Today is Ruby’s 14th birthday. We celebrated last night with a visit to The Cheesecake Factory, Ruby’s favorite restaurant for special occasions. And we went to a country concert on Speed Street–the Coca-Cola 600 is this weekend, so there are many different festivities leading up to the race. We didn’t know the singers, but it was fun to hang out for a little while.
Mack was asked what his favorite memory of Ruby was, and he said, “This could be hard for me because I don’t even remember what I ate for lunch yesterday.” He also had intended to wear his shirt tucked in and with a belt because he thought Josh’s belt looked good, but after eating so much at dinner, he said, “Wow. I am so glad I didn’t wear a belt. I would have to take it off!!” And that reminded me of the time about five years ago when Mack actually did walk out of The Cheesecake Factory with his belt thrown over his shoulder with his belly sticking out. That kid.
Josh wrote out 14 things he loves about Ruby. It was a funny list! We all laughed as he shared them…many of them you can only understand if you’re in our family. 🙂
14 of my Most Favorite things about Ruby….
14 – That she was nervous about being out late with the youth leaders (while Molly was uninhibited)
13 – How Ruby would ride the Wild Eagle and not be willing to swing in the blanket at home
12 – How Ruby will threaten to scratch your eyes out if you do something she doesn’t like
11 – How Ruby will always walk in front of the group even though she has no idea where they are going
10 – How Ruby constantly questions her parents parenting skills, without reservations, when we don’t meet her expectations (NY trip)
9 – How Ruby refused to wear any kind of puff sleeve…even though she was 3 at the time
8 – That Ruby would refuse to take any sort of medicine….even upon fear of physical harm
7 – How loyal Ruby is to her family…..
6 – How stubborn Ruby is…..i.e. sitting at the kitchen table for at least an hour…while she defied my request to try a small spoonful of corn when she was 3 years old
5 – How Responsible Ruby has been in taking care of Rolo
4 – How Ruby is becoming a beautiful young lady (inside and out) that people enjoy being around
3 – How she makes fun of most everything I do…..as many times as possible
2 – How Ruby doesn’t follow the crowd if she thinks they are wrong – She’ll just call them stupid
1 – That I have the privilege of being her dad
This evening we are having a small party with a few families we home school alongside.
Ruby has helped ease us into the teen years. We definitely have our moments–the disagreements about what to wear, how long she takes in the shower, how loud her music is blaring while she is in the shower, how she waits too long to do her laundry, and many frustrations when we disagree about the best way to fix curly hair, and “Can you please wear a different outfit than a Georgia shirt and a pair of black workout shorts??”
But we also have really good conversations about all sorts of things. She tells me the truth about my outfits or helps me if my hair is out of whack. She is the best with the dog, for sure! And she helps keep Molly straight when I am not around, though she says Molly just doesn’t listen to her. ha! I remind her that being the first-born is not an easy spot, but that she is doing a great job of keeping us all in line. The girl has some strong opinions that she ain’t budging on. I wish Gran was still alive on earth to see how much Ruby favors her and even acts like her in many ways.
We enjoy being her parents and watching her grow into a young lady. I hope year 14 is an awesome year of growth and friends, of fun and adventure, and of learning more deeply who she is in Christ.