Happy Surprise Birthday Party, Liz!

Once the clock hit 5:00 pm today, I was going non-stop like a mad woman.  I rushed to $1 store to get some balloons for Liz’s party and some stuff I need for my lesson in Young Women’s on Sunday.  The $1 I went to was out of helium, so I had to rush and get Autumn from “college” so we could go to another $1 store and get balloons.  Luckily, this one had some so we grabbed 4 (since Liz will be 25 and is a QUARTER (…get it…4…) of a century old.  Then we sped home to get a whole list of things I needed to take over to Mom & Dad’s for the party.  Mom & Dad were life savers and had cleaned up the living room and kitchen for me and Mom had even chopped up the cucumber and bell pepper for the pasta salad and the watermelon for me.  That was such a huge time saver.  I was rushing around making the sauce to pour over the cake for tres leche, when the bowl tipped over and the sauce went EVERYWHERE!  I almost started crying b/c I knew Mom didn’t have the stuff to start over.  But, I decided to just make the best of it, take a picture, salvage what I could, and move on.  I pushed most of it into the sink and just added some more heavy cream and hoped it would work.  Cleaning up all that sticky stuff off the dishwasher and cabinets and floors was not fun, but I got it done.

Liberty and I had a good plan to get Liz over to the house w/ out her seeing all the cars parked in the driveway.  I texted Liz and told her that Curt & Mary had some baby pigs and to come over and see them.  Liz LOVES baby pigs and is always asking Liberty to get her one for a pet.  So, as soon as Liberty got off work they met me over at Curt & Mary’s.  I told Liz that we had to run across the street to my Mom & Dad’s house really quick b/c they were leaving and my Mom wanted to see Jacob.

I had told Autumn that she couldn’t spill the beans and say anything to Liz about the party b/c it was a surprise.  Autumn did great until we walked up to the door of the house and she told Liz to close her eyes.  We walked in, and only Liz’s sister and grandma and nephew were there!   But, as you can tell she was still surprised.  Last week, The Mom Creative had a post about a big vinyl banner from Shindigz.com for just $1 (plus shipping).  I totally took advantage of that deal and ordered one that just said “Happy Birthday” so I can use it multiple times a year.  It came in the mail last night and I was so impressed w/ how nice and big it was.  I have a feeling that banner is going to be showing up in the background of all the birthday party pics around here from now on.  It was a killer deal, and even the regular pricing ($14.99 plus shipping) is a great deal.  Plus, you can personalize them however you want.  I’m not being paid by them for this review at all, I just wanted to share a great product I am using and enjoying.

Anyways, we finally had a bunch of people show up and we got the party started.  Liz said she’s always wanted to have a surprise party and even though everyone wasn’t there at the start to jump out and yell “surprise”, she was so glad that so many people came.  It was kind of like a pest control reunion b/c aside from Liz’s family we all used to work together.  Liberty grilled some hot dogs and hamburgers and I made pina colada drinks.  Everyone ate and talked and seemed to have a good time.

Liz was so happy w/ her birthday cake, and from what everyone said, it was moist and yummy.  So, I guess my spill from earlier didn’t make the cake yucky.  I didn’t notice, but Teri & Liz are wearing the same color shirt.  LOL!

I am so glad that so many people came to support Liz.  I had to get a pic of her cute family.  After we sat around and talked for a while, the crazy boys decided they wanted to go swimming.  So, even though it was already 9:00 we went out the pool to swim.  Liz & Lib put Jacob in butt naked, and he was loving it.  Kirra went in an adorable bikini.  I was saying to Liz that it’s no fair that babies look so cute w/ their bellies hanging out, but it’s not cute when you’re older.  Mom was an ANGEL and took Autumn to bed in the guest room so I could stay outside and play hostess.  It was a great night and I took Liz home b/c Liberty had gone home earlier to put Jacob to bed.

HAPPY SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY, LIZ!  ♥ YA!