my two favorite boys

Sometimes I wonder if Jensen and Matt know how much they are loved. This is one of my favorite pictures, because in it I see two of my most special, cherished, blessings in my life. There are lots of things that I hope Jensen will learn from me, but this picture reminds me of how amazing of a father Jensen has in Matt. I hope I never take for granted how helpful, gracious, hilarious, and caring Matt is. He is a perfect blend of a "guy's guy" who loves sports, and camping and fishing, but he is sensitive and sweet and loves art and music, and theater. He isn't afraid to cry at movies, and probably has more shoes than I do. Ok, I know he has more shoes than I do. He loves to cook, knows how to sew, and does all of our laundry every week. Yes, every week. And, even though we've been married for 8 years, he can still knock me off my feet with the "little things" that are the really big things. Last week, I turned 32. We had decided not to get "gifts" and put extra money towards furniture that we've been wanting to replace for many years now. I kept thinking, who needs a gift? I have all I really need, more than I need actually. And, with our budget being a little tighter now (yes, Dave Ramsey, we're trying to live like no one else so someday we can live like no one else....) and a few unexpected expenses, I didn't even think that we'd have $ to go out to eat, or anything like that. Matt knows I am pretty rigid when it comes to the budget (ok, rigid about most things?!?!) so he took back every pop can that he could find (we had a few, so it wasn't really a search) in our garage and returned them so that he could buy me a little something. I've been complaining about our pillows (that might have been in worse shape than our furniture) and when I walked in the door after work on my birthday, there was a "luxurious" new pillow. I started to cry. I could barely choke out the words to "scold" Matt for spending out of our budget that we had already allocated towards something else (Ok, I'm not really a jerk, if you know FPU and Dave Ramsey, this sounds less harsh, after all I am the nerd, he is the free spirit) anyway....and before I could say anything he just said, I wanted you to have a little something special to open on your special day. I couldn't believe it. It's silly really. Matt has bought me some very luxurious gifts over the years, but for some reason, a pillow that he purchased with pop can money somehow meant even more than some of those gifts in the past. A little something special. An out of his way act of kindness that kept within the bounds of FPU. Did we have the money...yes. But, he knew that keeping within the budget was equally as important as the gift. And, he was right. I keep thinking about that act of kindness, and the type of man that does these things for his wife. I hope that Jensen will learn about these types of things from his dad. I know he will. These "little things" are woven into the fabric of our lives so often that he'll probably see this as second nature, the way his dad does. So, thank you Matt and Jensen for the "little things" that make each and every day even more special since I get to share them with the two of you.