Friday, October 29, 2010

It's Good To Be The Princess

Or at least feel like it one once in awhile! This is one of a few costumes I have for Ruby to wear this Halloween. Unfortunately, it may or may not be worn this weekend since her fairy princess ensemble is the only one she wants to wear. I was hoping she'd wear this one to school today, but then it is so involved that I decided to make it easy and just send her tutu and wings in. It's also really chilly today! They have a school parade this morning...I can't wait to see all the littles all lined up in their costumes! Ruby's come home for a week now singing some pumpkin patch song and it is adorably cute!

But back to her royal highness...

I knew my friend, Mireille, was going to Thailand for a couple months and asked her if she could look for a Thai outfit or two for Ruby while there. I knew this particular friend to be very creative and have impeccable taste so I knew whatever she chose we would love. But THIS! It is beyond beautiful! (Mireille - you ROCK! Thank you so much for taking time to pick this up while on vacation!) 
A box arrived one day and I saw the SA post mark. I ripped it open gleefully and Ruby got all excited at seeing my excitement. In it two beautiful outfits. One is a pretty, red, traditional skirt and top and the other this ornate ensemble pictured above. Wish you could have seen her face when she got a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Oooooooh!" she said. She even walked differently. Like a little princess. Mommy couldn't resist taking a zillion few pictures!
Sawadee-ka!
Top is two part with a silky tube tank and this gorgeous purple and gold brocade. The bottom part is a pant made of Thai silk. Has a gold shiny belt, but too big for Ruby right now. Think it and the whole outfit will easily fit her next year. It even came with all the stunning jewelry Ruby is wearing including big dangling earrings and crown. Ruby was THRILLED!
Being silly.
Admiring the beautiful Barbie that one of Mireille's sweet daughters got Ruby as a surprise. It even has a Thai outfit in the same color as hers. So sweet! Ruby absolutely LOVES it. One of her favorites!
So this may or may not be worn this weekend but it will be worn for one of the next Thai Holidays. Maybe Loy Krathong or next Songkran. Thanks again to my wonderful friend Mireille and daughter Juliet! Can't wait to see you again next summer!!!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fun, Fish, Trains

Enjoying her first real train ride last weekend.

The fall festivities continue around here! Last weekend was nice and chill compared to what I am expecting the next few days. Lots of Halloween madness fun, dress up and trick or treating. But since it's so easy to get backed up, I will flashback to last weekend first. So many pics to post and stories to tell!
Fun shot in her Gap outfit that I was all excited to submit to their model contest...only to find out I was a day too late and it's now closed! Boo-hoo. Fame will have to come another day, Ruby Kate.
The whole family went to watch Ryan play soccer. (Cutie pie with the red hair)
The little miss enjoyed being a spectator. 
Ryan contemplating his next moves. He was so darn cute out there.
Stopped off at a local festival at our grocery store to benefit breast cancer on the way home. Ruby loved the clown and wanted her face painted as one, too.
Won a gold fish that is now our burden pride and joy. We call him pumpkin since it's the only name we suggested that Ruby seemed to like, but really she just calls him FISH. Enjoys feeding him every day and loves that she now has "a goldfish like Elmo". Too cute even if the little bugger has to have his aquarium cleaned out twice weekly. Just hoping he lives a good long life (or that we find some identical replacements) if the tide turns for the worst. Not ready for Ruby to experience that loss yet so if it happens Jeff & I are prepared to keep buying her new fish. What I'm saying here is...pray for Pumpkin's long life! :-)
Next we took Ruby to see a real train at New Hope & Ivyland Rail Road. New Hope is such a great town with lots of history and shops and restaurants. We just love it! Click on the pic to see what it's all about. First we did the train ride and it did not disappoint. Ruby LOVES trains and has no idea that Santa already picked her up a Thomas the Train set for Christmas morning! We can hardly wait to see her face when she sees it!
Big girl hanging out with Daddy on the train car. Bummer I caught her blinking but I posted it none the less cause it's her and her Daddy sitting in the elegant train car. We sat in first class by accident (whoops!) cause we wanted a beer apple juice. Ok, well, Ruby did actually have an apple juice. Anyway, we didn't realize the area with food and drinks was not the beverage car but actually the high priced ticket seats. Having realized that we realized this too late, the nice conductor let us slide so we got to ride in style for no extra cost! So nice!
Mommy and Ruby enjoying the ride through the country and beautiful view.
Happy girl was such an angel on the 45 minute train ride that we gave her a lolli. Loves trains AND lollies so I'd say it was a pretty 5 star day for miss Rubes!

Ended the day with a 5 star style dinner at a place called Martines. I was SO craving a dinner not involving a kids menu and a set of crayons. It was a bold move but worked out great. Ruby doesn't mind dining out and I must say she is a pretty patient toddler. I also saw the butternut squash soup on the menu and knew we'd both love it. She was great at dinner. Ate her soup and bread while we enjoyed some wine and great dinner. A fabulous day and we all slept like rocks.

Monday, October 25, 2010

One Gorgeous Day

Took my girls for a walk in the park today and WOW what a display! The weather really warmed up this week and the big change gave way to some amazing color! It was warm but windy and oh so picturesque that I just wanted to bottle it up and save it for one of those much colder days to come. We ate our picnic lunch under a gazebo and then walked the dog and hit the playground. Such a mellow Monday where I got nothing done but had such a great time with Ruby that I didn't beat myself up about it.

This beautiful tree gave us the best photo op. Such gorgeous color I had to take pics!
Nothing more to say but a big old thanks to mother nature!

Happy Fall!

Spoonfest


We have a thing around here we love to do and that's called "snuggle buggle". It's our word(s) for spooning and Ruby just loves it when we cuddle or sleep like this. One day I caught her with all her little "friends" lined up in a row on her table. She saw me and said, "Look, Mommy! Snuggle buggle!" So. Darn. Cute. And for every precious moment you catch on camera, there are a zillion more that you just can't get. Like how she reads with Daddy (still trying to capture that one on video)...spontaneous funny things she says and does...and how she sings along to the lullabies with me now. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars that this child is my daughter. 

In Ruby's words...Mare, mare, mare, marawee...life is but a dream. :-)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Big Girl, Little Girl

Okay, is it just me or is she looking SO grown up here? This was her school field trip last week to the apple/pumpkin farm. She insisted on carrying this pumpkin herself even though I think it was a bit heavy.
And OMG is she not looking like a tween here already? Holy cow the little Miss has some sassy attitude! And in case you are wondering if that is actually a potty sitting on the floor of the playroom, why yes. Yes it is. Hey, you do what you have to do to keep them on the pot! :-)
Just when I am all sappy that she's so grown up already she gets in this baby walker at a new play center in the mall. I am reminded again just how small (and silly) she really is. She thought this was just the most amusing thing.
Then back to big girl mode, she scaled this wall to get to the big crazy yellow slide.
Hmmm...do you think she liked it?

Love my silly little girl! We stayed home and had a movie night last night. Made those Naan bread pizzas again and watched Madagascar. Such a sweet night with the 3 of us snuggling on the couch together. She's been so independent as of late, that I was really eating up her cuddly little self glued to my lap. She got a kick out of the movie and we thought it a good start to the weekend since we are thinking of going to "Boo at the Zoo" today. 

Not sure what she'll be wearing yet. I put together a super cute little witch costume with a black tutu she already had and a hat from Target. I showed her all excitedly yesterday, but she was not having it. She told me "YOU witch. Ruby Princess". LOL! I made sure to remind her that, actually, Mommy was the QUEEN and furthermore I was quite sure that wasn't going to fit me. Incidentally, this Mommy will not be dressing up to parade around the zoo. And as far as I know, my inner witch left the building along with last weeks's PMS. Ha ha!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Friday Fashion

I was so loving the knee socks this morning with this funky look we did today. Just wanted to eat her up in all her pinkness! Rubes was equally pleased as it was she who chose pink as her color of the day.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Noteworthy

Every night we are upstairs by 7 or 7:30 and Ruby is asleep by 8 or 8:30 pm. Woo-hoo! Been working on it gradually since the end of summer and she is so into the routine now that she actually asked up to go to bed tonight right after dinner. (It was 7ish). Yea!

Took her to Little Gym on Wednesday for the first time since Spring. She LOVES it more than ever. On the way there I explained that she is bigger now and would be going in without me. (I never posted about it but dance class did NOT go over well because she didn't want me to leave the room. Cried through half of it and I ended up yanking her out of the class after 2 weeks lest I traumatize her with something that was supposed to be for fun. She had started dance and school the same week and it was way too much separation from Mommy. Ironically, now that we stopped the class she will charm me with her ballet moves every night before bed. "Mommy, look! First p-sishion, shecond p-sishion, turd p-sishion, now TURN!" And then she twirls around the room. Go figure! It's really quite cute and I am tempted to take her back but I think I need to find another dance studio. One with a more gentle instructor. 

Anyway...back to Little Gym. She did not fuss one bit about going in without me. The people there are GREAT. Her old teacher Miss Kristen sat on the floor with Ruby and explained that Mommy would be watching through the glass while the kids played with the teacher. Her new teacher Mr. Evan came over to introduce himself. Boy Ruby loves men (yikes) and she was quite smitten with him immediately. When it was time, she marched on in with the kids, gave me a few smiles through the window and had herself a BALL! I was seriously fighting to not tear up. Yea, I know how sappy I am. But she was so excited to be there again and was laughing and smiling uproariously! Got up on the balance beam and walked ALL BY HERSELF for the first time! She had done that with me last year for a few seconds here and there before grabbing my hand. But this time (with Mr. Evan spotting her) she walked the whole length of the beam! I was all ear to ear grin.

Something I may or may not have told you about Ruby...this kid was made for gymnastics. Her favorite position is "up down"! (Upside down). She is often hanging, jumping, hopping, flipping, and climbing on something. LOL, usually that something is ME. When you hold her she goes total ragdoll on you and wants you to swing and flail her around or hang her upside down. She's such a trip. Anyway, watching her hang from the bar with the biggest smile on her face was just great. I'm so glad we went back there. Gonna try to do it regularly now.

Other stuff...she is doing great with her speech teacher and learning to say more connecting words and phrases. Been doing well at school, too. They are working on the alphabet sounds. She knows all the letter names (and sings the ABC song) and I'd say she knows most of the sounds. Still it's good for her speech to be working on the sounds so much. She is working on writing her name and comes home asking to do so with me every day. Her R and B are not really resembling much right now, but her U and Y were actually pretty close today. Also wants to color every day and asking for the TV less. Hooray! Another thing I have worked long and hard to change and it's finally happened. She can watch a movie once or twice a week and just in the afternoon. Other days we let her watch a couple favorite shows (like Sesame Place, Little Einsteins, or Cat in The Hat). But a LOT less than she was before and I am so glad for it! At bedtime it is all about reading books now. Happy she is into them!

I have learned that Miss Ruby does not miss a trick. I have been telling her what day of the week it is for months now. Showed her the calendar many times and recited the days but had no response. Some times I wasn't even sure she was listening. Seemed more excited to grab all the magnets off it and play with them, LOL. So one day when we were doing Starfall.com I decided to look at their calendar page. I started reading them to Ruby who shooshed me and said "Wait! I do it! I do it!" Sure enough she knew some of the names! Then a week later I took her to the calendar again after breakfast. I read through the days of the week once. She grabbed at the magnets. We talked about our week then I pointed to the word "Sunday" and said "What's this?" She said "Sunday" and then recited EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK! Is it just me or this pretty exciting? I think she is one of these kids that takes it all in and will let us know exactly how much she knows when she is good and ready! Cracks me up! And makes me real darn proud, too!

On a happy (or sad) note - depending on how you see it - I put away all Ruby's "baby" clothes today. I have to admit I teared up a few times putting away diapers and onesies and sweet things that she had worn just a year ago. How did she grow so fast? But now that the task is done I feel so good. Got 3 bags to give to charity, a bin of stuff to keep (just in case we need it again), a bin of her 24 months summer clothes still in the closet (in case we go anywhere warm) and a bin of 3 T's waiting. Her dresser drawers are clean, organized, categorized and color coordinated. Closets were de-cluttered too. I even put together a weeks worth of outfits and put them in the weekly hanging bin. Not sure how long I will stay this organized, but for today, I am real happy! 




Wednesday, October 20, 2010

First School Photo

Here it is! Our baby big girl's first school photo. Happy, smiling, and (finally) adjusting to school. Hasn't cried when I drop her off now for more than a week! Sleep is better, too. I'm so relieved. Wish I could post the group shot of all the kids in the class together but I wouldn't do so without the other parents permission, of course, and I don't feel like calling them all up. But BOY do they all look so cute. These sweet little things - all 12 of them - all smiles and just darling. Ruby is making friends with them - especially a couple of the girls. It's really nice. Loves the teachers aid, too. Will have to post pics of our recent field trip soon.

An Adopted Child

By adopting a child and helping them reach their potential, they help us reach ours. An adopted child is not an unwanted child; to the contrary. They are a child who was searched for, prayed for, cried for, begged for, received by arms that ached, making empty hearts full...Love is meant to be shared" (Author unknown).


This was posted on Face Book today by my friend, Sharon, and I loved it so much I wanted to share here.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

October Fun

Been packing a lot of punch into our weekends. So many great fall things to do. Yesterday we went to Shady Brook Farm. Ruby's favorite thing, of course, was riding the pony. And really, is this not the cutest little pony ever?

The little miss was all smiles from the second they put her till the moment they took her off.
A very cool craft they had for the kids was making their own sand pumpkin. Ruby really enjoyed this and is all proud of it.
Sunday we hit Peddlers Village in New Hope. Gorgeous day and much warmer than yesterday. They had a huge scarecrow contest with all sorts of creative varieties. No surprisingly, these few where her favorites. She loves Toy Story and Cat in the Hat.
And no festivity would be complete without a little face paint! The artist was not that good (she's supposed to be a dog) but Ruby was thrilled none-the-less. It was a full day. We hit the outlets, had a nice lunch, and walked around we to see the scarecrows. Afterwards we stopped over at Giggleberry Fair to play some games and ride the carousel. We headed home tired, but happy.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Little Divas

Ruby and her BFF Brianna. Been doing a Friday night play date the last few weeks and it's been fun for the kids and parents alike. These 2 play SO well together, getting into shoes and toys and dress up and baby dolls! I think Ruby plays more with her toys when Brie is over than any other time! She also shares with her better than any other kid. I think it's helpful that we have gotten together with her regularly since last fall. So she's known her a long time and is comfortable. At first, of course, it's the parents that push the friendship, But now they look forward to seeing each other. It's so sweet how their friendship has grown! Both girls are divas, too. All girl and very much the princesses with lots of personality. Yet together they talk and play amongst themselves so nicely. We parents just crack up and smile and laugh.
Ruby loves pushing Brie in her baby doll stroller.
So last night Brie had to give Ruby a try. This did not last long!
Putting "make up" on Brie
Cutie pies watching TV and hanging out together.
Love how they take care of each other.
And how they love each others company.

Here are a few shots from our other fun play dates -
Tea party
Making chocolate cake at Brie's
And tasting it too!
Silly girls strolling their dollies
Pushing Brie again
Sweet girlfriends!

Life is better with friends!