happy

This morning my husband and kids surprised me with homemade waffles in the shape of—you guessed it—hearts. Is that sweet or what? It’s my birthday today, and in the words of Twin A., “all of these hearts mean we love you.” The waffle maker wasn’t even on my Amazon wish list, so my husband gets huge bonus points for remembering that I wanted one. And all of this is “extra” really; we already celebrated my birthday on Saturday.

One sure-fire way to get what you want on your birthday? Plan it yourself! About six-months ago (maybe more?) I told my husband I wanted to see Wicked. (Well, I told him that 2 years ago, but six-months ago I went online and ordered tickets.) I bought tickets for us and good friends, who also happen to be family, secured babysitting for the day, and it was settled. We’d spend the day in Chicago celebrating my birthday.

We feasted on dim sum in Chinatown, and afterwards, I had a tapioca pearl drink that tasted a lot like body wash. This was the only low spot of the day, really, and at least it provided us all with a good laugh. (Seriously. My all-time favorite tapioca pearl drink back at our old haunt in California is the taro root flavor. It tastes exactly like the milk at the end of a bowl of Captain Crunch. This drink did not. Instead, it resembled the “freesia” scent at bath-and-body works. Actually, LL would probably really like it!)

Wicked was hot. If you have a chance to see this musical, go. In fact, I’ll see it again if you need a friend to go with. This show was amazing. Afterwards, we walked to Garrett’s and bought popcorn. The mix was the perfect blend of sweet and salty. Mmmmm.

I feel blessed to have so many dear friends and family in my life. And enjoying my heart-shaped waffles today with my boys, I’m reminded again of God’s faithfulness to me. “God sets the lonely in families…” (Psalm 68:6)

Indeed.