seven pounds: not just a will smith movie

My birthday is next week (37!). Josh left tonight for a business trip. Though I'll be joining him next Friday, we won't be in the same place on the actual day. Last night before dinner, Josh and the kids surprised me with a homemade card and tons of amazing baking gifts. Take a look!


First, the card. Bug is a big tic-tac-toe fan, so you'll notice she's drawn a tic-tac-toe board with tons of hearts, which she's just learned to draw. She also drew our family - the boys have straight hair and the girls have curly hair. And on the other side, she wrote an amazing birthday message which Josh helped her spell. Seriously the best card I've ever gotten.

Next, the cooking gear.
- Two extra large offset spatulas. Josh's rationale: you can't have too many. He's right.
- 12 ounces of top quality vanilla. Ahh, yum. I'll probably blow through it ridiculously quickly.
- A zippered plastic circle within which to roll out pie crust. Josh remembered how much trouble I'd had with pie dough recently. Aww.
- Not one, but two push up measuring cups. He read a ton of research to try to decide which one to buy, there were two leading contenders, and fans rabidly supported each one, so he bought one of each! They measure wet and dry ingredients. Can't wait to try them.
- Last but not least, a ginormous, 3 kg (yes, that's 7 lbs!) bag of Valrhona chocolate baking pieces. 64% Manjari Madagascar beans, Dark Grand Cru Valrhona Chocolate, to be exact. I think it's going to take about a decade to get through that much chocolate! I'm a little afraid to open it lest it prove too convenient for snacking. I know it will keep for ages, if I can use it before summer hits and the house gets hot. We have under-the-house access beneath our pantry, and Josh joked that I can rig up some kind of pulley system to store it down there if the weather gets warm. I may have to take him up on it.

The best part was that they surprised me (since it was 6 days early, I completely wasn't expecting it). Their choices were so thoughtful, and I seriously can't tell you how touched I was by the card. I couldn't figure out why her bath was taking so long - that explains it!

Thanks for the happy birthday treats, lovely family!

Comments

Anonymous said…
That is so sweet! I can't wait to see your loot.
Nanette said…
That's so very thoughtful! And that card! I was touched on your behalf! Bug rules!
Anonymous said…
That is so sweet!

And I have the push up measuring cup on the right and I LOVE it...so many less dishes!