Thirty Four and Looking for More!

Buffalo Wings. My husband. His birthday was Friday. It started out to be a good day, with fun presents and birthday wishes, but by the end of the day, our television had blown up due to a power surge and a brown-out, and our computer was messed up and we didn't know if we could fix it.
But BW was cheered up after calling the electric company and being directed to the claims department. It appears that our TV won't be a total loss after all. So he was cheered some. Oh, and he was able to get the computer up and running (yay for surge protectors!). So this is why it has taken me so long to get his "Happy Birthday" blog on here.
Here is a picture of BW with Jarvis. It was taken months ago, and really has nothing to do with his birthday, but I thought it was a cute picture. Don't you also think it's cute?
We celebrated BW's birthday last night. This is because I went on our church's annual Women's Retreat on Friday night and got home yesterday afternoon. Before you think that I am a bad wife, BW and I discussed this several weeks ago and he said it would not make him feel bad if I went on the retreat, even though it fell on his birthday.

Last night, BW and I and another couple from church went out to eat and to see Freedom Writers. We had a great time and BW was pleased with his birthday celebration and gifts. He got some crossword and sudoku puzzle books, as well as some Cubs baseball cards! And money. Always the money for the birthday!

BW is not crazy about big parties or lots of attention, so a surprise party has never been an option. He's fond of quiet celebrations with close friends and family. He probably would have been happy to just have some sort of celebration with just the kids and me, but I thought he needed something more special than that. He is, after all, an awfully special guy!
Through all the strains and stresses of getting married and becoming an "instant family," BW still says he'd do nothing differently. I ask him sometimes - does he missing having his life all to himself - and he says most assuredly, no. He loves having a wife and kids. He loves being around us and sharing his life with us, that he is fulfilled and happy. I sometimes feel that by just being me, I am especially a strain and stress on his life, but he tells me he loves me anyway.
And he surely loves his kids! He is such a good dad, and I know how blessed I am to be married to a man that truly wants to involve himself in his children's lives. It drives me crazy when, if I am out somewhere alone, someone will ask me if BW is "babysitting." I say, no, he's their father. He is spending time with his kids. And he doesn't see it as a burden, but a joy. It's hard for me to understand that not all dads operate like this. I'm so thankful to God for this man who is the father of my children. I'm so blessed by this man, who works hard and truly concerns himself most with the welfare of his family, putting us and our needs before his.
So, you see, it was BW's birthday. But I feel like I'm the one getting all the gifts.