The Beauty of a Surprise

Of all the different types of surprises in this world, I think those borne out of pure love for someone else are the best.

A couple of weeks ago my mom came over to go to my stepson's baseball game. His games are all on weeknights and with her living 40 minutes away, her coming to a game is a rarity (and beautiful in and of itself!). Since this would be the last time we would see her before her birthday (which she spent out of town with my brother) I thought it would be fun to surprise her with a birthday dinner. 

Since there isn't much time between getting home from school and rolling out to the game, all of the work for this surprise had to be done beforehand. The "party" was on a Thursday but the work began on Tuesday. After school my stepson and I went out to get her cards, gifts and flowers. On Wednesday I came home and cleaned my whole house (standard before any mother visit), ironed my table linens and set the table, baked the cupcakes, and, with my husband, made his famous Greek Chicken. It might not sound like much, but it took 4 hours!

Pretty place setting using one grandma's dishes, another grandma's silver and table linens from our registry.

On Thursday my mom pulled in right behind us, so it was good that everything was ready. The look on her face when she peeked into my dining room made everything worth it. With a confused look on her face she said that the table looked pretty and then asked me what it was set for. When I told her it was for her and that we were going to have a little birthday dinner for her she got all teary eyed and did the extended mom hug.

                     

We gave her a monogrammed bracelet and matching earrings.

The beauty in this small event is threefold. Firstly, my stepson and I experienced the joy of doing something nice for someone else out of nothing but pure love. Secondly and most importantly, my mom felt loved and celebrated. Thirdly, I got to do one of my favorite things; decorate and beautify my home for company. 

All in all, a beautiful little event with a sweet ending. 

These were cuter (and tastier!) than the picture gives them credit for.