Month: May 2010

Today we met a little friend of Ruby’s for lunch at a local restaurant called The Frosty Frog.  It was a sweet lunch!  The girls enjoyed being together.  They are so cute!

Before that we went to Target where Ruby got to pick out a present.  Things have been so crazy with the end-of-the-year stuff and then with Josh being gone for SIX DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that I just haven’t been able to get much accomplished in this area…especially with it being a secret.  SO, here is what the birthday girl picked out:

Lily Anna is her name.  She rides this horse that Ruby has named, Peppermint:

We got her a few change of clothes, too.  Ruby is very attentive to this doll for now.  We’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks.  She even read with Lily Anna.

Ruby says this is her “Sunday best.”  She can’t even touch the horse in this nice dress!

Ruby talked to Josh the morning of her birthday since he was about to get on a plane for home.  She looks so grown-up in these pictures.

Others from the day:

We had some ice cream sandwiches for dessert to celebrate Ruby’s birthday.  A couple of families are coming over Friday night to help us close out the celebration.  We’ll save the cake for that night!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, RUBY ELIZABETH!

We love you very much.

Now stop growing.

Ready for church!

I like Mack’s hair spikey…he is not sure about it.

Mack found a pair of winter gloves and put them on his feet.

“HELP ME!”

The girls got creative and found these boxes to slide down the hill on. (on which to slide down the hill—that is the correct way, I know, but it sounds kind of proper.)

thick, chubby feet

We tried to go through some flash cards.  Mack was in to it for about four minutes and then…

he was outta there!

Josh, can you tell I raked the backyard?  🙂

Fun summer days are already here!  We’ve had a great week.  Ruby is super-excited about tomorrow….her 6th birthday!  I am sure I will have some pictures to post.  Stay tuned.

OH, and if you’ve hung in here for the whole post and each picture, you may be wondering, “DO THE DORMINY KIDS EVER WEAR PANTS?”  They do—mostly Sundays and Wednesdays.  haha!  Seriously, they like to be real, real casual!  I just have to laugh about it.

So, I caved.  I gave in and bought (with Josh’s hard-earned money) rubber bracelets in the shapes of different things.  They were not cheap.  Ruby had dropped hints like, “EVERYONE in my class has them.”  I liked this one, too: “Katherine has them all the way up to here!!!” (pointing to her elbow…a slight exaggeration)

I got each kid a pack, and I got a pack of glow in the dark ones that they can earn by doing things that they should do anyway….don’t you love that?

Mack got some camouflage ones that he calls “golashes silly banz.”  He wears his even if he wears nothing else.

Today at the book store, Mack and Molly went straight to the kid’s section and found many cute books that they LOVED.  We only got two…THREE LITTLE PIGS because Mack asks me to tell him that story every time he potties big.  Ruby was shocked to find out that the wolf actually does eat two of the little pigs.  I tell the story in such a way that the big, bad wolf and the three little pigs end up being friends.  OH well.  I also got OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO! for Ruby.  She is such a great reader, and I just knew she would love that book.  I started writing some verses in the front of the book about how God directs our steps, and I was amazed at how much of Scripture teaches us about that.  I had to stop with six verses, but I could have filled the whole book up with them, it seemed.

While we were in the book store, Mack spotted a tool set that he said he really needed.  I totally blew him off and said something like, “Um, no.  Put that back.”  We walked around and talked to each other and then we all walked up towards the front to check out.  I turned around to see Mack “hiding” the toolset behind his back and looking up and away from me…in his mind he was saying, “She can’t see me.  She can’t see my tool set.  She will never know that I have it….”  That kid cracks me up!  We had a talk about what he was attempting to do…sin, lies, deceit, prison, NO!, Obey your Mama….something like that.

At dinner tonight he was being so silly.  We have two friends over to play, so he thought he had an audience.  He was totally hamming it up.  Molly said she was finished.  I asked  Mack if he was finished, then he leaned over to Molly and said, “Not yet, belly button!!!!”  Random.  Silly.  Non-stop.  It went on and on and on.  I was not amused.

Oh and I have to tell this story.  Wednesday night a little girl was sort of short and mean to Ruby.  Ruby would have been fine about it IF I had not been helping out in her room that night.  I saw it happen, and Ruby looked right at me and started crying.  This little girl has some exceptional circumstances that make life hard for her.  I was trying to tactfully explain this to Ruby after church.  She seemed to actually have a heart for the girl after our talk.  THEN, in the car on the way home she was telling Josh about how that girl had been to her and why….she said, “I never had someone be like that to me, and I have never been like that to anyone else  (PAUSE)  except my family.”

Oh.

I get that.  Unfortunately, I totally get that.

So after such a long week, I am glad that some of these funny stories rise to the top and make me laugh.

Don’t tell Molly, but we didn’t bring our camera Sunday night when she and Ruby sang in big church.  We also didn’t bring the camera Wednesday night when she got her Cubbie Awards.  The text I wrote to Josh went like this:  “Loser-Mom here.  Forgot the camera.”

Poor Molly.  I guess we are just making sure that she is the messed up middle child everyone talks about.  Josh and I are second born children; you’d think we’d guard this a little more.  We obviously don’t.  I just keep reminding myself that in THE BIRTH ORDER BOOK it says that middle children are the most well-adjusted adults.  They put up with so much junk at home, that they can handle the real world best.

That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.

Love you Mom and Dad and Marcy and Cacy!  🙂

Here’s to you, Molly!

Look at her go!  She’s a fabulous bike rider, that Molly!!!  And she smiles so pretty, too.

Well, today was THE last day of Kindergarten for sweet, little Ruby.  Mrs. Honaker got two huge inflatables for them to jump in all morning.  They loved that, of course.  I got minimal sleep last night and ran around like crazy this morning, so I still haven’t recovered from this week.  I hope this weekend will bring some calm into my world.  🙂

Here are a few more shots that I wanted to share from last night:

While Mrs. Honaker was telling all about how kind-hearted Ruby is!

While Ruby led us in The Pledge

Mack’s buddy from church was there, too.  Lincoln is such a sweet kid;  he always welcomes Mack into class with a smile and tells him to come and play trucks with him.  They are so funny interacting together.  I love it.

So, officially, we are done for about 12 weeks.  We are looking forward to laid back summer days!  Warm sunshine, playing in the water, eating watermelon and ice cream, and having friends over.  I know we will make a trip to each grandparent’s house, too!  I want to work in a doctor’s appointment for each kid AND for me!  (Does anyone else have a hard time returning to the GYN when you had to go so often when you were pregnant back to back???)  We have a surprise birthday gift for Ruby that will include the FOX theatre!  I am sure I will work on some organization of the school room, but let’s just not talk about that right now, OK?  I am going to enjoy the rain and thunder!  Happy Friday.  Happy Summer.

Ruby in her graduation cap and gown, May 2010

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

We loved watching Ruby tonight.  She sang her heart out to each and every song they sang.  She also got to hold the American Flag and lead us all in the pledge.  She did FABULOUS!  I couldn’t have been more proud.  And, seriously, about the singing…you could hear her loud and clear.  I love it.  There are two Kindergarten classes, so the teachers took turns calling each student up and telling a little bit about them.  Ruby got the “kind-hearted” award.  Mrs. Honaker will send home exactly what she said tomorrow, so I will have to post it later.  The whole ceremony was so special.

At the end they sang words about first grade to the tune of “New York, New York.”  Something like….”if I can make it here, I’ll make it anywhere, It’s up to you, FIRST GRADE, FIRST GRADE….”  So stinkin’ cute.

Ruby played with her friends during the reception.  The other two wanted food.  Here they are fighting over who gets the cake….

Mack drank the blue jell-o.  It reminded me of the Lampoon’s Christmas vacation and the cat litter jell-o.  Yuck.

And, lastly, before this tired Mama turns in for bed, let me tell you about Mr. Grinch.  Ruby told Molly this morning that there would be a girl dressed up as the Grinch, but she told her not be scared.  Yeah, right.

Molly must have asked 5 million questions about when the Grinch was coming in and where he would sit and if he would touch her and how did I know it was a nice person underneath?????  Oh my.  I may have used this to my benefit.  I may have told her that Grinch’s don’t mess with little girls who wear leggings.  I confess–I wanted her to wear the leggings.  I knew she would put up a fight about the leggings, so I LIED!  I totally told her the Grinch would not mess with her if she wore leggings.  What level have a shrunk to, I ask???

Anyway, AS SOON AS SHE SAW MRS. WALLEY, Mrs. Honaker’s assistant, she said, “I am scared of that Grinch.”  Well, Mrs. Walley is just like Mrs. Honaker, so kind-hearted, loving and sweet.  She made sure Molly saw who was under the Grinch outfit.  It was a sweet, young, cute little girl.  Molly didn’t get scared one second during the performance AND  she stayed with this young highschool gal during the reception.  I motioned for her to come up with me in the food line, and Molly pointed to her new friend as if to say, “I’m with her.  She’s my friend now.  Back off, Mom.”

I was actually ok with that.  I hope she just gets better and better with dressed up characters.  Who knows, we may go to Disney before she is 13!

All in all, the night was fabulous.  We are so blessed to be a part of such an incredible school.  Praise the Lord for that.

Congratulations, Ruby Elizabeth!!  We are so proud of you.

Goodnight.

It’s Ruby’s graduation day from Kindergarten.  I’ve got the camera battery charging, everyone’s clothes ironed and ready to go, and I have a pack of tissues.  Oh–and I just made almost 75 fish-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

I am so happy for her.  We have had a wonderful year learning reading, writing, and arithmetic—as well as some social and emotional lessons.  Ruby has been a fabulous student.  I love seeing her read book after book after book.  I am just so very proud of her.  I can’t wait to post pictures for all of the family to see!  It should be a cute night.  Ruby won’t tell me much about it because, “It’s a SURPRISE, Mom.”

Pictures coming soon…..

Here is a picture of Ruby after a long day of school, but also after she had gotten a hair cut.  It curls up more and more the longer she plays outside, too.  Katherine got her hair cut so cute, too…sort of the same as her mom.  John, her husband, wondered if each girl looked like their mother’s mini-me.  haha!

Sunday morning we were sitting in church (Josh, Ruby and me).  Once Pastor Johnny started preaching, Ruby leaned over to me and said, “I am hungry.”  I told her that we didn’t bring a snack this morning and that she would just have to wait until lunch.  Her eyes got big and her mouth opened a bit.  She just couldn’t believe that she wasn’t going to get eat a snack at 8:35 in the morning.  She leaned over again and said, “Well, do you just want me to starve?!”

Yes, Ruby.  I am going to let you starve, you poor under-privileged child who never gets to eat.

Molly has a new obsession.  Her name is Dalayna.  Meet Dalayna:

We have had this baby doll for a long time.  I think it was Ruby’s.  Ruby isn’t much into baby dolls though.  I think her name used to be Abigail.  This is the doll that Mack was referring to when he said to me, “Molly has a baby doll that has curly hair like you.”  I knew immediately of which doll he was speaking.

Josh confirmed this thought when he said last night, “That doll has curly hair like Mama, but Mama’s hair is curlier.”

WHAT????!!!!!!  He was in trouble and didn’t even know it.

Molly says this baby girl is REAL.  If I toss her off the couch, I am in BIG trouble cuz this baby is REAL!!!  Last night Molly got out of bed and said, “Mama,  Ruby thinks that I am gooing and gaaing, but it is my baby.  She doesn’t believe me, but my baby is really doing it.”

Sure, Molly.  Whatever you say.

I was gone a couple of nights this past weekend.  Josh said that Molly told him, “We wouldn’t be doing this if Mama was here!” several times.  For example, when they ate pizza in MY bed.  Oh, yes they did….or when I was gone for about five minutes and they were playing Mrs. Pac-Man…or when they all three slept in my bed and Josh gave it up to them and slept in Mack’s bed…or when he let Molly wear white shorts to a birthday party that had an inflatable.  Let’s just say that they are not white any more.  🙂

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not complaining.  I think it is very funny how different we do things.  My heart is so appreciative of him allowing me that time away!!!!

This week we have Ruby’s graduation, Awana awards night and more!!!  We best hang on to our hats.