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!

Ten Things Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I found some old pictures from Thanksgiving 2007.

And they have absolutely nothing to do with anything I am going to talk about today.

I like to confuse you like that.

Check out this old photo of yours truly.

Little Dude was just a little fetus in my not-so-little tummy.

They are so much easier to care for when they are contained inside of you.

*sigh*

Rest assured, I am not too busy on this lovely Thanksgiving Day.

Nope.

Not really busy at all.

Well, busy eating . . . and sitting . . . and eating . . . and sitting.

Yes.

I will probably lend a helping hand.

But I am not hosting.

I will be first joining my in-laws at 1pm for their Thanksgiving dinner.

I am contributing:  green bean casserole.

Then, I will wake up the Lumberjack from his traditional "after dinner" nap, and drag him and the children over to my parent's house for dinner at 5pm.

I am contributing:  green bean casserole.

Apparently, green bean casserole is all I can be trusted with.

I am beginning to like Thanksgiving more and more each year.

I love spending time with family.

And I have always enjoyed eating.

I appreciate my in-laws and my parents for hosting meals.

I appreciate not having to cook.

But mostly, I appreciate the fact that I do not have to do things like:

A)  Remove the neck

B)  Remove the organs

C)  Wash turkey inside and out and pat dry

It's instructions like those written on the outside of a frozen turkey that would turn my world upside down.

No, thank you.

I prefer cooking instructions such as:

1)  Place green beans in pan

2)  Place soup mixture in pan

3)  Stir.

And there is absolutely no risk of salmonella poisoning.

Lovely!

Here are 10 Things I am Thankful for:

1)  Jesus. 

"I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.  And wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned unclean.

How marvelous, How wonderful and my song shall ever be.

How marvelous, How wonderful is my savior's love for me."

2)  My Husband.

He works so hard for us and he loves us so much.

3)  Sweet Pea

4)  Daisy Mae

5) Handsome Dude

6)  Little Dude

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves to not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21

 

7)  My Family

8)  My other family . . .the crazykins . . .

9)  My friends . . . new and old . . .

 

 

10)  For the folks at Nestle Coffee creamers and their brilliant concept of capturing heaven in a plastic bottle:

For without my 6 am cup and my 2pm cup, where would I be?

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for?

What are your plans for the day?

Did you have to touch a turkey's neck?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Faithfulness

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

2 Timothy 2:13

Angela shared this verse with us this week through her website, Those with Young (www.thosewithyoung.com).

I do not remember ever reading that verse before.

It is easy to give up and become "faithless" in our lives.

I have been praying for one specific request for about 7 years.

There are times when I want to give up and forget it.

There are moments when I do not feel like trusting in God, times when I do not feel like He is even listening.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1

Being SURE and being CERTAIN.

Do I believe God's promises?  Am I sure and certain of His character?

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Hebrews 11:6

Why is it so difficult to earnestly seek Him every day?  God is faithful:  it is His Character.  I am trying to have faith, but it does not come naturally.

Life gets tough and confusing.

And even though I know that when troubles come I should turn to God, I often forget and try to get through the struggle on my own.

But even if I am faithless, He will remain faithful.  Because he cannot deny Himself.

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:20b

That is one of the most comforting verses in the Bible.

And so, I will continue to pray for my request.  My same request that I have been praying for all this time.

I may not see God working.

I may not know His plan.

But I will do my part:  trust in Him.  Have faith in Him.

And He will be faithful, for that is His character.

The End of an Era

Today was the first day of school.

It was a crazy morning, as I knew it would be.

I did have high hopes of what I would get accomplished today, but everything went wrong.

I meant to make pancakes for their special day, but we ran short on time and had toast and oatmeal.

I meant to get to the school by 8:30am, but we got there at 8:45.  School did not start until 8:55, but I wanted to help them into their classes with plenty of time.

Here they are walking into school. 

Sweet Pea was a little nervous about going all day, but Daisy Mae was just fine.  Not a bit worried.

She shoots guns, you know.

And hikes miles over treacherous terrains wearing only cheap flip-flops.

She can handle kindergarten.

That is how Sweet Pea looked as I left her in her classroom (she is seated wearing a white/light pink shirt).

She looked teary when I was leaving, but she smiled and said I could go.

So, Daisy Mae and I, along with the boys went off to find her classroom.

I went back to the familiar kindergarten wing where Sweet Pea was last year, but Daisy Mae's room was nowhere to be found.

A kind teacher helped us find her room . . . all the way in the 4th and 5th graders wing! 

Yikes!  Big kids!

Here she is sitting at her table, putting her nametag on.

She smiled with her big dimples and waved goodbye to me when it was time for me to go.

I felt a big need to make today special.  I know the first day of school is exciting and overwhelming.  The boys and I went to the store to get some groceries.  I picked up some special Hello Kitty pencils and a new pencil sharpener for our house.  Before I knew it, it was already time to get Daisy Mae.

She had a great day and loves kindergarten.

I asked her if she had recess.

"No.  Teacher said we just do that on weekends."

We headed home and had lunch.  The boys went down for a nap, so it was just me and Daisy Mae.

This is where my perfect plan for Daisy Mae being in afternoon kindergarten would have came in handy.

Can you imagine?  Complete silence for 2 hours!!

But, alas.  It was not meant to be.

Daisy Mae and I decided to make banana bread to share with Sweet Pea as a special after school snack.

We made a two loaves so we could freeze one.

I also made 3 pans of meatloaf, 1 for tonight and 2 to freeze.

Before we left to pick up Sweet Pea, I snuck a slice of banana bread-disgusting!

I figured out what I did wrong-I was emptying out my containers from the camp trailer and must have thought the salt was sugar.

I had to throw all that precious banana bread away.

And no special first day of school snack.

Sweet Pea was happy and chatty when we picked her up.  She had a great day.  I asked her if she liked her teacher.

"Yes.  But she is SERIOUS."

Sweet Pea informed me 12 times that she had 3 recesses and had a cheeseburger deluxe with chocolate milk for lunch.

"Chocolate milk makes you have strong bones, Mom.  My new friend said."

2 minutes later, the girls were weeping and wailing and fighting.

I knew this would happen:exhaustion.

They were upset because neither of them had time to color the other one a picture.

Seriously.

We had to hyperventilate over that?

The Lumberjack was working late, but I really wanted to make tonight special for the girls.  So I made a big dinner and a dessert.

Dare I say I made a peach crisp.

Remember the peach pie incident (http://wp.me/pCp3l-7q)?

As I was peeling the fresh peaches (for the first time since the incident), I knew I was making a mistake.

Fresh peaches+dessert+Taylor having high expectations=Impending doom

The Lumberjack came home.  I was exhausted from all my overachieving and child-chasing.  He rushed through dinner and went out to work on his truck.

Which normally would not have been a big deal.

But I PEELED FRESH PEACHES for a dessert to celebrate the girls' first day of school.

Finally at 7:45 when the Lumberjack was still being a mechanic, I looked at the girls and said dessert was cancelled.

They said, "ok" and brushed their teeth.

Apparently no one cares if I made a dessert containing peaches.

I so wanted to make today special. 

I think I failed.

But there is always tomorrow.

And we can have peach crisp as a special after school snack.

The girls did not have any high expectations for their first day.

That was just me.

I think I just cannot believe a chapter in our lives has ended.

I still see them as my little girls. 

My babies.

I still feel like a new mom.

It does not seem like all that long ago that I was hauling those two girls all around. . .

Sort of like I haul these two dudes all around town.

And I think what makes me the most sad is to think of the day when I take Handsome to first grade and Little Dude to kindergarten.

Because even though these are "The Miserable Years (http://wp.me/pCp3l-t)," part of me does not want them to end.

But they did end today for my girls.

And they will end some day for my boys.

The days are LONG, but the years are short.

What will I do when I no longer have young children to raise?

It is everything that defines me.

"'For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord. 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

Jeremiah 29:11-13

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

Proverbs 16:3

I do not know what the future holds for me.

I just know life can sure go by fast.

Excuse me now, while I eat peach crisp , cry, and mourn the end of an era.

That peach crisp is not going to eat itself, you know.

(This post is participating in Flashback Friday from Confessions of a Redeemed Diva)