Flowers, Donkeys and Pressure to be Thoughtful

Blue bonnets...one of our Texas favorites. Because rain has been hard to come by this season, the blue bonnets are pretty sparse. But we couldn't allow our last Texas spring to pass without going out in search of the blue bonnets one last time. So for Family Home Evening last week, Brita gave us our lesson and we sang songs in the car as we went for a drive and were lucky enough to find a pretty good patch of the beauties on the highway's roadside about an hour away from home.

I stepped in a pile of fire ants while trying to capture some lasting photos, and ended up nearly disrobing, giving no thought to the cars whizzing past us. Was it worth it? I guess.

Brita was busy picking blue bonnets so she could make a bouquet for me and tell me happy birthday. (Later she told me she was so glad she thought of that so she didn't have to spend any money on my gift. She also told me she was careful to only pick blue bonnets that had been trampled on.) Of course Leah piled on the activity when Brita told her what she was doing, except I didn't see Leah picking many blue bonnets. She preferred primping with them instead.


Meg had little interest this FHE activity until she and Jared went exploring and she found a little ladybug to play with. She actually enjoyed about ten minutes of playtime with it before killing the little cutie.


The blue bonnet excursion meant a late bedtime for everyone, and come to find out it was just the beginning of a series of late bedtimes for the week.

Leah was a donkey in the 1st grade program "A Carnival of Animals" and she had the best donkey kicks of the whole bunch. After the program we celebrated with Leah's lifelong buddy, Peter Heidenreich, and his family at Dairy Queen. Meg sat right on the table (like some kind of queen or something) and enjoyed the benefits of the celebration.



Wednesday I had a great birthday. I really put Jared on the spot for my 4-0...I just couldn't help it. For most holidays and gift-giving occasions I have totally realistic expectations (and he often surprises the heck out of me by throwing in an unexpected surprise here or there...however I do tend to keep my expectations right around the bottom of the barrel), but for this milestone birthday of mine I really wanted him to be thoughtful. I have never wanted to be the wife who turns a cold shoulder to my husband for not reading my mind or for failing to shower me with unexpected gifts and surprises. So I figured it would be best to inform him a couple weeks before my birthday of my desire. We both shook our heads and sighed at my request and I must have apologized for a good five minutes. But we both agreed that I shouldn't define "thoughtful", because if my ideas were ideas he already had, then his ideas wouldn't be thoughtful anymore. It's so complicated and confusing and I felt bad putting that kind of pressure on him, but not bad enough to withdraw my request.

Turns out he did a great job. Before he took the girls to school, I got to open my gift and I was surprised and speechless...


Jewelry isn't something this guy of mine hands out like candy (maybe that's not the best comparison, because he tries to keep our household candy consumption to a minimum). I love it. Of course I do. He was thoughtful. It wasn't so much the actual gift, as it was the thought behind it--the idea that he wanted to find and do something for me that I would love. The gift was great, and he did other thoughtful things for me throughout the day as well. We ended the day by going out to dinner (after dropping Meg off at a friend's house, because she's not fun at restaurants) and eating strawberry shortcake at home. I loved celebrating with our little family. I hope Jared can relax and take in that sigh of relief...he did such a great job that I don't anticipate putting that kind of pressure on him for maybe another ten years.

On the other hand, maybe he should start preparing now just to make sure he's ready. Now the bar has been raised, my man. Oh, yes. Has it ever.