Backpack, backpack!

This morning, Ruby woke up on the right side of the bed for once!  She had such a great morning.  We started our school time with our Morning Meeting at the dining room table today and everyone was excited (let's hope we keep this going next week when the workload gets bigger!).  Ford did some cutting, Rachel did some handwriting, and Ruby and I did her letters together all at the same time.  It was one of those moments of controlled chaos that was actually fun.  I'd help Ford hold the paper and get his grip right, then I'd show Rachel what I wanted her to do next, then Ruby and I would make another letter and talk about it.  Everyone was so cooperative, it was a little weird!!  Once Ford was done cutting, he practiced writing his name and he wanted to practice erasing, so I just let him have at it on his own.  Ruby kept going with letters but started getting kind of silly, so I just let her do what she wanted to do.  Rachel moved on to her math review which was +1 and +2 and the commutative property of addition.  She did a pretty good job, but she honestly does better adding +9 and +8, probably because she has those memorized and she thinks too hard on the easy ones.  Ruby saw her using the math blocks and wanted to build, so when Rachel finished math, Ford had moved on to his trains (!) and Ruby started making a math block cake (she is a little chef these days!!).  Then Rachel and I reviewed short vowels and long vowels.  She drew a picture representing words with each of the sounds.  She lacks confidence in her drawing ability but once she starts drawing she's really good at it, so by the end of the sheet she was really proud of her purple octopus and her green cucumber.  Finally, Rachel did some work with coloring out of a Kindergarten book she had gotten last summer and Ford was building with Kapla blocks, so I started Ruby on a floor puzzle while I rotated the laundry.  Then I sat down with Ruby to finish up the puzzle, Rachel finished, and Ford was ready for a little snack.  We had a small breakfast this morning, so I fixed them some grapes and a cheese stick.  Then, finally, because Ruby had such a great morning I told her we could go looking for Fairy Wings.  They usually have them at the Dollar store and she just happens to have a dollar in her duck bank, so off we went.  We tried two different dollar stores, Ollie's, and Fred's, but no one has fairy wings!!!  Very disappointing when we are used to seeing fairy wings all the time and now all of a sudden there are none!!!!  However, at Fred's, we found the cutest pink backpack on sale.  Ruby has been wanting a backpack because Rachel has a yellow one and Ford has a blue one.  Since they don't technically need them for school, we use them to pack their clothes sometimes when we go on trips.  Well, now Ruby has one for her things.  She was so cute walking around with the pack on her back.  I honestly believe it's big enough that she could fit inside of it, but she was so proud showing it off and strutting in the way she does (hand on hip included).  She wanted to show it to Papa, so we stopped by his school since we were close by and saw his classroom and said hello to some of the other teachers.  Then it was time for lunch and a nap.  For the first time this week, Ruby went right to sleep!!!!!!!  Seriously, she is on a roll today!  I'll probably give her ice cream for dinner if that's what she wants!!!  I think a full night's sleep in her own bed did her a lot of good last night, plus she felt more a part of school today since we were all at the table together.  I definitely think the dining room table is a better fit for all of us even though it gets a little loud and sometimes crowded.  If it keeps Ruby behaving like this, I'll take it!!