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Today is my husband's birthday, and tonight I sluggishly walked upstairs at 7pm after a long day and collapsed on my bed, leaving him to put all five kids to bed alone. When I woke up around 8:30 just as he was finishing with the girls, I felt guilty for having fallen asleep on his special day, but without missing a beat, he just waved it off and joined me on the couch to eat a slice of cake that nearly didn't survive the baking process.

Yesterday while trying to prep for today, I tried to bake my "famous" chocolate cake (as the kids call it), and just as I was lifting the springform pans up to put them in the oven, I realized I didn't clip one of the pans right, and half of the cake batter fell to the floor, delighting the dogs. I oddly didn't get angry. I just quickly saved what I could and regrouped--his 4-layer cake turned into a 3-layer cake, and no one even noticed the missing layer, and the dogs enjoyed a chocolatey treat that will probably cause some terrible diarrhea before the day is over tomorrow.

The cake trouble didn't end with the batter spilling all over the floor. While cutting the layers in the cake, one of the layers crumbled in my hands as I transferred it to a plate. I managed to piece it back together, and the cream frosting held it together, but man, I'm not sure I've ever had such a difficult time making a cake.

But Tim is worth it. So for Tim's birthday I gave him the gift of putting our babies to bed, a botched cake, and a silly gesture of finding our rogue paddle boat across the lake and bringing it home by tying a rope around my waist and dragging it behind my kayak. I'm sure I looked ridiculous on the water, but I knew Tim would appreciate the help, so I had a few laughs and secured the boat to our dock again. I also bought him a shirt, but of course it hasn't arrived yet, so his birthday gifts from me are rather lame, but somehow he managed to enjoy them.

I've been married to this man for over 11 years now. We were practically babies when we got married. I didn't even know how to make a homemade cake that first year we celebrated his birthday; I just went to the store and bought 4 chocolate cake mixes and made 4 round cakes to stack on each other because it hadn't occurred to me that you could slice the cake in half to get more layers, so that first year his cake was not homemade and looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The memory still makes me laugh.

By his second birthday I had learned a thing or two and although I still used a box cake mix, I at least learned there was no reason to buy 4 boxes. It's just gotten better with each passing year.

I once wrote how Tim was both the cake and frosting of my life. He is full of all the substance one needs to make a cake (or a life), and he has provided for me and the kids in every way possible over the years. He has all the right ingredients. But he also is my frosting. I used to think you couldn't have both--you'd have to sacrifice one in order to have the other, but not with Tim. He has all the substance and all the sweetness of the frosting. He still grabs me first thing after getting home from work and kisses me in front of whoever is sitting at the table (sometimes too passionately for my taste in front of the kids, but he swears it's for their own good). He texts me he loves me randomly throughout the day. He also texts me dirty little lines that make my mind reel for hours before he gets home; he knows how to get under my skin in the best kind of way. He runs his fingers through my hair almost every night because he knows I love it. He kisses my face when I cry. He laughs with me in bed as we review the day holding hands and touching toes. He is my cake and frosting.

And you know what else--he is also my sprinkles. He makes the very dim days shine brighter. He has a way of spicing up any dull evening with a laugh, a touch or a story.

He has what I need, probably more than I need some days, but over the years he has taught me to love abundantly and love deeply. I need him in every way, and I am thankful God had a hand in bringing us together.

Happy birthday bun! I love you so much.