to be continued...

It's only taken over a year, but I'm still alive and will actually be blogging again soon.

I've had a crazy year. A really, really crazy year and there is blogging fodder a plenty!

I freecycled it.

I'm moving in less than two months and have a ton of packing to do. So I've been going through boxes and deciding what gets packed and what gets tossed. This is the story of one box.

Those who know me, know that I've been engaged more than once, and have planned more than one wedding, and have more than one wedding dress. Thirteen years ago I was planning a wedding. At the same time my cousin, from Atlanta, was planning her own wedding. One autumn weekend she and her mother drove up to Missouri and we spent the weekend dress shopping. We tried on a lot of dresses, and we both found the dresses we wanted to be married in. Actually, I had already found this gorgeous Alfred Angelo dress, a few stores down, that I was in love with but as we walked into the last store there was the prettiest Mori Lee on the mannequin in the window. Everyone agreed that I had to try it on. That was how I found my first wedding dress.

In the spring of the following year my cousin had a beautiful wedding. My wedding was cancelled and I had a beautiful dress.

I kept it, in its bag for years and even tried to sell it once or twice. I even offered it to my niece to wear for her wedding and alter it all she wanted.
I just wanted it to go to someone who would love it like I did when I first bought it. So, last week, when I ran across a freecycle listing of somebody looking for wedding things (including attire) I had to ask what it was for, just to make sure it wasn't for a play or costume and that it wasn't going to be torn to shreds. Yesterday, a lovely woman who is getting married in June, came by to take a look at it and fell in love with it. My dress has finally found a home and a wedding to be a part of, and I have one less thing to pack.

It's April?

Last night we looked out our back door and saw this.

Not exactly what you'd expect for a Sunday night in April. This morning everything looked like this. Todd went to school dressed for February.

While inside Rose and Jinx looked out of the living room window at the, now snow covered, crab apple tree.

Have I mentioned that I'm moving to Florida in a few months? I'm not sure that I'll miss all of this snow, at least not for the first few winters.

Mother Nature Has a Cruel Sense of Humor

Life was easy with three boys. I always know what to expect. For instance, boys get into mischief, or well most boys do. Mine are actually pretty good, so when I got pregnant a fourth time and found out we were having a girl I was so excited. I mean girls are supposed to be perfect little angels, and every mother's dream come true. Right? Fast forward a few years, or more specifically, last April 1st. Rose is two years old and we are making our first trip to the emergency room together. It's snowing. Nice! Because in April you expect to see snow coming outa the sky, right? What is our emergency? Rose has stuck some zots up her nose.




Do you remember these things? They are great fun, and apparently even more fun to stick up your nose. We ended up going to the emergency room twice and ultimately to see an ENT to have all of them (that's right, more than one) removed the "hard way". Girls are supposed to be easy!

This is what Rose's room should look like. Everything in its place, only taken down to play with and then put away. Rose apparently didn't read the rule book on what girls are supposed to be like, because most days all of this is all over her floor in a great heaping mess. This April Fool's Day mother nature strikes again with Croup. Yep, my sweet little angel Rose, has the barking seal disease. The doctor has her on steroids to reduce the swelling in her air passages. Have you seen what those drugs do to a little girl? Sweet innocent angels, my foot! While I chase around my steroid driven 3yo this April Fool's Day you should all be busy perusing blogs. Why not start with reading, or rather looking, at what Kat from Sunshine and Lemonade has posted today. Very clever photoshop editing or are congratulations in order? Or how about popping on over to read what Chris at Chris Bliss has posted? Is there a theme here or should we be afraid to drink the blogging water?

Favorite places...

On my recent trip to Missouri I decided to take my kids over to one of my favorite state parks. When my older boys were younger we used to go all the time ,and they loved it, but when I took them a few weeks ago they couldn't remember having ever been there.
Elephant Rocks State Park lies in the middle of the middle of nowhere Missouri. That's what I like about Missouri, there are state parks and natural areas all over the places. In fact, just down the road from Elephant Rocks is Johnson Shut-Ins State Park and Fort Davidson State Historic Site (Civil War battleground).
I took my children the way I had always been taken, as a child--we drove J Road. J Road is the roller coasters of back roads, very hilly and curvy and you're never quite sure if there is gonna be anything over the top of the hill you're driving. It's an adventure! Sure there are probably quicker, more interstate ways of arriving at our destination, but where's the fun in that? We arrived in one piece, and saw things you just don't see on the highway.

Here we are starting the trail up to the top, where the "big rocks" are.
Of course once the big kids found out they could climb on these rocks they were having a great time showing off, and letting me photograph the fun.

Todd loves showing off how strong he is.

Oddly enough this was one of the only pictures Rose cooperated in having taken.
By the time we climbed down from the top of the rocks the kids were worn out and ready for a nice long roller coaster ride back home on J Road. It was a great day to be playing on the rocks and now the big kids can't say they don't remember ever going.

Finally..the WINNERS are....

Happy first day of Spring!

I apologize for having to rush out of town and putting off the announcement of the Spring Fling winners. So without anymore delay the winner of the St.Pat's hair bow is...Jeannie over at Jeannie's Happy World. Congratulations! Since St.Pat's is over I would like to make it up to you by adding another bow to the pot. I feel terrible that I wasn't here to mail you the St.Pat's bow!
The winner of the tutu with flower is Denise from There's Always Room for One More.
Winners please email me so I can get your details!! Thanks so much for entering this contest!!!

and the winners are....

Today I had planned on announcing the winners of my Spring Fling Giveaway, that was yesterday. This morning I got up, checked all my entries, made an announcement on the Facebook Fan page that I'd announce the winner today, and then took Rose to dance class.

I will announce by the end of the week, but I've had some unexpected family emergencies today that involve me having to scurry into a hurry to pack myself and four children into the minivan and drive almost 4oo miles first thing in the morning. So I am postponing my announcement until the end of the week.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway and who fanned my facebook page! Ya'll are so very awesome!