The Adventures of Ruthie

Our Ruthie is a mess. She takes life at 190 miles an hour and her hair matches her personality. She's tough and tumble and always has bumps, bruises, and scrapes.

Tonight she added a new one...courtesy of the bathtub. She was in there with Emmie and Ellie and I was fixing dinner and chasing after JP. I heard a bump and crying. Emmie said she didn't know what had happened so I headed towards the bathroom when Emmie started screaming BLOOD! THERE'S BLOOD! She was going ballistic. Poor Ruthie had busted her chin and since she was wet (along with everything in the bathroom because, three kids in the bathtub) blood was everywhere. Emmie was in total freak out mode. Ruthie was crying because she was hurt. JP was crying because everyone else was crying and I had walked out of the room where he was. Thank goodness for Ellie! I hauled Ruthie out of the tub and from the glimpses I got of her chin thought she needed stitches. 

Paul had texted me earlier to say he was going to be late so I checked to see if our next door neighbor was home and she wasn't so I called Paul. Fortunately he was getting in his car to head home so I got Ruthie cleaned up and calmed down (thanks to Ellie who went and got her a pony to play with ad then sat and played with her), finished getting dinner ready, and got JP started eating so we were ready to walk out the door when Paul got there. 

Fortunately there is a pediatric after hours clinic so we went there and out doctor was actually the one working tonight! By the way, Ruthie saw her yesterday for an ear infection. I love our doctor but I really hope we don't have to see her tomorrow!  

Once everything was cleaned up the laceration was pretty wide but not too deep so the doctor patched it up with some steri strips and dermabond and we were good to go!

Ruthie was such a trooper. She laid still while the doctor fixed her up and had big smiles for everyone the whole time we were at the office.

We're also very glad that she only has to be out of the water for 24 hours! 

PS. I do have to brag on my husband. He walked in after a long day at work, I pointed to the dinner on the stove and told him JP needed a bath and there was blood all over the bathroom and walked out the door. (And left him with a still sobbing Emmie). I came home to bathroom rugs in the washing machine, a clean baby, big girls in bed, and he was cleaning the kitchen. 😊 He's a keeper.

Franklin chills out

Franklin has always been a Mama's boy. He snuggles up next to me wherever I am and snuggles with me at night. He has always been very protective of the kids but doesn't really want them close enough to touch him.  He has always been great about letting the kids walk him around the neighborhood and he'll even sit and let them pet him while he's on the leash.
Well, lately he has really chilled out. Ruthie will often sleep in our bed at naptime and he'll sleep at her feet. The other day Emmie was sitting in a chair with me and he hopped up and curled up at her feet and then LET HER PET HIM! This is just totally unheard of but oh so sweet and it just thrilled her!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Last day picture! (by the way she loves these boots...I can't believe she's wearing them when it's 99 degrees outside! Also, I love that little snaggle tooth smile...she lost 2 teeth this year!)

First day...you can see how much more reserved and nervous she was in this picture!

I officially have a first grader! I can't believe how fast these kiddos are growing up. I'm pretty sure we brought Emmie home from the hospital just the other day! Emmie is SO excited about first grade. She has a specific teacher she wants and she got in the car talking about being in Mrs. Estes class next year. I keep trying to prepare her for the fact that she very well might not get her but I don't think it's sinking in!
She was overall pretty happy today but she was sad to be leaving her teachers. She keeps saying she wishes she could take them to first grade with her! I'm so glad she had such wonderful teachers that she loves so much. She had such a great year in kindergarten and she learned SO much. I'm so proud of all her hard work.

with Mrs. Seawell

Picture with Mrs. Lester

When she started kindergarten she could only read a few words and now she's reading chapter books and reading them fluently! She's also a whiz at sounding out new words. Her math abilities are about the same but she definitely has a better grasp of the concepts. She did learn to count by 5s and 10s and was SO proud of herself. She got to ride in a school bus for the first time for some really great field trips.

Zoo field trip!

She learned about helping to clean up around the school and about giving back to the community by helping to raise money for the fire department. (One of my favorite things about our school is their focus on service and community.) She adapted quickly to a full day of school and loved every minute of being in the classroom. She learned about lifeskills (another of my favorite things our school does) and was recognized for her lifeskills of friendship and caring. She ran/walked 18 miles throughout the school year in PE and learned lots of different sports. She thrived in art and music and I loved hearing about all the fun things she was doing. She was so excited to go to the library every week and couldn't wait to show us her new book for the week. She is slowly becoming Emerson instead of Emmie which has been an interesting transition to watch.
I still remember the second week of school when I had to drop her off at the front for the first time and she looked so little and lost trying to remember exactly where she was supposed to go but she figured it out and now she is so confident.

Last day of school...look how much Emmie and Evelyn have changed since the beginning of school! I'm SO glad they were in the same class this year...it made the transition so much easier!

We choiced into our school and I second guessed myself a lot as I loved all of my top 3 choices. I am SO glad we ended up where we are. We love that the school is small and I love that even though I'm not up at the school a whole lot the office staff knows who I am. I love our teachers and while you may hear that certain teachers are better for specific types of students, you never hear anything bad about any of the teachers. I love how close Emmie's school is to preschool (and so close to pretty much everything...drs office, My Gym, the stores I shop at, dentist, etc). I just couldn't have asked for a better kindergarten year for Emmie AND for me!

The week before school got out the kindergarteners had a Young Author's Celebration where families could come in and the kids could share with us all the stories they'd written throughout the year. Emmie was SO proud of all she'd done and we loved having her show us everything she'd worked on.

Ellie had to check out the classroom while we were there.

I was also able to help out at her class party (and Ellie tagged along to try out kindergarten...recess and ice cream sundaes...she's sold!) and had a great time. I love getting to hang out with her friends and watch her interact with them!

Ellie fit right in...she's so ready for kindergarten and Emmie had a great time showing her the ropes!

Emmie with her tablemates! She had such a sweet little class and I loved that there were only 16 students in the class!

Emerson Jane I am so proud of all you've done this year and how you've grown!

Massachusetts Trip

Mid May my mom and I went to Bolton, Massachusetts for a shower for Ruth, my brother's fiancée. We flew into Boston on a Friday afternoon and headed to Boston Commons to do a little sightseeing. We did a guided tour of part of the Freedom Trail and then went to Union Oyster House for dinner.
The guided tour was good. The downside was you didn't see the last part of the Freedom Trail which included the Old North Church which I really wanted to see. The upside was I think we got a lot more out of the part that we did see than we would have if we'd done the tour ourselves. Our tour guide was quite the character and she had lots of great stories about each site and about the people involved in the Revolutionary War.

Park Street Church

Old State House

Benjamin Franklin statue on the grounds of the original Boston Latin School

Granary Burying Ground

John Hancock's tomb

Paul Revere's grave.

Samuel Adams' grave.

A lot of the tombs had a version of this image on them. It's quite a creepy image so when I got home I had to look up why in the world it was on the tombs. This is what I learned from the freedom trail's website:

"Puritan churches did not believe in religious icons or imagery, so the people of Boston used tombstones as an outlet for artistic expression of their beliefs about the afterlife. One of the most popular motifs was the "Soul Effigy," a skull or "death’s head" with a wing on each side that was a representation of the soul flying to heaven after death. Elaborate scroll work, poetic epitaphs, and depictions of the Grim Reaper and Father Time also adorn many headstones. "

Site of the Boston Massacre

Union Oyster House is the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the US. We had the she crab soup and crab cakes. It as all good but the crab cakes were amazing!
My brother and Ruth got into town that night and Ben came and stayed with us at the hotel. I only get to see him 2-3 times a year so this was a fun bonus visit!
Saturday morning we went to a reservoir and enjoyed the beautiful views and beautiful weather. 

We then went to Legal Seafoods for lunch. It was SO good! I once again had crab cakes and there was so much crab the crab cakes didn't really stick together!

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the shower and then went to Ruth's parent's house to do some cake tasting...Yummmm!

We then headed over to the shower. Ruth's mom and sister threw the shower and they did a great job. It was very nice and so many fun little details!

With Ruth and her mom

A bomb for Ruth to sit on...it has to do with one of Ruth's favorite stories that her Grandfather told. Such as sweet idea and her dad made it!

We headed back to Charlotte (and then Columbia) on Sunday. We had such a great time and I'm so thankful that my in-laws were able to come help Paul with the kiddos...I know he appreciated having extra hands!
The girls were a little sad that they couldn't go with us to Massachusetts but they're counting down the days until the wedding!

8 months

I am 8 months old!

• I weigh 17lb 7oz.
• I wear 9mo clothes and a size 3 diaper.
• I take a 4-6oz bottle every 3-4 hours and an 8oz bottle at bedtime. Sometimes I get another bottle around 10 or 11 at night.
• I always eat lunch and dinner and often eat breakfast as well.
• I LOVE fruit and am not to keen on veggies. In fact, mommy and daddy think green beans make me throw up! I also love meat, especially chicken.
• I generally sleep from 8-5 (when I wake up for yet another bottle) and then go back to sleep until 715 when it's time to take Emmie to school.
• I take 2-3 naps a day. (I'm in the process of dropping my 3rd nap which can make for some cranky evenings.) If left to my own devices I would prefer to take a long (2-3hr) morning nap and then an afternoon snooze.
• My major accomplishment this month was learning how to crawl!

• I also now have my 2 bottom teeth.
• I do NOT like to be left alone. As in I want someone (preferably mom or dad) sitting beside me at all times. They are NOT allowed to walk across the room or even worse, go in another room.
• This month I went to Emmie's dance recital! I only had to sit through a few minutes of it and I did enjoy those few minutes.

• I am pretty smiley, especially if I've just eaten.

• This month I saw a puppet show at Ellie's school and I was fascinated!

• I love playing in the sandbox.

• I think my sisters are pretty great most of the time. I love when they play with me!
• This is one of my favorite toys right now and if I can't reach the part I want to play with I find another way to get to it!

• I can pull up to my knees.

Emmie at 8 months.


Ellie at 8 months.


Ruthie at 8 months.

Preschool Graduation

Our sweet Ellie Belly graduated from preschool on Thursday. I can't believe that this sweet, tiny little girl is going to be in kindergarten in the fall.

We're going to miss Little Emerson next year! She has been Ellie's very best friend all year, even though they were in different classes. She and Ellie would talk every day at carpool and make big playdate plans!

Sweet classmates!

Ellie was so excited about her program and practiced the songs in the car for WEEKS. She not only practiced her songs but she also practiced the songs all the other classes were singing too!

My sweet Ellie. She loves preschool so much. She smiled her way down the hallway every morning greeting everyone she saw. She loves her friends and teachers. I had been emailing with her teacher the night before the program and Mrs. Jessica happened to mention that she had been getting extra Ellie hugs this week and that she thought Ellie was a little sad to be leaving preschool. I'm so glad I had the heads up because we got in the car after the program and my sweet girl was so so sad. We definitely had a few tears. I know that Ellie is going to love kindergarten and her teachers and friends but we sure are going to miss our preschool family next year! (I'll have a whole year with nobody in preschool!) I just hope that Ellie gets a teacher next year who will give her big hugs like her preschool teachers!













Here's Ellie on the first day of 4k. She has grown up so much!