Emma's Editorials: Visiting Ruthie

Hi everyone!  Sorry it's taken so long for me to get this post done.  Things have been pretty hectic around here.   Any of you who follow Mama's blog know that she recently re-did all of our rooms.  Whew!  They look great now, but things were quite a mess for a while there while Mama tried to figure out where to put everything!

So, I have lots of news to share since my last post!!  First, the rest of Ruthie's visit went wonderfully.  Piper and Ruthie were nearly inseparable!  We found out all sorts of things.  Piper is Ruthie's older sister (Ruthie is 10 years old, the same age as Hailey), and her last name is now Ellison.  Piper Ellison.  Doesn't it sound elegant and refined? ;) 

Anyway, we all had a great visit.  Then, two weeks ago, when it was time for Ruthie to go back home, she invited all of us (well, Piper, Charlie, and me) to come visit her!  Charlie and I have been to her house before, but it's been a long time.  Piper's never been there!  We were really excited to go. :)

When we first arrived, Ruthie gave us a grand tour.  We were especially interested in seeing where her room was and where we were going to stay. 

"This is where you will be staying while you're here," Ruthie said, leading us into Grandmama's guest room. 

There was a huge, comfortable bed and lots of beautiful human-sized furniture.  We loved the colors of the bedspread, too. :)  How exciting it would be to stay here like guests at a fancy hotel!

"I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends," Ruthie continued, leading us past the big bed.  "This is where your Mama's girls come and play when they visit."

We were excited to see who we would meet.  We had heard that Grandmama had a lot of dolls too.

"Hi everyone!" Ruthie called out cheerfully as we rounded the corner.  Four dolls looked up with cheerful smiles to greet us.  "I'd like to introduce you to my cousins..."  She paused for a moment and gave Piper a special smile. "...and my sister."  Piper shyly smiled back. 

Ruthie turned back to her friends.  "This is Emma, Charlie and Piper."  Then she introduced her friends, one by one.

"Emma, Charlie, Piper, this is Cassie..."

"...Felicity..."

"...Molly..."

"...and Melanie.  I believe you've met Melanie before."

We all said "hi" to one another and visited pleasantly for a few minutes.  Ruthie explained that these were Grandmama's play dolls, much like Dorcas, Leisel, Jane, Felicity, Josefina, and the others at our house that lived in the playroom.  Cassie, Melanie, Felicity and Molly got to play with Mama's daughters whenever they came over.  I shuddered a bit at this thought (I'd seen Mama's youngest girl's version of "play"), but these dolls all seemed completely happy with their lot in life.

Next, Ruthie introduced us to their two horses, Penny and Butterscotch.  Charlie and Piper made friends with them, but I hung back.  Horses make me a little bit nervous.  Charlie is completely nuts about horses, dogs, or just about any other animal.  She even has a horse of her own.  His name is Edison...and yes, that is after Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor.  What can I say?  My sis is a science nut! ;)

When we could drag Charlie away from the horses, Ruthie took us up on top of the big bed to meet three of her other friends.  It was a little tricky getting up on the bed, but we managed.

"I'd like you to meet Bessie, Kate, and Elinor," Ruthie said happily.  I could tell she was really getting a kick out of introducing us to all of her friends. 

"Did you know that Kate is Maggie's twin sister?" Ruthie asked us.  We were shocked.  I wondered if Maggie even knew she had a twin!  Kate looked just like Maggie, except she had curls framing her face, and she had blue eyes instead of brown.  That, and she was wearing pink.  Maggie wouldn't be caught DEAD in anything pink! ;)

"Who told you they were sisters?" I asked curiously. 

"Grandmama did," Ruthie replied.

This was very interesting news!  I'd have to ask Mama about it when we got home. 

When we climbed back down from the bed, Ruthie showed us all of Grandmama's amazing clothes! 

"If you need anything, you can just borrow it from the trunk," Ruthie explained proudly.  "Grandmama has great taste in clothing."

I could see that just by looking at the clothes.  We were all really excited to see so many cute outfits.  I couldn't wait to try some of them on.

After we'd browsed through Grandmama's clothes, Ruthie took us to her room.  She was almost bubbling over with excitement.  "Emma, Charlie, Piper, I'd like you to meet some of my best friends," she began.

There wasn't quite enough room for all of us in Ruthie's room, so I hung back a bit and let Piper and Charlie have a better view.

"Hi," said a pretty girl with brown, almond-shaped eyes and long, brown hair.  "I'm Jess.  It's nice to meet you."

"Hey," Charlie said suddenly.  "Aren't you the same Jess that came over from Eureka with Rachel and Maggie?"

Jess grinned.  "Yep, one and the same.  Tell them hi for me, okay?"

Charlie promised she would. 

"Nice to meet you," said a quiet, low voice.  "My name is Josefina."

Another Josefina, just like our own sweet Josefina at home.  This Josie seemed to have the same gentle personality.  Her hair was a lot shorter, though.  Ruthie explained to us later that Grandmama had rescued her from eBay and a hard former life.  I was so glad that Josefina was in a better home now!

"Hello again!" the last doll chuckled.  "It's me, Janie!" 

Of course, we all remembered her from her earlier visit to our house, when Mama had done a comparison post on her and Charlie.  It was great to see Janie again.

We visited for a while with our new friends, but soon it was time to go down to the other end of the room to meet Grandmama's last two dolls.

"I'm glad to meet you.  Kaya is my name," said the first doll warmly.  She looked really cute in her blue polka dot dress.

"And I'm Sophia," said the other doll.  "But you can just call me Sophie for short."

"I think you've met everyone now," Ruthie said with a grin.

"Wow!" I responded.  "You have so many friends."

Ruthie nodded happily.  "It's great.  We all have so much fun together."

"And we usually even manage to stay out of trouble, too!" Sophie chimed in teasingly.

We all laughed at this, and then said our goodbyes as Ruthie led us out to the living room. 

We all had a wonderful visit, laughing and talking for the rest of the afternoon.  We tried on clothes, ate delicious snacks, and jabbered on about anything and everything. :)  When it was time for bed, we each picked out a nightgown to wear from Grandmama's trunk and then all of us piled into the guest bed, Ruthie included. :)  We felt a little bad about kicking Bessie, Kate and Elinor out of their spots, but Ruthie assured us that this was the norm when guests came over, and that they didn't mind. 

Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night.  We had so much fun, though! :)

The next morning, Ruthie got dressed in one of her favorite fancy dresses (she loves getting dressed up!) and went back to her spot in her room.

Her friends were so happy to see her again.  "We've really missed you," Janie confessed. 

Ruthie just smiled.  I knew she was glad to be back home.

All too soon, it was time for us to go too.  Piper went up to Ruthie and squeezed her hand.  "Thank you so much for inviting us," she said shyly.  "It was wonderful to see your home."

Ruthie returned the squeeze and grinned.  "Anytime, big sis!"

And then, it was time to get in Mama's car and go to our own home. 

So, like I said, that was two weeks ago.  Things have been...well...different with Piper since Ruthie's visit.  Before Ruthie came, Piper seemed okay with being our cousin and still feeling like a sister.  But it seems like now that she's had a taste of being with her real sister, she's not as content staying with us.

The room rearranging didn't really help.  You see, that's our other big news.  Mama was able to get some contact information for Hayden!  We're all working on emails to send her.  Mama didn't have an actual email from her, but she's been able to learn about some of Hayden's interests and hobbies.  So far, we know she loves horses, Strawberry Shortcake, and Disney Princesses (especially Jasmine and Belle).  Since finding that out, Mama has found a few things to have waiting for her when she arrives (whenever that may be).  The problem was, when our new room was all set up, there was actually more stuff for Hayden in it than for Piper.  I think it was kind of like salt in the wound. 

Charlie and I have tried to encourage her, but as you all know, she doesn't really like talking about how she's feeling, so it makes it difficult. :(  Hopefully we can help her feel better about things soon. 

I'll keep all of you posted on how things go.  And of course, as soon as we hear from Hayden, we'll let you know. :D  It's hard...I'm really excited to meet Hayden, but I almost feel like it's betraying Piper to feel that way.  I'm not sure exactly how to handle it. :( 

Talk to you all soon.