Ruth turns 4...

I finally have some pictures! We had a full day today so we had a special birthday dinner Friday night at Red Lobster. Ruth decided she wanted shrimp... which she was thinking of normal 'ole boiled shrimp. Red Lobster has seasoned shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp scampi, buffalo shrimp (I feel like I'm Bubba). They don't have plain 'ole boiled shrimp except for their appetizer coctail. We got the popcorn shrimp dinner instead because it had sides and would go further amongst the kids. Turns out they loved the popcorn shrimp and inhaled it. We took a quick trip into Target and she picked out a new hooded Princess towel with a crown on top. She's so easy! We got home late and when I went to put the leftover dinner in the fridge... it was not cold. The fridge, that is. Now, this isn't the first time this particular fridge has left us warm and dripping. Curtis and I both are ready to throw in the towel and just get a new one that works. Well, he talked to a couple of techs and parts stores and took the suspect part to Toccoa, bought a similar part (but not matching) and attached it this afternoon. I am not ready to bring all the food back upstairs. So, for $25 and a short ride to the state line we have a working appliance. Back to Ruth......
Today we had our annual picnic/BBQ with the girls from work. One of our friends has a farm place up in Banks county (about an hour from us) and has a small gathering in the fall each year. Well, almost each year. I took Mom's famous tater salad and baked beans, loaded up the burban, and packed in the kids. They got to ride a horse, fish for mud and grass, and ride in a paddle boat. The girls all made over Ruth for her birthday so she felt special. Bennett was getting really good at casting out his line and finally got it caught in the shoreline bushes. Ruth and I paddled over to the line to unsnag it from the bushes. About the time I reached out for the line a creature jumped into the boat with us. My first thought was that it was a snake. Turns out it was a little bitty fish that should have been used for bait. But it was cute and the kids laughed that I was the only one to catch a fish for the day... AND without a pole and line! :) BTW, I let it go.
We left Homer late in the afternoon to head home for a birthday party for some of our friends. It was a camo party at Strong Rock and the kids had a good time playing. Our friends have two boys who were partying but they let Ruth have her pink cupcake too. Ruth was a good sport and was happy with just a card to open. Avery was quite cute with his camo icing all over his face. I'll have to get some of Corie's pictures since I forgot my camera all day long.
Anyway... that's Ruth's birthday. We'll celebrate with all the cousins next weekend. Grandma's making 6 different cakes. Woo weeeee.

September Days

The weather is beginning to cool. The sun is warm and the skies are blue. It's lovely around here lately. We are enjoying the next book in the Little House series... On the Banks of Plum Creek. The kids ask each night to read some Mary and Laura. I think it's a ploy to prolong bedtime, at least from Ruth. It usually works. I'm a sucker for "read us a book" when I've been gone to work all day. I walk in the door at bedtime, rush them through their nightly routines, and then expect them to go to bed happily. So I give in to a chapter or two of Mary and Laura. Lydia's had a viral fever the past two days so she gets the extra mommy snuggles. Bennett whines from his room "why don't you ever snuggle with me?" Time? Usually it turns into 3am and I'm still in his room "snuggling" because I was too tired to lay still and NOT fall asleep. We admitted 15 newborns today at work. I'm tired! I'm mostly tired of all the crying. Not so much that I didn't sit for more than a few minutes at any one moment, but they ALL cried all day long. It's the routine for being in the admission nursery. They cry while we assess them. They cry while we bathe them. They cry when we give them their shots. They cry until we feed them. Then they're quiet... but when you have 15 in a 10 hour period there's always at least one in that crying stage. We all had headaches tonight. Then the kids want to tell me all about their day. I don't think I heard anything Maggie said tonight. Bennett wanted to write a story about his day with Matthew. He had to read his book for school. I had to catch Lydia pee in the potty. Ruth wanted me to hug her and kiss her and pray with her. Now it's midnight. The dishwasher is running. The clothes are tumbling. And I'm tired. Did I already say that? :)

Oh, Ruth's prayer tonight was very classic. She starts by telling me I smell like chips. You can't hide anything around here. I laughed. Then she tells me to laugh in her ear again, and she laughs. Then she promptly goes into "Dear God. Thank you for this day and for playing nicely with Maggie. And for always loving her even until we die. Amen" I'm not sure what happened today but it made me smile. She also informed me that she was the only one still awake at the time and Mommy and Daddy. Yep, she's my nightowl. First one up. Last one asleep.

And we STILL didn't make Jared or Aunt Leslie birthday cards! I'll catch up when Lydia goes off to college.

Here are a couple of girl pictures. We have 4 matching boxes from a set of Jeep wheels that mysteriously arrived on our front

porch. They have turned them into cars and/or a train... depending on which side you look at and how they have them set up. This is Maggie's... complete with DVD player! Lydia was reading to one of her babies in her box. She's really the only one that actually fits in the box. Oh, and I went to a "Giraffe" seminar in ATL last week... it's a bed made for premies. I got this stuffed giraffe as a reminder to "buy my product!". Probably enough for one night. Playgroup is tomorrow. I won't get anything accomplished around the house... but Ruth gets to play with Amelia. Her words tonight about that... AWESOME!! :)