I can’t believe I’m coming up on 7 years of this blog. Really crazy to think about. When I started, I thought maybe I’d try to keep it up until Steven, Sammy and Amaya turned 5 and that’s well in the rearview mirror now. At their age now, I try to only write things that I’d be willing to read back to them. They’re aware of the blog now, too, and even ask me to take pictures for the blog sometimes. I wonder when their attitude will shift toward wanting more privacy? (Which, of course, they’ll get.) Which actually makes me think I should start reading the blog with them weekly. We’ll start that this week!

Monday and Tuesday were two more, and final, beautiful days. SSA got to a playground, rode bikes, and spent lots of time outside.

Snuggles with Gabby <3

This past week was Spirit Week at school. Monday was pajama day. Tuesday was sports day. Amaya didn’t want to wear sports gear but the boys were excited to put on their baseball uniforms again.

This week, for school, the kids wrote about places they like to go.

Sammy likes to go to the school playground.

Steven wrote, “I like to go to Novi library and pick out a book for me to read and pick out two books for mommy to read to me.”

Tuesday was a BIG day for my girl at swim class. Amaya passed her level 5 test! She is (deservedly) SO proud of herself. She worked so hard.

Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday. The kids were so excited to get wacky and were really creative with their wacky ideas.

Sammy’s got underwear over his pants and on his head + balloons.

Steven is wearing 3 pairs of shorts and adorned his glasses with candles and a paper bridge. Oh, and his shirt’s on backwards.

Amaya was only willing to go so far. She’s got a wacky hairstyle, some facepaint, and layers of workout gear.

Reverse order for extra wackiness!

Penni wasn’t at work on Thursday and Gabby wasn’t arriving until later in the morning so I got to experience “working while schooling.” So much credit to Penni for the routine she’s set with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. They’re organized, focused, and know what they need to do. It’s pretty awesome.

Sammy was my table buddy which, incredibly, didn’t elicit any jealousy from Amaya or Steven. I loved watching him work.

“Mommy! Come here quick! The book Mrs. O’Neil is reading has my name in it!”

On Thursday at swim, this child just marched right into her new swim group without a care in the world. She kept up, too, and already met 5 of the beginner skills in level 6. It’s really hard timing because we’re going to have to pause swim for a few weeks due to “meanie coronavirus” and this girl is so sad – but handling really well for a 6 year old.

Steven and Sammy are getting more and more confident. They let the teacher help them go underwater like it’s nothing. This is from kids who didn’t even want to blow bubbles in the water 6 weeks ago. They still have their limits, though, and their instructors are good at letting them go at their own pace.

Friday was Spirt Wear Day. We were all ready to show some Gator pride! (Thursday was “Dress like your favorite book character day” which we definitely skipped.)

Gabby and Penni were both off on Friday so it was a full day of working from home while the kids had school. I was presenting at a meeting at noon and, when I got off the call, found Amaya and Sammy getting supplies to make themselves sandwiches. A-mazing. It really is the dawn of a new day in the Cline house. (In fact, this morning Sammy made himself some microwave pancakes.)

“Go outside. No really, it will be fine. It’s not that cold. Okay, anyone who goes outside for half an hour doesn’t have to put away their own laundry.”

“How to cut in the lunch line” – by Sammy, 1st grade

1. Get in the lunch line

2. Punch the person in front of you

Love how he wraps it up with “yum”. And don’t overlook his accompanying drawings. This one is definitely a keeper.

This weekend we put another splash of color in Amaya’s hair. She asked for alternating hot pink and blue and we both love how it turned out!

Daddy cuddles. <3

I am obsessed with Amaya’s use of sleep masks. She has such a strong sense of what she wants and needs. (I’m also impressed that it doesn’t freak her out. I feel very trapped in a sleep mask.)

Day two hair. The first picture is how I styled it and the 2nd is how she styled it. 🙂

Saturday might have been our last playground meet-up for a while. It was 35 degrees colder than the weekend prior! The kids may be able to play outside in that weather but I’m not sure the parents can handle it. I’ll do my best, though.

Sammy spent a while pushing 4 girls on this big swing.

Playground live.

We had a relaxing rest of our afternoon. We cooked some homemade hot cocoa, griddled up some pancakes and played Blokus. (One of my favorites!)

Someone did her make up…

All of the kids play together but Steven and Amaya have a particularly affectionate relationship. They like hugging and cuddles and it’s really sweet. In fact, they held their post so I could take this picture and print it for their “printed picture books”. I’d worry about Sammy feeling excluded if he showed any interest in physical affection with his siblings but it’s not his style – which they seem to understand and respect.

Amaya sent mail to Charlie. <3 I can’t overstate how much Amaya loves Charlie. Charlie’s name comes up so many times/day. Everything is Charlie. 🙂

Amaya is also, finally, best buds with Sally. She’s even willing to feed Sally treats. So I now get pictures like this of my best girls.

Jason got himself a sweet set-up to work on his fantasy football.

It was a really nice lazy day at home. Cold, windy and rainy so we just hunkered down – played games, watched football, got our magna tiles out. And I stayed in bed until 10am because the kids are old enough for that to happen!

Have a great week!