SURPRISE!!!!!!!

I am exhausted. This has been one heck of a weekend of parties and cake, but the title says it all!! Sit back, grab some coffee or a diet coke, and prepare for a picture overload! This one's gonna be a LONG post folks!

Most of you know I turned 30 on Thursday. I was not "dreading the big day" or anything like that. I even made some "I'm old" jokes myself, but never have thought of 30 as old. Actually, I feel like I'm finally officially an adult....'cause 10 years of marriage, 3 kids, and a mortgage evidently don't make you feel like an adult:)

I remember making the comment to my husband last year that he better start preparing for my big party that he was going to throw me for my birthday. I vaguely remember that he rolled his eyes and said something to the effect of "whatever" and pretty much that was that in my mind...apparently...he already had some things in motion, in his mind anyway. And really, as most know, all I care about is the cake, and as long as someone got me one, I was good!

Since I don't really even know where to start, I will eventually let some pictures do the talking, but I do have to preface a bit. I knew that we were going out for my birthday, someplace special. I figured it was one of the nicer restaurants in town. Russ informed me when we were in Chicago that I needed to pick out a dress, shoes, get my hair done, the whole nine yards and that was part of my present. As stated in a previous post, I picked out my cute little strapless number (apparently, according to my husband and daughter, it looks like it has lobsters on the front:), got me some 4-inch heels, and was ready to go. I called my hairdresser and was EXTREMELY annoyed with the fact that she could not fit me in before the 28th, but could only see me on the 29th. I got off the phone, called my mom, called Nichole, got her stylist's number, and was all ready to go somewhere else. Little did I know that was the plan the WHOLE TIME! Those sneaky little tramps. Russ talked me down, said no big deal, we'll go to dinner Friday (which was actually Em's b-day and the whole reason I DIDN'T want to go out that night), and mom said her and Di would take the girls to a movie and it would all be good. If you only knew how slyly they were through the whole thing!! So I called Britt back, told her I would take the appointment, and that was that.

I had a lovely little family party at my moms on my actual birthday where I enjoyed some extremely delicious homemade coconut cake that my sister made me. I opened a couple presents from my girls and some cards, one of which completely gave the entire surprise party away in it:) That would be my moms card. She accidentally stuck it in with the present she was giving me that night. The funniest part was that I did not even read her card completely. My mom is NOTORIOUS for writing these long and emotional cards, so I just skimmed over it thinking I would read it later. Russ and Diana read it thinking that all their hard work was just ruined, and my mom was ready to jump off a cliff. But no, I was none the wiser still at this point.

All right..onto the pictures! Friday was a gorgeously beautiful day. I was excited to go and get my hair done since I was "going back to my roots" (blond) for the summer. I was getting ready to leave, when mom and Diana decided to "stop by" to pick up a jean jacket she so desperately needed on that 75-degree day:) They decided to take before pictures.

That is my "gross"hair face, in case you were wondering. Why didn't anyone tell me my hair was looking very orange and rusty colored? Yuck!!

I had to take Russ's truck since the girls were not out of school yet and he would be picking them up. It seemed like everything was taking extra long, and a lot of stall tactics were being used. He got me flowers and a boxed lunch to take while I was getting my hair done. That was nice........I kept saying "I gotta go!" and my mom was just wandering the driveway aimlessly. Finally, as I was backing out, he informs me that I cannot go, and had to wait for something....another surprise....

So here we are waiting.....Diana took the picture and said "Look, it's Excited and Frustrated! Guess who's who?"

It didn't take too awful long for me to figure out that it was going to be a limosine ride to my appointment. Unfortunately, the limo owner forgot to tell his driver that the pickup was changed to 12:30 instead of 2:00. My hair appointment was at 1:00....30 minutes away. The limo driver finally got there at 1:05. He felt absolutely horrible about the whole thing!

That is my polite smile.....On the inside I'm screaming "IT"S 1:05!!!" I ended up telling him he better drive fast. He did:)

The worst thing is that he literally lives right behind us, on the street behind us(which is why he was pointing), so he could have been there early if he had known. It was fine, no big deal, I just hate to be late. Hate it......

Me thinking "Wow....this huge massive 15-passenger limo....for little 'ol me:)"

Well, I was 1/2 hour late to my appointment, but my hairdresser is AWESOME, so she quick highlighted my hair, cut it super fast, and was in the process of drying it when my sister walked in for her haircut appointment. I knew she was after me, but just thought it was a coincidence. She walked in when Britt informed me that I had another appointment for a mani/pedi with her colleague, so off I went for some surprise pampering!

Do you know how long it's been? My last pedi was when I was 9-months pregnant with Maebree....so like 2 years.....acutally over 2 years....yikes.....


Didi after her cut, and me in serious need of make-up......

I got done with that, and Britt styled my hair super cute. I had my dress and stuff with me, so I got changed (after her telling me I had to hurry up!:) when I was greeted back with the limo and a hunky guy in it:)

Wow....that is some before and after folks, I tell ya!

We were then taken to Kennedy's were we had a delicious dinner and an even better dessert (some sort of chocolate, flour-less torte...I don't know, it was like fudge with some cream junk around it.) Whatever...It was delicious, and also one more way for them to throw me off the party scent! I mean, a party for me is not a party without cake! And as far as I knew, I already had dessert.

After dinner, we got back in the limo where Russ quickly took off his tie to blindfold me so as not to even give me any kind of a hint as to where we were going. He also blasted the radio (which was a Christian station, without us requesting it, so that was cool!) so I wouldn't hear anything either. After a a drive that felt very similar to a roller coaster ride (blindfolded+speeding+sitting sideways in a car+hills and bumps=car sickness!), we pulled into someplace (hadn't a clue what it was but it felt like we were on a long gravel driveway with a bazillion potholes!). Russ then attempted to help me out of the limo where I proceeded to freak out due to the blindfolded out-of-controllness.

Do you love how he smiles so proud of himself!?

I could hear camera flashes but could not hear anything else (impressive that that many people were so quiet! Including my children) Honestly, I thought we were in some store where the limo driver was taking pictures for us because I knew it was my camera clicking off and I knew it was in the back of the limo....again....these people were stealth!

SURPRISE! What a group! Notice me freaking out a little at the prospect of walking in 4-inch heels without a clue as to where I was!? BTW, the camera clicks were my mother, and I have no idea how he got the camera to her without my knowledge of any of it!

I was then unblindfolded and quickly figured out what was going on! They were even playing my "theme" song (Beyonce's Crazy in Love....don't ask...that's for another post!) which was completely awesome! Russ loves the picture above of me looking back at him and his face! It pretty much says it all! I was completely shocked. I also believe the first picture is where I was yelling at everyone and calling them all a bunch of liars:)


Greeted by my precious monkeys:) They looked SO cute! New dresses, thanks grandma!

So on to some more random but fun pics:

Nichole kept the secret from me for months.....she was proud of herself as she should've been.

Me and Emmy's cake...it was actually Em's b-day that day, so they had a special cake just for her:) We were admiring them together!


My pal Stacia came all the way from the STL....she thought it was funny that just that morning I told someone on Facebook where to buy a dress without realizing that it was for my party that they needed the dress:) That was really funny!


Emmy and I cutting our cakes


Cute sisters in black...we were sweaty by then from all the dancing!

Which brings me to the dancing!! Of course there were the classic Junior high boyfriend/girlfriend dances:
I Love that picture! We all look so cute!
Jon and Samantha's first dance together ever!
Russ telling me the story....

Then we broke it down..........

Daddy and Emmy gettin' their grooves on!

Gettin' our "ghetto" on......

Of course, no one broke it down more than my dad and Jon....the pictures speak for themselves:)

We were all tired, but had to pose for a couple more pics at the end of the night!

Me and all my "ladies in black"....don't they all look so nice? BTW, I had no tan lines on my chest until that morning....when we were sitting in my driveway waiting for the limo!! Grrrr!

What a cute and exhausted little family:)

Payin' for the whole shibang! How cute is he???!! Seriously! That is one big hunk! Pretty much every husband hated him after this night!

So that is that! It was incredible how Russ and Diana planned this whole shibang (with the help from many others!) and I had no idea of any of it! It was also amazing to me to find out that my kids have known for months and didn't even tell me. Seriously, I don't know if I should be proud or nervous that an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old could hold a secret so well:) But I realized how incredibely thankful I am for such a great family and bunch of friends that obviously love me so much. Thanks for an incredible and memorable 30th birthday guys! I don't think anything else will be able to compare to this!

My rockstar 6-year-old

In an effort to get Emmy's pics done before the firestorm of the next couple weeks (my b-day, her b-day, NUMEROUS photo shoots, school getting out, etc!), I quick did up her hair and put her in a cute outfit and headed out to the front yard for some pics. I really wanted to incorporate her guitar that my mom and dad bought her last year for her birthday, and I think we got some pretty cute stuff!! Tell me what you think!

I know that everyone thinks that their kid is the the cutest, but I am not kidding. I seriously think I should be capitalizing off this kids photogenicness. She is such a natural in front of a camera and posed herself in EVERY one. I helped only with telling her to smile, not smile, and if she needed help figuring out how to hold the guitar. She is amazing!

If you want to see the rest of her pics, you can view them here

Gracey-Lou Freebush

Our little Emmy Grace is going to be 6 this week. I found this pictures and thought I should share, she looks just so stinkin' cute!

She looks like she's gettin' ready to "throw down some beats".

I aksed her what she wants for her birthday, and she informed me that she wants a "Touch N Brush", some stupid toothpaste dispenser that hooks onto the wall. "But MOM! You get a toothbrush with it where you don't even need toothpaste!"

6-year-olds!

Mind games

Question.....why is it that when you are dieting or working on your figure, or any thing of the sort, the lack of sugar and carbs always plays tricks on your mind? I SWEAR that the towel I used to dry off after the shower smelled like a stinkin' Powdered Creme Donut......NO JOKE! I just kept smelling it and smelling it....I had to resist the temptation to actually bite into it!

But that's not even the worst of it. I spent 25 minutes the other day paralyzed in fear as a massive spider crawled all over my ceiling. I lost it for a while (I even threw my cat in that general area so he might sniff it out and scare it), then it came back out to torment me some more. I had my vacuum all ready to suck it up (so I wouldn't have to get too close), and I simply couldn't do it. Finally, I came to my senses, found the bottle of Pine-Sol, sprayed the sucker til he fell on the floor (where I felt I had the upper hand) and I smashed the living crap (literally) out of the sucker! All the while I was screaming like I was being chased by an axe murderer. Yesterday, I called my 8-year-old daughter in to kill one that was in my bathroom. She simply went into my closet, grabbed one of Russ's shoes, jumped up on the bathtub and smashed him to smithereens without even blinking an eye. I was crouched in the corner by the toilet. I have never been more proud:) Of my kid that is..........

This morning, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. SURE that my garage door was opening. I sat up, realized I was wrong and layed back down in my super groggy state. All the sudden, I swear to you I heard Faith screaming "Mom!" "Mom!" as she was being taken across my front yard and down the street. I shot straight up out of bed, ran into their room (where the 7-pound watch dog starting barking and hissing like crazy at me) only to find her sleeping soundly in her bed. It was then that I realized it was a goose honking wildly as it passed my window that morning. I thought a goose was my daughter being kidnapped.........***sigh****** I think I better eat some cake.

Jog baby jog!

I decided that since I have allowed cake to rule my life these past few weeks (as well as potato chips, hot fudge sundaes, cookies, you get the picture), that I needed another kick in the butt to get back in gear. My husband informed me that he is taking me somewhere nice for my 30th b-day next week ( I know! I can hardly believe it to! Not that he's taking me somewhere nice, that I'm going to be 30), and I was to go out and buy a dress, shoes, the whole nine yards. So my mom and Nichole graciously came with me (and endured as well as helped entertain my kids!) on Saturday to hunt down a dress. We shopped for like 5 hours, but finally picked a winner. Of course, it was the last store we went to...go figure! Anyway, this dress is a cute strapless number, and since I am shaped like a football player up top, and have gotten quite soft in the midsection, I decided to force my husband to keep me from all things sugar as well as force me to exercise in an effort to look even better for my b-day.

Today I was horribly unmotivated to do anything, let alone go jogging. After grocery shopping and grabbing a quick energy bar at the store, I came home determined to full fill exercise commitment. I started out walking and then decided to jog.....and I kept going....and going....all the way to the park so I could take a 1 min. potty break (stinkin' water!)...and kept going...and going! I kept thinking "Man! this is FAR! I have never jogged this long!" I finally ended up back home telling Russ I was sure I had to have gone at LEAST 2 miles. I know, that doesn't sound far, but for someone who has NEVER jogged more than 1.5 miles, and only did that like twice in her life, this would have been a great accomplishment. He mapped out the course I told him that I went on a website, and come to find out, I jogged 3.2 miles!! WHAT??!! I could NOT believe it! So, I'm excited. In an effort to document our lives better, I decided I needed to share. I've committed to running a 5K (3.2 miles) for the Pregnancy Resource Center in October, but didn't think I would reach that point for a few months yet! So yeah! Now....if I can just keep this up for like 3 times a week, I will be in good shape....literally:)

Lost party 2009

***SPOILER ALERT**** If you have not watched the finale, don't read any further. Some pictures may spoil you:)


If you know me, you know I love Lost. Next to Jack Bauer, it's my favorite thing on t.v.......actually, I think it is my favorite thing on t.v. and then Jack comes next. Realistically, how many times can one man save the world from terrorists:) A mythical island that skips around through time and causes planes to crash, paraplegics to walk, barren couples to reproduce, and heals cancer, that's a little more believable to me. Just kidding, I'm not a complete freak. I do have a dress up party because there are so many characters in this show that are fun to emulate.

"Locke" and "Jacob" Evidently Jacob's aversion to technology has subsided in order for him to make a phone call......





The "cast" photo. We have (in the back)"Jughead", Jacob, Old Eloise, Hurley (complete with a "I heart My Shih-Tzu shirt), Locke, Young Ellie, and down front is Juliette (complete with chains:) and Sun.


Now for the close-ups.....and goofy ones!

"Sun" and "Young Ellie" complete with a "Charles Widmore is my baby-daddy t-shirt.



"Young Ellie" and "Old Eloise", complete with her chalkboard on how to get back to the island.




"Juliette" and her "death chains" and "Jughead". Thanks to that startling and cliff-hanger ending, they will always have a special "explosive" connection. BTW, for all those who are thoroughly confused, Jughead is a hydrogen bomb. As if that actually explains anything.

I didn't get to take many pictures as I was too busy trying to keep kids quiet, keep them from falling down stairs, and was a little stressed out due to the tornado warnings and praying the lightning wouldn't blitz our t.v. out. Actually, my friend Nichole took most of the pictures I do have! But it was still fun to get together with friends just being silly. So let the Lost party 2010 party planning begin!!