Gardenias

Gardenias will always remind me of my mom.  She has always proclaimed to love the smell of gardenias. And who wouldn't?  They smell delicious, I love them as well.  When I was getting married, she suggested them for my bouquet, so I got them.  My bouquet smelled absolutely wonderful!

We just got back from Hawaii where I had a conversation about gardenias with a friend.  Since there is a 4 hour time difference, we are still adjusting and I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night and I started thinking about gardenias, which led to me thinking about my wedding.

I was 23 years old when I got married and I was just so excited and ready to be married!  Once I knew Kirk was the one for me, my wedding date couldn't come fast enough.  So when I had to find a dress, get a cake, pick out invitations, etc, I really didn't care that much.  Mostly I just wanted December 19th to get here so that I could get married and start my new life.  I was never the kind of girl that spent time day dreaming about weddings and all the hoopla that surrounds them.  The day finally arrived and it was perfect!  I was sealed to my husband.  My favorite things about my wedding were first of all, my new husband, the veil I wore with my dress, the snow that came that night, the Christmas trees and lights, and the dishes (both everyday and Christmas!) that we received.  But mostly I was just excited about my new husband, the rest didn't matter.

Since being married, we have been to all kinds of weddings.  We have eaten gourmet food, seen choreographed first dances, heard lots of beautiful speeches from parents and family, witnessed grand entrances and exits, enjoyed amazing scenery, worn all kinds of colors, and we have been very happy for friends and family.  I am just always a little bewildered that people spend so much time/money "planning" weddings.  And sometimes I even feel bad that I didn't think to "plan" my own wedding, but I don't feel too bad.  My married life has been so great!  I know that any amount of decorating, dancing, speeches, and money couldn't ever enhance what I have today.

I don't really know what the point of this post is.  As I wrote it, I remembered I had already written something similar here  I guess spending a week with my husband and family just really makes me happy and grateful for what I have.  So I guess the point is, I love my husband and family and if they were all I had, I would still be happy!

The Sugar Report

So we went the whole week without sugar.  No treats, no soda, no granola bars, no sugared cereal, but we did eat fruit.  It was really hard in the beginning.  On Friday my Aunt and Uncle stopped by and brought a huge container of chocolate chip cookies.  I didn't have the heart to tell them we were off of sugar, but I was so grateful that it was something that I could freeze for later, which I did.  On Sunday we voted as a family to take the day off.  You should have seen how quickly the boys went for their Easter candy!  Except for David, he went right to the freezer for those cookies.  I had totally forgotten about them, but as soon as I saw them, I joined him and ate several.  They were sooo good!  Later we went to my brother's house for dinner and enjoyed strawberry shortcake for dessert, that is one of my favorites and I had already passed it up earlier in the week.  It was a good Sunday!  Despite all of those treats tasting so good, I had a little regret.  It really wasn't that hard for me anymore to pass it up and I ruined my perfect record.  About 10 minutes into my workout Monday morning, my head was pounding!  I decided sugar is not for me.  And I NEVER thought I would EVER say that!  I won't eliminate dessert forever, but it has become so much easier to pass up treats.  I don't crave cookies and chocolate like I used to.  So anyway, I think I will be avoiding sugar except for the occasional treat.  I do have a new craving that I have never had before and that is for peanut butter.  I have always liked peanut butter, but never craved it until now.  So apple slices and peanut butter are my new treat.  And it has to be the all natural stuff from Costco, I love it!  

Thankful

I have said it before, but I am so thankful that my boys have a place where they can go free and practice being boys.  They can shoot guns, ride four wheelers, hike, and get dirty.  It is so nice to see them place when we are in Rockville.  Ethan and Tyler took to killing lizards, I finally had to tell them to just shoot bugs, I felt bad about all the lizards they were injuring.  

Then they decided to try and catch lizards, which is a lot harder than shooting them.

Rockville is always so refreshing!  It is such a nice change for us.  

When we got home, the kids were still out of school on Monday for Spring Break.  It has been such nice weather, that I have a few windows in my house open.  On Monday I was in my bathroom getting ready for the day and could hear all the kids outside playing.  I live in such a great place.  I love that all four of my kids can play safely outside and find friends to play with.  It was so much fun to listen to all the kids. I know my boys will always have fond memories of playing in the streets and homes of my wonderful neighbors.  We are so blessed for all the wonderful things we enjoy!

And Then My Dad Decided to "Trim" the Trees

Friday afternoon we were just relaxing, my mom looked out the window to see my dad fall backwards off the four wheeler with a branch coming down after him as well as his chainsaw.  He got lots of help really quick!  Luckily he was fine, it was my mom who was upset.  Then, before I knew it Kirk was up in the tree with the chain saw.  When my dad decides something needs to be done, he doesn't hold back.  I couldn't believe the amount of branches we hauled off.

Thankfully the trees are pruned and there were no casualties!

No Sugar!

Just a quick update on our goal of no sugar, we are doing great!  Two days down, 10 more to go.  Monday was hard for the boys, mostly Jacob.  At the end of the day we talked about who had done it and who hadn't.  Tyler said he was offered popsicles and candy, but he said he was on a sugar break.  Yesterday the twins passed up treats at school.  Kirk wins for resisting though, he passed up paradise bakery cookies at work!  So far we have all been successful!

They're Getting Big, But Not Too Big for an Egg Hunt

 Sometimes those twins of mine start to act like they are too cool for things or too grown up.  They truly were excited for Easter candy because they saw me loading up the eggs, but I was surprised how quickly they went after the eggs.  I'm glad to see they still "young" enough for these silly traditions!

After the hunt, they all took off up the hill to their hut to share/trade/count their candy.  

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny came to our house and left lots of treats.  We had a whole week of treats, I've got some great pictures for another post, but the point of this post is we have eaten a lot of treats!  So we ate some more today and now our family is officially going off sugar for 2 weeks!  Wish us luck, we are all going to need it.  So tonight I am going to gather up all the goodies and pack them away for another day.