrays by the skin of our teeth. With how crowded his mouth is, we’re expecting to need them in the spring. It’s also time to get flossing into their bedtime routine.

It was nice enough for a walk outside, which you can’t pass up at this time of year.

This picture floors me. Steven looks like a KID. More and more it’s hitting me that we’re moving out of the little kid season of our life. It’s wonderful, and it’s also hard to say goodbye to this time in my life.

Tuesday morning we said goodbye to Nana and Savta. This week the kids had lessons on feelings and colors were assigned to each feeling. Before I left for work, Sammy said he was feeling blue. I said I was feeling pink (love) and he said, “Shouldn’t you feel blue because your mommy is leaving?” This boy has so much love. On Sunday he asked Savta, “Why do I love you so much?”

Tuesday afternoon was one of our favorite events of the year – trick or treating at Mommy’s work place! You can’t tell from the photos but we had about 90 kids attend the event. Each department decorates and has treats to hand out.

Little face. <3 It’s fun to see how much more comfortable the kids grow year after year.

The annual “hello” with my boss Mark, who used to be Jason’s boss at Borders.

“Bawk bawk bawk”

Finally! Halloween arrived! What a build up for 4 year olds. (Though they did get quite the haul at my office.)

Off we went, right at 6pm. We got so lucky with the weather. It rained all day and cleared up in time for us to head out.

The kids developed very specific doorbell rules:
*The order – Steven, Amaya, Sammy
*If no one answered the door, you got another turn
*If candy was left on the porch, you got another turn
*No ringing the doorbell until everyone as there
*If someone opened the door before you rang the bell you got another turn. (Eventually, I just asked a homeowner if Amaya could ring the bell after going to four houses without getting through her turn.)

We were out for a little over an hour and the kids did great, overall. Steven seemed to have a bit of a hard time keeping up with Sammy and Amaya and, later in the night, Sammy was slooooooooow. Amaya was the Little Engine That Could the entire time.

We also had a weird experience where Steven thought another child called him disgusting. Out of nowhere he burst into tears and was near inconsolable. I didn’t hear it and it was a very random thing for an older child to say to a 4 year old dressed as Captain America. I think he misheard something but that wasn’t the point in the moment because he believed it was said to him. I asked Amaya, “What do we say if someone calls us disgusting.” She answered, “That’s not true! I’m not disgusting!” Steven couldn’t quite get into that head space, though. It took three other moms fawning over his costume to turn him around. We’ll keep working on how we can respond when someone says something that hurts our feelings. (“What if someone said, ‘You have brown hair and brown hair is yucky’.” “I’d say, ‘I don’t care what you think. I like my hair.”) Hopefully the reinforcement will help when it happens for real.

After trick or treating, everyone picked a piece of candy to eat in front of the fire. (First time we’ve used the fire place since I was pregnant!)

Thursday was a no-school day so they started their morning with Frozen. Little makes the kids as happy as starting their day with a movie.

Sammy had a cold this week and wasn’t feeling well enough to dance so Amaya was the only Cline kid in tap. I love how focused and happy she is in dance class.

Steven, showing me the Grapevine. It’s a short little video and he’s so cute explaining it to me.

Steven got hold of my phone on Friday morning and photographed his favorite subject. <3

Sammy was still sick on Friday and Amaya seemed like she was catching the cold so we kept everyone home on Friday to fight off whatever was going around.

This child. She gets up in the morning and, without fail, puts on tights and a skirt or dress. And, now, a tiara.

Saturday gave me a chance to finish my Saturn V rocket and I had helpers. The kids – particularly Steven – love finding the pieces I need. There was even a section of the rocket that Steven and Amaya were able to put together on their own. The end result is awesome.

Sleeping beauty lol.

After too long with a half functioning dishwasher, it was finally delivery day for our new appliances. Steven helped by making sure that everything would fit.

Installation started at 4:30pm (and went until 10pm) so I took the kids out to eat. Sammy wanted pancakes so the diner it was!

Before

After

We had lazy, lazy day today and did a whlole lot of nothing. It was really nice! The kids played with magnatiles, play doh & made up a ton of games together. They boys stayed in their PJs all day while Amaya was dressed in a dress & tights by 7am. 🙂

Big. Kid.

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