Mother’s Day surprise

There is no such thing as a normal day in a household of six children, including two-year-old quintuplets, but Wednesday morning brought an unexpected surprise to Courtnee Stevenson.

That surprise came courtesy of her husband, Mike, and the crew from KING 5’s “Evening Magazine,” who stopped by the Stevensons’ East Bremerton residence to film a segment on Courtnee’s being named one of the 15 nationwide semifinalists for the America’s Favorite Mom contest, which is sponsored by Teleflora. Courtnee was one of the three mothers chosen in the “Chairman of Everything” category.

The winning mom will be crowned during the primetime television special, “Teleflora presents America’s Favorite Mom,” airing at 4 p.m. on May 11, which is Mother’s Day.

Courtnee expected to fly from Seattle to New York City on Thursday to appear on the show on May 9, but Mike had other plans.

“This is a total surprise,” Courtnee said as she was whisked away as Mike and all six children waved bye bye. “I knew I was going to be on the show, but I didn’t expect this.”

With less than 30 minutes to pack, Courtnee said she managed to get everything done, even though it wasn’t easy to think about being away from her family for the first time in more than two years.

“It’s hard, but I know they’re in good hands,” she said. “These people (the volunteers) love them as much as I do.”

After almost blowing the surprise as Courtnee packed her things, Mike said he managed to catch himself and had more surprises in store later Wednesday evening.

“I’m going to meet her in Seattle and she’s getting a complete makeover,” he said. “Pedicure, manicure, the whole nine yards from Gene Juarez, and she’s going to get a whole new outfit from a Sixth Street boutique.”

Afterwards, a romantic dinner and an evening in an upscale hotel also were planned at the last minute, he said.

“We were going to do something like ‘Pretty Woman,’ but the play wasn’t until Thursday,” he said.

With his wife en route to Seattle, Mike said he was ready to be Mr. Mom for at least a few days.

“This is my first time doing this, but it’s all about consistency,” he said. “Plus, I’ve got plenty of help.”

With everything that Courtnee does to keep their household running smoothly, Mike said the special recognition is but a small token of the appreciation she deserves.

“She’s great and she deserves the break,” he said.

Courtnee was selected from more than 15,000 online nominations collected at the Web site, www.AmericasFavoriteMom.com.

“We were just in awe of the thousands of amazing moms nominated on AmericasFavoriteMom.com – there were so many inspirational and heartfelt submissions,” said Lynda Resnick, chairman of Teleflora. “Now it’s time for America to decide who among these incredible mothers should be crowned ‘America’s Favorite Mom’.”

With Courtnee on her way to New York City, Mike said there also is good news on the construction of the family’s house in Keyport.

“Things are going great and I looked at it last night and it should be ready on July 15,” he said.

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