Week 5: Where has the summer gone?

This week we all got to meet the newest addition to the Ruff family, baby Sophie Witcher. Emily, Tripp, and two-week-old Sophie came to stay in Memphis for a few days. Penton, Winsey, and Twipp play so well together. Sunday I took the kids out to swim at Nani's house, and Kate even got in on the action and floated for a while in the pool. Lindsey, the 'fraidy cat of the family, likes to hang out on the shallow shelf and usually still has a ring on there. But Sunday, she decided she wanted to jump off the side in the deep end. Before I knew it, she was jumping off the side and swimming to the shallow shelf. And she did it again and again and again. Wonders never cease. Good thing we had swimming lessons scheduled this week.

Lindsey took swimming lessons with Ms. Melissa, and much to my amazement she was in her swim suit each day by 8:00 asking when she could go to swimming lessons (10:00, Lins, get comfy in that spandex). The 10:00 lesson messed up our daily routine of going to the gym but it was well worth the result of Lindsey learning to swim better. I fought the daily battle of Benton wanting to go swim, but I always had a sucker handy to divert him. She was excited about swimming lessons all week, especially Friday when the lesson ended with a show for the parents. Lindsey was bummed that David had to go to work, so he told her I would video tape her and he could watch it when he got home. I guess he didn't think through the logistics as he was trying to console Lins, because I had to juggle two kids and two cameras at the show. All the parents (and some grandparents; seriously, it's just swimming lessons) were sitting in the chairs lined up by the pool. All the parents but one; I had Kate on my hip, Benton by the collar of his shirt trying to keep him from jumping in the pool, a video camera under my arm and the camera strap around my neck. It was one of those days that I got the dreaded "bless her heart" look from other parents.

Before class started. Notice who is the lone goggle wearer. That's my girl.

Reward for swimming in the deep end: taking a ride on the airplane float. Benton has a new trick where he says, "I'll be right back" if he wants to go somewhere he knows he should not go. He spotted the airplane float when we got to the pool and said, "Mommy, I'll be right back." I knew he was headed to the raft and held him back. So, imagine the breakdown Benton was having at this point. "I wanna wide da air-pane!!"

Wednesday we met Nani, Uncle Jon, Emily, Tripp, and Sophie at the zoo. At noon. And it was hot. And we stayed until 3:00. But everyone had a blast and no one had a meltdown until they were restrained in their car seats on the ride home. We go to the zoo often, but the experience is always different. Take this day, for instance. It was the first time we saw an elephant poop. The kids (including Jon) stood there with mouths agape for a good minute before Tripp announced, "He went poo poo!" followed by Benton's wise observation, "That effant went stinky. He nasty!" Oddly enough, Benton went poo poo on my bedroom floor earlier in the week just like the elephant. The kids also experienced the snake house for the first time because David and I have never told them snakes lived at the zoo (luckily they still don't know about the bird exhibit, because birds freak me out more than snakes). We walked through the petting zoo, and the kids loved petting the sheep. But as they followed Nani into the hand-washing station, a donkey HEE HAWED from behind the fence and we saw two toddlers in oh-so-cute matching crab outfits high-tailing it out of the hand-washing station. Between the sobs I heard Benton say, "Quit laughing at us mommy." Never a dull moment with these kiddos, and Kate wasn't even there (she might the wise decision to stay in Ms. Lynn's air conditioned house).

"C'nere, Uncle Jon!" Benton thinks Jon is his best friend. Jon said he doesn't know how people his age have kids.

Lindsey with her only girl cousin

  

Week 4: We could all use a nap

This week was fun but oh-so-tiring. Sunday through Thursday we had Vacation Bible School at church each night. Our church does a fabulous job with VBS, but since it is from 6:00 until 8:30 at night, and since my kids go to bed at 7:00, I had tired kiddos on my hands all week. The theme of VBS was Pandamania, and all three kids went the first night. David and I were sitting in the adult portion of VBS listening to Bryan Collier when our pager went off. It is a walk of shame for any parent from the chapel to the nursery holding a vibrating pager. I took that walk Sunday for the first time; somehow Lindsey and Benton made it through the nursery years without ever needing a page. I could hear Kate screaming before I reached the nursery area, and I was greeted by one lady holding my screaming child and another holding her diaper bag. They handed me both and sent me on my way, thanking the good Lord as I walked away that they were past their child-bearing years. So, Kate had a babysitter for the rest of VBS. I had arranged for the sitter to watch Benton and Kate, but Benton insisted on going back each night. Lindsey and Benton both had a blast at VBS and talked about it all week long (when they weren't whining from pure exhaustion).

Even though VBS would have been enough fun for one week, we topped it off with a weekend in Tupelo. After a restless Friday night for me sleeping between the kids (as Benton called us, three monkeys in the bed), we went to the Tupelo Buffalo Park. I had never been to this attraction but it is a pretty big deal that Tupelo has it. The kids were not impressed with the few caged animals, but once we boarded the trolley we headed out to see the buffalo. About 10 minutes into the trolley ride Benton asked where the animals were. We eventually saw them, and we were not disappointed. Donkeys, zebras, yak, and of course buffalo roamed the pasture freely. They came right up to the trolley to see us, and the kids got out to feed them. It was a hot morning, but all three kids behaved at the buffalo park.

Feeding the buffalo

There was one white buffalo. According to the tour guide, there are only two white buffalo in the world. This wasn't the white one obviously.

On the trolley. Didn't mean to cut off B's head. Hard to take pictures with Kate in the pouch.

We headed back for a quick wardrobe change then went to the Fosters' house to see my group of friends from high school. Between the five of us there are nine kids, and this was the first time we had them all together. Lindsey is the oldest, Kate is the youngest, and there are seven that fall in the age range between them. The kids had a blast swimming together and the grown ups enjoyed catching up.

Left to right: Benton Ruff, Jacob Beavers, Miles Young, Kate Ruff, Lindsey Ruff, Katie Hovater (I think), Hart Beavers, Jordan Hovater (Harper Young was napping)

Martha's two girls and Lindsey in their floats

Kate was fussy at this point, but we had two naked babies and had to get a picture. Kate and Hart's moms have done some crazy things together, but the craziest is that we had boys one day apart then girls six weeks apart!

Finally we went to B's house and we all thought the fun was over, but little did we know that Popsey had a huge dirt pile in the backyard. Benton stripped down (to his birthday suit) and ran out back, climbed the dirt pile, slid down the dirt pile, then repeated that action over and over. He was completely orange within minutes. Lindsey did not want to get dirty, but she and Shelby got in the blow-up pool to cool off. Benton said his favorite part of the weekend was the dirt pile. And it showed.

Who has the coolest granddad in the world? This guy does.

Two other milestones this week were that Kate turned six months and Benton started using the potty (we aren't using the word "trained" yet). Whew. We all could use a nap.

Week 3: Kept the minivan moving

We loaded up the minivan and headed to Tupelo for the first time this summer--and to be honest, I can not believe we have made it this far in the summer without a trip home. We also went to Booneville to visit relatives, and this was Kate's first trip to Booneville. I'm not proud that it took her six months to get to Booneville, but she has just now stopped screaming while riding in the car so we can finally take her out.

Thursday the kids went to the dentist. Since Lindsey's first dental exam two years ago, David has handled every checkup--he says that I am not physically strong enough to hold down the kids, and I have always willingly agreed. But since it's summer and I would be totally worthless if I let him take off to take the kids to the dentist, I dropped Kate off with Ms. Lynn and headed to the dentist with the other two with a long list of bribes if they would only behave at the dentist. Lindsey was a perfect dental patient, which is ironic since A. she freaks out at any doctor's office and B. the only time she has been to the hospital for a procedure was for dental surgery. Benton, on the other hand, was the one David warned me would require the strength of several horses to hold down. When the cute pregnant hygienist called his name, I apologized in advance and told her to please not let the next ten minutes affect her view of her upcoming motherhood. Much to every one's surprise, Benton was relatively well behaved. He did no lie in the chair like Lindsey, but he did humor the hygienist and dentist throughout the checkup. Both kids received a clean bill of health and we were headed to Chick Fil A.

Outside the Chick Fil A was the one and only Cow waving to all the customers. We have seen said cow once, and that time Lindsey freaked out and refused to eat while the cow was in the building and Benton followed the cow around wanting a hug. But this time, Chick Fil A was doing the neatest thing--they had a table set up for kids to make Father's Day crafts while their parents ate. Lindsey saw colors and made a beeline for the craft table, unfazed by the Cow sitting at the craft table. She even humored him and posed for a picture, all in the name of arts and crafts. Benton and his temperamental self clung to my leg and would not look at the cow. Such is life with two toddlers and an infant, I suppose.

We made a quick stop at Fresh Market (Benton could not believe there was a grocery store with no M&Ms at the register), picked up Kate, then headed to Tupelo. By the time I had unpacked the car, L&B had drug out every toy in the house and were raiding the pantry for snacks. We quickly regrouped and headed to Booneville. Lindsey spent the 45-minute ride completing an entire puzzle book; Benton spent that time asking repeatedly, "Where we going?"

Between Linda's trunk full of toys at MeeMaw's house and MaCille's freezer full of ice cream, the kids had a great time visiting their great-grandmothers. We headed back to Tupelo and had fun with bubbles until bedtime, which turned into bed-time-after-time-after-time because trying to get L&B to sleep in the same room is like herding cats. Benton sent Lindsey in to ask me for something three times before B came to the rescue and got them settled.

Day Two in Tupelo included a visit from Uncle Ben, Aunt Ashley, and Wilson. Ashley and I both needed fabric, so we loaded up the entire crew for a quick trip to the fabric store before we were to meet Popsey at the mall. The fabric trip wasn't quick enough, because at one point I heard screaming and found my precious son hitting an innocent little girl over the head. B tried to defend him and said the girl must have provoked him, but Ben was quick to say he saw the whole thing and there was no provoking. We got the kids out of there at that point and headed to the food court for the ritual carousel ride. Popsey started this tradition with Lindsey and now has three grandkids riding with him, plus one watching from the sidelines and another soon-to-be watching too. He needs to buy stock in the carousel company.

Kate helping me pack for our trip.

Kate had to sit and watch while the older kids chased bubbles.

Benton helped Popsey do some yardwork.

Lindsey sewing with B. Mom is very talented at sewing, and I can not sew a button on a shirt. Lindsey has developed a love for sewing, so pretty soon she will start sewing the buttons on around here

 

Benton wanted to sew, so I pulled out the iPad. That thing puts him in an angry-birds-trance and distracts him from everything else in his world

Kate has started sitting up by herself. She also has started drooling worse than Shelby. She has two teeth now and is working hard on the next one

There is a picture of dad holding me over his shoulder at this age. Kate looks exactly like me

Kate's new friend, Sophie the giraffe. We had heard so much about this giraffe that is supposed to be the best teething toy, and I tried many other toys to no avail so Popsey found Sophie for Kate. She loves the giraffe. And Popsey obviously loves her, because I am sure when I was a teething infant he threw me something around the house to chew on. Someone has to spoil the kids, and that is where grandparents come in.

Summer Loving: Week 2

This week the heat did not relent, so we spent much of the week indoors. This week looks eerily familiar to last week, because the first week went well so we do not change what is not broken around here. And with that, our week.

We colored. Lindsey is our little artist, and we know her artistic genes must have come from some place far away in the gene pool. Benton has turned into a regular Picasso himself this summer--and I chose Picasso because his drawings are definitely abstract.

Lindsey said she drew the beach because that is where B and Popsey were.

Benton said he drew Miss Lynn. I said, oh, how nice, a picture for Miss Lynn. He said no, it is a picture OF Miss Lynn, not for her.

We played Go Fish and Don't Break the Ice (which Benton insists is called Don't Make the Bear Fall Down). Lindsey is fiercely competitive at Go Fish (unlike the artistic abilities, we know exactly where she got that gene), and she keeps up with how many games she has won. She also does a song and dance each time she wins. Don't Break the Ice is a new favorite for the kids, but it takes more time for me to set it up than it takes the kids to play a round. Each round consists of Benton inevitably breaking the ice, then doing a fist pump and yelling, "I win!" He also tries to play Go Fish, but whenever he goes fish, he says, "Oh my goodness! I got a ______" and announces his card.


We went to Uncle Ben and Aunt Ashley's new restaurant, Ferdinand's. Ben and Ashley have worked hard to make this casual dining experience a reality, and they did a fabulous job. The ultimate compliment came from Lindsey, who proclaimed after eating her chicken tenders, "Uncle Ben cooks better than Zaxby's." I do apologize to the other diners who had to listen to Benton playing angry birds on the iPad.





We went to the zoo. I have already mentioned the heat, but we got there when it opened and got out before it got too hot, and we all enjoyed the zoo. Last time we went to the zoo, we saw a squirrell in the parking lot and Benton thought that was part of the attraction. This time he knew better and loved the animals. Kate rode in her pouch and slept through most of the zoo.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is at the theater so there are pandas advertised on all the kids' shows, so the kids were excited to see a real panda. Every time we have been to the zoo, the panda is doing exactly this--sleeping. They are not much for interacting with the crowd.

Kate's ride at the zoo. At this point I had the pouch on, but we switched at the polar bear exhibit because the little kangaroo gets heavy.

We went swimming. I mentioned in last week's post that the kids love to go to the day care at the gym, but one of the girls in the day care mentioned to Lindsey that the DAC has a pool. So Lindsey has begged all week to go to the pool. I try to sway her to Nani's house where there is a grandmother to hold Kate and an Uncle Jon to play with the kids, but she wanted to go to the DAC with all the other kids. So we went swimming at the DAC. The next day we were back at Nani's pool.

Jumping in the deep end--she is making so much progress.

Kate's first time in the swimming pool. She did have on a cute swimsuit that matched Lindsey's, but it kept riding up. She looks unhappy, but that's because the sun was in her eyes. She actually did like the water.

Benton wanted to play basketball with the boys the whole time.

As for Kate, she spent another week hard at work cutting a tooth and learning how to eat baby cereal. I hesitate to write this because I do not want to jinx it, but she has been sleeping through the night this week. We feel like if we do not make a big deal about it, she might just keep doing it.

I spent a good deal of time working on the Ole Miss website on my two online classes. Now, if you are scratching your head and saying, "but didn't you just finish your master's degree?", the answer is yes. However, as soon as I finished that degree and proclaimed that I was looking forward to a school-free summer, I found out I get to teach gifted English next year. Which means I have two classes this summer. So after the kids are in bed I research gifted females and plan curriculum units.

New to this blogging thing...

I've decided to start a blog. Mainly because I don't like to post my daily happenings and pictures on facebook because there are just too many people on there. And I would like to have a record of how we spent our summer. So with that...our first week of summer!

We played Play Doh. Lindsey decided she was going to make Abby Dabby, also known as Abby Cadaby, the purple puppet on Sesame Street. Not to be outdone, Benton tried his hand at Play Doh art.

Benton's Play Doh creation. I asked him what he made; he looked at it, shrugged, and said, "A rock? Or pizza?"

We played dress up. This day was superhero day.

Notice the sword Benton has down his shirt. This is where all the real super heroes keep their swords.

We also went to the gym a lot, because the kids think the day care at the gym is the coolest place in the county. However, one of the other kids in the gym let the cat out of the bag that the gym has a swimming pool, so I have a feeling next week will involve said pool. I have no pictures from the gym, because it would be odd to take my camera there.

We swam at Nani's house, but again, no pictures, because my camera is not water proof. Kate got in the pool for the first time, so I will have to get pictures next time of how adorable she is in her little raft. Speaking of Kate, here's how she spent her first week of summer.

That's my thumb sucking, tooth cutting, happy five-month-old girl!