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I really am amazed at how quickly the dog days of summer go by, and we don't even have a dog! =) The nicer the days got, the busier they became the past few weeks. There has been so much fun and just added activity to our home life that the truth is my blog is the last thing on my to-do list- even though I love documenting our stories and pictures and sharing them this way. I am going to have lots of gaps in the stories, but thankfully we are making some memories that hopefully will last as my kids grow up and reflect back on their childhood.
The memories aren't all fun and perfect and thrilling all the time, but we do have some happiness tucked into our days- often more than we plan or expect. But with a two year old and four year old and extra-special needs 12 yr old, in addition to the 'big kids' {9, almost 11 and 14} it is tricky to have everyone happy at the same time. In fact, I don't even try to have that happen anymore. We just do what we have to do and sometimes that means there are meltdowns and drama happening as we try to make a fun, family memory down by the waterfront. Or out at Chip's club by the pool. Or just playing with the neighbor kids. Or even having popsicles on the front lawn. There was a meltdown over a new 10-pack of underwear at our house tonight, which I still am clueless as to how that can be. But tween girls have their moments too. =)
I grabbed a small snapshot of what life has included the past few weeks, and realize that even on the hot, sticky, fussy days there is still so much to love about summer! The visits to the park and the local carnival that went through here. The times with Daddy- even though we often have to go to the club or Chip brings kids with him to hang out at work. We are lucky that he can do that and the kids can swim and golf now. We have had meals outside with the neighbors and are enjoying the pony they gave us as they prepared for a yard sale this week. There has also been lots of cleaning and organizing and lawn re-doing as we put our house back up for sale and had an open house and a couple of showings too. We would love to be closer to Chip's work- which is about a 30 minute drive right now. If it doesn't sell we are staying put, so there isn't a pressure on us this time. Just a huge desire in our hearts.
There has been scrapping and paper crafting time for me, which I enjoy even when it's summer. Being busy with kids means that I have to plan my time a bit differently, but I still like a bit of space and the chance to scrap and create and have fun with all the goodness that comes in my Cocoa Daisy box each month. This month's kit {which is revealed tomorrow night on the Cocoa Daisy website} is called Cabana. It is bursting with bold colors and summer flair. The Day in the Life kit is a relatively new kit for them and I got one of those this month too and love it! There is a great 3-month subscription special if you have ever thought about scrapping the Project Life style way. I love how quickly the pages come together and yet there are still endless possibilities for how to put your pages together. I am loving it all and so glad to be on the team now for coming up on my one year anniversary there. The girls on the Design Team have been so great and truly are friends. I just want to meet them in person sometime!
Life for the Ferlaaks is full and loud and there is more fussing than I would like, but also more hugs and good food and just hanging out letting summer happen going on too. If I could, I would bottle up the relaxed feeling of life right now- even though there are still mountains of laundry and groceries to buy and things to pick up- and I would save it for when there are going to be quiet days and the kids are all grown and doing their own busy thing for the summer. I am soaking this time up. Every minute of it! I am scrapping some of it to look back on during those future mellow days too. =)
As of yesterday at just before noon, our family is officially on summer vacation! The kids all did SO GREAT in their studies and growth this year. I am proud of each of them. Lots of hard work to get on those A/B honor rolls, but they are proud of their efforts too and hopefully we will find lots of simple ways to enjoy the next 3 months of downtime and break from structured routines. There was a lot of happiness as we collected their last few items from their classrooms, hugged friends goodbye and headed home to start the more relaxed, lazy days of summer.
I love waking up whenever we get up and going, not rushing around making lunches and changing diapers and buttering toast all practically at once. It gets overwhelming so many days in a row with the kids at their different ages and stages. So this mom of 6 kiddos at home is happy to take a breather.
We already went to Chip's workplace- which besides a lovely golf course and clubhouse, happens to have a great pool/kiddie pool and hot tub as well. We are looking forward to turning our kids into little fish for the summer. They have enjoyed their first night poolside and if the summer weather cooperates, I foresee lots more memories made at the pool for sure! I am so glad that I got back into scrapbooking last year, and with the recent Cocoa Daisy Candy Shoppe kit and the Project Life stuff that I have added to my collection of cute papers and embellishments, I am excited to scrap lots of happy memories and summertime events the next few months too! Cocoa Daisy has such a great variety of items in their kits each month. I always have way more than I need and it is a fun thing for me to do and share with my kids too. So we'll be cutting and gluing and stamping, in addition to swimming and splashing this summer too! We will miss being so close to family and friends and all the fun things we did with them last summer. But hopefully we will find ways to stay busy and not think too much about what we're missing.
What do you love about summer? What are your plans for making the most of the months that fly by so quickly? I still miss all the fun and excitement that Teagan had when it came to the fresh air, outdoors, flowers and chasing butterflies. She is always in my heart and mind and I am thankful that I enjoyed so many special moments with her while she was here on earth. Happy summer to all of you!
It's so hard to believe that three weeks flies by so quickly at times in between blog posts. There has been lots of wet, chilly spring days during the past 3 weeks, but at the same time, there has been a lot of activity going on too. These photos are all snippets of that.
There is almost always scrapping going on around here. It is still my fun and pleasure and definitely breaks up my monotonous days of waking kids and making lunches, doing laundry, changing diapers and all the other tasks that stay-at-home moms do around the house all day long. I am very excited about Cocoa Daisy's June kit~ Candy Shoppe, which will be revealed tomorrow night at 9est. It is always fun to see what all my other design teammates create using the same stuff I get too! This month I even found a way to scrap some nature onto a page. We are trying hard to grow a new lawn and had it seeded- only to have a week of downpours and rain. Our poor baby grass! But it will hopefully start to fill in and it will get another seeding again soon.
I also got to be the guest designer for Webster's Pages new Plum Seed line. I have been doing more of the Project Life-style pages, but not scrapping chronologically or daily/weekly pages. Instead I just scrap using all the cute pieces that work so well in the plastic sleeves. There are so many great new products just for this type of page. I love that! Cocoa Daisy has monthly Day in the Life kits that you can get as a subscription now too. It is a fun way to use your scraps differently and my album is starting to fill up quickly this way!
The kids have their last 4 days of school this week. It has dragged for part of the year with the stress of a move in the middle of the school year. But in a way it has also flown by and it is hard to believe I will have a kid in high school so soon! It has been a year of lots of changes and growth in all our family. The girls just wrapped up the Girls-on-the-run program last week and ran a 5k early on a Saturday morning with Chip. They were all so proud when they got home to tell me that they ran it in about 33 minutes and especially proud that Bella- who had not wanted to even go to the event- ran the whole thing and beat her fastest time by far! We are hoping to get in better shape and have a healthy active summer as a family. One way we plan to do that is by visiting the golf club swimming pool as often as we can. None of the kids are all that great at swimming, so hopefully being in and around the water so much and getting some private lessons will change that in a hurry too. In one of the photos posted today they are all hanging out in Chip's office. I think they would all live at the golf club if they had that option. They must think all Chip does is have fun there! He does work hard, but they see the games and the fun and food and to them their Dad has a pretty great job. We are very thankful for his job and hope the summer is a great success at the club! I'll still make sure to find some time to scrap. And if I am really lucky and motivated, I plan to get back on my bike several times a week too. As long as the rain isn't pouring. =)
Last Saturday night Chip came home from working all day at the golf course and announced that we were going to do something fun as a family. We quickly changed diapers or clothes and whatever else needed to be done to get ready and then it was out for pizza at our local favorite spot, Fricanos, and then a stop at another local favorite place, Dairy Treat. It was the most goregous night out as far as spring weather is concerned. A light breeze, no bugs, beautiful setting sun and boats and people watching for as long as we cared to sit on the waterfront.
I am struggling to still find a purpose for us having to move back here to Michigan. But I am trying to enjoy the view while we are here. It is pretty amazing at times.
And now...the winner of the previous blog hop/prize pack is: Katy Young. Please send me your mailing address at nitty.grittyjodyatyahoodotcom and I'll get your goods in the mail! Thanks for all the nice comments left. I hope you all had fun seeing all the different bags and maybe got inspired to do some crafting of your own. Here's to some more spectacular views in life too- wherever you may be!
Happy May Day everyone! If you are somewhere and it is snowing or you have snow in the forecast, my sincere condolences to you. How terrible that nature is still dragging her feet with spring in some parts of the country. At my house today the windows are wide open, the breeze feels amazing and the sun is out in full strength. It feels like the perfect spring day and I am enjoying every minute of it!
I am posting on my laptop as Teague and I sit on the front step to take it all in. Love this kind of weather! I had to pop here on my blog to share the news that this month's kit- Record Label- is now available for purchase and it is a hot seller! So if you like what you see in these pictures above and you want your hands on some of the fun too, get to Cocoa Daisy quickly, because these kits are a favorite among so many. Our Design Team loved this kit so much and I have gone so far to say it is my favorite kit I have gotten to scrap. The gallery is SO inspiring and awesome this month...check it out for yourself here! I am still creating with it- there are lots of pieces in it and such great papers. I am thinking about getting a second set of everything! =)
I hope your day is off to a great start too. My Bella left for nature camp for the next few days with her 5th grade class. I hope she has a blast and I am sort of wishing I could have chaperoned the event. It's that nice!
I will be beack to share some exciting details about a little thing called Inspiration Day at Cocoa Diasy this coming weekend too. Stay tuned for that if you love scrapping, games, prizes and good-ol' fashioned fun!
It's Friday. Fridays are mixed emotion days for me, because while I love that the weekend is just around the corner, Friday nights have taken Chip away from us and leaves me with the 6 kiddos at home. We have come up with some things to fill the nights with fun and activity, but my inner/better mom still feels guilt that we "never do anything fun" as far as going out or doing anything exciting. Last Friday was another one of 'those nights'. Chip actually took Brock, Crew and Bella to work with him though. Brock got to hang out and bus some tables {and he managed to make some good tips too!}, and the kids always like to visit the club, eat dinner and play games in Daddy's office. It gave me a bit of a break with just 3 kids to entertain at home. I grabbed Happy Meals and shakes for the three that stayed behind so that they had some fun of their own.
Then that picture of Wyndham is a peek into the rest of our Friday night. I asked Wyndham if she wanted her picture taken on the iPad. She loves taking pictures of herself. My jean jacket just happened to be out on the arm of the chair she was in, so I put it on her and brought her next to the window in her room for the last bit of evening natural light. She is the one who started to pour on the charm and big personality. She was playing air guitar and doing silly faces and just making a big deal about her impromptu photo session. I was happy to get a front row seat to her show. =)
As I have been thinking about the way life goes sometimes, I was realizing this week just how awesome and lucky and special it can be to GET to stay home and do nothing. Sure it gets boring for middle schoolers and kids who want more of an active social life, but truly, as we hang out and play games and pop popcorn and laugh while answering random life questions around the table together, it is a pretty amazing thing all it's own. I know we are still making some wonderful memories to look back on. Even if we never leave our home. And that's something you can't put a pricetag on. Even when it's considered "boring" to some. I am trying more and more to simply embrace the place we are at, the limited things we can do sometimes, and to see the spectacular in the typical day-to-day life we live. I sometimes wish it was more hyped up and exciting. But I am seeing more and more how it sort of is all that.
This week I have been scrapping Cocoa Daisy's May Record Label kit. I am so thankful each month to be on such a great team and to get to scrap such great stuff all the time. I love that it 'forces me' to put the memories and pictures of our lives right now down on a page. I am having a blast with the cool designs and funky bits and pieces in this new kit especially. I scrapped Wyndham's picture already and look forward to taking more pictures of our "boring Friday nights" and other exciting days in our life to scrap too. Here's to making memories- no matter where you find yourself having fun!
I'll be honest. There is a lot of stuff going on in the world and nothing grabs my attention more than news stories where everyone is minding their own business and trying to just enjoy their corner of the world, or partaking in something fun or beautiful, when suddenly their lives are forever changed by something horrible. I feel their pain on a very real level and know what grief and healing and finding a "new normal" means. Since the most recent bombing at the Boston Marathon, I have lifted prayers for the victims and their families a number of times in just the past two days. It is heartbreaking and it is a jolt back to reality that none of us knows how much time we have on this earth and that we need to make the most of each day we are given.
I have been struggling with the move back here to Michigan- away from family and many new friends. It has been an unreasonably long, cold winter, and the gloom of cold dark days lingers even now. We have had our snow melt away, and the temperatures are starting to climb, but between the news stories, this move, the long winter and all that goes into that, I am so, so ready for sunshine and fresh air again. I am ready for new growth and new life. Literally and figuratively.
I am almost embarrassed to say that one of the things I am struggling with in the move back to our home is our yard. It seems such a trite thing in the scheme of things, but it is something that in the past we put a lot of time and effort and energy into. We use our yard so much and love to be outside, but as the snow has melted away it has only revealed just how awful our yard turned in just one summer's time of neglect. Last year happened to be a dreadful summer- between the high heat and the lack of rain- that our yard just couldn't sustain itself with no tennants. We moved back in November and I knew it was going to be dead this spring. But I didn't realize just how "dead" it was going to be. The top photo is from a couple of summer's back. The next two pictures are of our house yesterday. Even though the sky was blue, the photos speak for themselves. Chip- my eternal optimist husband- says it will be back and better than ever by June 1. I am more reserved in my support of that thought and would be happy if we just had a thin layer of grass sprouting back by then. The whole yard and landscape have to be redone.
It has opened my eyes to the fact that "good" doesn't just grow. Weeds grow. Good dies. Green turns brown and dried in a hurry of it's not watered and nutured and cared for properly. I can't help but tie my thoughts of the dead, lifeless wreck of a yard to the events of Boston and how tragic that situation turned out. All the good people who worked and trained so hard for that marathon. All the years of the race being one of the most sought after to run in and with such a repuation that people come from miles around the world just to be in that place. And within seconds, that turned to tragedy and carnage and people will live with the horrible images and physical pains and some with grief from the death of a loved one, all because someone chose evil over love. When love is absent, there is darkness, hopelessness, despair and evil. I am sorrowed and saddened that such acts exist in our world that can rip lives apart in the blink of an eye. Through no fault of their own, people now will love with the heartache of such acts. I wish they could turn back the clock. I wish we could erase the last 48 hours and write a different ending.
But there is no chance of that- so everyone moves forward. I have found that moving forward in life sometimes means having to go places you'd rather not. Or leave places you wish you could have stayed. Or simply wait it out and hold out hope for brighter days. But just as our yard looks dry and dead and barren, I choose to believe {and hold out great hope!} that Chip is right and that new green growth is mere weeks away. I choose to believe with time and effort and energy poured into our yard it will look as good or maybe even better than it did before. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to take time? Yes. Is it going to be worth the investment? I sure hope so.
To those touched by life's heartaches- wherever you may be- I hope you choose to love, to believe in brighter days; to hold out hope and to always keep the faith. We may not know why there are times or places or hardships in our lives at times, but we can always pour ourselves into giving it our all and for sure, to always love. It makes the biggest difference of all.
My kids are growing up far faster and with lots of stories and details than I keep up with on my blog these days. I used to be so much better about it, but as I said, the ease of FaceBook to post short sentences, links and upload photos has taken much of the place of blogging in my life. But I do like to come here and write when I have more time and space to do so. I also have been reading back through months past and noticing just how neat it is to actually have all these stories, photos and memories in a place like this. It sort of inspires or motivates me to want to write more. But lately every time I say I will be better about writing it just leaves me missing yet another goal. So I will simply hope that I can do better about this- but I won't bank on that happening.
So here I go...some thoughts and a couple of stories about my kids lately.
Wyndham is doing very well right now. She loves being back in her aqua therapy and is quite the swimmer from what I hear. I have yet to have the chance to see her in the pool at her therapy facility because I am always home caring for Teague and Crew while she has her appointments. But Chip tells me that she loves it so much and often splashes and jokes around when she doesn't want her pool session to end. She has been healthy for quite a long stretch now and that makes things so much easier for all of us- obviously. Between last winter and this winter she has not had a major illness- at least the kind that requires hospitalization. Prior to that she was in the hospital every winter, sometimes several times and sometimes in the summer too. So I think she is stronger and her immune system might have finally caught up to where it should be. I have loved seeing her personality shine and it is extra fun to see her act more like a preteen than a little girl. She has a very sharp sense of humor and we all love that most about her!
One of the things that jumped out at me about her last night was that she was the last person sitting at the table for dinner. The younger brothers are always the first to leave {or be excused!} and the others had run off to play and do homework. I was starting to clean up the kitchen and asked Wyndham is she was ready to move to another room too. She got up {which she rarely does on her own} and then picked up her plate and fork and brought it over to the kitchen sink. I was so proud of her and praised her for being a good helper! She loves to help set the table and mix things when we're cooking, and even likes to wipe the table when we're done. But it was cool to see her take the initiative and just do something that she is fully capable of doing, but rarely does. I know I could and should 'demand' more of her and all my kids when it comes to stuff like this. It still made me happy inside to know that she did it all her own and that she was pleased with herself too. It's hard to know what respnsibilities she should have, and even hard to not just do them all ourself because it is easier on her and on us. She beams- just like you see in her picture here today- when she meets or exceeds expectations. Don't we all?!
Then there is Brock. he deserves the spotlight around this blog too. As the oldest of the kids that ARE so demanding around here, he often gets added chores or time blocks where we ask him to help out. He still is always so willing to do whatever it is we ask. I don't praise him enough for that, and although I sometimes take him along to Target or to Barnes & Noble- and he also gets to go to sporting events and hang out with his friends there and at youth group, it is still nice to hear the praise too. So I am going to publicly say thanks to him for his generous spirit and helpfulness to Chip and to me at home. The kids look up to him and love him- even as much as they annoy him and hang on him too. I thought it was pretty impressive that a young check-out girl at Target actually noticed and said to him, "You're a good big brother" as he pushed Teague in the cart while I unloaded and paid the tab. Just by watching the way he responded to and entertained Teague for those few minutes was enough to make an impression and speak to his character that was seen by the girl ringing up our groceries. It made me realize that he is dependable and kind in how he treats his siblings. He told her he likes being the oldest of the 6 kids and Teague put on quite the show by barking and panting like a puppy right back. =) hee hee
I was thinking today about how much time and effort and prayers and tears and feelings of inadequacy fill my life when it comes to parenting and raising kids these days. That is much of my life from morning til night- and often even in the middle of the night too! But oh how wonderful and affirming it is to have glimpses of your kids "getting it right". I am realizing that though they need endless reminders and lots of guidance, they are learning at the very least what the expectations are, and that when they hit that mark it hopefully fuels in them the desire to keep going and strive to be the best they can be.
I wondered how I am doing on that level in regards to my spiritual life. After years of knowing what to do and how to do it I still need reminders and lots of guidance and encouragment to do the right thing. The walk of faith can be long and winding and daunting. Yet I know that I am going in the right direction and my heart still yearns to beat like that of Christ's. But I fall short everyday. Still, I know that God loves my efforts...He loves to see me {and all of us!} try our best. He loves when we listen, follow and obey. No matter what the cost; no matter who is watching.
I know that even on the days I am less than beaming for Him that He still wants the best from me, and expects it too! I know nothing I can do will make God love me more or love me less. Still, it is a neat picture to imagine Him smiling down when we get it right. Simply because we are being who He created us to be. I am working on being a better listener too. That way you know just what He wants and I know in turn my kids will see a better example of what I hope they grow to be too. More like Him.
I am posting from Michigan, after having just spent a few days back in Minnesota. We were supposed to be there the rest of this week- for spring break. But, as luck would have it, the night time sleeping wasn't going well for some of us, and that meant lots of daytime fussing and not-so-much fun as we had hoped. So we re-packed our new van and drove back early. One of the biggest lessons I am learning in life, and especially so as we grew to be such a large family, is that you have to be willing to change plans. Even if they are extra work, take away fun memories and cause their own bit of hassle too. Oh well. I don't blame the kids for all of it, as it is hard to travel so far {10 1/2 hours on the way over...12 on the way back}, sleep on airbeds and be on a different schedule in a different time zone. We are now just happy to be back with several more days to sleep in and just hang out before it is time to go back to school and routine.
The past week was another busy one! Besides the drive over and back, Chip flew over and back and drove over and back, all while getting his new golf course open and running a huge Easter brunch too. He celebrated his birthday with us by getting a text from me at 4:15 am asking if he could change his flight and come and help drive us home. Crazy, true and probably felt more like an April Fool's joke to him. But he willingly did as we asked him too and in the end we managed to make a memory by having a family dinner together on our long drive home. I owe him a birthday present now, but did make sure to tell him a big thank you for being a great dad and being so flexible too!
The kids did enjoy some parts of our trip- especially Easter and seeing family, friends and dressing up and finding some eggs with a bit of candy and money inside too. Wyndham has been so cute with her big smiles and showing off for the camera even moreso lately. =) I love that.
We are getting more and more sunshine {and had awesome blue skies as we drove through Chicago on Thursday afternoon!} and I am happy to share some full scrap pages I made for my April gallery at Cocoa Daisy. It is available for purchase right now and this Forecast kit has gotten rave reviews! Cocoa Daisy also has a few new things going on including a special "Day in the Life" kit. I am just getting started myself with doing Project Life and am very excited about how to document some everyday big and little details.
So, hello to April and spring and more sunshine and hopefully to growing a new yard at our old house again too. We continue to settle in here in Michigan, and being back in MN made me and the kids miss a lot of things about living there. I am not sure when we will get back there again, so for now, we will continue to send our love and be thankful for the family, friends and fun we have waiting for return that pick up right where we left off.
Despite the long, drawn-out winter weather we have been experiencing late into March, the days seem to be going by quickly anyway! The past couple of weeks we celebrated Ava's 9th birthday, St. Patrick's Day, Teagan's sweet 16 birthday, bought a new van {we've had the same minivan for the past 12 years!} and are now heading to Minnesota tomorrow for our Easter/Spring Break. I know it's not sunny Florida or any warmer than we are here in MI, but where family and friends are is always better than sun in my book! So we are loading up our new wheels and taking a 12+hour trip west for 10 days. Chip will be flying back here to MI as soon as he drives us all over, because he has to get his golf course open and has tons of things on his plate as the golf season kicks off. We will miss his birthday while we are away, but I am sure we can find a way to eat cake when we get back and make up for it once we are settled back home. He says he will try to enjoy his birthday even without us all here and just might get a full, quiet night's sleep for once!
So, with all that going on I have not had extra time to blog here. But I do post and am on FB {more than I should be!}, so if you need some Nitty.Gritty. fixes in between my posts, feel free to friend me and I can see what you are up to in your corner of the world too! I have had time to scrap and play with the awesome April Cocoa Daisy kit~ Forecast. It is filled with bright, fresh spring colors and as you can see in my sneak peeks here today, I used lots of patterned papers and had fun layering so many bits and pieces of the kit on my pages. I made all the clouds "happy" clouds on my projects and am so looking forward to spring, sunshine, day-dreaming and hopefully soaking up some nice warm days very soon. In the meantime, there has been much memory-making, reflecting and gearing up for changes around here too.
I hope your spring forecast is looking bright. Bring it on! =)
I am caught up on laundry for a quick moment. For real!
My house is fairly tidy too, as we had a guy come and take measurements for some caret that we are getting replaced. Funny how I can clean the house for some random guy that comes over for a mantter of minutes. ButI can totally let it go and live in it with clutter here and there for days- with the people I love most in this world. Something seems amiss about that. And I was convicted of that thought even as I put things away earlier today. So I am going to make that my personal challenge when it comes to cleaning. Instead of letting things go I will hopefully tell myself, "No...do it! Do it for the people you love, right now!"
And maybe, just maybe they will want to do a bit f tidying to show their love for me right back. This could be a win-win!
Speaking of win... Chris Cross who likes aqua, gey and yellow, email me your address and I will send you a little book and scraps. Yay for happy mail! {nitty.grittyjody at yahoo.com}
I have to share one more story that goes with the photos here today. All this talk of flair reminded me of when I used towork at TGIFriday's many years ago. We were required to wear at least "10 pieces of flair" and I never could part with my uniform and all that flair. So when I mentioned my boring Friday nights {because Chip works late and I am stuck home with 6 kids every Friday} on a Facebook update, I joked that I could make the night fun by wearing my old uniform. Well, one thing led to another- as it sometimes does on FB- and I found myself cooking noodles while sporting my stripes and flair. The kids got such a kick out of seeing me in my old outfit. A couple of them were surprised that I had ever actually "worked" before- "you had a real job once, Mom?!". It was like I was a Disney character and they even wanted their picture with me. hee hee
Yes, it was fun and humbling all in one. But it made our boring night a bit moe exciting and reminded me of my own advice that I don't take often enough which is "Sometimes you have to create your own Joy". We played some games, had popcorn and watched Ice Age and turned our hum-drum Friday into one that made a memory. Hopefully I can follow this act coming up this Friday. Or maybe I will just have to wear my stripes and flair each week! Although I wonder when the fun would wear off. =) I was just happy that my skirt still fit! And now I have an excuse for why I save the crazy things I do. They are joy-makers. That's why!
