Monday always feels like it was so long ago when I’m writing the blog on a Sunday. I think it’s especially true when we have out-of-the-ordinary weeks and a holiday week definitely applies.
On Monday morning, at breakfast, Steven told me that his ear hurt. I asked if it hurt inside or outside and he said, “Inside. It feels like it does when I’m on an airplane.” So interesting! I didn’t realize they had any discomfort or pressure on airplanes. I’ll pay a little more attention to encouraging them to drink on ascent and decent, and to let me know if their ears feel funny while we’re flying.
I made Steven a doctor appointment for the afternoon and, sure enough, he had an ear infection. I think the kids have had ear infections every time they’ve complained about ear aches. They know when they’re not right.
Monday night I got some treasured Amaya cuddles. They don’t come as easily or as frequently as they do from the boys.
The kids looooooove texting emojis to Jason. Sammy and Amaya tend to send as many as possible. Steven deliberates over each and every choice.
Before bed, Steven told me this (again): “Don’t forget. You can still kiss me if my eyes are closed. And don’t forget! You can still kiss me if I’m facing the shade. Remember all the things I told you. And don’t forget you can still kiss me if I’m doing both of the things at the same time.” As if I’d ever forget to kiss his sweet face before I go to sleep.
We seem to have turned a corner with regards to staying in bed in the morning. After a long road to each 6-heart achievement, Steven is staying in bed almost every morning now. Next up – the kids need to start staying quieter while they’re waiting for their green light to go on.
Tuesday was mild enough that SSA were able to play outside after school.
Rolling down the hill!
Chanukkah bingo with Madison
On Wednesday, Steven, Sammy and Amaya were invited to stay at school for lunch to enjoy the “Thanksgiving feast”. It was really nice of their teachers to include them with the full-day kids.
Wednesday afternoon the kids had a special treat with a visit from Ashley! It’s so nice that we’re still in touch 15 months after she stopped working for us. It’s really special.
Making turkey hats!
I had a short day on Wednesday which gave us time to make chocolate pecan pies. Everyone was a helper! Steven was thrilled to pour the whole bottle of Karo syrup into the bowl.
Sammy was our principle mixer.
Placing pecans. Steven went with a devil-may-care approach and Amaya worked on a carefully place swirl.
On Tuesday Amaya asked if we could get sushi so, with my early arrival home, I had the chance to do something new – take SSA to my sushi restaurant for dinner. It was fantastic. Sammy at 6 pieces of sashimi, including a new kind he hadn’t tried, as well as half a California roll and shrimp tempura. Amaya devoured two different vegetarian rolls and Steven ate a NY strip. They loved sitting by the sushi bar, especially when the folks making the sushi used the blow torch. It was fun to share my favorite restaurant with them.
Happy Thanksgiving from our three turkeys in their turkey hats!
Sammy was working to copy Amaya’s pose. It really is amazing how Amaya seems to just intuitively know how to pose. That knee pop in the photo above? 🙂
Prepping rolls with Grandma Sunshine
Our delicious meal – with turkey from Aunt Annette, sides from Grandma Sunshine, veggies from Daddy and desserts from me!
Sammy, at his request, continued last year’s Thanksgiving tradition and ate crab legs instead of turkey.
Post-meal game time!
One quick Amaya story – We were watching the parade and there was a performance from the Broadway show, King Kong. King Kong has some strings to help with his motion and they made it looked like he was tied up. We had talked about how it seemed like King Kong was mean but he was only angry because he was hurt and how, once he was taken care of, he wasn’t so scary any more. Amaya asked if he was hurt “because the strings were cutting off his circulation”. It’s so interesting to me to see all the things the kids know.
Some Thanksgiving crafts.
Feather families – made at school while Steven was home sick.
Fall trees. I love these because they show Sammy’s approach compared to Steven and Amaya. He’s a free spirit.
What we’re thankful for…
Another story… at dinner on Thursday night we were talking about letters and vowels. It started when I said “o” makes an “oh” sound and the kids corrected me to “ah”. That makes sense because I believe kids initially focus on the soft vowel sounds that are in early reading words (hot, cot, etc.). They then explained that “e” doesn’t always say it’s name like in “Cline”. They’re learning all of this at school! It’s so cool. It might be time to break out their beginning Bob books.
Sammy did an amazing job doing the dishes. He scrubbed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. All I had to do was turn on the water. Maybe a little supervision, too.
My office was closed on Friday but Madison was working. It created a rare opportunity to spend a day with the kids but also take some time for me. I headed to the movies (Crimes of Grindlewald) while SSA watched Brave, drank hot chocolate and ate pumpkin pie.
Madison planned a great afternoon craft with the kids to gear up for Hanukkah – one we can use for holiday decor in future years, too.
Amaya, laughing at Steven.
Steven looks even older like this with his face thinned out as he jokes around.
Piano duet!
Silly Mommy – I tried to nap on the couch. Instead, I was in Sammy and Steven’s hair salon. 🙂
Madison was the next customer!
Steven and Sally shared a moment on Friday! He sat so patiently and waited for her to come to him. He wants to pet Sally so badly and is doing all the right things to start to build her trust. She’s still very skiddish around the kids.
Saturday morning was a building day. Legos and Magnatiles – our current favorite!
Amaya built a house with a splash pad including two diving boards – a low dive and a high dive.
“Take a picture with it, Daddy! Smile!”
Sally has been throwing up lately, with too much frequency, so I got brave enough to get her in a carrier and took her to the vet. She’s so nervous and, as I could have predicted, was not having it when the vet tried to do x-rays and take blood. After some sedation they got the job done. Poor Sal. The x-ray shows that movement in her GI track seems slowed and she may have a stone in her bladder. We’re waiting for her blood work to come back to see if it tells us anything more definitive. Sweet, sweet Sally girl.
After 2 days in the house, it was time to get out! The Clines started at Chile’s for lunch (where the kids can circle the pictures of what they want on the kids’ menu) and then headed to Belle Isle to check out the Aquarium and Nature Center.
Amaya and Sammy ordered their standard Shirley Temples.
Me: “Amaya, which Cline is most likely to fall asleep in the car.
Amaya: “Sammy.”
We all know our Bubba. <3
Belle Isle Aquarium! When they’re checking tags, you just need a State park pass to visit the island and then the attractions are all free. The aquarium is the oldest operating aquarium in the US. One highlight was a fish that dates back to before animals evolved out of the sea. It even has fins that it can use as “legs” when it’s in shallow water. Pretty cool.
“Take a picture of me by myself.”
Off to the nature center.
Checking out the bees – a highlight for Steven.
A natural playground. Very cool, and would have been even better if it was warmer and drier.
The highlight at the nature center was the opportunity to feed deer. They have 8 or 9 deer on the premises that are the last remaining deer from the island – previously brought over from France in the 1800’s. Here we were waiting to go into the enclosure.
Sammy was the only Cline kid who wanted to try to feed a deer but it worked out well because, Steven, Amaya and I were distracted by really awesome, fuzzy caterpillars. They curl up in a ball when you pick them up. I was surprised that Steven and Amaya were willing to hold them.
And Sammy was successful! Jason said he wasn’t sure the deer was going to come over but it did and Sammy got to feed it. I love him in this little video.
Our final adventure of the day was a ride through Wayne County Lightfest. (Thanks for the rec, Madison!) “Merriman Hollow Area Lightfest features more than 47 giant animated displays and more than one million lights; it is the Midwest’s largest and longest light show. The complete Lightfest route is over four miles of Hines Drive.”
It’s a nice slow drive through the lights – which include a Hanukkah display. SSA looooooved the experience. They didn’t know where to look first! Sammy said, “I thought it was going to be boring to sit in the car and look at funny lights but this is a lot better than I thought!” (The kids have called Christmas lights “funny lights” for about as long as they could talk.)
And here we are at today. What a week!
As usual these days, it started with building.
Jason has connected his keyboard to our smart tv and can work on fantasy football spreadsheets on our big screen. He gave each of the kids a chance to work on their typing.
While Jason went into the office, I made playdoh for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Sammy had been asking for it and I needed to wait until we had a new stove top. (We were without one from 11/3 until 11/21.) Grandma Betsy has made it for them before which is how they know about the homemade variety. Mine isn’t as good as Betsy’s but it was good enough to play with. (In fact, Amaya said that both were good but Grandma Betsy’s is better.)
Amaya is showing off the new slippers she got at the aquarium.
For the first time in a long time (July, I think), I took all three kids to the grocery store. It’s rare that I do our grocery shopping to begin with and even more unusual for me to have all of the kids with me. They spent most of the time pretending the cart was a pirate ship. “Hoist the sails!” “Raise the anchor!”
A goal of our trip was to pick out toys for the Toys For Tots collection at my office. We prepped for it, but this poor kiddo still had a very difficult time with the concept of a gift for someone else. 🙁 She rebounded quickly once we decided to pick out something that she already has.
Just a few more photos to wrap up the week.
Amaya made these plates for everyone in the family. “How do you spell ‘Joanna'”?
A self portrait!
Finally, this is me! The photo is probably 20 or 21 years old and I stumbled on it today. I was in VT with friends and we were jumping off the 2nd story deck into the huge snow piles below. It’s fun to remember this trip and being that young. Also reckless, it seems. Things I would never to today… (Don’t do this, Steven! Don’t do this, Sammy! Don’t do this, Amaya!)
Have a great week! On Wednesday, Steven, Sammy, Amaya and I are off to NY for a long weekend.