Simple Sandwich Skewers for our Anniversary

 

6/15/13 - Hubby was out of town for our anniversary - 17 years since our first date, and 8 years of marriage. So the girls and I went to his mom's house - Nana's - for the day.

"WHAT?!" you say. Why would I choose to go to my mother-in-law's house? And why would I go without my husband there as a buffer? I'll tell you why! Not only do I enjoy hanging around all my in-laws [it's okay, you can be jealous,] but going to Nana's is as close to a vacation as a Mama ever gets! Nana gets the glasses of water. She makes the food. She mitigates the squabbles. And she insists that she doesn't mind! That she LOVES watching the kids. Good enough for me! Half the time I visit I manage to take a snooze right there in the living room! *Bliss!* Plus I like talking to her and stuff too.

So this was the next best thing to having Hubby home for our anniversary. I got a break from being the responsible party for the day! Anyway, I packed lunches for the ride up, and to snack on while there.

For my Big Girl

organic apples, peas, carrots; GF PBJ bites, The Good Bean Sweet Cinnamon chickpeas; 

Our wedding had a butterfly theme, to add color, since Hubby picked white as our theme color. I accented with a periwinkle blue, which is why I chose the light blue silicone butterfly cup to hold The Good Bean roasted chickpeas for Z.

I used the FunBites square cutter on some gluten-free bread, then added the spreads as I skewered the bread squares onto the bride and groom stir sticks (with the ends snipped off to fit into the EasyLunchbox.)

[The Good Bean sent me an assortment of their products for free, no strings attached. This post contains affiliate links.]

For the Podling

GF PBJ bites, The Good Bean Cracked Pepper chickpeas; organic apples, blueberries, tomatoes, peas, carrots

Little Sis got pretty much the same lunch, only without all the fancy stuff. She got a silicone star cup for her Good Bean snacks (and she got the pepper flavor, since she's the only one here that likes it.) And instead of the bridge and groom skewers of death, she got some Starbucks drink stopper jobbers skewered through her sandwiches.

Tools of the Trade

    

"The One"

My husband and I dated 5 years before he proposed. Then we took another 4 years to actually tie the knot. We were married 3 years before our first child was born, and another 3-and-a-half for the next. We don't exactly rush into things around here!
Since we got married on the 9th anniversary of our first date [awwww!] I kind of count those years too. So this June will be our 16th anniversary [Good Lord. I don't feel old enough to have been together that long...]

When he first asked me out, I kind of misunderstood, and said "yes" by accident. When I realized my error, I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I went through with it anyway. We had a great time on our first date, where we went shopping and had dinner at a local mall, then saw a movie. At both the music and book stores, we were either grabbing for the same things, or else already had whatever the other person was looking at. It was kind of uncanny.
I realized I was in love with him the night we had our second date, only 2 days later, since he was going away on a business trip after that. Darnit.

I didn't realize that he was "The One" until years later, when I had a random thought that I should do dishes. Now, to most people that's just normal stuff. But not to me. You see, I'm a fairly selfish person. And lazy. I didn't "do" dishes. Or laundry, really. Or cleaning. Or cooking... you get the idea. My friends who knew me before I had kids are amazed at how different I am now. Don't get me wrong. I'm still selfish and lazy. But now I also have a few little VIPs I care about even more than myself.
But anyway, back to the dishes. You see, I had this random thought that I should do the dishes because it would please him. And not in a selfish way, like, he'd be happy and praise me. No. I just randomly thought I should do the dishes because it would be nice for him. Which brought me to a sudden halt. I wanted to be a  better person... for him. He must be The One!

No worries. I was so jarred by this realization, that I never got around to actually doing the dishes.

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

With Love, to My Husband

Even though it's now technically the next day, I wanted to wish my wonderful husband a happy 6th/15th anniversary!

June 15th, 1996: we went out on our first date. Dinner, shopping and a movie (The Rock. Which he lied and said he hadn't seen yet, since I was so excited about seeing it.)
June 15, 2001: After dinner, shopping and a movie (and a make-your-own candy necklace kit!) he proposed.
June 15, 2005: We got married (finally!)
June 15, 2008: (Which also happened to be his very first Father's Day,) we lay back in exhaustion with our 1-week-old, as my in-laws invaded and fed us! Scooore!
June 15, 2011: He came home early and took The Princess to her "Big Show" at Little Gym while I went to my MOMS Club board meeting. He was a champ, and even put her to bed, since I was still gone, and never once texted or called asking me when was I coming home. I love you so much, honey. Thank you.

Thank you for loving me and putting up with all my crap. I hope that we'll have many more years of hitting you with a pillow when you snore of love, friendship and all that sappy stuff.