Goodbye, Cinderella.

As I mentioned yesterday on my "Facebook Liking Page", I have started the packing process for our move to Ruralville.

What?!  Lumberjill has a Facebook page?!

Yes, folks!  It's true!

Look at me with my big girl blogging pants on!

Interruption:  Lest any of you be confused, I am not a big girl blogger, nor do I know what I am doing.

I started packing up the girls' room.

My initial reaction was anger for how darn messy these chickie-babes are.

I guarantee you, these two pumpkins have saved every scrap of paper, sticker, bracelet, old bandaid, school paper, crayon-nubbin, hair clip, happy meal toy, and party favor they have ever received in their entire life existence and stored them behind their dressers and bookcase.

After I counted to 400 and threw a lot of stuff away, I calmed down and got to packing.  I knew Daisy Mae would be able to handle this, but Sweet Pea has always had a hard time giving things up.  So I was not looking forward to going through the dress up bin.

You see, dear readers, my girls love dress up. 

They always have.

And they have never been willing to give things up.  No matter how small.  No matter how torn.  The dress up clothes shall never depart from their room.

Or so I thought.

As I started going through the clothes and holding up each item, Daisy Mae and Sweet Pea were both saying strange words, such as:

"Nah."

"Give it to Little Miss."

Little Miss is their little cousin.

"Don't like it anymore."

And, dear readers, 4 princess dresses were retired on that fateful evening.

You may say,

"Taylor.  You are a goofus.  There are only 3 dresses in the above picture."

And I will respond,

"I am not a goofus.  I know exactly what I am doing."

There is one dress, a Cinderella dress, that deserves its own, special picture.

What a tragic demise.

This was one of those exquisite Disney dresses you can find real-expensive like at a Disney store.

It.

Was.

Gorgeous.

My girls obliterated it.

And now, dear readers, I would like to present to you:

The Story Behind the Dress

About 5 years ago, we became friends with Melissa (Bimlissa) and her daughter, Cute Little Red Headed Girl.

Cute Little Red Headed Girl had this Cinderella dress and every time we went to their house, Sweet Pea, who was about 2 1/2 at the time, would start stripping in the entryway, run upstairs, and put this Cinderella dress on.

Every time.

Bimlissa ended up giving it to her because she loved it so much.

Wasn't that nice of her?

Let us have a moment of admiration for the kindness that is in Bimlissa and Cute Little Red Headed Girl's hearts.

*Thank you*

Any-who . . .

This dress was well-loved and well-worn and was one that I was sure I would never hear Sweet Pea say she was ready to give up.

One night, The Lumberjack took my precious girls fishing and Sweet Pea caught her first fish.  He walked in the door and asked me to grab the camera so we could get a picture of Sweet Pea with her fish.  I left the room to grab the camera and LJ went back to unload.

Sweet Pea heard us say camera and she ran upstairs, unbeknownst to us, threw off her dirty, grubby fishing clothes, and put on her lovely Cinderella dress.

That picture is, by far, one of my favorite pictures of all time.

It totally captures the essence of Sweet Pea.

Look at her!

Filthy!  Hair a mess!

Yet, she knew it was a special picture, so she went and donned her most especial dress.

Sweet Pea has grown.

The dress does no longer fits and it old and torn.

Goodbye, Cinderella.

I am not ready to let this stage go.

Doll houses.

Tea parties.

Princess dolls, stories, and books.

My babies!

They are growing up too fast.  It makes me so sad.

I have said it before, and I will say it again.

I NEED A PAUSE BUTTON.

At least they are still into dressing up.

We have about 4 "Little House on the Prairie" costumes left for dress up fun.

It will be a sad and mournful day when my girls want to give those dresses up.

You might want to stay away from this blog on that day.

I predict it will be a bummer of a post.

Happy Wednesday!