Bloggers Block!

Sometimes a girl just doesn't know what to blog about! Gabby and I are keeping busy as always. I'm rocking the No Sugar Contest. It's been 17 days now. I've gotta say, I may never eat sugar again. I've lost 5 or 6 pounds and my wardrobe expands as the weight goes down. I was eating a lot of junk and if I can't eat sugar, I just don't eat. Who'd have thought it? Only 3 people have caved so far, but I'm in it for the long haul. I do dream about eating sugar. I had the most wonderful dream about eating Fruity Pebbles (my favorite!). When I woke up, I was upset that I lost the challenge and had to go check to make sure I didn't actually have Fruity Pebbles in my house, the dream was that real. I really miss chocolate. It's really empowering, though, to be able to maintain this self-control. I had my doubts about myself if few of you did!

The past couple of Saturdays, Gabby has been putting on makeup with me. I really love having a daughter. I remember when I was Gabby's age how much I loved playing in my mom's makeup. It's great making these memories with Gabby. Notice her eye and forhead on her left. Gabby inherited my grace. She ran into a tree at school. She was looking behind her as she was running, but that's definitely something I would do! We have matching legs as well, covered in bruises!

So here's my new do! I got it done Monday and I like it. It's fun and different for me. Gabby took this shot as well. She's a funny photographer. This was the first shot. She directed me to make my best goofy face on the second. On the third, she suggested I give my best laugh for the camera. She keeps me entertained!

Happy Easter!

The weather reports kept saying that today would be yucky. I was thrilled to wake up to the glorious sunshine! Gabby and I walked to church to make the most of the sun.

Gabby posing in her pretty dress

Gabby's silly face

My silly face in my new dress. Gabby did a good job taking this picture.

Davids's britches were a little big for him. They kept falling down and he just kept right on going!

Gabby's Easter stash

We love Cousins!

The hunt!

The No Sugar Contest

Some of my co-workers decided to have a no sugar contest. Everyone who participates gives $20 to a pot, the last one standing gets the money. Well, 2nd and 3rd place get their $20 back. I am a candy junky! I have quite the sweet tooth. At work, I have drawer solely devoted to candy and treats that I munch on all day. I also I have candy jar. I'd been contemplating cutting out some of my sugar intake and this contest seemed like a good time and the kick in the butt I needed. There are 14 of us competing. The contest began on Monday. Natural sugars in fruit and such are ok; basically it's all the junk that's cut out.

Here's a picture of some of my uneaten stash. It calls my name every evening! The times I most crave sugar are after lunch and dinner. I made quite the habit of having something sweet after meals. I just love candy! I love desserts! I'm a total stress eater, too. Especially chocolate. I really wanted some chocolate this afternoon! This is a good challenge for me. I gave up sugar once before about 6 years ago and I think I made it 2 weeks. The other hard part is Gabby. I'm accustomed to sampling a bite of the treats I give her without thinking about it. I'm on Day 3 now and I find that I'd rather not eat or snack if it's not sweet so I may even drop a few pounds depending on how long I go! One colleague is already out, so I only have 12 more to beat!

I thought I'd offer a contest to my dear followers. Put your guess as to how long I'll make it without sugar in a comment. If you live in the area, I'll make you a pie or cheesecake (I've been told I make delicious ones!) . If you don't, I'll figure something sweet to send you! If I win, I'm keeping the money for me! Honestly, I have no idea how long this can go on or what would cause me to succumb to temptation. The co-workers not doing the contest rather enjoy tempting us with delicious banned treats. If I'm the last gal standing, I'll probably end up treating myself to some Coldstone goodness. Mmmm, ice cream. Sigh!

Dallas and Austin

Though the circumstances were unwelcome, Gabby and I were both glad to go see our family. I hadn't seen my aunts, uncles, and cousins in over 4 years so I really glad to see them again. I have so many happy and fun memories of going to Austin to my grandparents' house. I'm glad Gabby is old enough to hopefully retain some memory of it.

Gabby and I flew to Dallas Tuesday morning. Gabby is going through a phase of speaking whatever comes to mind. Our flight to Dallas was full and a man sat down next to me. Gabby asked me who he was and why he was sitting by me. I told her the plane was full and someone had to sit by me. She leaned forward, looked the man up and down, and said, "I don't like him, Mommy. I don't want you talking to him." Fortunately, the stranger thought it was hilarious and wasn't at all offended. How do you teach a child self-censoring? Gabby is also intrigued by determine and defining the differences between men and women. She asked why a man (sitting right by me in the airport) had long hair like girls. He immediately stood up and walked away. It's an entertaining phase!

Grandpa B's casket was open prior to the funeral beginning and Gabby and I went to it to pay our respects. I had explained to Gabby he had died. Gabby said, "But Mommy, I don't want him to be dead. How can we make it so he's not dead?" I explained in as simple of terms as possible that was why Jesus lived, so that we could all have new bodies one day and not be dead, but we would have to wait a while for that to happen. She seemed satisfied with the answer. At the burial, one of the ministers was an older man with white hair like Grandpa B's. When Gabby saw him standing there, she exclaimed to me, "Look, Grandpa's not dead anymore! Jesus did it!" The faith of a child!

Gabby, Madison, Adabelle, Kaylee, Matthew, and Thomas loved all the cousin-time.

Gabby and Thomas playing hopscotch in the backyard

Here are all but 2 of the great-grand children. Jen was able to travel without David and Maggie and I think really enjoyed her kid-free time. There are only 4 non-DeVauxs in the bunch

Madison and Gabby.

I love my grandparent's house. It has the coolest landscaping. They live West Lake hills in Austin. There are all these paths around their house and it always felt like such an adventure to explore them. It was fun watching Gabby and her cousins discover and enjoy them.

There was a fantastic thunderstorm just as we were leaving Austin. I LOVE storms. Utah doesn't get too many thunderstorms so I was glad to have one while I was there. There was even a rainbow afterwards.

Marji and Jim were moving to a new house. Originally, Jen and I planned on flying home from Dallas on Sunday. We realized we were a bit in the way and were able to switch our flights to fly from Little Rock. We rode back with Pam Thursday night. There were 6 of us and 5 seat belts so we doubled up Gabby and Madison. Gabby feel asleep quickly and Madison was pretending to sleep in this picture.

She finally went to sleep and I thought they were so cute sleeping together.

Madison and Gabby, still BFF!