and then i turned thirtyfour.

there's beauty in the days.
the monotonous.  the continuous.  the noisy-ness. 

i realize there's also a certain beauty in doing the unknown.  the unexpected.  the unloud.

but those options are rarely available to me.
and i'm ok with that.
most days.
because i'm kind of a homebody.  a someone that doesn't take risks.  i like knowing what is going to occur. 
even if it's something that i'm fairly certain will not be the highlight of my day.
like bedtime.  for instance.

in the days leading up to my thirtyfour.  i managed to go out.  by myself (sorta) to a movie.  a movie that i would have never chosen to see in a milliongazillion years on my own.  (mostly because i don't like the unexpecteds of a thriller-ish movie) and then i went out to dinner.  and drank a beer. and  i managed to get carded - which i'm fairly certain was just some higherups way of reminding me to go and get my license renewed the next day. 

and then the day before my birthday i wrangled two children at the dmv.  and then proceeded to a friend's house while we drank coffee and listened to the children play.  (and watched finn.  because my dear boy would. not. take. a. nap.) 

and then my birthday came.  and i turned

and there was no big todo.  no party streamers.  no party hats. 

finn kicked the morning off with a big heart smile when he sing-songingly copied my morning "i love you" with

which sounds an awful lot like "i love you" from a soon-to-be one year old.

and in this thirty fourth year of mine ... i plan to try to let go of the little things.  because they aren't so big after all.  and i started that by letting the kiddos dress themselves.  stella pretty much could be found in a gold princess dress.  all day.  and well cora?

why yes.  that is a red "look out santa - here comes grandma" shirt with red pants and a turquoise and lime green tutu with a periwinkle and purple sweater

(complete with flowers) topped off with a flowered hat. 

dude.  flowers and flowers totally match. 

there was one surprise.  for my gift ... stella decided ...

and she scared the bejeezus outta me when she popped out of the box.

my mom and sister gave me the gift of a homecooked meal.  and cleaned up dishes afterwards.

apparently cora had her mind set to buy me a cup.  and jeremy and the crew were pulled through several stores before finding the perfect little cup for mommy.

it really IS a nice cup.

and that really was a nice birthday ...

(one year for my birthday i asked MY mom to write my birth story ... it's very sweet if i do say so myself.  click-here to read it.)