Birthday yesterday celebrate today birthday!

Friday was my birthday. I am now officially 27 years old and I have four kids and my husband will soon be done with his degree here at UT-Austin. It is a good place to be in my life. Yes, both Joseph and I are fairly sleep deprived at this very moment, but things in general are good. We all have our good health, we live comfortably, we have great friends and neighbors, and the seasons are changing.

Emily was thinking about my birthday for a while before it actually arrived. I found this on my pillow a couple of days before Friday.

 translation: "It's almost your birthday! Have a good birthday when it's time" (on fancy shark paper, of course).

Friday itself was hectic. I was out running errands all morning until I came home around noon to catch my breath, feed the kids lunch, and meet Emily after school. I was grateful for the bomb threat on campus because it meant I could have Joseph here at home with me. He had secretly participated in an academic study to earn a special $100 which he allocated specifically for my birthday. Because of this, he was able to get me some earrings I had admired earlier and then forgotten because of the price tag. I do love my good husband. After earring shopping we put a new battery in my watch, perused a used bookstore, stopped by the YMCA to pick up Em's soccer jersey, and finally went to the ward dessert potluck. Before dinner, but that's just a minor detail, right?

Saturday rolled around and Emily was very offended that we had not celebrated my birthday properly with cake and singing. We told her we would do it a day late, so she made this sign mostly to reconcile reality with her very strict rules regarding birthday celebrations.

"Birthday yesterday celebrate today birthday!" has sort of become our slogan. We suggested she make a sign for Elinor today saying "birthday tomorrow celebrate today birthday!" and she seriously considered it. But the hours and days really do fly and it was bedtime before she'd had a chance.

My belated birthday celebration really was nice though. I don't know how Joseph manages to know just what to do for me. He picked up some basil, spinach, cucumbers, and tomatoes from the farmers' market in the morning and made pesto and an awesome salad for dinner. Cake was his mom's delicious sponge cake with a seven-minute frosting sprinkled with coconut.

 

That evening we were able to sit and watch a movie together while all the kids miraculously slept (and stayed sleeping). This was a huge deal and so rejuvenating.

It was such a fun birthday. I am blessed to have a wonderful family that appreciates me.

Next up: Miss Elinor's birthday! Do we Coopers have the energy to keep on partying? With a girl like Emily around, we'd better!