How times have changed from my It’s All About Me birthdays. Now, I’ve got two little girlfriends that photobomb all my pics and crash my party. It’s fine, I like them.

It was rainy on my birthday.  We woke up early and decided to go out for breakfast…. in our pjs. Yes, we are that family and it was wonderful. We piled back into the car and drove to a little fruit farm nearby and bought 3 half bushels of apples. I wanted to make applesauce and fruit roll-ups, and was worried we didn’t buy enough. It’s a month later and we still have apples.

I read somewhere to ask for their “seconds”, or apples that are not as pretty that they keep in the back. We got our half bushels for almost 50% off!

Here’s one box (of three).

After six trays of fruit roll-ups and a full crockpot of applesauce later…
We still had this many apples left in just the one box. Yeah, I was naive.

But now our freezer is full of applesauce and I know Annie will appreciate it once she starts eating solids.

When we got back from the fruit farm, I was exhausted. Annie still feeds about every 2-3 hours during the night and it’s a miracle from God if they both nap at the same time during the day, so I’m pretty much a walking zombie still. And Carrie without sleep is a murderous walking zombie. So when Ruthie yelled NO for the billionth time because I walked into the room that she happened to be sharing with daddy, I growled, “Don’t say No to me, that’s mean!” and swatted her bottom. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough that she stood there with her finger to her nose and stared at the ground. My heart broke. Ryan never intervenes which I appreciate because it gives me the chance to come full circle with an apology without daddy saving the day. After I sat on the couch for a few minutes fighting back sleepy tears, I walked over to her, knelt down, and apologized. I told her that it makes me sad when she yells No when I walk into the room. She looked at me and yelled, “Be happy!” and gave me a hug with her little hand patting my back.

And off we went again like normal.

She probably said No a bunch more times but it didn’t sting as much.

Shortly after, we went outside to play in the rain. I sat under the carport and watched.

See? We’re okay.
Ryan and Ruth had gone to the store the night before to pick up my birthday cake: a big slice of watermelon… my favorite fruit on the planet. Ryan asked Ruthie how old I was turning and she said 2! So they bought a 2 candle for me.
Ruth ate most of it.
Besides laundry, Ryan gave me another gift. Laying on a blanket by myself. reading a book until Annie cries. That was the best 20 minutes in a long time.

It wasn’t the most exciting or the most sexy or the most romantic. It was hazy and sleep-deprived, but smiley and full of kisses and hugs. It was mine and I’ll take it.