ruby's sixth birthday

Ruby turned six!!  What a riot.  I think this birthday will stand out in a special way in her memory.  The day of her birthday, there was a pumpkin carnival at school.  I was able to help out which was great since I got to see her and spend time with her.  I had lunch with both girls that day as well.

Oh boy!  Ruby wanted a picture with the boys she sat next to, too!

That night, we went to our church's Pumpkin Palooza for Ruby's birthday party.  There were 7 girls plus our 4 that we had to keep our eyes on.  I was thankful for the couple of moms that chose to stay and help out.  It was so busy which we did not anticipate.  But the girls seemed to enjoy it.  They bounced around from activity to activity.  We opened presents, ate cupcakes, and bounced around some more.  They went home with plenty of candy and goody bags.  It went well and Ruby had a blast!

whoops!  Missed a candle!!

Lego and Friends from dad and mom!

It worked out well to have the party at church, even with the crazy busy-ness!  Birthday parties are just a bunch of fun, aren't they?!  We held a family party for both girls the following week.

I LOVE how uniquely different each of our kids are from each other.  Ruby is a girly-girl, a social butterfly, energetic, full of life and sugar and spice.  She sleeps in, cuddles, mothers, teases and sasses us, loves drama, loves life, loves others, loves Jesus.  Her favorite things include: singing, dancing, whistling, picking out clothes, getting dressed, playing school... especially with Charlie since she has an upper-hand, reading, writing, art, legos, hair and makeup, friends.  She loves school so much and is such a great student!

We recently learned that Ruby has hyper-mobility which explains why she will randomly have unexplained pain in her left leg.  But since we've learned this, she enjoys showing off all of the ways that she is double-jointed that we've never noticed before!  Just hoping that it won't be an issue of much concern as the years go on.

Ruby is just so very lovable.  We've joked since Ruby was a toddler that you want to avoid eye-contact if you don't have time for a ten minute conversation.  But I so enjoy listening to her!  She's very detailed, including dramatic pauses and includes a portrayal of the way someone looked at her.  One night she was kind of hurt about a friend at school and she told me, 'we broke apart and it broke my heart'!  Her exact words!  Then she went on to tell me that they're not bffs anymore and that she doesn't even recognize her anymore!  She seriously talks like a teenager!  Ruby is very passionate; you can hear it in her stories and you can see it in the ways that she treats others.

Some things about Ruby that are just very minor but things that I love.  She's very gentle with her hands.  It probably sounds weird but she just does these graceful motions with her hands and fingers.  It's in the way she gently and slowly points to the words on a page.  Or the way she slowly brushes hair off her face.  The way that she touches Emmy very lightly to redirect her.  And she frequently uses her middle finger to itch her cheek or point to something!  Every movement is fluid and graceful!  It's just something I don't want to forget!

Whereas she used to ONLY wear skirts and dresses, now she's concerned about being 'too fancy' at school.  I can tell she is conflicted.  Some mornings she has her hand on a skirt or dress, but slowly lets it slip out of her grip as she chooses jeans.  But while she tries so hard not to be fancy, I know she deeply cares about being put together!  And apparently she still feels fancier than the rest of us:

Notice which one is Ruby.  (She's the one with a hair bow and eyelashes!)

We just couldn't be more proud of this girl!  What a delight!  Ruby, our gem!

We love weddings!!  So much fun when it's with friends!  This was the wedding for Mitch and Jena Cook.  Lotta fun:)

rosy mound

We went for a family hike on what we think was probably the last decent Sunday of the year before the weather turned bitterly cold (although who knows, in Michigan we might get an 80* day yet!)  It was chilly but perfect for hiking.  This is place is just gorgeous.

Charlie had acorns dropping out of his pockets with every step.  And I still keep finding them in the van.

Ruby insisted on bringing her bag complete with her homework and pencil box full of crayons.  She was stubbornly refusing to leave it behind so we told her she had to carry it the whole time.  And she did!

It's not just the same to go to the beach without wiggling your toes in the sand!  Charlie is our barefoot boy.  Always content to go without shoes.  Me too!

I love their selfies!

I helped Ruby with her bag at the very end of our walk... and that might just be some moss I considered putting in her bag ;)

See?  GORGEOUS!

september

School started and of course, all extracurricular things that come with this time of year.  Ruby played soccer this year.  Natalie had wanted to but there was a shortage of coaches so we just couldn't get her in... but she wouldn't have been able to play with her broken collarbone so it all worked out anyway!  Ruby really enjoyed it and in the first few games tried her hardest to get the ball.  She was good!  But by the end of the six weeks, it wasn't as exciting anymore and a bit colder and she lost her assertiveness!  Oh well!  It was a lot of fun!

The girls are also doing GEMS through a nearby church this year which they love!  So our Wednesdays are a bit crazy although it's worth it.

And although Ruby had 'homework' last year, this year having two girls in school full-time seems to really make things extra busy/chaotic in the evenings.  It's always hard for me to figure out if I let them relax when they get home from school, play, and be kids OR do I make them get all of their homework and reading done which carries us to dinnertime but then they have a little more than an hour free in the evening before showers and bed.  So little time :(  Either way, there's not enough hours in the day.  And it's been a struggle getting them enough shut-eye.  They go to bed at 8 and they're up at 7/7:30 but it's still not enough sleep.  I tried two weeks of them going to bed at 7ish which seemed to help with their crazy emotions (due to being tired??!) each morning and at the end of the week.  But that gives Jordan only an hour and a half with them at night.  Divide that by four kids and it's just not enough time.  What to do....

There were a couple of weeks in Sept/Oct that Jordan had to work on an private owned island off from Drummond Island.  He flew out from Tulip City on a Monday morning via a private jet (exciting!) and flew back in on Friday evening (via a Tulip City plane... not as exciting, but still fun!)  We missed him while he was gone but we managed.  I never know how it'll go while he's gone but the kids did so great each time.  It was fun picking him up from the airport and getting to see him land.  The kids got to check out the plane, too!

fairy godmothers

Natalie has three years under her belt now but Ruby got to experience being a live mannequin for Spring Sweet for the first time this year.  We're always excited when Spring asks Natalie help and this year, she asked if Ruby would like to, as well.  She also said she would need a third girl and wondered if we had any suggestions... we immediately thought of Molly.  Molly is our 10 year old babysitter.  She is the youngest of four sisters and has been co-sitting probably since she was 4!  She knows our kids and family so well and I knew she and Ruby would do a great job, just like Natalie.  The theme for the Downtown Holland Live Mannequin Show for Sping's store was 'Sleeping Beauty'.  Can you guess who these three portrayed?!

Aren't they so cute?!!!

no nose piercing yet, Ruby!

The girls saw so many friends from outside the window, including our friends Brian and Dorothy who were in town for just a few short hours and their cousins.  Daddy caught up with them later after coming back from the island.  They did so great.  Ruby and Molly stood proper and poised.  Natalie did too but every once in a while, she would wink or twiddle her wand.  Such a fun time!!