My Birthday

I know that there are many people who don't really care too much for their birthday. I am not one of these people. I love my birthday!! I love the presents. I love the cake. I love getting together with my friends to celebrate. I love it all!
Except this year.
I don't know if it is because it has been a particularly dreary January, or because I reached what in my mind is a SCARY age, (from here on out they are all scary!), but I just couldn't get into it this year. I've been moping around for most of the month, dreading the arrival of what I was sure would be a truly deplorable day. My birthday falls on Sunday this year. We recently moved and I miss my friends. My mom just told me that I have now reached the age where I need to wear makeup, and not just on Sundays. I am still trying to fit into my pants that fit perfectly before I ate my weight in chocolate truffles over the holidays. There was no way that this was going to be a good day.
Luckily, someone else had some other plans. The day before my birthday I had some wonderful visitors. (I'll post about that later, but their visit really made my weekend!) And the day of my birthday, Benji really went above and beyond to make the day a good one.
But first, some history:
There is a pattern in our marriage of Benji finishing my projects. Those of you who know me well, which I'm assuming is everyone who is reading this, know that I am not very detail oriented. Benji on the other hand, is a wonder with details, and can pick up almost any task and turn it into a masterpiece. (What a stinker!) The Christmas before we got married, I kept him up on Christmas eve until 2 or 3 in the morning working on an afghan that I told him was for my Dad. He was so great about helping me finish it and was totally shocked when he opened up his present Christmas morning to see the afghan he had been working on just a few hours before. This incident proved to be just a sampling of what was to come.
In our time together he has helped me tie quilts, cut and glue flannel board stories, and work on just about every craft imaginable. I don't think I would ever get anything of substance done without him.
This week was no different. I started making a piñata with the kids during one of our snow days, thinking that it would be fun to break on my birthday. Well, long story short, piñata making with three children is not really the best idea in the world. (Surprise, surprise). Before we were through, we had flour paste spread all over and our piñata looked nothing like the shamrock/butterfly that we had planned. So I gave up. I put my mostly painted, half-finished piñata in the laundry room and tried to forget about it. (With a few stacks of laundry that I was also trying to forget.)

While I was at church on Sunday and Benji was home taking care of a sick Gabe, (or so I thought), he and Gabe were actually finishing my piñata. Taping, painting, stuffing, working on my half finished project and making my day in the process. After the girls got home from church and Mags had a much needed nap, we opened presents, pulled out our light sabers, and broke the piñata. (We use light sabers because we don't have that many bats and everyone wants their own whacking stick, of course!) It was a great day and I am thankful to my family for thinking of me.
As a side note, I think the whole idea of a piñata is genius-- Hitting something as hard as you can and then being rewarded with a load of candy; it doesn't get any better than that.

Also, I do have to send a big thanks to everyone who called and sent birthday wishes. I felt so loved; it was a lovely, lovely day!

Sage & Gabe helping out with the piñata