Sunday, July 22, 2012

Celebrating Ruth Ann's Birthday

Earlier in June, we invited Steve's parents to come over for dinner to celebrate Ruth Ann's 70th birthday! (Although just between me and Ruth Ann - she'll always be 46 in my book!) It's not about the age... it's all about a person's attitude and mindset. And one thing I know about Ruth Ann... she's always willing to be surprised and "make anything fun."

When we were expecting Amaya, once again, we told people pretty early. We were celebrating a bunch of birthdays at Fisherman's Inn - several of Steve's extended family were visiting from Arkansas - and as Steve and I were making our way through the salad bar, I turned to Steve and said, "Wouldn't it be fun to surprise your mom with our news as a birthday gift?" And so we did... After Ruth Ann opened her gifts back at the house, we told her we had one more gift to give her, but it wouldn't be here until early February. Steve's Aunt Janet immediately knew our news after that clue alone. It took Ruth Ann a little longer, but she eventually guessed right.

So... five years later...lacking some originality... wouldn't it be fun to do it again and see if  Ruth Ann could guess it quicker?

Steve captured the entire scene perfectly with our camera.... Here Ruth Ann is reading the notecard that has our due date written on it: January 23rd, 2013....


And here... Ruth Ann is explaining... "It's not our anniversary, because that's the 21st. It's not Debbie's birthday because that's the 19th. It's not Amaya's birthday, because that's the 20th."


While Ruth Ann was thinking... Lowell got it! I love Amaya's expression and I love the thumbs up even more!


And.... it clicked!


Amaya was so excited to share our news and we weren't sure if she'd be able to keep a secret through dinner, so after presents, we ate supper and had cake and ice cream.



After cake and ice cream, we played Charades for Kids. It's absolutely hilarious especially playing with Steve because he really gets into it! There are two different types of cards - one with words on that adults can use and another set that has a picture of what to act out for Amaya. This is by far, one of her favorite games to play.

 Amaya desperately wants to read.... we started a little bit in the spring, but really need to work on it some more this summer. Here she's reading Hop on Pop to Grandma and Grandpa (with a little help.) before they had to leave for the evening.

Happy Birthday Ruth Ann!