Celebrating Thirty-Three

On Saturday, I turned a whopping 33 years old. I expected it to be no biggy, but I gradually began to realize that my kids were not going to settle for just another day. I'll be honest, kids make having a birthday exciting all over again.

It started the day prior when Grace and Jack realized my birthday was the following day. In minutes they were in a football huddle on the deck outside with a pencil in hand filling out a paper full of ideas and drawings detailing how they were going to surprise me on my birthday. The cutest part was that they were crouched under a bright green umbrella to keep things secretive. Later that afternoon, my daughter came in and announced that she had shouted out to our neighbor that she was invited to my birthday part tomorrow. (Not that I was having a birthday party.)

Disappointed and in complete disbelief that Mom was not having a party (what's wrong with her), I quickly tried to make ammends by suggesting that we could all bake birthday cupcakes today...and all was well again. We had a blast together.


I awoke on Saturday to my children at my bed side with a cardboard box in hand. They smelled like the early dawn, and had spent time combing the backyard in their PJs as they sought out gifts outside like gathering manna in the morning. Inside the box was a mushroom, a bright zinnia, crepe myrtle berries, and a zinnia bud. In Grace's words, the zinnia bud represented the new year before me. Isn't that sweet?


Ken gave me a morning off as he and the children hunted down gifts with price tags. But I OH SO LOVED them: a new laptop (mine officially died) and a brand spankin' new digital camera which I am completely stoked over...all the better to blog with.


My day got better and better by the hour. My lovely sister-in-law (above), who I will be blogging about later on a different post (oh yes...I'm blogging about you girl!), offered to give Ken and I our first night out sans children since pre-Faith era. Those were two delicious hours with my handsome husband. How I have missed date nights.

The evening was topped off with the first disc of the second season of LOST. Does a birthday get any better??? I'm really liking thirty-three. :)