Steven really wanted to go on a nature walk on Monday so Penni worked it out to make that part of their PE time. The each grabbed a baggie and set out to find what they could find – namely, a lot of acorns.

The rest of PE was spent with balancing / core strength exercises.

Monday afternoon, Steven and I set out for an eye doctor check in. He was excited because it was his first visit since moving to 4 hr/day patching and was hoping for good results – and he got them! Last visit, the best corrected vision in his right eye was 20/40 and this visit it was 20/30. His doctor is hoping we can get him to 20/20 but said she’d be very happy even if 20/25 is the best results we see. So it’s continued patching for Steven and another visit in 2 months to check in.

I don’t let Amaya play around with Steven’s patches. It’s not just the money wasted on patches, it’s that they’re a medical device for Steven. He doesn’t get to choose whether or not he wants to wear it so it doesn’t seem fair for Amaya to play games with the patches and then take them off on a whim. Whenever he goes to the eye doctor, Amaya asks Steven to bring him home a sample patch which he’s always happy to do. And then, for the 10 minutes she wears it, they’re patch buddies. (Sammy tried one on for less than a minute before realizing it’s not a great experience. I’ve tried one, too, and also thought it was terrible which makes me appreciate Steven’s effort even more.)

School is going well. Better than I thought, to be honest. The school still seems manageable and the blend of synchronous and asynchronous appears to work well to keep SSA engaged. There are harder days, for sure, where it’s a little more difficult to focus. And days where the kids just breeze through. I’m thankful for how well Penni is helping them navigate through this.

Tuesday night baseball. Our final week! I always tell myself I’ll remember how they do and then I forget. I believe Sammy got one hit and, when he got on base, he was so excited.

Bobes- getting ready to bat.

Amaya getting some mid-game batting tips from Jason. She tends to swing down at the ball and he was working with her on a more level swing.

A guy who got a great hit.

Daddy and Steven <3

Steven has a printed picture of me that he keeps on the wall next to his bed, along with a few other photos I’ve printed for him. (Of the corn maze map, of the construction vehicles on our street…) It got difficult for him to move the pictures every other week when swapping bunk bed spots with Sammy so we go him a binder, with inserts, to store his pictures. I grace the cover of Steven’s binder. Amaya wanted one, too, and the picture she chose for the cover is no surprise.

In the hallway by the garage door we have an organizing area for the kids’ school stuff. Last year it was labeled with days of the week for anything the kids had to bring back to school with them. This year, Penni asked for labels for reading, writing, math, science and social studies. These are Jason’s interpretations. 🙂

Busy with math. Sometimes the kids need a change of location.

Coach J with Sammy and Amaya at 1st, at our penultimate game. Sammy and Steven both got two hits in this game! Steven seems totally satisfied to hit off the tee but Sammy is elated when he hits off the coach’s pitch.

The class is starting to use their reading notebook where they write about books that Mrs. O’Neil reads to them.

Amaya: My favorite part was when Ray was surprised.

Steven: My favorite par was when bunny went into Ray’s hat and ray found bunny.

Sammy: My favorite part was Ray finds bunny!

SSA are writing “Small Moment” stories about something that happened in their life. This is page 3 of Sammy’s story about leaving NY: When we [went] on the plane. I was so sad and the plane was already in the air.

Friday night Facetime with Nana and Papa!

The final baseball game of the season. 🙁 We even had an umpire for this game. (Though we also decided not to play outs so the kids could all have a chance to run in their last game.) When Amaya was playing pitcher, she was able to field a ball and throw it to Alexa on first to get an out!

Trophy time! As Steven would say, “It’s kids baseball” and we don’t keep score – so trophies for everyone. They’re personalized for each child and glow in the dark – major keepsakes.

Players and coaches

My favorite White Sox <3

Saturday was Rosh Hashana, and with virtual services, we were able to go to our game and still celebrate the holiday. We watched Temple Israels children’s service – a nice, condensed 30 minutes – and also made our first challah. It was dense but definitely edible. We were very proud of ourselves.

Watching the last two episodes of The Legend of Korra. I got so into the show that I watched episodes on my own if I knew I couldn’t watch with the kids.

It was Steven’s night to pick a bedtime book and he picked “Go Dog. Go!” which he read all by himself. It’s a long book. I was really impressed with his interest and stamina.

This morning we all went to a really nice Rosh Hashana Tashlich program at Temple Israel. Families had to reserve a slot that ran in 30 minute increments. Each family sat at our own table where we did a few activities – wrote about our hopes for the new year, wrote about things we want to improve for the new year, and put our names on decorations for the temple’s sukkah. Afterward we were lead to the pond where we cast our (dissolvable) papers and threw in crackers in true tashlich fashion. Then, since we probably can’t gather for Sukkot, we visited the temple’s sukkah to add our decoration and there was an opportunity to learn how to shake a lulav and etrog. It was all so nicely done and I love that one of the rabbis greeted our family by name when we arrived.

Brunch in Birmingham. (Amaya asked if we were in “Downtown City” which is what she calls Ann Arbor. 🙂

The Cline men watched the Lions game while I took Amaya to a play date with Maia. We’re so close to “drop off” play dates but Amaya isn’t quite comfortable yet. Maia has a big dog and Amaya wants me there in case it makes an appearance. (Maia’s mom is very sensitive to Amaya’s fear and keeps the dog well out of sight.)

The face of a 6 year old girl offered ice cream at her play date.

That was our week! We’re gearing up for week 3 of first grade, starting to plan for Halloween and excited to start swim lessons on October 1. Have a great week!