33 on the third

I may be 33 years old today. But I really am still all about celebrating my birthday. And this one is particularly great because I'm turning 33 on the third, and three is my favorite number. {Nerdy, I know!} Thing is, I don't just like my own birthday; I like birthdays of the people I love too. That's probably why I love sharing the first week of May with my girl.

She turns 5 on Sunday, but our birthdays are usually intertwined. And I'm happy to share, especially with her. Actually, it's birthday season at our house. Greg's birthday was 11 days ago, meaning all three of ours are within two weeks. Ben has been repeating what I told him about his birthday: "My birthday far away." Yes, that's one way to describe November.

We started the day with breakfast that I didn't have to cook.

Of course, my day has involved trying to tame this. The boy. Not his hair.

Courtney surprised me with an entire chocolate peanut butter cake.

It's been a day as sweet as that cake. It's also been a day that involves normal life. Like I told Katie in the second phone-tag voice mail I left her, doesn't everyone want to go to Kroger on their birthday? Well, OK, maybe not. But grocery shopping is part of what I do. And I'm thankful I am able to do that because it means I have a family to feed. I also bought milk at Rite-Aid {two gallons for $4.78}, picked up cookies from a bakery and later took them to Cate's preschool class for her birthday celebration there, and had an impromptu lunch with Jaclyn and her two girls.

And the day is far from over.

We have plans to meet Courtney and her kids at Dairy Queen because Noah wanted to celebrate Cate's birthday even though she decided to have a girls-only Strawberry Shortcake party. I may pass on ice cream today. But, yes, I may have a second piece of that cake. And still later Greg is taking me on a date. It's been awhile, so I'm looking forward to adult conversation, even though it's like to find its way back to topics involving our girl who is getting ready to turn 5 and our boy who has no idea he's only 2 1/2 years old.

Sharing birthdays, running errands and talking about the kids when they're not there are welcomed on my birthday because that's all part of life. And I seriously like my ordinary, everyday life. An entire cake, continuous dinging of my phone with texts and Facebook wall posts, and meals with friends that cover more than just my actual birthday are added blessings. For those and this life, I'm thankful.

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