Surprise, surprise!!

Okay, so here are the details of my Mother's Day surprise for Brandi. She had requested that I make an almond cheesecake (sorry, no recipe. Family secret ;~) as her only present. I have nicknamed it "The Diet Killer" as it includes almost 4 cups of sugar and 6 bricks of cream cheese. It also takes almost three and a half hours to create, and then has to chill overnight to be ready to serve.
On the Friday before , Kitty was going on an overnighter with a church group, and Brandi was dropping her off. I told Brandi to go grocery shopping, take her time, and relax. I would watch the other five kids. Brandi and Kitty were barely out the door before I was pushing the rest of them to get ready to go ourselves. I still needed some ingredients, and something for dinner.
Within 1/2 hour, we got to, through, and back from the store. A major achievement, even if I do say so myself. As I cooked dinner I also prepared the cheesecake. I am NOT a multi-tasker by any stretch of the imagination,but the children were extremely helpful. To complete the secrecy, we had to wash all the dishes and come up with an alibi for the time spent. We accomplished both, got the kids (almost) ready for bed, and hid the cheesecake in our spare fridge that she rarely sees.
Brandi took me at my word on taking her time, and took nearly four hours to relax with time to herself, even if it was for groceries. When she returned, there were no visible traces of our adventure (try working with5 children ages 3 to 13 in a kitchen!!). As I had hoped, she was too preoccupied with putting away her purchases to notice the missing bricks of Philly. The next day, I was held over at work (4 1/2 hours extra) so I called Brandi to apologize because we had originally discussed making the cake on Saturday. She decided it would be alright to make it on Sunday for Monday. I let her.
On Sunday, we woke up late (by design??) so I helped her get everyone else ready, and said I would follow in my car.On the way to church, I stopped by Frisch's where we had planned to meet with both grandmas for their Mother's Day treat. The restaurant held the cheesecake for me until after church, and after we had finished eating.
When the waitress presented Brandi's present, she got so excited and confused at the same time that I think she forgot to breathe, because she almost passed out from being lightheaded. That was when I knew I had succeeded.
She spent the next few hours trying to piece together the who, what, when, where, and how's leading up to the unveiling. She couldn't even speak in complete sentences.

"When did you....?"

"How did............?"


"How could....?"
After a full explanation, she said it was a wonderful surprise, and no, I didn't have to make another one that afternoon.