Mother’s Day Surprise

Posted by kara

We finally had my mom’s surprise party! It was getting tough to keep the secret (at least for me since it was on my mind all the time). I thought there was no way that my mom would be completely surprised, but I think maybe she was. There were a couple of things she could have been suspicious about, but I guess she’s not the suspicious type! Phew. Plus I think it helped that we did it 3 months before her real birthday. Anyway, I’m so proud of her friends, coworkers, and relatives for keeping it a secret! I don’t know if I could have done that well if I saw her in person all the time!

We flew in on Friday night and stayed at a hotel. My poor cousin Brian must have waited at least an hour for us. There was a bad thunderstorm, so even though we were able to get to Detroit early, we had to circle for about 45 mins or so before we were able to land. It was a mess. Then he drove us to the hotel, picked up food for us, and made sure we were all set with his crib and car seat for Toshi. Thanks, Brian!

Since we were still on Pacific Time and exhausted, we slept until 9 or so. We got ready, ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed to set up for the party. I was so pleased with the way everything turned out. It was hard planning from afar and just trusting that things would match in color and style, but I think it worked out nicely! My sister-in-law Molly (and her mom) did all the centerpieces. She did a FANTASTIC job. I was really impressed with how perfect she did it. And I was also glad the favors had a nice green box, rather than the scary green on the website.

I was also very happy with the cake design. I’m sure the baker thought I was crazy with the description I wrote to her about the type of design I’d like to see. I sent her an invite I designed and told her she could pick up design elements from that. Then I told her my mom liked simple, modern design like Crate & Barrel… I didn’t know how else to describe it! Oh, and the cake was delicious once it completely defrosted. Heh.

And I made a book for my mom. I think it was a nice take-away from the party. Guests contributed stories/messages/memories and photos to the book and I complied it. There was also a place to write a note in the back. It was a little hard to get our photos, since my mom knew better where the photos were than my dad, but luckily we had lots of photos contributed (especially by Aunt Janet and my mom’s old friend Nancy).

Okay, now for the payoff:

It took a little bit for my mom to figure out what was happening. She said she totally expected to see her friend’s daughter Kim (she was told it was Kim’s baby shower), but instead she saw Toshi (who bounced up to her saying, “Surprise! Surprise!”) and all her friends and family. Some drove from Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, and Cleveland. I am so grateful that they came, because it made it even more special.

All of my mom’s friends are so helpful and just plain nice. They helped out so much with the planning. It was really amazing to see the room full of 70 people that care about my mom. Throwing the party made me realize how my mom has managed to surround herself with such wonderful lifelong friends. That makes me happy to know she is so loved.

And I’m really glad that Jamus encouraged me to do it. I had thought about it, and I knew she threw one for her mom, so I asked her lots of questions about it. When I didn’t know if it would be too hard to plan, she told me how it was one of the best things to do.

I didn’t take many pics (I’m sure people will send me some?), but I did get a nice blurry pic of my Great Aunt Teru and my beautiful Grandma Toshi.

Mother’s Day flew by, but it was nice to spend it with both Paul’s parents and my family. I got to hold baby Gus a bit, but I didn’t do a very good job. He is so cute! Sorry I don’t have pics. Whoopsies.

And now we are back! Toshi is back in her Thomas bed. Also, I think I filled up too much on cake, Handel’s, and Barry Bagels, because one of my shirts doesn’t cover my belly all the way anymore…. 🙁