w9: All about Ruth

February 24 - March 2, 2013

My little buddy turned FIVE this week. WOW. I can hardly believe it. Where has the time gone? The activities of the week have most certainly centered around this little star in our lives. She woke up every morning and came running into our room, "Only 2 MORE DAYS till my BIRTHDAY!!" And so on until the big day arrived. Because she was SO excited to being having a birthday it made everything we did that day so much more fun. It is such a great age. 

On Thursday morning she woke up to a few surprises. 

A new dress for preschool and church.

And the kitchen decorated in her Baker Birthday Theme. Including a rainbow set of mixing bowls and measuring cups. The centerpiece was dish and wash cloths and mixing spoons. She had fun that morning imaging and mixing. As I type this she is washing the dishes. Man, this girl is golden.

When I was doing her hair for preschool she told me, "...I still feel like I'm 4..." I guess she was waiting for a big and impressive change. We slowly and gradually assume our roles in life over time. While she was at preschool I rushed like a mad woman to get everything set up and ready for her party which was directly after preschool and the entire class of 12 was coming! Miraculously I got it all put together in the two hours given me.

This is the invite that my talented and kind sister designed for Ruth's birthday {Thank You, Thank You!}:

I let the kids have unstructured play for half and hour {I felt like this was very necessary since they were coming directly from a structured preschool setting.} I'm glad that I only planned for a half hour because that is ALL I could handle! There was lots of high pitched screaming, running, playing tag and wrestling. My house and plenty of room for it all. And crazy enough Lucy slept through it all. Ruth was cute because she had a specific idea of what she wanted to happen at the party. She had made a bunch of puppets and did a puppet show for her friends as soon as it started.

   

First thing first we passed out their individual aprons and chef hats {they had a coloring page to do while I got everyone suited up to help them stay patient.} Then it was time for pictures, of course! They all looked sooo cute! I had a special apron done for the birthday girl but they all turned out great.

I divided the group up. Half did "cooking" with play dough and the other half made their personal pizzas. And then they switched. It was followed by cupcake decorating and present opening. We didn't even get to the games I had planned. No biggie. 

Ruth gave everyone a hug after she opened their present (except Thomas. haha probably because her dad teases her ever since the rose from the Valentine party!} So all in all the party was a great hit and I was thoroughly exhausted. So grateful we don't have a friends party every year. As soon as the kids left we dressed and got ready for ballet and to get the kids from school.

We invited Brooke AND Kenzie to take the class with Ruth and they both decided to do it! It was their first week and a fun birthday treat to have such cute cousins dancing together. Seriously I cannot get enough of these dancing girls.

We rushed back to Vale to have our family party. Ruth had picked the yummy meal of home made mac and cheese (with corn and grape juice.) Grandma Cindy brought jello. Later Traci and kids joined us and then Grandpa. I had no idea Traci was coming to town so that was a fun surprise. Ruth did another "play" for us and then we opened presents and did cake and ice cream.

                                                         A bike from Dad!

 She requested a simple baker's hat for her cake {Thank you, thank you!}

The following days she would turn to me and exclaim with wide eyes, "I can't believe I am 5 now!" Me too sister, me too. Happy Birthday my sweet and beautiful Rooster Girl.

The other big and sad and notable event of the week I wish could be forgotten but probably should be recorded. On Monday Lucy had a pair of scissors in her hand and brought me this:

"Hair out. Hair out." She kept telling me over and over. She was trying to take out her pony tail holder. Great. At that point I should have hid all the stools and scissors in the house. Fast forward 12 hours and I pick her up Tuesday morning to take her to Christy before preschool starts. The front of her was cover in little hairs. "What is going on???" I inspect her hair and quickly see that she has cut her pony tail. Ahhhhhhhh! Preschool was to start and there was nothing I could do at that point. 

Damage control was not pretty. I manage to blend in where she had hacked but it left a very long mulletish tail at the bottom. There was NO WAY that was going to happen. So I straightened it out in a very short bob. I've never been sad about hair before. This honestly made me depressed. I miss those blond ponytails something fierce  I've had enough chocolate to make peace with the event since but that doesn't mean I'm not praying for fast hair growth.

On Saturday evening the girls and I went to the Ontario library for an American girl party of Kit Kitteredge. 

                                     

The girls and I read the book in preparation for the party. It was such a great event. It was well planned and thought out. We learned about Kit, and then separated into groups to rotate through 3 stations. Kit takes place in the 1930's depression era. Our first station was about newspapers and reporting {as Kit has her own typewriter and loves to make her own newspaper.} After learning important ways to find out information the girls interviewed ladies who had lived during the 1930's. They had brought all kinds of memorabilia and pictures so show the girls. I thought that was really neat and good for the girls.

                                                                       Reporting

The second station was games from the 1930's. Hopscotch, musical chairs, drop pins in a bottle and hanging clothes on a line. I don't think any kid ever thought that was a game but naturally Ruth enjoyed it and went back for more.

                                                                 Musical Chairs

The last station was making paper dolls. They had a blank doll and they got to pick 2 different outfits out. They used markers and ribbons and buttons to decorate and accessorize. It was definitely a hit! Emma beamed with all the compliments from the adults about her art work. Praise is a very good thing.

We then ate milk and cookies while they drew the raffle tickets for the prizes. They gave away TWO Kit dolls, a set of furniture for the Kit doll, plus there were about 5 gift baskets. RUTH WON THE KIT FURNITURE!! She was SO excited! When they called her name, she turned and looked and me with the same grin in the picture below and her face got red as she slid from her chair and made her way up to the front. She turned to grin at me. It was so stinkin' cute. The rest of the night she couldn't hold still and her feet were constantly dancing. Love these moments. Now to just get a $125 Kit doll! haha We talked about it a lot though and the girls are going to work together to save up for a doll. It will be a great summer project. I'm excited for them. Ruth has already put in $5 from her birthday money {only $120 more to go!!}