Birthday surprises

So... What did I get for my birthday?

Hmmm... (thinking hard)

Did you see my hint? :)

It really wasn't that terribly exciting of a day at first - the same old, usual work stuff. I got to daycare to pick up the girls, only to discover that Ron had beat me there (my cell phone is dead so he couldn't call). So I got to go home and relax in an empty house for 15 minutes before they got there, which was very nice. Where had they gone? I knew - Ron had taken them to the dollar store. See, every year for his birthday and mine, we take the girls to the dollar store to let them pick out their presents for us. We do this at the dollar store so that they can pick whatever they want without having to worry about how much it costs. It does lead to some 'interesting' gift selections, but well - it's only a dollar (each), so no big deal or money wasted. And they get the thrill of giving us presents that they picked out themselves (ok, so I do tend to 'help' a little when I take them...).

We headed out to dinner and although the girls were a bit fidgety and irritable, it really went pretty well. Until dessert that is, when the server brought out packages of Oreos for each girl. Abby and Hannah were no problem - they'd eaten good dinners so got to break right into the cookies. Not so for Becca though. Who hadn't eaten much of her dinner at all - not more than a fry or two and not any of her macaroni and cheese. And who was now demanding, at the top of her little lungs no less - COOKIES!!!

And she would not be distracted or reasoned with - all we wanted her to do was eat one bite of baked potato (something she likes), figuring at least it would be something and we wouldn't be giving in (well not totally anyway). But nope - I think I've mentioned before how stubborn this little girl is... It didn't help that we were seated right next to a large group - a class or study group of some sort, who were trying to talk and be heard over our little loudmouth. Whoops.

Two nights of having someone screaming and crying through dinner - this can end any time now... Really! But I am proud to say that we didn't give in and Little Miss Becca went home cookie-less.

The girls gave me their gifts at dinner (unwrapped, but it's the thought that counts, right). Here's what I got from the dollar store this year:

Actually, I was rather impressed - scissors and a picture frame are pretty good for those two. I've seen some of the things they've picked out (or tried to) for Ron when I've taken them shopping for him.

So we were all done with dinner and Ron took Abby and Hannah up to the front of the restaurant where they've got a candy crane machine. I sat with Screaming Toddler who was now upset that Daddy had deserted her on top of every other indignity she'd suffered tonight. Oh those poor people next to us must've been going nuts...

I heard them returning so turned around and was greeted by Abby carrying this:


My first thought was something along the lines of, "I thought it was a candy crane machine - did they get another one with stuffed animals in it too?". Then I recognized it - I'd seen this same stuffed animal before the other day at the mall. In complete shock, I sat as Hannah handed me something.

And inside the gold bag - within the gold paper and bow, was this:

And inside the small white box, was this:

At this point, I knew what I'd find next. We'd talked about it only yesterday and I'd told Ron to wait. I meant it too - I hadn't been playing any kind of mind games or anything, I had several good reasons why I wanted to hold off on a large purchase like this. Adding another monthly payment (even a small one) to our budget right now isn't necessarily smart. If we waited a few more months, we could use part of our tax return to at least have a down payment. And with how horrible my hands look right now, I hate the idea of anything drawing more attention to them.

Even something like this...
I know - the picture isn't the best quality, but my camera doesn't do so well with the extreme close-up shots.

So what did I get for my birthday? A wedding ring set to replace the one that I lost almost a year ago. Something that I did actually pick out but then decided that it wasn't a good idea right now. But Ron didn't listen to me - and I have to say that part of me (ok, a big part!) is glad. I miss my wedding ring. I loved my ring and it still hurts to not know where it is or what happened to it. This ring isn't the one that Ron placed on my finger 7 1/2 years ago on our wedding day, but I do have to say that it's beautiful and after it's resized (so I can wear it on the correct finger!), he will place it on my finger to replace the original.

Sometimes my husband really does surprise me - and it's so amazing when he pulls it off without me having a clue ahead of time. He hasn't done anything like this in years though, and I never really even thought that he would go ahead and buy the ring after I told him to wait. Yes, my reasons for waiting were (and still are) good ones, but he came up with a few of his own as to why he thought we could manage this right now. It's not a hugely expensive ring - it cost less than the deductible would have been if we'd claimed the loss of the original ring on our homeowners insurance. But it's mine.

And who's really going to argue? Especially since it involves gold wrapping paper, a little black hinged box and sparkly diamonds... Certainly not me. :)

Thank you Ron - I love you!