brick by brick

Steven and I were home from the airport around 10pm on Sunday night. LATE. It was hard to part ways so he had one more night sleeping with his mommy. By 8am, I had to wake him so the kids could get to school. It was a rough reentry for both of us but I was so happy to see Sammy and Amaya when I woke.

Amaya is still killing it with her outfits. 🙂

The kids had a quiet day at school and then play time at home.

Post-work snuggles <3

Steven was very excited to dive into his new 860 piece lego set. It’s a “hostibal” with an ambulance and a rescue helicoptor!

Telling Daddy all about his adventures in California.

Amaya needed her sheets changed which was the perfect opportunity for her to negotiate a night sleeping on her beanbag. But not until her friends were all set up perfectly with her.

There was ice in the forecast for Tuesday so Madison came back at bedtime and spent the night to be sure she could work the next day and Jason and I could get in to work.

Tuesday morning seemed even rougher for Steven. He said he didn’t feel well and wasn’t eating much. That, coupled with the ice on the road, led to a decision to stay home from school again. It’s been a long time since these kids have all had a full week of school! (Like most of the kids in MI.)

Amaya and Sammy wanted to check out the fog.

Thursday was the 100th day of school and the kids had an assignment to bring in 100 units of something – their choice. Sammy wanted to count his with me so we grabbed some pom poms and got counting!

Wednesday was back to school and a special visit from Megan! When I told the kids that she was coming by herself, without Taco, Steven said, “So she can just pay attention to us?” They get it lol.

The kids don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day at school but Steven came home on Wednesday (the 13th) with this drawing from his friend Gracie. If you can’t tell, it says “Steven and Grace”

Thursday was the 100th day of school which included lots of 100-themed crafts and activities. Sammy lost patience and scribbled on his worksheet but then was sad he didn’t have a complete one so Ms. Bri sent him one with one to complete on his own. Success!

Amaya can spell her last name!

The kids had dance class on Thursday and Amaya got her tap costume to try on. She also tied her own shoe! (Something Madison has been working on with them.)

Sammy, partnering in jazz.

The kids made 100 day of school crowns that Sammy modeled for me after work.

Drying her nails lol. I see a lot of Charlie in that second picture.

Jason, being the best Daddy putting a braid in a Shimmer doll’s hair. Sally was very interested.

Before bed, Steven got to work on a Valentine’s card for Gracie. He worked on version after version after version, getting angry and crumbling each one when it wasn’t just. so. Eventually I had to call it for the night which was met with a lot of anger and tears but it was bedtime and I could tell he was too tired to finish without more frustration. In the end, he decided this last one was sufficient. 🙂

Finally, Valentine’s Day flowers as a gift for ME, in my favorite color. <3

Friday night started the weekend of legos. (Not unlike a lot of other weekends around the Land of Cheltenham.) Amaya had worked on her castle independently and it needed some revisions, which I helped with. Steven got to work on the 2nd half of his hospital.

Steven’s Legoland pillow arrived!

Sammy got to sleep with Jason on Friday night. He was a happy, happy boy. (Sleeping next to a happy, happy man.)

We got right back to the Lego hospital and castle on Saturday morning.

This guy found his own fun. He’s always known how to lounge..

Helping Daddy get organized.

On a whim, I invited Gracie and her twin sister, Hannah, to come for a play date. I offered on Friday and they happened to be free Saturday afternoon so we made it happen. Hannah is in the alternate pre-k class this year and it’s SSA’s first time in class with Gracie.

Leading up to the play date, and as they arrived, the drama was around hiding special toys they didn’t want anyone else to play with. Steven wasn’t too concerned but Sammy and Amaya made a mad dash to get stuff upstairs. There were tears from Amaya which Gracie and Hannah’s mom totally understood.

Getting acclimated. I think this was a little easier for Sammy than other play dates with triplet friends because he sees Gracie at school every day.

Steven giving his Valentine’s Day card to Gracie <3 <3 <3

Hannah and Sammy and some hungry hippos.

Gracie asked, “Is that the three of you? Why are you in someone’s hand with your eyes closed?” lol Gracie is a spitfire. She’s outgoing with a quick temper – not unlike her friend Steven.

Steven and Hannah played a game with the map of the San Diego zoo where they found and shared their favorite “aminals”, their last favorite animals and animals that they don’t know. They were at it for quite a while.

Amaya was the least interested in playing with the girls. She mostly did her own thing.

Building.

It was a good time. They’re nice girls and I like their mom. Right now they’re not in our school district but they’re looking to move to our area so I pushed the Thornton Creek Elementary school zone. 🙂

TV time! My Little Pony, as always. I love Sammy’s face while he watches.

First thing this morning Steven was back at his hostible. I just checked and it’s 861 pieces and came in 9 bags. He’ll tell you he did it all himself which is pretty close to true. I’d say he managed 90% of it without help.

Showing Sammy how the x-ray works.

We made our bi-monthly trip to Five Below for staying-in-bed prizes. The store has an incredible assortment of My Little Pony stuff. I was talking to the manager and asked if they got Toys R Us closeouts. She said she didn’t think so. There are long plans to keep supplementing. I mentioned that I saw some of the same items on Amazon for 3x the price and she said that people come and buy them out to resell on Amazon. So interesting.