Summer, Sleep, Swimming, Smiles & Sisters

The most exciting thing in our house right now is that OLIVE SLEEPS!!!

Unlike her siblings, she actually understand that sleep, at night, should occur in increments of more than 45 minutes!

Elmo and Papa took Maisy and Johnny to Lakefair.  Last year Maisy was too short to ride the rides. During the last year many nights were spent discussing how she was so sad she couldn't ride anything at the fair by the water.  This year, Elmo taught Maisy how to stretch as tall as she can so she will be tall enough.  (she still wasn't tall enough for all the rides and some of the fair workers wouldn't let her on!  Poor girl, she still hasn't reached 3 feet!)

Johnny loves Olive and tries to hold her every chance he gets!

Johnny is finally (sometimes) getting Maisy to play games with him.  This weekend he and Maisy here "spies".  The gloves are all part of Maisy's "spy wear".  In this picture she is playing dead.  He's taught her all about Ben 10 and she can tell you all about each character and say their catchphrases.

Olive LOVES smiling.  She gets to happy anytime she sees us.  Her smile brightens up the whole room and Johnny spends alot of time waiting for her to wake up so she can smile!

Maisy started swimming lessons.  The 2nd picture is a result of her being tired of me taking pictures!  Even though she thinks she can already swim, she LOVES her swimming lessons!

Maisy is really enjoying taking care of her sister.  She helped me give her a bath.  Olive thought this was pretty funny.  Maisy did pretty good too and there was only one incident of her dropping a wet wash cloth on Olive's face.  (You can't see me, but I am the main person bathing Olive!)

Johnny hasn't been too pleased with us this summer!  We limit his computer and tv time, we make him do school work, we make him clean his room.  All of this takes very little time out of his day, but he feels like we are torturing him.  Somewhere he has heard this phrase, but he's using it incorrectly.  (and I'm not going to correct him!)  He walks around, glaring at us, saying "I'm in heaven". 

Maisy has adopted a phrase from her Great Grandpa Rutledge.  She can often be heard saying "For Crying Out Loud".  The other day she even performed a freestyle song she'd written entitled "For Crying Out Loud".

With the exception of a few disastrous trips (our apologies to the swimmers at the pool last night) having 3 kids hasn't been too difficult of a transition.  Olive is the sweetest baby ever and rarely makes a peep.  She is the perfect baby for our family and thankfully her siblings love her.  We were a little worried about how Maisy  would respond to her sister, thankfully we have been pleasantly surprised.

Rock Quarry 2nd Generation

One of Johnny's favorite places in the world was the quarry. Maisy enjoys the quarry also.

Maisy has been enjoying painting. She actually keeps her brush on the paper and has only painted other places a couple times. I'm stunned! I thought Rutledge children were only capable of painting like the Tasmanian devil! So far she seems to favor her left hand. I'll be interested to see what she ends up using permanently.

When Gabe is out of town Most mornings Johnny and Maisy get in bed with me and watch TV. Right before I snapped this picture Maisy was curled up with Johnny holding his hand. She moves very quickly!

Grandpa had to get something out of the attic and Johnny helped him. Maisy couldn't resist getting in on the action and spent about 20 minutes climbing up and down the ladder.

Both Johnny and Maisy love swinging. This is a picture of them swinging at Momo's.

As you can see, Johnny is ready for swimsuit season.

Maisy is swimsuit ready as well!

The next 2 weeks are quite busy for the Rutledge's. Next Thursday Johnny will have kindergarten graduation. He has informed me that he will be one of the student speakers. He clarified that you don't have to speak if you don't want to, but he really wanted to. I can't wait to hear what he has to say.

From his parent's perspective, it's been an amazing year. We couldn't have had a better kindergarten experience. His Teacher is absolutely amazing and I spent the last half of the year trying to talk her into following the class to 1st grade. Unfortunately I don't think it will be happening, but we are so lucky to have had her for this year. Johnny has thrived this year and I can't believe this is the same child that started school in September. (mmm....I wonder if Mrs. M. would be interested in moving in with us over the summer?!?! Think she'd mind taking the bottom bunk?).

There's a little section in Johnny's class room that they call "Bunny Planet". This is where kids can rest, read books, or just take a break. We noticed that Bunny Planet could use a makeover so Johnny and I had each of the kids made a bunny picture and we turned it into a quilt. Mommy sewed the top, and Grammy did all the rest. It turned out wonderfully and Mrs. M. loved it. Johnny was worried that his friends wouldn't know it was from him, so he got to introduce it to the class today and was very proud.

Yesterday Johnny's friend Grant had to get stitches in his chin. Johnny was fascinated as I received updates on Grant's dad's facebook page and kept Johnny updated on how his buddy was doing. On the way to school this morning, Johnny wondered if Grant would be there or if he'd stay home and rest. Johnny said "Well, I know he didn't sleep at the hospital. Only mommies can do that". I asked why? "They have to stay there after they have babies and the babies aren't ready to sleep in their cribs yet. They sleep at the hospital until they feel ready". He was stunned to learn that actually anyone can sleep at a hospital if they are sick enough.

This evening Maisy was running around our cul-de-sac like the woman in charge that she thinks she is. Our neighbor came out to talk to her and said "wow, she really runs around like a bat out of hell". Sadly, she's right! Maisy may be small, but in her mind she's a giant. She has no problem stealing any toy from any child she meets in her baby class. If she can't steal it, she'll push them, or hit them or chase them until they run into a wall and then steal it. If they try to steal a toy from her she will screech at them like a howler monkey. I have to admit, it's a little embarrassing to be the parent of the toy thief! But, I'm learning...quickly! She's also very cute and cuddly and happy and very friendly. She's say "hi" over and over and over again to the same person in the grocery store or drs office. She's working on so many skills right now. She likes to jump, stand on one foot, walk on her tip toes, she can even pedal a bike. Unfortunately the poor girl has a Rutledge head and requires a helmet suited for a large melon! We tried on the "toddler" helmet, but her head didn't even fit inside. Being so small, she looks very funny with this huge helmet on, but she is very diligent about making sure her helmet is on whenever she's outside! (which might be a good thing because so she's very risky and tends to fall alot!) When Maisy rides her bike around she yells "WA-HOO". It's very cute.

Tomorrow morning Johnny and Papa are going to "Donuts With Dad" at Johnny's school since Gabe is out of town. Johnny has asked me at least 5 times a day to remind him to go because he's so excited. Tomorrow evening is movie night at school. I asked Johnny if I could get a babysitter for Maisy so just he and I could go, but he said "No, Maisy hasn't seen The Bee Movie and I want her to see it with us". Sometimes I wish he wasn't so attached to his sister!!!

Recently Johnny excitedly got off the bus and announced that he'd learned something new at school. "I CUT THE CHEESE". He was so proud. He had absolutely no idea what it meant so Gabe and I had to explain it to him. Like I said, he's really learned alot this year.

This morning, while getting dressed, Johnny wondered why they only have pictures on the back of his underwear. That doesn't make sense, he said. Honestly, I've always wondered the same thing.

I'll be videotaping the kindergarten graduation ceremony so I'll be sure to share the inspiring words of Johnny Rutledge.

It's Summer!

Summertime at the Rutledge house has arrived! Johnny played on the slip 'n slide, created his own little water park, played in his pool, played on his new playground, dug in the dirt, trimmed the hedges and ate the few ripe raspberries in our crop. And that was just today!!!

The other day Johnny fell down and told me he hurt his "foot wrist" (his ankle I think!)

Johnny had a rare drink of orange soda and he told me "mama! Orange soda tastes like love"!

This is a picture of a cat who is lucky to be alive.

Last week this cat was responsible for much chaos and unrest in our house. Mommy was feeding Maisy in her bedroom and Johnny yelled "HEY GUYS! You HAVE GOT to come see this! Don is playing with something that isn't really a toy. It's a REAL LIVE mouse!". Don proceeded to play with his mouse and let it go in our kitchen. This is Don sleeping while the mouse is in our kitchen cupboards. Every time Don got near his mouse he played with it. He never understood that cats are supposed to kill mice. Not just play with them. Thankfully Daddy, the great mouse hunter, took care of our little problem. (in case you were wondering...Yes, you can stand on the island in our kitchen. It will hold the weight of an adult. Especially one that leaves her baby on the floor and jumps onto the island screaming to her husband to get the mouse so it doesn't get her baby. Apparently the mother bear instinct skipped me! It's every woman for herself!)

Maisy had a bath this evening and her hair got a little fluffy!

When we found out about Johnny one of the first things we bought for him was this Mariner's Hat. Now Maisy gets to wear it also!

One more after bath photo...