gifts from the heart

I have been thinking about life a lot since my bday took place a few days ago. 43. Oh yeah. It's all good actually, growing older doesn't bother me at all. So far. I feel very blessed to be living this life. It is not always easy but it is uniquely mine.

So, happy bday to me. I do love my birthday. This year it was pretty uneventful. Sent 3 kids off to a week of overnight camp that morning and then we just hung out with the other kids here until David and I went out for dinner, alone. I chose to go to Caraba's - they have this summer salad that I love. Ummm, arugula. My absolute favorite!

Arugula aside, the big thing I wanted to share about my day is what the boys did for me. Their gifts to me have been one of the most moving things ever.

Fitsum asked the piano teacher if she could teach him to play Happy Birthday for me. She taught him but he didn't ever mention it to me. That day our sweet piano teacher messaged me on facebook to see if I liked the song. Well, of course I had to go ask Fitze if he knew a song that he could play for me. He got all embarrassed saying "not good enough mom"... in the end he played it and it was beautiful. Not perfect but perfect for me. I loved it. It meant so much that he cared enough to prepare this song for me all through the week before. 7 months home and I am really seeing true signs of affection from my Fitsum. It is so heart-melting! I love this child so much!

Besu also did something special. The week before my bday, Besu just kept asking me if my birthday was really coming up. It was so funny. I don't know if he didn't believe me or what. Now though I really think he was trying to come up with something to do for me.
Besu celebrated his birthday in April. He couldn't believe that there would be fanfare all for him. He was on a high all day. We rented a moon bounce and had some of his school friends & cousins over. We did the pizza, cake and pinata thing. He never stopped smiling. He loved his gifts but my boy truly coveted his cards. They were like precious possessions to him. I think they were a tangible reminder that there were people who cared about and loved him. He kept his cards next to his bed on his little table and he looked at them often... So, when Besu saw David give me a card on my bday, he got up from the table, (stopping in mid-snack, another special effort just for me!), ran upstairs and then ran back and handed me these cards


I thought it was so cute that he had re-gifted his coveted cards for me. But then he told me to open them. So I did. And I tried not to cry when I found this.


Besu had scratched out the messages to him and wrote special words to me.



Who could ask for anything more really... I am one very lucky mom.