November 09th, 2021

Happy Birthday Ramsey! 

While Ramsey’s actual birthday happened on November 1, today we had a chance to celebrate his turning three at school! His mom and both his sisters joined us for the celebration, and we shared in a special pumpkin cookie snack. As is tradition with all birthdays at St. Johns, the children thoughtfully prepared a gift in advance of the birthday celebration and presented it to Ramsey after he walked around his birthday candle. Today we share the story of Ramsey’s gift. ​

Initially we began with watercoloring the pieces of wood. As per Ramsey’s birthday conversation, his favorite colors are green and yellow, so that’s where we began. However, as we began painting it, the children made some observations about the colors, noticing it wasn’t turning out exactly to their liking. 

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Charlton: This is actually some red and yellow. It has some red.
Cal: Look at this big piece! It’s watercolor 
Fay: I want to put it upside down 
Charlton: (noticing other paint in the atelier) What’s that? Big kid paint? We should put that on.

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When the boards dried, there was consensus that tempura paint would look nicer so we started Ramsey’s birthday project over. Ford and Louisa took on the responsibility of repainting the pieces, big and small.

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Ford: I’m making a green board. A homemade kinda board. This is good work and hard work. 
Louisa: I’m painting mine all the way
Ford: Oh, I forgot this side!

For added dimension, we also added a small weaving to the board. This was in part inspired by the work we’d been doing that week cutting strips of paper for our messaging centers. Mimi took the painted pieces and arranged them on the board while Ragnar added detailing to the weaving portion.

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Ragnar: I’m making a road with a sidewalk for Ramsey. I’m crinkling it up because it’s good. He will like it. 
Mimi: I’m making a castle.

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When we presented the final gift today, Ramsey seemed thrilled. He was particularly interested in the yellow pieces Mimi had arranged in the corner. We’re so happy to have had a chance to celebrate the beginning of his third year! Happy Birthday Ramsey :) ​