We’re nearing the 100th day of school. I thought we were going to skate by without shenanigans but, sadly, there are shenanigans. Fortunately, none of the shenanigans involve custom made t-shirts or dressing like old people. Honestly, I don’t have it in me.
The boys brought home capes that they have to decorate with 100 things. I should have insisted on some kind of organizational system to the decorating but I didn’t, and now we have capes with all sorts of things glued to them willy nilly, requiring constant recounting and discussion about what counts as an “item”. Glitter glue globs seem questionable to me.
Amaya’s was a lot more reasonable. She had to pick one thing to count and it needed to fit in a sandwich bag. We were asked to have her count out ten groups of 10, then count to 100 by 10s and then count to 100 by 1s as she put the items in her bag. Much more my speed than the capes.
My sweet Bubba isn’t bothered by the cold. <3 (Side note: The kids’ bus driver is recovering from knee surgery so they have a sub. The new driver asked Jason if we let the kids talk about home because they talk non-stop on the bus.)
On Wednesday I had to head to Nashville for a two night work trip so the kids and I took a quick bus stop selfie in the morning.
At dance on Wednesday, Amaya and Sammy got to try on their tap costumes. So cute! Gabby and Steven also got to watch the kids practice their dance routine.
With Mommy away, the rest of the Clines had a Wednesday night sleepover with Daddy! Jason gets relegated to sleeping across the foot of the bed but I suspect it’s worth it.
On Thursday evening, Penni came and took the kids to a STEM event at their school hosted by the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum. It sounds like they had a great time. I was really happy they could get there even with my travels and Jason’s long commute home from work.
Mrs. Shuart sent a few photos from class this week. I love seeing Amaya happy and engaged. The first picture was during a math activity and the second was during an art break. I spy Valentines!
Which leads me to Valentine’s Day…
At the JCC the kids didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day so this is their first year with in-school celebrations. It also means they need to write out Valentine’s Day cards for all of their classmates. I’ve been so proud of the kids for their focus and willingness to complete this project. All three kids dove right in.
(And, bonus, we don’t have to make Valentine’s Boxes for card collection. They’ll be decorating bags in school. Though now that I think about it, SSA will be in NY on Valentine’s Day. It’s a half day and we’re flying to NY the night before. I’ll need to remember to send in their cards on the 13th.)
HOME!
Our plans for Saturday included a visit from Sloane, who’s in Steven and Sammy’s class, to drop off their birthday gifts as well as a dinner event at Temple Israel. Around 7:45am, I heard Amaya calling me from the landing in the middle of the stairway. She said she felt sick, and she looked terrible. My poor girl. The order of operations was puke bucket to Amaya >> sheet on the couch >> carry my sweet girl down the rest of the stairs. 🙁
She made it an hour before she did get sick. You should have seen Sammy go running from the room. Afterward, though, she took a nap and was then fine for the rest of the day. No fever, no nausea – totally fine. Thank goodness!
Working on her valentines, you’d never know she’d been so under the weather a few hours earlier.
Even feeling fine, the social contract and 24 hr rules meant Amaya couldn’t join us at PJs and Pancakes at Temple Israel.
Steven and Sammy put on their PJs, grabbed some sleeping friends and off we went. The evening started with bedtime crafts and activities. Making frames to hold the sh’ma, decorating sleep masks. They even got Hebrew names for their sleeping friends. “Tson” for Sheepy which means “sheep” in Hebrew and “Sheleg” for Light Pup which means “snow”. I was able to make some crafts for Amaya, too.
True to form, Sammy’s sleep mask.
True to form, Steven’s sleep mask.
Steven and Sammy were so excited to add whipped cream, chocolate chips and sprinkles to their pancakes. “I wish we could eat pancakes like this every Saturday.”
The evening wrapped up with a short, child friendly Havdalah service. The kids had Havdalah on Monday’s in preschool so it was fun for them to revisit the tradition. Sammy was a little nervous to sit on the bimah but Steven was able to convince him to get up there.
Their dance moves slayed me.
Back at home, after a dinner of waffles and ice cream, Jason had the pleasure of (again) watching his all time favorite movie with Amaya – Descendants 3.
Our February Raddish kids recipes came so today we baked Love Muffins also known as raspberry chocolate chip muffins. Next week we’ll tackle lasagna soup.
The kids each got heart shaped measuring spoons and loved that it left heart shaped piles of ingredients.
Frosting!
A bit of Super Bowl with daddy before bed.
It’s so much fun to see how the kids are progressing at school. Kindergarten is such a big year!
Amaya did her footprint activity on Monday. She’s going to be a hero at school by holding doors for people and a hero at home by washing the dishes.
Hanging on the wall in our upstairs hallway
We had our third round of Academic Conversations this week. The boy’s books seem to have been sent home and returned without ever leaving their folders so I emailed Ms. M and she’s going to send them back home again this week.
For this round, we’re supposed to have a conversation with the kids’ about their writing and choices. There’s a whole list of questions to use to engage with them.
Here’s Amaya’s!
Some work from the boys. This weekend, Steven and I practiced his lowercase a’s. I think he has the hang of them now but we’ll practice some more.
I was very impressed with Sammy’s work on the rhyming words. He’s less likely to want to read or write at home so it’s extra special to see his school work come home.
I’ll leave you with this wonderful family song, compliments of Amaya and Sammy.
Have a great week!