I had more work travel this week and was gone from early Monday until after dinner on Wednesday. Sophia came early to get the kids on the school bus and stayed late on Tuesday which was really helpful for the family.

This playroom… good grief. A lot of necessary work happened in here this week.

Pizza dinner on Tuesday! The kids even got to sleep on their beanbags in our master bedroom on Tuesday night.

It was a big day at swimming on Wednesday – Amaya graduated level 7 and is a level EIGHT swimmer! After level 8 she moves on to either swim club or swim team. This girl looooooves to swim.

With Hanukkah fast approaching (one week!), the kids did some last minute toy catalog reviews. Amaya circles half the catalog but Sammy is very discerning so we really need him to look through them all.

Mommy and Bobes <3

Amaya busy with her loom. It’s all orange and I think it’s for Milan but these are Mama colors!

Sammy, taking a little rest before school on Friday. Silly boy.

At school this week, all the kids had an outdoor scavenger hunt. I love seeing SSA in moments like this.

Thornton Creek had a raffle where the kids got tickets to put in buckets of Teacher Features. Prizes are things like, “Lunch and crafts with Mrs. Bates.” Amaya won two Teacher Features and Steven won one. Sammy was bummed he didn’t win any and, since you can take a friend, Amaya agreed to take Sammy for one of her two. Steven did a hilarious (and only half coherent) telling of how the raffle worked.

Sammy and I had a long overdue sleepover on Friday night. In his sleep he reached out for my arm and I didn’t want to move for a good hour. <3

My colleague Abe and his wife Tanjia (mostly Tanjia) got the kids a Hanukkah decorating kit. It was so thoughtful and SSA were excited to check it out on Saturday morning. The timing was perfect because, right before this, we put up all of our Hanukkah decorations for the season. Super cute Hanukkah dogs and cats (plus Steven’s Dog-Cat-Elephant).

A few weeks ago, Sophia and the kids started clearing out their toy bins. On Saturday, Jason picked up the work and they cleared out a ton. They kept the stuff the love, trashed the stuff the don’t need and the “just like” pile is in basement storage for now. They did a great job and are ready for the influx of new toys.

For lunch, the kids and I made a Raddish Kids recipe- Green Bean Fries with homemade ranch dressing. They were so good and the kids are getting more and more proficient following the recipes on their own. Cooking is great for practicing (learning) fractions!

Steven had the idea of a contest to write all the words they could think of ending in “ing”. All three kids and Daddy got in on it! (Scores have not been tabulated.)

On Saturday evening, the whole family went to the Detroit Zoo for Wild Lights. It was cold, but not too cold, and a really fun way to start off winter and the holiday season. Unlimited hot chocolate was probably Amaya’s favorite part but everyone truly loved the lights. At one point Steven said, “I love this place.” He’s so expressive so his wonder just oozes out of him.

Steven wanted to be sure I got a picture with the giraffe.

I love having kids tall enough & old enough to ride alone.

I think all five Clines agreed the under water section of the experience was our favorite.

It was a pretty quiet day around here. The kids had Hebrew school in the morning and we got home around lunch time. Afterward, we took time to vacuum and wash the carpet in the playroom. Long overdue! Amaya also did some great organizing in their bedroom. Her stuff was a bit out of control and she made room for some Hanukkah gifts she’s hoping for.

A picture that was sent home from Hebrew school – writing about the 8 nights of Hanukkah. (I don’t know why they’re in their jackets. Steven says he just forgets.)

During Lions’ halftime, Jason and the kids played touch football. Glad they’re hearty enough to get out in the cold! (I’m not.)

I’ll wrap up this week with a note that I got from Amaya’s teacher, Mrs. Boomer:

“I wanted to let you know that today your BEAUTIFUL daughter shared a piece of her writing with the class about Chanukkah.  She has been working on this piece for 2 days and asked if she could read it to the class.  Not only did she write it and read it but, she explained the holiday to her classmates in a wonderful way so that they all could understand.  Many of her classmates knew a bit about the holiday because they remember you coming in to show, share and explain in Kindergarten. They were so excited because they remembered.  Does Amaya have a dreidel and/or menorah that she could bring in and show sometime?  We’d love it! You should be very proud of Amaya for her work today!”

I am so proud of Amaya and love that her classmates remember my visit in Kindergarten.    I can’t visit this year but my plan is to send in little mesh bags with gelt, dreidels and instructions on how to play the game. I’ll also send in an electric menorah so the kids’ can show how we light the candles. The boys’ teacher, Mrs. Bates, connected with Mrs. Boomer and are both interested in this lesson for their class – led by Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

I don’t have Amaya’s writing but this was something she wrote last weekend.

“Chanukah is a Jewish holiday. I am Jewish. On Chanukah you eat latkes. I love latkes. You light a menorah. Chocolate coins called gelt are delicious and spinning dreidels is fun. Presents is too. I love Chanukah.”

That’s it for this week! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

*Blog title by Sammy