To tell the truth it wasn’t really forgotten, but more forgone. We’ve just had a lot of things come up recently that put any kind of monetary gifts off the table. We had to get a new washing machine. All the sons needed new shoes. We signed son # 4 up for soccer and had to outfit son # 1 for track season when he made the team. We’ve always exchanged gifts, but I wasn’t really all that concerned with it. Afterall, I already have the 4 best gifts I could ever ask for. My boys. That being said, I do have to say that this giftless, stay-home, un-commercial anniversary has been one of the best yet.
All the sons remembered our anniversary though. Son # 2 tried to forcibly give his father his birthday money to take me out to dinner. Instead, the hubs (and sons) cooked and gave me a night off. I took over bedtime routines and baths so he could get to sleep a little earlier to prepare for a hard days work the next day. Sometimes it really is just the little things.
Also, we’ve been secretly  dreading sending son # 4 off to kindergarten in the fall. Registration is next month. Today however, he was extra chatty and our random topics led to not one, but two, gems for the ‘Sh*t My Kids Say’ journal that I keep.

1. *looking through Sesame Street videos this morning*
Grayson: I want the ELMO song. It’s my favorite.
Me: Which one? There’s a lot.
Grayson: ‘A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,ELMO,P….’

2. And with son # 4’s innocent logic:
Me: Nanni IS your grandma. You just CALL her nanni, but she’s Daddy’s mama and that makes her your grandma.
Grayson: Nanni’s not a grandma.
Me: Why?
Grayson: She’s not old.
Me: You don’t have to be old to be a grandma.
Grayson: Good, because she’s not old. She’s just learning to be a grown-up.

Money can’t buy love. Money can’t buy true, lasting happiness, and in my frugal little family, I’m reminded everyday how abundantly blessed I am with both. Yes, we may have said I do on this date years ago, but every day we’re given cause to celebrate and no gift could compare to that of my husband, our children, or of any of our families’ accomplishments. In the end, I’d say it was a perfect day of remembering, celebrating, and honoring everything that’s grown from the day where we first said, ‘I do.’