A Surprise 90th and a Not-So-Quiet Library Trip...

So if you were at the Olney Library this past Monday around 11:30am... I'm sorry. I was the one hightailing it out of there with a screaming, flailing, melting-down child. It was not awesome, needless to say. I am sorry... if only I could promise it wouldn't happen again. 

It all started when I attempted to have some mind enrichment for the girls instead of the daily pool/messing around drill... It was high time for Summer and Layla to get their own library cards. Our local library had been closed for renovations for several years, so anytime we went to a library I would truck over to one in a neighboring county. (At least if a meltdown occurred, it wasn't around people I would possibly see again). So our library finally opened this past spring but we hadn't had a chance to get over there. We went, dealt with the whole rigamarole of signing up for cards (I brought my Amex bill with our current address since I haven't changed my license since we moved. They are no joke at the library). This is when the guy told me about my 70 cent fine I have on my account. I really couldn't remember the last time I had step foot in a library in this county, so I asked incredulously... "When??? And for what???" It was for a book we had read in a book club (aka wine club) from 2008. Ahhh yes. Now I remember. I was pleasantly shocked that it was only 70 cents. 

Anyways, the girls did some puzzles and browsed the books. I'm pretty sure Olivia's voice was amplified by the ceiling height and I spent most of my time "Shhh"-ing her. Summer chose a quite questionable title... 

But they were thrilled with their new "credit cards." 

Here's hoping the next time around is a bit more peaceful... 

So please accept my deepest apologies for not posting at all last week. I failed one of my goals for 2014 but I choose sanity and a quality blog over posting just to post. I was up to my eyeballs with the planning of my grandmother's SURPRISE 90th birthday party. Before you think we are terrible people for trying to surprise a 90 year old, I will tell you I did clear it with her doctor who said, "There wouldn't be many 90 year olds that I would surprise, but she is definitely one who can handle it." We had it at our country club, which ended up making me the sort-of point person for all planning. Whenever I got overwhelmed or frustrated, I just kept saying to myself... "It's okay. Ooma is going to be thrilled." My sister, my mom, my Aunt Despi, cousin-in-laws Sammie, Tiffany and Elise helped with decor and first part of the party Big Band Era background music. We had requested a dance floor (extra $$), so my major concern the week leading up to the party was with the music. I am not a music person, but I threw myself in full-on to create a playlist for the ages... no literally, for every age out there. The decades of songs that her life spanned was overwhelming. And it was incredible to listen how much music has changed. I put a list of the songs in a separate post you can find here --> Epic Playlist

Our theme for the party was based on her love of traveling. As I previously talked about <--past link, my grandma has been to all SEVEN continents. As in, she waded to shore in thigh-high boots to reach Antarctica. As in, she had to use a communal shower on her African Safari... like two years ago. So my aunt came up with basing it on the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh The Places You'll Go" (ya know, the one that everyone gets for graduation). We adjusted it to... "Oh The Places She's Been." Fortunately my sister is a ridiculous artist and whipped up a little recreation of the book cover: 

We had a sign-in book, pictures of her on her travels all around, hot air balloon centerpieces. We also attempted to pinpoint all of the countries she has actually been to....

Insane, right?!!?!?!?

So I was officially anxiety-ridden until the very nano-second she arrived. 

I figured even if she knew about the party, she would be shocked at who was there and how big it was (the final count was 65-70 people!). Several of her children flew in, friends from travels and all walks of life... they came for her. And she deserves it! 

Since my grandmother travels the world, makes friends all over AND a bunch of my family is not located in the area, I thought it would be good idea would be to have people who couldn't make it (or the kids of those who could) send video messages saying "happy birthday" or whatever. I was hoping to get them compiled and then play them for her at the party. In order to email her friends, I had to find out their email addresses... so I proceeded to hack into her email account and gather a list of people she most contacted. The response was great. I got some people from trips she has gone on, one woman from Germany, family members in Kentucky, old friends. I was so excited. Here is my video of the girls... 

Layla's honesty is amazeballs. I mean, 90 IS old. Cousin-in-law Sammie brought in 1920's props and we had a whole photo booth station for fun pics. My mom spent umpteen hours compiling pictures from her lifetime and we had a slideshow running throughout the party (between this and the video messages, I can't explain how amazing it is to have your childhood next-door neighbor work in this field and have no problem doing HUGE favors). The following pictures makes me realize that my life is indeed a cakewalk. 

Three kids (one of them being a devious two year old by the name of CJ) and THEN twins. I die. 

We danced and ate and drank and talked... and just had an overall great time. Sidenote: I wore a jumpsuit. Yes, a jumpsuit. I'm obsessed with it and need a reason to wear it again. Unfortunately it is quite a statement piece, so it can't be a regular.

I saw several times throughout the night that my grandma had happy tears, which was exactly why we worked so hard to give her a special night. She felt blessed. And I can't wait to plan the bash for 100! 

In other news, I decided to go completely insane and let my girls play with shaving cream inside... 

It was actually kind of amazeballs. 

Happy Thursday!!! 

Tweet