Fall school pictures are back! I will admit that I promised the kids each 3 m&ms after school if they promised to smile in their pictures. The school was totally on top of it and asked me to remind them if we prefer SSA in a specific order for photos (which I definitely do).

Steven and Sammy have their deranged toddler smiles which is definitely a sign of the times and, in my mom opinion, adorable. Amaya nailed it. She really, really wanted those m&ms. 🙂

For comparison, here’s one year ago. What a difference!

Steven!

Sammy!

Amaya! I love these so much.

I got some really cool new books for the kids when I was in Atlanta last week. This one is Jabari Jumps. It’s about being brave.

When Steven, Sammy and Amaya aren’t fighting, they have so much fun playing together.

Each of the kids brought home swim reports this week! I told Steven that his said he can “enter the water safely” and “blow bubbles” and he asked, “Do I have to do that in the deep end?” Which is perfectly reflective of  his report. No lessons for Steven, yet.

It was a short work week and everyone was back in school by Tuesday. (Amaya was home on Monday.) When Megan picked-up the kids on Wednesday, Steven told her that his ear hurt. I was leaving work at 3pm so I made an afternoon appointment to get him checked. With the holidays coming and two other ear infections under our belt, I didn’t want to chance it. 4 sick visits in 8 days!

We waited in the room for over 30 minutes and Steven talked the entire time. “I see a truck coming out of a parking spot! Mommy! Look at the truck! It’s going to go on the street! Ooooh! I see our car on the roof the parking garage! The bottom of the parking ramp is the roof of the parking garage! Why is there a wheel chair on that parking spot? Mommy look! Mommy look! Mommy look!”

Sure enough, 3/3 on ear infections. This is Steven’s first since his amoxicillin reaction at 15 months so he’s on Cefdinir. He was very, very proud of himself for not crying at the doctor appointment. “May May! I didn’t cry at the doctor appointment!” I’m going to have to be sure they know it’s okay to cry because they’re getting 3 pokes at their 4 yo well visit. Yikes.

Here’s what it looks like to keep track of medicine dosing for 3 kids when they have different start days, different schedules and different doses.

Amaya and Sammy love taking their medicine all by themselves. 🙂

With that settled, it was time to get ready for Thanksgiving!! Thursday’s plan was just Team Cline during the day, with a lazy day at home and a steak, crab legs and scallops feast, followed by a visit from Aunt Ouize before bedtime!

The kids all drew a picture of what they’re thankful for this year. Sammy is thankful for milk, Steven is thankful for rainbows and Amaya is thankful for either her family or her friends Nora R and Nora T. If you ask Amaya, it’s The Noras. If you look at her paper, it’s her family. Either works!

Thanksgiving day was L-A-Z-Y and perfect.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya loved the parade this year. Steven: “Amaya! Come quick! There’s a new balloon!” It was so much fun to watch with them. The only bummer is that we don’t get the NBC broadcast of the Macy’s NY parade. I’m going to have to see if we can find a way to stream it next year because it’s the NBC broadcast that really feels like Thanksgiving to me.

Yes, everyone is in bathing suits. They were going swimming, lol.

Too cold to wear by itself, put it on over your clothes!

This pretty much sums up the tone of our day. 🙂

Dinner was a lot of work, but awesome. Steven ate mashed potatoes, Amaya ate cucumbers but Sammy ate everything and really, really likes crab legs. Our boy.

Gotta have pie!

By shortly after 6pm, Aunt Ouize arrived!! Yay!!! Steven was sooooooo excited to have another person to talk to.

Friday was awesome. Megan was with us from 7:30am- 2pm and SSA spent a ton of time crafting. They also got outside for a walk with Aunt Ouize. I saved the messy crafts for a day when this many adults were around. 😉

Amaya

Sammy

Steven

Ready for a walk! How lucky are the kids that they had a chance to get outside this weekend? (Friday, Saturday & Sunday, actually.) Any days outside in MI between November and February seem like a gift.

More fun with Aunt Ouize. ♥

Now that we’re past Thanksgiving, it was time for Hanukkah decorations! Yay!! The boys had funny telling Daddy where to put the paper lanterns.

Then they had fun showing Aunt Ouize their doll house.

The kids Hanukkah presents from Aunt Ouize, Uncle Todd, Abraham and Nancy arrived during the visit which was perfect. As were the gifts – personalized Wonderbly books for everyone.

“Is her name Amaya? Is that me!?!”

Our street!

On Friday night, Ashley came and stayed with SSA so the grown-ups could go out for dinner. These kids looooooove their Ashley!

We were lucky to have Grandma Sunshine join us from Friday afternoon until Saturday afternoon.

Lots more book time!

Aunt Ouize was a total trooper and took the kids outside for TWO HOURS on Saturday morning. Amaya was in and out but Steven and Sammy were out there the entire time. I’m thrilled they got out as much as they did this weekend and they had SO much fun.

This will be a GREAT sledding hill.

Aunt Ouize and Grandma Sunshine were set to head home by 4pm so we had some last snuggles and TV time before they left.

I was sad when our house emptied and Jason was watching Sparty football so I took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to dinner at Applebees. They were amazing. It’s a ton of work to take them out to eat alone but I really couldn’t have asked for more from three kids in their late 3’s. Even with two trips to the potty and changing up seats because Steven’s stomach hurt, they were awesome.

Sammy loves salad!

Steven was in really bad shape for the beginning part of dinner, complaining about his stomach. He came around though!

Last day of our Thanksgiving break! We started it with some shows in bed while I got the day started.

Ashley came for a play date!

Blowing leaves with daddy! (Literally. That’s Sammy holding the snow blower.)

It was Amaya’s turn to go grocery shopping with Daddy. She’s too cool for school.

Sammy photobomb. 🙂

The last activity of the day was one Steven has been waiting for foreeeeeeever. Jumping in the leaf pile!! I’m so glad it was just warm enough for them to make it happen.

Bedtime stories and then it’s back to routine tomorrow! It was a great holiday weekend but I think we’re all ready.

One last story. This is Steven and Morminer. She was originally “Mortimer” but you know how that goes. Steven and Morminer are soul bonded. Well, Steven is. I’m pretty sure Morminer is inanimate, though you’d never know it from Steven’s relationship with her. I’d say, 7 times out of 10, his bedtime song is about her. He can tell you her favorite foods and he’s let me know that she doesn’t like kisses, only hugs. All of that is to say, apparently Morminer’s favorite song is “Steven has a little lamb.” ♥ ♥ ♥ x ∞

He knows he’s adorable.

This was a long one! Did you make it all the way? We thank you!! Happy Thanksgiving and have a great week!

Tuesday morning I was prepping for a trip to Atlanta and Jason and I had worked out a intricate dance to get the kids to school on time, both of us to work on time, and Jason home in time to relieve Megan. That was all thrown when Steven woke up early with a fever. We made an on-the-fly call to keep everyone home and rushed to make plans with Megan so she could arrive in time for me to make an 11am meeting and, then, my flight.

It turned out Sammy and Amaya also had low-grade fevers so it was a quiet morning in front of the tv with three sickies before I headed out for work and my business trip. Never did I expect they’d all be out of school for the rest of the week!

Steven wasn’t feeling much better Tuesday evening. Poor Bobo. He looks so drained and sick here. 🙁

Steven got it into his head that he was going to sleep in bed with Jason on Tuesday night. When the kids were getting ready to bed he grabbed his stuff, climbed in, and promptly fell asleep.

On Wednesday, Megan saw spots in Steven’s mouth so we made a quick dr appointment for him. He’s trying so hard to simile in this picture! You can see the flush in his cheeks.

The NP diagnosed Steven with Hand Foot Mouth based on the spots in his mouth, but it never really progressed from there so I’m still a little skeptical.

Wednesday afternoon & evening, Anna picked up the ball to care for our sickos. At this point, Amaya and Steven both had fevers and Sammy was feeling more like his old self.

Sammy: Amaya, will you feel better if I play a song for you?

Happy Sammy!

Nana and Savta came to town to save the day on Thursday. Thank goodness they were here this weekend! Jason and I are sick, too, and I didn’t even get back until Friday afternoon so this visit was a huge help.

After nap on Thursday, Sammy complained that his ear hurt. He was still complaining about it at 4pm so I got him a last-of-the-day 5:30pm dr appointment. Nana, Savta, Steven, Sammy and Amaya fought traffic and literally arrived as the doctor was leaving the building. She graciously came back and diagonsed Sammy with a terrible ear infection. It seemed like it came out of nowhere! Poor Bubba. I was on the phone with my mom while she was with the doctor and Sammy was just whimpering and whimpering the whole time.

To keep a closer eye, Jason had a guys sleepover on Thursday night. <3

By Friday morning, everyone was returning to their usual selves. Steven and Sammy, in particular, were in much better shape. At some point, Sammy’s ear drum burst which the dr said might happen. She also said that it would ultimately relieve the pressure causing him so much pain which seemed to be the case.

Amaya was still under the weather but doing her best to rally.

For Baby Taco’s FIRST birthday, the kids made her this video.

Amaya was on day 4 of a fever on Friday so I made the call to get her to the doctor. I was sick and took an early flight back from Atlanta so I was able to take her to the appointment right when I got home.

You can see how sick and congested she was. Poor girl.

The NP saw her and diagnosed a double ear infection. She said that one ear was one of the worst ear infections she’d ever seen! We had no idea. Amaya never complained about her ears.So glad I trusted my instinct to get her seen before the weekend.

A few meds are all Amaya needs to get right back to crafts.

Saturday was, of course, a lazy day at home so everyone could keep recuperating.

Nana snuggled Steven under her sweater. So sweet.

Savta held court. She’s the best at engaging these kids. Savta’s imagination is unrivaled.

Amaya is continuing to work on her name. She’s confident with her Ms but still asking for help with Y.

I took a break from the sick house to go to celebrate Taco’s first birthday!! How can it have been a year already??? Happy Birthday, Taco!!

Today has been a day of more crafts and more play time. I’m hoping the boys, at least, will be ready to go back to school tomorrow.

Just a few other photos from the week.

A bee eating breakfast before school.

Steven sleeping with his mommy’s blankie.

Decked-out Sammy.

Focused Amaya.

Fussy Amaya, annoyed that Sammy is playing with the ball she wants. (And, yes, the kids all put on bathing suits the day of our first snow.)

In the past two or three weeks, Steven’s scissor skills have come so far. I really can’t believe it. Just a few weeks ago he cried when he tried to cut out this boat. Today, all I did was the water. He cut out the rest impressively well, glued it down, and wrote Nana’s name on it as a gift. I’m really proud that he’s practiced and persevered to get to this point. I was a little worried that his perfectionism would get in his way and I’m so glad that wasn’t the case. Go Bobes!

Sammy was in bed his bed with Jason, early, because he wasn’t listening at bed time. Meanwhile, Amaya tells me, “we’re reading together!” She and Steven were so cute together!

Steven and Sammy seem almost back to full health. Not quite, but well enough to go back to school tomorrow. Amaya had a fever on and off today and seems to need one more day at home to recuperate. Hopefully she’s back at school with The Brothers on Tuesday.

I’ll end this week with this screenshot of a FaceBook post that Megan sent me. This is from an exchange she had with her friend Bridget 4 years ago on the 16th. Three babies! Indeed. 🙂

Have a great week!

Monday was exciting because Papa and Uncle Austin got to help take Steven, Sammy and Amaya to school! We were early enough that I was able to give Papa and Austin a great extended tour of the Child Development Center and the JCC. After drop off, we said our goodbyes and they were on their way.

Amaya has been nervous about swim lessons at school. It’s somewhat out of the blue because she started the lessons last January. But the anxiety has kept her out of the pool the past few weeks so I today I took an early lunch and went to her lesson for moral support. So grateful I could do that! She was scared and, I think, very proud of herself for trying. I certainly was!

My girl. ♥

SSA continued to cut, cut, cut this week. Every night after work they asked if they could cut. So we did!

One of their teachers told me you can tell that they have experience with scissors. It was Megan’s idea to let them start practicing last year when they turned 3 and were first exposed in school. Thanks Megan!

Except for the wheels, Steven cut out this car by himself. He has improved dramatically over the past week.

Amaya’s bird.

Last week I talked about Amaya and Sammy but, this week, Amaya opened hear heart and Steven was right back in the mix. 😉 Here they are playing Ring Around the Rosie before school.

Dance class! Boy, they love it.

Sammy is enthusiastic, and also a part-time direction follower.

Amaya is a pout pout fish with a pout pout face. 🙂

Saturday morning I had to run out to get my phone fixed and decided to bring Sammy with me. Amaya wasn’t having it. <3

Excited for a trip to the store with mommy!

Mommy and Steven were leggings buddies on Saturday! It is SO sweet that he wants to wear the same pants as his mommy. It’s hard to think to a future where that won’t be the case. (Jason – any interest in matching pants with Grandma Sunshine!?!?)

Today the kids and I headed out to a Sammy Spider event at the JCC! Everyone was excited and also a little unsure of what it would mean to “meet” Sammy Spider. There were crafts, a kids’ musician, food and a guy with exotic animals.

Making friendship bracelets. Amaya brought that spider picture with her to give to Sammy. (Not actually possible because one version of Sammy was stuffed and the other was a live tarantula.)

Sammy and Balloon Sammy

Stuffed Sammy! (When we first started reading the books, Steven and Amaya wanted to find Steven Spider and Amaya Spider in the books lol. They’ve grown up enough to realize that the book is about a spider named Sammy which is also their brother’s name.)

Ready for the animals!

So many cool animals for the kids to see. A tarantula! (We said this is Sammy Spider but Steven said, “Mommy. The real Sammy Spider is rainbow colors.” Can’t trick that kid! 😉 We also saw a hedgehog, snake, 2 armadillos, a slot and a bearcat.

Even with kids who were exceptionally well behaved, it is exhausting. Some Sundays I need a weekend from my weekend!

I will end this blog with a video of a regular bedtime routine with Sammy – singing “Maybe” from Annie together. I recorded in the dark so it’s just audio but it’s pretty darn sweet.

Have a great week!

Our Halloween adventures continued on Monday when the kids came to my office to trick or treat. 75 kids parading around our office in costumes! It was so much better than last year. SSA were more comfortable and it’s just a better age for this type of event. They all loved showing off their costumes.

We don’t celebrate Halloween at the JCC Child Development Center so Tuesday, at school, was your typical day. I was able to sneak some photos of the kids in the drop-off room before Sammy spied me and came running for more hugs.

Steven is in the back in the blue shirt, deep in conversation.

I took a few pictures of the classroom displays while I was signing-in in the kids classroom. (I asked Amaya who she likes best in her class and she said, “The Noras”. I guess, like The Brothers, she she’s a fan of people who come in pairs. 😉 )

Tuesday night it was finally time for real door-to-door trick-or-treating. Steven, Sammy and Amaya all did great. They loved ringing the bell and always remembered to say “Trick or Treat”. After a few houses I carried Sammy’s costume until we got to each door. It turns out I didn’t make it easy for him to bend his knees. He was totally unphased, though.

Wednesday morning, Amaya woke up calling for Sammy. Sammy held her hand for a while until she wanted to get out of bed to give him a hug. She’s really been on a Sammy kick, lately! It’s very cute until it includes excluding Steven from the mix. Jason and I are totally aligned on the expectation that the kids don’t leave each other out. Three can be a tough number but we need to be clear that they can’t exclude one another.

Amaya didn’t quite want to hold Steven’s hand but agreed that he could hold her arm. (To be fair, there have been times when it’s Steven she specifically wanted. Interestingly, though, she seems to be the link. The boys will play together but it’s Amaya who’s tends to be the anchor of affection.)

Amaya! Don’t put your finger in your nose!

As soon as I said that, Sammy needed to put his finger in his nose, too.

Amaya and Sammy wanted to hold hands walking downstairs for breakfast. Steven wanted to join in but there wasn’t enough space for everyone to walk down together and Amaya was being difficult about walking with Steven, anyway. When they got downstairs, I asked Amaya to come back up and walk with Steven. I even offered to carry her up. Maybe I’d have let it go but she’d been excluding him all morning and I didn’t want it to continue. She was resisting and walked away. Steven looked at me and said, “I don’t think she’s coming back up.” Now I’m all for teaching the kids to manage through disappointment but not at the hands of one of their siblings being unnecessarily unkind. I went downstairs and explained to Amaya that Steven was sad because he was left out and I really needed her to be a great sister and walk down with him.

Here they are hand in hand. Good work, Amaya!

Here are a few photos from dance class on Wednesday. 🙂

Steven and a new friend.

Sammy and Amaya.

Thursday was a professional development day for the teachers at the JCC so there was no school. It had been a busy, busy week so we planned a lazy day at home. Megan kept everyone in jammies, built a fort and introduced the kids to Moana.

The highlight of the day was this guy decided to try to use the potty!! Everyone was SO proud of Steven!! He was really proud of himself, too.

He tried four times throughout the day. No successes but it’s a start! He was waiting on the potty when I got home from work so he could surprise me. Steven told me, “Amaya and Sammy are proud of me, too.” And, “I think Daddy will be really proud of me.”

Here he is surprising Daddy after work. This little proud face!!

Amaya asked me to send the photo above to her friend Hadley, which I did. I’m sharing this screenshot because it’s also Amaya’s very first text. 🙂 She spelled her name on the keyboard all by herself!

Friday morning started with more cuddles…

And ended with a visit from Papa and Uncle Austin! YAY!!!

We started off Saturday with some lazy time at home.

While Daddy was busy filling up a dumpster, the rest of us headed to Jungle Java.

Places like this really highlight some of the differences between the kids. Amaya is, by far, the most adventurous when it comes to gross motor activities. She was nervous at first but, pretty quickly, she ended up running all around the structure on her own (or with Mommy or Uncle Austin in tow). She’s still not a fan of the big slides but the phrase I heard most often during our visit was “I can do it by myself.” Way to go, little mama!!

Sammy really, really wanted to go in the tree house but was very nervous. Finally, he did it!!! Go Bubba!! He was so proud.

Lunch time!

An applesauce sandwich.

Brave Papa taking two boys to the bathroom.

Don’t worry about all of my stories about Amaya and Sammy. Steven’s not really left out. Here you can see just how close Amaya and Steven are, too, while we all cuddled during TV time. <3

We rounded out the day with an early dinner out at Garage.

Why take off your coat and hat inside, right? (Amaya and Sammy both really liked calimari. Steven didn’t want to try it.)

I helped with the Y, but Amaya wrote her name! She actually got the letters in order but started on the right side of the page instead of the left. I suppose it helps that she only has to learn 3 letters but I’m still impressed.

While we waited for food, Uncle Austin explained the gas and air pumps.

Interlude because I love this: Nana took Chase and Charlie out for dinner and they insisted on sending me this picture of their cups because they could see the statues’ butt cheeks. I don’t care what anyone else thinks – I absolutely LOVE that they see butt cheeks on their cups and think of Aunt Jo.

After dinner it was a last tv show and then bed. Which I share only because of these two photos.

Normal cuddles.

Mommy cuddles.

This morning was a lot slower. Everyone got new “stamps” and we did arts and crafts for at least 2 hours.

Amaya’s pizza.

Steven’s pumpkin. (Help with the cutting, obviously.) He really wanted to add that candle. 🙂

While Daddy went grocery shopping, the rest of us went out for brunch.

Papa and Uncle Austin had great cuddle time after naps.

We wrapped up the day with a trip to Bounce It Up. I’d never been but Rosie took the kids while I was in Denver in September.

Before we left, Steven told me he was going to get Daddy hot dogs at the bounce house place. Now I understand why. “That’ll be $5 for a hot dog,” he told me.

I really thought we were going to end up spending the entire time in this little corner. No one was interested in the bounce houses!

Finally I got Amaya out of her corner and she started exploring. At first she needed the section to be totally empty (tough on a rainy Sunday afternoon) but, before long, she had enough confidence to run and play even with a ton of other kids around.

Once Sammy saw Amaya in action he was game, too!

They had a blast. Next time we’ll try to go on a quiet weekday, if possible, so Steven can explore a little more comfortably, too. But he did love his time selling hot dogs.

And that’s it for our week! It was so, so great to have Uncle Austin and Papa visit The Land of Cheltenham for the weekend.

Have a great week!

We’re going to start with Halloween because, even thought it’s not technically Halloween yet, Halloween has certainly started in the Land of Cheltenham.

I had grand ideas that Steven, Sammy and Amaya would dress as Millie, Geo and Bot from Team Umizoomi this year but they definitely had ideas of their own and honoring those choices is as m uch fun, maybe more, than anything I’d come up with.

I present Steven the Bumblebee, Amaya the pink, blue and purple elephant and Sammy the croc.

Steven’s was the easiest costume to pull together. I got a yellow unitard and a bee costume. Easy peasy, and he’s adorable! For Amaya, I found a purple unitard, a pink elephant costume and I ordered some blue furry fabric for the spots. A little effort but not bad, and she was very specific about including those three colors. Then there’s Sammy, lol. A croc! I have no idea where he came up with this idea but he said it more than once and I was determined to make it happen. He originally said an orange croc but foammart.com didn’t have orange so he landed on green. (Yes, foammart.com! There’s a website for everything! This one is out of Burbank, CA which makes sense since this foam is regularly used for costumes.)

Here’s the evolution of making the costume, starting with measuring Sammy.

Jason drew the outline for me on tracing paper which I taped to the foam and cut.

I tried to use scissors to the cut the holes but the lines were really jagged and a box cutter didn’t work, either, so I ended up ordering a foam cutter to do the job. You need ventilation for the fumes so I set up shop in the garage.

Constructing the shell. For this, I used neon green gaffers tape.

Checking the fit!

A happy, happy customer. (Rounded out with a black unitard.)

So, starting on Saturday (yesterday), Sammy woke up and asked to have pancakes at a restaurant. Jason was going to be working in the basement all day so I liked the idea of getting out of the house and I was able to rally Steven and Amaya. I even let the kids go in their pajamas.

When we were leaving, we realized that there were a ton of people dressed in Halloween costumes heading toward the center of downtown Northville. Turns out there was a big trick or treat event going on! We tried to walk down to check it out but we weren’t dressed for a walk in the 36 degree weather and had to turn back. Everyone really wanted to go to the Halloween party, though, so we decided to go home, quickly put on costumes and head back!

What a great idea! It was SO much fun!! Steven loved seeing all of the costumes. “I see Iron Man!” “I see another bee!” The kids were excellent listeners and loved getting all of the candy! At one point I called Jason in tears and told him that this was everything I ever wanted. It really is. Such a magical morning.

Steven’s face. <3

Steven was thrilled to see Captain America and Sammy was proud to have asked him how he holds his shield.

This guy put on his talking wookie mask for Sammy. They loved it.

Showing Daddy their stash!

Sharing a lollipop with Baby Jenna.

Backing up to Monday… Sammy and I got back from NY around 9:45pm on Sunday night. I woke up Monday morning to Amaya saying she felt sick and like she was going to puke. She looked terrible so we were really lucky to have Grandma Sunshine at the house to stay with her while I took the boys to school.

By afternoon Amaya was back to herself but we still got in some extra cuddles.

Making herself comfortable with a book. 🙂

This is a 9-12 mo sweater that we keep ion a stuffed puppy. Steven was determined to put it on!

After sleeping in the sweater, lol, Steven woke up early, early, early. Everyone was asleep and I didn’t want him to wake up Sammy so I let him draw on my iPad while I got ready for work. It was really nice morning quiet time! Oh! And now I remember why I wasn’t getting him dressed for school. On Monday night a local pipe burst and we had no water! School didn’t either so Megan came in to work the full day and the kids stayed home. They had a full day with Tiny Town and a picnic lunch at May May’s mommy’s house.

Showing Sammy his football socks.

“Who woke up Daddy last night?”
“I did!”

Breakfast with Taco!

Steven put on a pair of Sammy’s new underwear. Still not interested in wearing them under his pants, though.

On Wednesday afternoon Megan had a dr appointment for Taco and Jason was on vacation so he took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to dance class! What a treat!!

On Thursday Megan was sick so I took the kids to school. The routine is to drop off the kids in the appropriately named “drop-off room” and then sign-in downstairs in their classroom. I got the kids to school later than usual so, by the time I was leaving their classroom at 8:40am, they were already on their way downstairs. Sammy looked at me and said, “Mommy! I didn’t expect to see you here!” So sweet.

The boys’ dresser (which used to be everyone’s dresser), still has magnetic locks that we put on as a safety precaution back when the kids were first mobile. The magnets are pretty strong and Sammy loves making one magnet move with the repulsive force of the other. We’re having some pretty neat conversations about magnets!

Megan was still sick on Friday so I left for work in the morning to the sight of my four favorites at the breakfast table. Still dark out, too!

Friday afternoon, “The Brothers” were serenading their sister. The kids are playing so many fun games together lately! They make up rules for their games and can play so well together when they want to. I love sitting and listening to their conversations.

We already talked about our awesome Saturday which brings me to Saturday night. Back when the kids were about 18 or 19 months I got backpack leashes thinking maybe we’d need them when everyone first started walking. We never ended up using them but the kids love to wear the animals around the house. They clip in front and, Saturday night, I clipped Steven’s skin in the buckle. 🙁 He’s such a tough guy! I felt awful!!

By morning he was feeling fine and showing off his bruise. Sorry Steven!!!!

Today was our 3rd Annual Triplet Family Halloween Party! We took it easy at home while we got the house ready. Here, Tiger Steven is taking a nap on his tiger bed.

Everything old is new again! SSA have rediscovered these foam blocks that we were gifted about a year and a half ago. Amaya sat for ages carefully building with them.

So proud of her creation!

And then it was party time! We had 6 families join us – 21 kids in total and 10 adults. All of the kids were born in 2014 with the youngest of the bunch turning three in November. The kids were amazing and played so well together! The grownups actually had a lot of time to talk!

Trying to wrangle 21 three year olds for a photo is a special experience.

Happy Halloween!

Our 2016 photo

Our 2015 photo

Lunch time! Thanks to Daddy for, once again, manning the kitchen and griddle so we could all eat!

And as soon as everyone got there, it was over! So much fun!! One friend stayed with her kids to help clean up which was very, very helpful. And, by 1:30pm, you’d never know we’d just had a 2 pre-school classes worth of three year olds in our house.

Here’s Steven helping Jason with the last touch – putting the coffee table back.

Tomorrow is trick or treating at my office and then, of course, trick or treating on Halloween night. I love this holiday.

Have a great week!

Our Monday started with some Amaya adventures. You know those little circle cheeses wrapped in wax? Turns out if you take off the wax, roll it in a ball and smush it in your hair it makes quite a mess. I put Amaya in bed without realizing she still had some wax in her hand and, shortly after, heard her calling for me. Uh oh!

Daddy to the rescue!

She didn’t realize this would be the outcome but sure was pleased about sitting in our bed after bedtime, with focused attention from her daddy.

By the morning she was too cool for school and none the worse for the wear.

This week was gorgeous. On Tuesday afternoon, Megan took the kids to Three Cedars Farm since we missed our trip to the Pumpkin Festival on Saturday when it rained all day. These kids. <3

Corn instead of sand! Genius!!

Wednesday was dance class and Steven was ready.

Sammy left class this week and said, “I love dance class!”

Sammy, lol.

Jason took this photo of me on Wednesday night. Can you see me up there in the chairs? Steven really, really wanted me to sit outside their door while he fell asleep and I really, really wanted to watch the Yankee game. I was able to see the TV downstairs which was a reasonable compromise but definitely in Steven’s favor. 🙂

Sammy, on Thursday, ready for his tour with the Village People!

All week Steven talked about wanting to go back to the pretend train at the farm. Friday was nice again so Megan took the kids after school and also met up with her family there.

Happy Bobes!

Sammy and Taco are total buds.

Mikey pushing Steven.

Sammy burying Amaya in corn.

After the farm, Megan brought Sammy to my “workplace” so Sammy and I could head to NY. Amaya was so sad to say goodbye! She kept crying, “Sammy! Sammy! Sammy!” I had to bring him back into the van for more hugs before we could leave.

Off we go!

Waiting for “the train that goes back and forth”.

Ready for our flight! Sammy scored his 1st first class upgrade. He’ll tell you, “the flight attendant let me pick food from a basket.” He got a drink before take-off and I told him that before we took off, they’d take his cup from him so it doesn’t spill. When we started pushing back from the gate he still had his cup and called to the flight attendants, “Take my drink! Wait! Take my drink!”

It’s funny to watch him watch Team Umizoomi with headphones because he responds to the show when prompted but, to me, it would come out of nowhere. “To the farm!” “Four!”

Checking out the view.

At the end of our flight a flight attendant came by to tell me how well he did on the trip. I’m definitely proud at what good fliers the kids are becoming. Practice makes perfect, I guess!

Excited to walk down the steps on his own while I took the escalator.

My helper.

Making sure we had a ride back to Nana’s house.

And finally asleep (in my childhood bed)!

Saturday morning we had a little bit of time at home before we headed out to watch Chase play baseball and visit a nearby playground.

Running to Aunt Sara <3

Watching Chasie.

Chase and Charlie are so great with Sammy. They’re patient, interested and totally engaged.

Back in NY, Steve and Amaya went to Three Cedars Farm again! This time they were with Rosie and they actually got to ride on the train. As nice as it is for whoever I’m traveling with to get one on one time, I think it’s also nice for the two at home to have a bit more focus than usual and that sibling time together with just each other. They always seem to have so much fun together – in every combination.

Holding hands in line for the train.

We wrapped up our day with an afternoon at Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave’s house.

This was Nana’s rocking chair when she was little!

Steven wrapped up his day with a trip from Daddy. Handsome boy!

Steven and Amaya, heading off to a Sparty game. 🙂

Saturday night was a cousin sleepover while Papa, Aunt Sara and I went out to see Smokey Robinson.

This morning at home was a littler lazier than yesterday, and always fun when Chase and Charlie are around.

We had the opportunity to watch Charlie cheer today! So, so cute.

There was a dog park next to the game field. SSA are all nervous around dogs but Sammy found a calm 10 year old dog who barely moved when he was by her and he finally got up the nerve to pet a pup! There were a ton of active dogs around and he wanted nothing to do with them but he was completely into this dog. Go Sammy!

We had lunch at Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave’s house where Sammy ate his weight in lox. My boy! We wrapped up the afternoon at Nana & Papa’s house.

Sammy, where you can always find him – in Savta’s lap.

I promised him we’d go to the ice cream store and delivered at the 11th hour. Vanilla ice cream, colored sprinkles and a cherry on top. Four or five bites and he was content. 🙂

Back in MI, Grandma Sunshine came over to spend the night and help get SSA to school tomorrow! Sammy’s so excited!

And then it was time to go! I have to be at a morning meeting tomorrow so it’s a Sunday night return to MI. We had an awesome weekend!

Riding the airport shuttle to our gate. Sammy thought it was so cool to ride a bus “on the runway.”

And here we are on the plane! I’m typing this while Sammy watches a show on my iPad. We had a perfect weekend together but can’t wait to get home to see the rest of our family. Daddy, Steven and Amaya – We’re coming for you!!

Have a great week!

Monday was Sammy’s turn to be class leader! He was so excited and chose to bring a bag of coins for the start of “C” week. I’m loving the leggings over the “nana pants”.

We had a few more days this week where we were able to get outside for after-work walks. I’m going to try to do it daily for as long as we can, before it’s too cold and too dark.

On Tuesday, Megan took SSA to their dance studio to get the paperwork we needed to complete. It was a good chance for them to check out the space before day one.

They also had time for a visit to the playground. It’s really interesting to see the kids’ differences in a play space. Amaya is most likely to want to climb high. Sammy is most likely to want to swing high. Steven is most likely to go down a big slide. And it’s not just “most likely”, it’s very distinctive preferences. Amaya gets nervous if swings go too high or too fast. Sammy is not interested in big slides at all. Steven is still working on his climbing skills.

“I did it!”

Just in time for Wednesday’s dance class, Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s dance gear arrived. They were SO READY to dance!! Their enthusiasm and joy is the best. I can’t love this more. ♥ ♥ ♥

Books, books, books these days. It’s awesome.

Wednesday was dance day! But first, school. And this gem of an outfit. Amaya is an original, lol. I can’t wait until she’s older and I get to show her some of these photos. (Actually, I can wait. Time really needs to slow down.)

Dance class!!! Their teacher is Miss Christina. I love that they can see Megan in the window to help with the transition and I also love that it’s a relatively small class.

Megan said that Amaya was too cool for school at first and didn’t initially join in with the group activities. Sammy teared up when he first went into the room but, quickly, he and Steven were with the program.

Stretches!

Pliés in second position. The cuteness is killing me here.

This video is everything. I feel like there are these parenting moments where you think, “I can’t believe these are my kids and I’m at this stage.” Such big kids! In dance class!

I had to watch the video three times so I could follow Steven, Sammy and Amaya each through their routine. If you focus on Sammy and Amaya holding hands, you might miss Steven walking on tippy toes and vice versa. I can not get enough.

Thank you, Megan, for the photos and video! It was almost like I was there!

Nana flew in to visit on Thursday so, on Friday, she went with SSA to their weekly Shabbat service at school. Instead of the usual fair, rabbis from local synagogues came by and there was a Simchat Torah celebration. I was telling Jason that I distinctly remember the exuberance of Simchat Torah from when I was a kid. Everyone would carry the Torahs out into the street and there was so much singing and dancing.

Friday, Steven was the class leader. He brought a car! You can see him leading the line in the photo below. 🙂

Pony rides on Daddy before bed!

Saturday morning I was able to get the playroom organized, including reassembling the train tracks. The kids have been asking for a while but it takes time and they always break it apart again shortly after. This time, Jason came in behind me and used double sided velcro to keep the tracks together.

5-4-3-2-1 Blast Off!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya got new rain coats on Friday, just in time for a rainy Saturday. Steven was insistent that they could play outside in the rain now that they have rain coasts. It was a warm day, and not raining too hard, so I decided to say “yes” and off we went for a walk! Sammy said it was his favorite walk ever. 🙂 I think jumping in puddles was the highlight for everyone.

Our afternoon activity was painting canvases. Steven has asked that we hang these in the playroom.

Love that little tongue.

Jason and I went out for dinner on Saturday night with Nana holding down the fort. Happy kids! (Except when we forgot to honk the horn as we passed by the front window. We always forget!!)

This morning, at 7am, only Sammy was up! It was a rare opportunity for quiet Nana cuddles and a slow roll to start the day. Such a different experience.

Today was Amaya’s turn to go to the grocery store with Daddy and she was ready before he was even out of bed!! “I’ll just wait for Daddy.” ♥

Daddy!!

Waiting for Daddy to honk.

Once again, Nana came to visit with a suitcase full of clothes from Charlie. I feel like Charlie was just wearing this faux leather skirt Amaya has on. She’s so lucky to get all of these awesome hand-me-downs from her big cousin and she knows it!

Lunch out with Nana. This was a regular trip to Deadwood where the manager always takes time to come over and remark on how big the kids have gotten from the days we kept them in their infant carriers at a corner table.

It was a quiet afternoon at home. Amaya asked to “cut lines” and, once again, blew me away with her cutting skills. She has such focus and she doesn’t get rattled if it doesn’t go quite her way.

The finished product! Amaya did all of the cutting with the exception of the top candles which I cut out for her to color. I’m so impressed with how well she did the candles on the bottom of the page.

And that’s it for this week! Next weekend Sammy and I are off to NY together!

Sunday evening ended with a big bump on the noggin for Sammy. He told us that we shouldn’t keep the bean bag so close to the edge of Amaya’s bed. Point taken, Sammy.

Tough guy recovered quickly, though.

We’re enjoying as much of the fall weather as possible before it gets cold. SSA get outside daily at school and we’ve been doing a lot of late afternoon / early evening walks in the neighborhood. They’re getting very good at stopping at driveways!

Earlier in the school year, the director of the JCC child development center asked me if Amaya picks her own clothes every day. What gave her away???

On Wednesday I had a meeting change which freed up a good portion of my day. I took advantage of the extra time and met everyone for lunch at Chilis after school. The looks on their faces when they ran around the corner to greet me were amazing.

Watching me go from the window.

Boo boo healing!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya didn’t have school on Thursday because of Sukkot so they went to Tiny Town in the morning and out for “ice cream” in the afternoon. Steven still takes one bite of ice cream/frozen yogurt and then just eats a cup full of fruit. Amaya, on the other hand, tried to finish what was left of both of The Brothers’ fro yo.

Little Steven face. He totally cracks himself up.

At school this week, they started class leaders each day. For the Clines, Amaya was up first as leader on Friday. In addition to being line leader and helping with circle time, the leader also brings a show and tell item for the letter of the week. Amaya brought blue blocks in a butter container.

Steven and Sammy wore their new matching Star Wars Halloween shirts. Amaya has one, too. We’ll have to see if she’ll wear a grey shirt, lol.

Even walk in jammies!

Steven came up with this “exercise”. Everyone followed suit, though the boys had to show Amaya how to do it. She kept going at it backwards.

This week, Steven, Sammy and Amaya will start dance class!! Amaya has been talking about her “ballet class” for weeks so we went for it! The class is once/week from 4- 4:45pm which is perfect in their schedule. I hope everyone likes it!!

Amaya, already prepping! She wanted me to send Charlie a picture of her in Charlie’s leotard.

We had a nice, lazy weekend. Just enough to keep the kids from going stir crazy but not enough to wear us all out.

Crafts!

Pretending to be sad.

Jason took Steven to the grocery store and Home Depot on Saturday. It was a Kids Workshop day at Home Depot with a firetruck crafts and a real fire truck there. He sent me a text to let me know about it and Amaya, Sammy and I were out of the house and on our way within 10 minutes, including changes of clothing for everyone. It felt so easy! I’m not counting chickens because listening to directions has been a battle lately, but maybe somethings are easing up.

Fun at Home Depot!

Steven was excited to bring this new balloon home from his outing with Daddy.

One more walk! Steven carried shoes for Amaya and Sammy in his backpack.

Holding hands. ♥

Last night there were big storms in the area and Steven woke up crying around 9:30pm. Since we knew they might continue for a while I took him into bed with me. Sammy ended up in bed with us, too, which meant that no one got a lot of sleep last night. (Except for Amaya!) This morning I was too tired to face the day so we all watched a show before heading down for breakfast.

This face. There was a lot of fighting over toys and space in the early part of the day. Sammy solved it by declaring the space in his hula hoop his and his alone. Amazingly it worked and Steven and Amaya set up picnics in their hula hoops, too. They have a lot of joy together but it’s got to be hard to be a 3 year old triplet sometimes.

Last week I mentioned that Amaya made some pictures for Princess Elsa. Today we put them in the mail to send them to Amaya’s favorite princess. She’s so excited!

The highlight of the day was a visit from Ashley. SSA were practically jumping out of their skin waiting for her to arrive.

Don’t leave us!!

Train ride from Engineer Steven.

We wrapped up the weekend with a homemade dinner made by mommy and my helpers!

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

Monday started our drop-off room adventures. There were a few tears the first two days but, by Wednesday, Jason reported that it was smooth sailing. The kids are in this big room for just under an hour before heading to their classroom.

Daddy’s first day walking everyone in to school. <3

When there are too many bees at the park, picnic in the car!

Steven put everyone on the train. He was the captain.

I wish I could remember what Amaya was telling me here. I’m sure it was very important and she was very certain about it.

Amaya loves saline spray in her nose! It’s the funniest thing. She wasn’t even sick last week but she really wanted to try to do it by herself. Mission accomplished! I think she’ll be my neti-potter.

Steven has been busy reading a lot of books this week. A few times he very specifically asked me to let him read it himself rather than have me read to him.

On Wednesday I met Megan at the pediatrician’s office for flu shots. Our office lets parents get them at the same time so I waited to get mine with the kids so they could see that it wasn’t so bad. Steven and Amaya were pretty worked up. 🙁 Sammy went first and was so brave. It was obvious he was nervous but he worked so hard to hold back tears. I think “stoic”  is probably the best word to describe him in that moment. We all did talk about the fact that it’s okay to cry when you’re scared and that even people who are brave sometimes cry when they’re scared.

Raise your hand if you were brave!

I took the kids out for dinner after their shots. Amaya didn’t want her photo taken, lol.

Not for this one, either.

I had Jason’s car because a car seat tech and I worked on the three-across seats at lunch that day. This was the inaugural ride of three Cline kids in a row.

The high chair is still a hit for feeding our babies and these little building toys make a nice snack.

Steven’s physical therapist thought his shoes were too big so his orthotist came out for a visit to check it all out. Verdict is they’re too big! This guy is so good. We changed companies with this pair and it was a great move. He’s great with kids and parents. (Speaking of Steven, I’m not sure if I mentioned that Steven is done with PT for the year. Insurance maxes out at 30 sessions/year and is physical therapist thinks he’s in a good spot for a break. We just need to be diligent about his at-home exercises. I think we’ll need a calendar or something to help us stay on track.)

Double up to get ready for school!

Cheese!

Amaya has been so obsessed with meeting Princess Elsa that I ordered a few prints of the photos I took and put them in a frame for her room. She was so excited.

After a long week with the new routine, we had a lazy weekend at home. Yesterday was nice enough to get outside for a bit. The kids are getting so much better at climbing!

Sammy and Amaya were giving Steven directions on how to climb up. 🙂

SSA went through a routine where one of them would climb the hill and ask for help getting down. Another one would walk up and hold their hand down the hill. Cutest.

It was a ball card afternoon with Daddy and, via FaceTime, Grandpa Homey. Everyone got in on the action. The Star Wars cards were the biggest hit with SSA.

Just a cute picture of Sammy watching his shows with Baby Elsa.

When the kids know I’m going out at night they always want me to check on them when get home. I’ve started taking photos of me checking on them at night so they know I’m telling the truth in the morning. (Jason – I should text these to you in case you need this proof when they wake in the middle of the night, lol.)

Our lazy Sunday started off as lazy as Saturday. Now that we’re up at 6:30am during the week, and out the door in an hour, lazy weekend mornings have taken on an entirely different meaning.

“My milk is too cold.”

Frog Sammy!

Megan got the kids a Melissa & Doug scissors activity book for their 3rd birthday and they’re really starting to get the hang of it. Sammy dove right in. Steven tried but he wanted perfection and kept getting frustrated. We’ll keep working on that. Amaya was so skilled. I really can’t believe how well she did. I think her patience with crafts helped her focus.

Amaya cut out all of those shapes and glued them on a piece of paper. She did so well!!

(I made the “A”. 🙂 )

All on her own, Amaya cut out the car, the wheels and then glued the wheels in place. I can’t believe how old these kids are.

This was Steven’s face when I told him to fix his legs. (He still “W” sits.)

It was Sammy’s day to go grocery shopping with Daddy. He offered up some hugs before he set out!

This face.

Sammy was so excited to come home with this BIG balloon! Steven is currently convinced it’s just his.

After nap, Amaya went to help Steven wake up. <3

Then she was his mommy, “rubbing his back open”. Seeing Steven, Sammy and Amaya play together really is one of the best things in my life.

We wrapped up the day with some more art. Sammy really, really wanted glitter glue last night (meltdown) so he and Daddy bought some today.

“Grandma Sunshine will looooove this. Grandma Sunshine will have to hang it up. And she loves sparkles! And she loves gold! I hope I do what she wants it go look like. And it’s going to be arrowy. It has arrows!”

“I am making this for Daddy.”

“I am making this for Elsa.”

Have a great week!

Happy Sunday! Last week started with the transition of Mommy & Daddy taking Steven, Sammy and Amaya to school. It was only on Tuesday and Wednesday because there was no school on Rosh Hashanah but it was a start. The real test is tomorrow when we have to start getting the kids up at 6:30am to be out of the house at 7:30am. Fingers crossed!

Steven: I can’t wait to show my teacher my blue nail polish!

On Monday I came home to a full royal court waiting for me. We’re definitely in a big dress-up phase right now.

We also got our new winter coats which led to everyone trying on their winter boots.

At the entrance to the classroom, all of the kids find their name in a basket and put it on the board. They’re the Honeybees. Perfect for The Bobes.

The kids and I went for a walk after work on Wednesday. It was so nice out and I love that we can do this with relative ease. (Relative is the key word there.)

Everyone practicing the “bear walk” that Steven learned at PT.

Thursday was a day home for Mommy because it was Rosh Hashsanah. It reminded me of the days in early/mid 2016 when I wasn’t working and was home with the kids all the day. Time to get stuff done and time to play.

We made a trip to Meijer to get apples for apples & honey and some Rosh Hashanah crafts. Everyone wore their snow boots in the 88 degree weather.

Brothers, deep in conversation.

Pretty much the best way to spent time post-nap.

As a Rosh Hashanah activity we made art with apples. Yes, Amaya is wearing a shower cap. I grabbed it at the hotel in Dallas to use when I dye her hair and she was very excited about it.

We wrapped up the day with a meal from Chef Steven.

Last Thursday night I few to Dallas for a triplet mom getaway, while Jason, Megan and Rosie held down the fort.

On Saturday, Rosie took SSA to a place called Bounce It Up, full of a variety of bounce houses. According to Rosie, Amaya was all over it, Sammy tried a few and Steven got up the courage to venture in toward the end of their visit. I didn’t even know about this place! We’ll definitely have to get back this winter.

While Rosie and the kids were out, Jason worked and worked and worked to put together the boys’ new beds!! They’re awesome. (They don’t say “U.S.A”, by the way. They say, “Don’t Stand On The Bed.”)

Today I flew home early, early Denver time. Rosie, Steven and Sammy went to Java Jungle while Jason and Amaya went to the grocery store. “I got you pickles. Eat pickles.”

Wrapping up this quick blog with a few photos from my #freefromthreeinthemilehighcity getaway. Always so good for my soul! <3

Have a great week!