Picture update

We tried all afternoon to get this ornery little guy to pose for a picture with his cousins. Defeated, we came home. I hung this cute pumpkin that Emily made for us on the fence to get a picture, and Benton jumped beside it and said CHEESE!

Neighborhood girls at the neighborhood Halloween party. Lindsey, Abby Grace, Madilyn, Lily, and Hayley

Of course Benton picked the seat on the hayride by Mimi, his favorite girl. They are quite a pair!

Everything goes in her mouth. I mean, it's a dirty pumpkin. I don't know why I thought I could get a cute picture of her sitting beside the pumpkins, because the picture of her with a pumpkin in her mouth is much more realistic.

Girls on the hayride. AG and Maddie were waving to Kate (I took most of the pictures while holding Kate, which is pretty impressive).

Kate loves ritz crackers. Who am I kidding? Kate loves food. Period. But here she is indulging in two handfuls of crackers.

Where did October go? And where was I when it was going there?

October has been a seriously busy month. I remember one year ago--pregnant, teaching, finishing my last class for my master's, taking my master's comprehensive exams, and completing my master's portfolio, plus being a wife and mother and an Ole Miss fan on weekends--thinking that it had been the busiest month of my life. Now I'm at the end of another October and tremble at the thought of what next year could possibly hold because this month has been a doozey.

When I came back from Fall Break, I became two teachers in one because Stephanie is on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy (which is terrible and I hate to complain about anything since her October is much worse). Since we both teach a state-tested course, I combined our two classes and am now Risher/Ruff which really makes life easier for some people at this school because they did not realize there were two of us to begin with.
Then there's grad school. These two final gifted classes that I so desperately am ready to finish so I can go back to my usual school night activities like watching DVR'ed episodes of Jeopardy instead of working on gifted stuff.

Every Friday we have a parenting study called Growing Kids God's Way. It's an 18-week study, so it's intense, but it is definitely worth the time we put into it.

The kids and I skipped the Alabama game (there was really never a chance that the game would be worth watching for Ole Miss fans) and went to a Halloween birthday party instead. Lindsey was an adorable Little Red Riding Hood, Benton was a reluctant pirate (reluctant until I convinced him that only kids in costumes got cake at the party), and Kate was a costume-less pig because she kept ripping her pig hat off.

The next day David and I went to Memphis the musical at the Orpheum. David hates musicals. He sat through Lion King at the insistence of everyone ever created and then proclaimed at the end that he just didn't get what all the fuss was about. So he was less than overjoyed to accompany me to Memphis. And honestly, I would have opted for a long Sunday nap that day. But, oh, am I glad I didn't take that nap. Memphis was amazing. It's my new favorite musical. In fact, I downloaded the final song to iTunes and the kids and I rock out to it in the car every morning. Which is a step up from Jersey Boys, the soundtrack the kids usually want to listen to in the mornings. Benton wants to hear "Sherry Baby" on repeat, and Lindsey loves "Oh What a Night"--which does have a catchy tune, but it's disturbing listening to my five-year-old sing about losing her virginity.

Just in time for Halloween, Benton has developed a fear of all things scary. But random scary. It all started when he watched a kids' movie called Spooky Buddies about two golden retrievers. There is a ghost somewhere in that rated-G movie. He now sleeps at the foot of his bed, tightly clenching the covers over his head, because he is afraid the ghosts will get him.

Lindsey got all S's on her report card (which is the equivalent of all A's for kindergarten), Benton is still fighting bad guys throughout the house during all his waking hours, and Kate is still crawling around the house being the precious baby she is. We are blessed. And worn out.

Fall Break

Our home computer crashed and I can not update the blog from my iPad, so I have been out of sorts lately. I also can't upload pictures to the computer, so this post will just be a bunch of words. Brace yourself.

It seems like this time of year is busiest in our house with football, school, and now kids' activities to juggle. So fall break is a welcome two-day hiatus for us. I had to attend a writing conference at Ole Miss and was there Thursday through Saturday. I went with Stephanie and Mary Ann, and we enjoyed girl talk, shopping on the Square, and good meals. If we did not have to attend meetings the whole time it would have been a wonderful weekend.
David had solo parent duty Friday morning, and he had to get Lindsey dressed for farm day. She revealed to me later that Mrs. Lynn fixed her hair and her bandana, but otherwise, David managed to get everyone where they were supposed to be.

After the conference ended Saturday, I went to Tupelo to meet the kids (David had dropped them off on his way to a golf tournament). (I stopped typing here yesterday, came back today, and just got bored reading this...so I apologize to anyone who has made it this far. Hopefully I'll be able to end it with a bang.) Benton is into pirates these days, and both of his grandmothers gave him a sword in the last few weeks. This is probably because Benton constantly asks, "Wanna wessle?" or "Wanna fight?" So Saturday I found him sword fighting with Popsey. He obviously learned through Jake and the Neverland Pirates that all pirates must have cool names, because he asked Popsey what his pirate name could be. Popsey told him he could be Benton the Terrible. Benton spent the rest of the weekend referring to himself as the terrible pirate.

In Kate news, she desperately wants to be like her older siblings and only eat what we call human food (anything not pureed and stuck in a jar). She loves to eat grilled cheese sandwiches. We have no idea how she eats human food with her four teeth, but she can demolish an entire sandwich. Her new trick is to scream like a pterodactyl when someone is eating and only stop screaming when she gets a bite of the food. This happens daily when David eats yogurt or if we take a trip to Gracie Bleu (a tad embarrassing in public).

Fall Break Monday I took all three kids to get flu shots. It was not as intimidating as it sounds, but I still think people should be impressed that I managed to get three kids through a flu shot in one outing. Lindsey was the brave one because I kept building up that she had to be brave for the others. She got her shot, winced a bit, then told Benton it was his turn. To which he promptly replied, "I not getting on that table." The poor nurse who drew the short stick and had to administer the shot to my kids told me he could stay in his chair and she would give him the shot there. To which he promptly replied, "You not sticking that in my arm." Said nurse who hates her job on this Monday morning now said she would just give him the shot in the leg. It was quick; the fit he threw afterwards was not. He could have won a best supporting actor award for that performance. Kate took her shot without a tear, and we were on our way. That was honestly our Monday highlight.

Tuesday I took Kate to Oxford to have her nine-month photo shoot and she did a fabulous job. After her two day, eight hour infant photo shoot, we don't have high hopes for these sessions. But she did great. So we drove home, loaded up the other kids, and went to Nani's house to play with cousins Tripp and Sophie. While there, we tried to get a picture of all five cousins together. The term "herding cats" comes to mind. At one point, Nani pulled out a wad of one dollar bills and started bribing the kids with dollars. That actually worked for the three older ones, but not the two baby girls.

On our way to school Wednesday, I told Lindsey she would probably be asked to tell her class about her fall break. She sighed and said, "All I did was get a flu shot."

All about Lindsey

This week Lindsey is the super kid of the week for her class. She had a note in her backpack last Friday afternoon that she is the super kid, and it explained what special things she gets to do all week. The super kid's mom needs a super nap, because it's exhausting planning a week that makes a kindergartener feel special.

Monday Lindsey was supposed to bring a poster that was all about her. Now some moms like to make the poster for their child, but I wanted Lindsey to do this herself--partly for her benefit, and partly because I am not creative. As evidenced by the picture, Lindsey did this poster herself. Aunt Brooke helped her glue and cut, but the pictures and placement were all Lindsey's idea. Brooke can atest to the fact that Lindsey insisted on having a five on the poster (we assume for her age, but it could be for the number of people in her family).  Notice that Shelby made the poster.  That in itself is evidence that this was Lindsey's poster, not mine.

Tuesday was bring-your-favorite book day, and that task was harder than it sounds. Because if you know Lindsey, you know how much she loves books. Asking her to choose a favorite was like asking me to choose my favorite child. She debated and debated but eventually settled on her ballerina book from Mrs. Stephanie.

Lindsey has now had two ballet classes. She has asked for months to take ballet, and I have had mixed emotions about signing her up. If she wants to be a ballerina, I'll support her whole heartedly, but I do not want to push her to do ballet simply because that is what I did. After her second ballet class on Monday, we were discussing ballet in the car and she nonchalantly said, "I think ballet is too hard. I give up." It's going to be a long year of ballet lessons.

Check out the bun. I have a new-found respect for my mom, who managed to finagle my hair into a bun weekly for all those years. Fine, straight hair does not easily go into a bun.

David also went to lunch with Lindsey on Tuesday, and that made her day. David got to meet her friends, and Lindsey got to be the cool kid who got Chick Fil A.

Wednesday was wear-your-favorite outfit day. This was our toughest day. When Lindsey got the note last Friday, she quickly informed me she was going to wear her flower dress. Well, this flower dress was a birthday gift from Mrs. Corie, and it was a $10 Target special. Lindsey rocked that bright dress all summer, and it shows. Sometimes I have to hide the dress in the washing machine because she seriously wants to wear it daily. The dress is no longer fit to wear publicly in its worn-out state, so I had to bribe Lindsey by offering to buy her a new outfit to wear Wednesday. So guess where we went to buy a new favorite outfit? Target. And we had the daunting task of finding an outfit that would match her cowboy boots, because she insisted that would be part of her favorite outfit.

I think this picture proves we pulled off the favorite outfit and she looked adorable.

Thursday was treat day. Easiest day of the week. Bring your favorite treat to share with your class. Because she is her mother's child, Lindsey did not even need to think about this one. We went straight to the candy aisle and got a big pack of M&Ms.

 If the looks were not evidence enough that she's mine, the love of M&Ms is a dead giveaway.

Friday was bring-your-favorite toy day, but it also happened to be Fairy Tale Feast day to culminate the class's unit on fairy tales. After much debating, Lindsey decided to bring out her halloween costume early and be Little Red Riding Hood for fairy tale day. Her favorite toy was Kit, the American Girl doll. I tried to convince her to bring a less valuable toy, but logical Lindsey would not be swayed because the instructions were to bring her favorite toy.

After devoting an entire post to Lindsey, I should briefly mention our other two kiddos. The only thing new in Benton's world is that he has become obsessed with catalogs in the mail (toy or costume preferably). He still wears his Ole Miss baseball cap everywhere he goes, and his most common phrase is either "Wanna wrestle?" or "BAD GIRL!" whenever Lindsey gets in trouble.



And today marks nine months of Kate. She has four teeth, loves to clap, and crawls EVERYWHERE. She has taken after her brother by eating avocado. One night this week I made L&B grilled cheese sandwiches, and I decided to make Kate one too. She inhaled it, but not before Benton yelled at me, "You'll make her sick! Don't let Kate eat that!" Kate is truly blessed with a brother and a sister who always have her back.

Hotty Toddy...kind of

My weekly posting has slowed down because I realized I need to plan for my classes at school and do my grad school work if I want to keep my job. Since we last spoke, Kate is crawling. She's everywhere. In fact, she has carpet burn so bad on her knees that one of them has been bleeding. We have always made fun of the baby shin guards, but notice who has the last laugh now (that is, if shin guards could laugh). Now that Kate is mobile, we are having to baby proof in a new way. Obviously with Lindsey crawling we did not have much baby proofing to do, and even with Benton, Lindsey was not old enough to have little toys in his path. But oh, the little toys in Kate's path make me shudder. That girl can salvage an entire meal off the kitchen floor after supper (if you consider a chip, some yogurt dripping down the stool leg, and a random cheerio an entire meal). She also can literally encounter an entire army of little green men as she crawls across the living room. We now officially have our hands full.

School has been going well for Lindsey. She has stayed "on green" since school started, but we know it's only a matter of time before her superhero jumps to the yellow building, probably for talking at nap time (her usual offense last year). Lindsey loves having homework, reading her library book, and bragging to Benton about the ice cream at snack time on Fridays. She came home one day with a Scholastic book order form, and the most precious sight was the two of them poring over the booklet, pencils in hand, circling every book that they wanted to read. It's hard to resist children who love books.

This was the morning of school picture day. I'm waiting for the proof to come in to see if her bow did in fact stay in her hair until pictures.

Today was the first Ole Miss game of the season, and although the forecast called for one million degree temps with one million percent humidity (no exaggeration), we felt like we just had to take all three kids to the first game. Surprisingly, the temp never got above 90 and it was overcast, so it turned out to be good football weather. Unfortunately, the good weather resulted in a bad game for the Black Bears. But the saving grace for the day was the fact that the kids all looked cute. Kate had on the same smocked dress Lindsey wore for her first football season, and I brought a picture to show how eerily similar the two looked. In Lindsey's picture, she has the same dress and the same shining bald head, but she is sitting in front of pumpkins. Several people (including Kate's dad and granddad) looked at the picture of Lindsey and said, "Where'd you get those pumpkins?" Meaning, they thought we took the picture of Kate before heading to Oxford.

Once we had exhausted the Grove, Stephanie and I took the kids to the Square and bribed them with a trip to Square Books if they would let the grown ups shop for a little while. They obliged; we had a good time, and we ended our day with a meal at Ajax. The only way this day could have been better is if the Rebs had pulled out a win. There's always next week for that.

Just a day at the park

This first full week of school was crazy busy--we have to get used to being back in the swing of things and get our routine down again. Hopefully life will calm down a bit soon, but just in case this next week is hectic, we decided to enjoy a restful afternoon at the park.

The last time we fed fish at my parents' pond, Benton ate the stale bread himself. We were thrilled he shared with the ducks this time. Potty trained and not eating animal food--wonders never cease!

Pretty bald baby at the park! She is getting mobile and is hard to keep contained these days. Lindsey and Benton both started sitting up and crawling right at eight months, so we are thinking we have very little time left before Kate is into everything. The nursery attendant at church said she is crawling, but it is more of a scoot.

Benton has a slight obsession with tractors these days thanks to an adorable book he has about an old orange tractor named Otis. This orange tractor was parked at the entrance to our neighborhood this weekend, so we had to pull over and let Benton "pet" Otis.

And finally, our two thumb-sucking girls. Lindsey thinks she has quit sucking her thumb, but sometimes when we check during the night she is inadvertently sucking away on her thumb. Because she is headstrong, she told us to take her picture and prove it to her. Here's the proof.



Kate, on the other hand, proudly flaunts her thumb sucking. The only difference in these two is that Kate sucks her left thumb.



And she's off!

Lindsey made it through her first few days of school and still loves the place! Tuesday night we went to Open House, and David forgot her school supplies (I was in charge of bringing three kids; David was in charge of school supplies. Guess it is better that he forgot his stuff than if I had forgotten mine). Open House was a bit chaotic with all those people in the classroom, so I'm hoping very few people noticed that I had a streak of poo on my shirt (Benton's, not mine). But on that note, Benton is potty trained! One week ago we put him in underwear and we haven't looked back. He's doing great except for the poop thing, but he'll figure it out.

The morning school started David and I both planned to take Lindsey to her class, so he took Benton and Kate to the sitter while Lindsey and I went to clock in at my school. Then we met up at the Perry's house and got pictures of the girls before the first day of school. Look out PHES, here they come!

Lindsey, Campbell, Abby Grace, and Madilyn. Lindsey and Madilyn are in the same class.

Walking in with dad on the first day of school

 

Outside her classroom. Miss Natalie and Miss Tina are her teachers.

 Although we took Lindsey to school her first day, she rode the teacher shuttle to my school at the end of the day. The teacher shuttle is a fabulous perk for teachers in the county that is basically a school bus that runs between schools for teachers' children only. Lindsey was excited about riding the bus to my school. The first afternoon buses run late, so I wasn't concerned when 3:45 rolled around and Lindsey was not at my school yet. Around 4:00, I got nervous. I was standing guard at the front door of the school. Then sweet Anna Grace, another teacher's child, jumped off bus 370 and the bus drove off. Panicking, I grabbed Anna Grace and asked if there was a precious little kindergartener on her bus. She had not seen anyone that matched my description. I was searching for a Xanax as another teacher at my school walked up from another bus holding Lindsey's hand. My sweet child had gotten on the teacher shuttle and gotten off at the first stop, which was the middle school. Although I have a bone to pick with the driver who let that innocent child off at the wrong stop, I was so proud of my daughter who realized she was at the wrong school, walked into the office, told them she couldn't find her mommy, and then told them her mommy is Mary Kylie Ruff and she teaches at Desoto Central High School. The secretary put her on the next bus headed to my school. If Benton had gotten off the bus at the wrong school, he would still be in that office insisting that my name is mommy. Luckily, the last three days have been much smoother and Lindsey now gets off the bus with Anna Grace. Getting on the bus has been trickier the past two mornings, but she will get adjusted. And nothing beats ending my school day seeing that little bundle of energy running down B hall at my school. For the first of what will be many times, I'm one proud mama.