the ballerina butterfly and cyberman

Oh, hi there!  Remember me?  No?  I'm Ruthie.  I write blog posts here.  Sometimes.  After a humongous break, thanks to busy times around here, I am back and ready to use this space again to document my family's adventures and share recipes and fun little things.  And to kick it all off, I have our Halloween pictures to share.

Rowan likes to combine ideas into one costume Two years ago was she was a fairy princess. Last year- princess bride. This year she couldn't decide between a butterfly or a ballerina, so she combined them.  Honestly?  I'm was just ecstatic she didn't choose to be Elsa from Frozen.  Not that I have anything against Elsa, but I could have EASILY lost her in the crowd if that's what she had been.  Fletcher vacillated between a Lego guy, a Minecraft guy, or a Cyberman from Dr. Who for months before settling on Cyberman.  I truly enjoy creating their costumes, but I cheated this year and ordered both of the masks that they are wearing.  The rest of Rowan's costume just involved gathering elements.  Fletcher's, however, was a little bit trickier.  I got the idea to cut pieces of silver contact paper to adhere to a grey sweatsuit, but Brian was the genius that sewed it all on so that it wouldn't peel off.  Brian is a costume maestro.  His Brawny-man costume was pretty great, too, since it involved items we already had around!

I'm completely biased, but I thought the costumes were the best I saw.  Halloween night was super frosty, so we had to wear wings over puffy coats and fleece under cyber-clothes.  But these kiddos were such troopers and completed their mission to fill up their bags with goodies.  Can I just ask why no one gives out chocolate anymore??  I don't want to steal smarties and dum-dums from their stash after they're asleep!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween night!  How is it November already?

favorite places

 While the kiddos and I were back home we visited one of my favorite childhood places.  It's a farm and settlement from the early 1800s.  It's a beautiful place frozen in time, and up until just a few years ago, it was still a working farm.  I always try squeezing in a trip there when we're back home to enjoy it and feel like I'm reliving a part of my childhood again.

And it's one of those places that doesn't tarnish from memory.  It really is just the same as my child's mind remembers it.

 What I didn't remember was that some summers the mosquitos are ridiculous.  And so my littles didn't find it *quite* so magical, maybe.

Here's hoping for a trip back in the Fall when the colors are glorious, the mosquitos are gone, and these grumpy face turn upside down!

back home again

So I took a very long break from blogging.  I didn't even think about it.  But then I realized I have no idea what's going on with my favorite bloggers, too, and I miss you guys.  So I'll be catching up here and there this week.  But it was good to unplug a little.  Not counting Instagram because that's pretty much an addiction at this point.  

The littles and I had a trip back to my hometown planned since the summer is Brian's busy time at work.  We were planning on staying a couple of weeks, lounging on the beach, and seeing lots of friends and family.  And we did all that!  But a few days before we had planned on leaving, my grandmother passed away.  So Brian took off from work, and helped me throw luggage in the car, and we caravanned it up together.  He took the kiddos to his parent's house and my parents and I headed to North Carolina for my Grandmother's memorial service.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, and although it was a sad reason to be there, it was so good seeing Uncles, Aunts, and cousins- some that I hadn't seen in decades.  

 When I got back, Brian was already on his way back to Missouri.  So the littles and I resumed our trip as planned.  We had cousin time, grandparent time, friend time, and a load of beach time.  My parent's home is just down the road from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  We spent more time at the beach than anywhere else, and it was lovely.  All these pictures are from one evening, since I didn't want to drag my camera bag every time we went.

 Can you see Chicago there in the pink light?  I love looking across the edge of Lake Michigan and seeing that skyline.  We took the train in one day and did the Field Museum, which is a wonderful natural history museum.  I HIGHLY recommend it for families with kiddos older than 3.

 On this particular night, we weren't planning on getting into the water since we had been to the beach earlier in the day.  We had planned on watching the sun sink, and then head home.  But my kids are water babies.  So shirts were stripped, and pants were soaked, and we all loved it.

 It started on a such a sad note, but this trip turned out to be so good for my soul.  I saw many old friends, a few dear friends, and I got lots of extra time with a best friend that came all the way from Colorado!  My parents were wonderful as usual, letting us run rampant through their home (while it's being remodeled!) with my friends and their littles.  And every time I go back "home" to Indiana and Chicago, I realize just how lucky I was to  have grown up in such a magical place.

So what have you all been up to this July?  I'm going to go catch up and find out!

treehouse living

This past weekend we packed our car to the gills with food, blankets, and books and took off for a treehouse in the woods!  We met our friends, Lacy and Dan, and their sweet baby at the campsite, which was heaven on earth for our kiddos.  There was of course the treehouse we stayed in, a big pool, a little lake with paddle boats, and tons of nature to dig around in.  And I was in heaven because there was air conditioning, hard cider, great conversation with friends, and a good book to read.

It was hot and humid, but it didn't matter.  There were cold drinks and a cool place to sleep at night.  All the time in and on the water really wore the kiddos out, and so there was a lot of rest time in Dan and Lacy's hammock, and Rowan even put herself down for a nap when she got sleepy.

The treehouse was actually built on a steep hill, so it wasn't in a tree.  We could walk straight onto the deck from a dirt path, but when we walked around the deck to the back, there was a long drop down to the ground.  We really were among the trees out on our little deck!  And our friend's treehouse was right in conversation distance from our deck.

We had a few cooking mishaps including blackened pizza crust one night, and forgetting about the oil bubbling on the fire.  So an oil fire gets really exciting in the woods!  Once the fire died down, Brian took the dutch oven off the fire, opened the lid, and a yellow cloud of smoke floated up from a now empty pot.  A quick trip into town for cooking oil and we were back in donut-making business.  Which are necessary for a successful camping trip, if you weren't aware.  

The little cried when we had to leave, and announced wishes to live in a treehouse all the time.  I may have fallen in love with the idea, too.

interview for father's day III

Is Papa your best buddy or your best friend?
Fletcher: Both.

What does Papa look like? 
Fletcher: I don't really know.  

What does Papa do as an Army guy?
Fletcher: Well, um, I don't see him a lot at the Army base, so I don't really know.

What is your favorite thing to do with Papa?

Fletcher: Can I say something I used to do with Papa?  Well, Metra, which I used to ride on with Papa, is my favorite train.  (Metra is a commuter train we used to take into downtown Chicago when we lived outside the city)

If you could go anywhere with Papa where would you go?

Fletcher: I'd go to um, ahh, ummmmmmm, a factory.  No, no, no.  I don't really know.

What is your favorite food that Papa makes you to eat?

Fletcher: Bacon!

What does Papa do when you cry?

Fletcher: I forgot about that.  I forget what he does.

How does Papa make you happy?

Fletcher: *shrugs* I don't really remember.  I don't know.

What do you love best about Papa?
Fletcher: Everything!

What is your favorite place you've ever gone with Papa?
Fletcher: Everywhere that I go with Papa is my favorite.

What do you love more, Papa or donuts?
Fletcher: Papa!

*Blogger's note here: we found out later in the day that Fletcher was sick with strep, so it was difficult getting the answers out of him.  Poor guy was so lethargic and out of it.

Is Papa your best buddy or your best friend?

Rowan: Best friend.

What does Papa look like? 
Rowan: an Army guy and he goes to work.

What does Papa do as an Army guy?
Rowan: He works.

What is your favorite thing to do with Papa?

Rowan:  Hmmm.  Buy toys!

What is your favorite thing to do with Papa?

Rowan:  Hmmm.  Buy toys!

If you could go anywhere with Papa where would you go?

Rowan:  Hmmm.  To the flower store!

What is your favorite food that Papa makes you to eat?

Rowan: Pancakes!

What does Papa do when you cry?

Rowan: He hugs me.  He kisses me.

What do you love best about Papa?
Rowan:  Is about he puts sprinkles on my cake!

 What is your favorite place you've ever gone with Papa?

Rowan: To Sonic!

What do you love more, Papa or donuts?
Rowan: (long pause, then whispers) Papa.  But I love donuts, too.

you can read last year's interviews here and the year before here

tiny dancer

This girl of mine, she's ALL girl.  Except when she's picking up caterpillars and begging to go on camping trips (of course those things are for girls, too; just adhering to old gender stereotypes here like all good mothers should...).  Brian's parents got her a little pink vanity for her birthday, and she really got into getting ready for her dance recital with it!  Her costume was a 4 year old girl's dream, purple velvet with swaths of swirly pink and purple tulle.  And getting up on stage and performing?  Let's just say she wasn't one of the shy ones.  

 That's her on the far left.  One of the littler ones in her class, but not at all hindered by that!

 She really disliked having her bangs disappear back into a high ballerina bun, and pronounced, "I look like a boy."  Ha!  Far from it, little girl, far from it.

I know she might enjoy dance for years to come, or decide to ditch it in a year for judo or karate or whatever.  So I'll enjoy this slice of girly life while I can.  And it all takes me back to when I was a tiny dancer with my friends!

That would be me, on the far right.  The one that looks like Fletcher in braids.  So blessed to say that these two friends that I first became close to in school and dance are still my best friends today.  It's fun to watch your daughter tread familiar ground that you enjoyed so much as a child!  Here's hoping she has sweet memories of these days, too.