Heroes and Birthdays

It can't believe that I am 42.... wait....43 today - wow, I actually had to figure that one out mathematically!   Darn, I've been thinking all month I was turning 42 - it sounds SO MUCH younger.

The kids are VERY excited about my birthday - more so than I.  Sarah has been saying all week, "I CAN'T WAIT til Wednesday!!!"  They went shopping with Daddy last Saturday to buy things, even though I told them not to - the whole "no money" thing - so they all know what I'm getting.  I told them only practical things - things I need for the kitchen, because that really is all I need and care about (except for clothes - can always use some new clothes, but no way - too much money).

I've become cynical in my old age, because just about every year, something NOT FUN happens on my birthday. Something that ruins the magicalness of the day.  Last year, I had Steven leaving the next week, to work in Texas for an undetermined amount of time.   It turned out to be 5 months, and those months were some of the hardest in my life.  But not this year.  I'm determined to have a GREAT birthday. Even when Steven woke up this morning to find that our internet and cell phones had been cut off (we love Verizon) because they've been waiting for some money for 2 months! The nerve! He paid the bill on the phone, and they were all up and running by the time I came downstairs at 10:30. (Wait, how did he pay the bill if our phones were cut off?? I gotta remember to ask him about that when he gets home!!)  Yes, I slept in ON MY BIRTDAY until 10:15 (that is, AFTER I got up at 6:30 to wake Jake, and made Jake, Shane and Sam's lunches and got Jake out the door with Steven - I NEVER get to sleep in, and it seemed semi-luxurious, even though I still could hear and tell what was going on downstairs).  Then Sammy came in and woke me, wondering if he was gonna get to go to Kindergarten today. When I told him it wasn't time yet, he sighed and said in a wistful voice, "I guess I'm just not gonna go to school today..." Oh my goodness, that kid!!  OK, that got me up and in the shower, and downstairs by 10:30. 

Sarah asked me a couple days ago, "What kind of birthday cake are you going to make yourself?"  Yep, my 14 year-old, who I've taught how to cook and bake, asked me that. I don't have the heart to even expect her to make me one - she's buried by homework every night, and is in the middle of volleyball season, and hardly has ANY free time.   She offered to make a cake for me, kinda half-heartedly, but I just laughed and told her that's OK.  Then last night, Steven was watching me with a sly grin, while I was browsing thru my cookbooks and recipes, trying to find that perfect birthday cake recipe, using only ingredients I have in my house.  He said, "So what recipe do I get to make?"  I love him. I love him with all my heart.  He would do anything for me, and any of the kids.

Yesterday, I played "Musical Dressers" and switched 3 dressers around the house, so that Sammy could have a big dresser now. He is so excited to have a BIG BOY dresser. I realized before I even made the switch, that Sammy would need a stepstool to be able to get into his top drawer. So I mentioned it to Steven, after he was finished installing the earthquake straps to both dressers (Carissa and Sammy are both using different dressers now), and asked him what scrap lumber he had that would work. Within an hour, he was half done, constructing an AWESOME stepstool for Sammy to use. The little bench is waiting for its last coat of varnish, and it will be done.  Steven is my hero. There's nothing he CAN'T do!

(The "S" on his chest stands for Steven, in case you were wondering)

This WILL be a good birthday. I can feel it. Even if it didn't start out that way for poor Steven.  Because really, all that matters to me, is that my precious family is surrounding me, they will STAY surrounding me, through the good times and through the bad times, and nobody's leaving for Texas anytime soon, and we all get to eat a birthday cake, made by my sweet, adoring husband. I can't wait... : )