On Monday, I turned 46 and had a lovely birthday. I woke to texts and cuddles from Steven. Amaya made me some handmade gifts. Jason got me a much needed and appreciated gift certificate for massages. Sammy, Steven and Amaya threw me a wonderful on Steven’s Animal Crossing island. They all came to the party with wrapped gifts and Steven had a plan with poppers and glow sticks. It was so cute.

Sophia even made me a kosher for Passover cake! It was really good! (And not just “good for Passover”.)

Since January, Steven has been texting Jason pictures of Sally to print so he could make me a Sally picture book. So sweet. <3

This was on schoolwork that Amaya brought home. She had to write a sentence that uses at least two contractions. “I’m a triplet not a twin so don’t call me a twin.” She’s so funny! And it’s really interesting to step back sometimes and think about the kids’ experience as multiples from their perspective.

Animal Crossing fun times

My first two loves!

Amaya has one checkmark left in her Level 8 progress chart and then she’ll be an AquaTots graduate. I’m not 100% sure she’ll reach that milestone, though, because next Tuesday is her last day at swim for a while. In May, she’s going to do two days/week of gymnastics. Since she’s so close to completion, when or if Amaya does start swim again we’ll take lessons somewhere else where she can continue to progress.

The kids have been very into their chromebooks lately. They read books on Epic, work on powerpoint biography presentations (truth!) and play games on “Math Playground”. They like to tell me that Math Playground is “exercise for our brains” but it just looks like mindless games to me. But the site’s tagline is “Give Your Brain a Workout” so maybe they know more than I do.

Thursday morning I had the great pleasure of going to a breakfast event at the kids’ school. The students were broken into two days by last name and Thursday we were up! It was my first big school event in more than two years!

The school served donuts which we weren’t eating during Passover so we brought out own Passover treats to eat instead. You can see Sammy sneaking his bites from under the table. The kids were supportive of not eating the donuts, and excited to eat their Passover goodies from Nana, but at first also a little uncomfortable (I think) eating something different than the rest of the kids. Which I totally understand.

I loooooved being there.

The got past it quickly, though. Steven and Sammy saw their friends Jack and Subaru and very quickly headed over to their table to finish eating with no cares in the world.

Amaya met up with her friend Sara.

This funny kid kept trying to jump into his sister’s picture.

While we were in NY, Sophia made laminated check lists to use for the kids each afternoon. Steven loves adding his own items to the list.

You can see “Maybury Park” on Steven’s list. The boys were supposed to have their first baseball practice but it was canceled due to poor field condition. They were disappointed so instead, while Amaya was at gymnastics, Sophia took the boys to a baseball field to practice on their own. (Maybury Park didn’t work out so they went over by Novi High School.)

Spring is here!

Before bed, Sammy took this picture of me with Sally and his new stuffed cat, currently called “No Name”.

Earlier, I mentioned Powerpoint Biographies. The boys are working on biographies in their class and have ppt presentations to go with them. I think both boys are writing about Miguel Cabrera. Steven is also writing about Aaron Judge and Elon Musk.

Amaya was really interested in this idea so she’s doing her own bio on Ruby Bridges, just for fun. She’s reading about Ruby, taking notes, and then making her presentation. She’s loving it and, in Amaya fashion, is extraordinarily focused.

In the morning, I found Amaya in bed working on her presentation.

On Friday, Amaya’s friend Harper took the bus home with her. They played outside, played foosball, had dinner, and made Carrot/Banana smoothies.

I was working in the basement when they came down to play. I offered to leave them alone but Amaya said it was fine if I stayed down there. I’ll cherish these moments where Amaya is fine with me being around her friends lol.

We had a busy morning on Saturday. I took Amaya to a gymnastics make-up class while Jason took the boys to their first baseball practice. This year is machine pitch which is a big step up for them from coach pitch. I’m excited to see how it goes!

Sammy at bat, Steven in the field.

After lunch, Amaya gathered the family in the sitting room for a birthday party she planned for me. She had invitations, homemade gifts and a wonderful birthday crown for me. The highlight of the part was assigning each of us a room to visit where we had to find something we love. Then we shared the item with the rest of the family and explained why it was important to us.

Jason got an assortment of sashimi sushi and it came with some kind of tentacled fish. Sammy was the only person in the house willing to try it. He is our brave, adventurous eater.

This day! It was beautiful!! I’m so happy the warm weather is arriving. We sat on the deck, Steven (and later Sammy) practiced batting, Amaya & Sammy rode bikes.

Steven started on the tee. Later, the boys transitioned to Jason pitching.

Amaya and Sammy are ready to ditch those training wheels. Amaya already took them off but needs help to get the hang of riding. Sammy will be right with her.

Sammy has unlocked his love of reading with a Legend of Korra graphic novel. I am so happy he’s found joy in reading.

Saturday night, Jason fell asleep on the couch and Sally stood watch over her Papa.

Big milestone for the Cline kids! No more backs on their boosters in my car. They all loved it. Feels like just yesterday we were trying to figure out how to get three infant bucket seats across in a row in this car.

Hebrew school is winding down for the year. I’m not sure we’ll make it next weekend so today might be their last day until 3rd grade. (I can’t believe I just said “3rd grade”.)

Before I drove to OH for work, I got to enjoy some absolutely gorgeous weather with Jason and the kids.

Steven made a path for the scooter kids to ride through. Amaya and Sammy were thick as thieves this afternoon, with their scooter and biking adventures.

Amaya was absolutely determined to learn to ride a two-wheeler and when that girl has the will, she finds the way (with her Daddy’s help)! So proud of her!

Jason said she got even better after this video – riding it perfectly and for sustained time periods. Hooray!

And that’s all for us for this week! Have a great one.