Surprise!!!

Jake has had a long and sordid past with birthdays. Many things have contributed to his reason for not wanting to have a big birthday party. One thing or another has always stood in the way of it being a truly enjoyable event for him. So this year I made it my personal mission to make his day special.

1. The Idea: Plan Jake a surprise birthday party that he will never forget.

2. Enlist the help of someone to help me pull it off.

3. Keep all the plans a complete secret.

4. Do it on a tiny budget. : )

#1 was easy, #2 was not hard either. I called up a buddy that Jake works with and asked him to handle half of the guest list (friends from work), and to keep Jake occupied the day of the party so I could get the house ready. I emailed friends and family and asked them to shower him with cards on the weekend before his birthday (that part didn't go so well), but Jake's dad replied and said he was planning on taking a bike ride that weekend and asked if we would mind him party crashing (we did not mind). Keeping all the plans a secret was hard. Try buying decorations and trying out cake recipes, and fielding phone calls with two little kids around. I was so proud of them for knowing for almost a week and not letting a single thing slip to their dad.

The day of the party Jake got up early and decided that he was going to spend the day at work since all of his friends has mysteriously cancelled their plans with him. When he left we kicked things into high gear at home prepping for the festivities. We hung decorations, placed framed photos of him at his birthdays or old school pictures throughout the house, and made appetizers and the cake. We decided to keep the fare simple and opted for brats and burgers with fresh fruit and potato salad. We mowed the lawn, finished up the last of the dishes and by 1 PM we were ready. Soooo, we called him and asked if he would like to meet us for lunch in Freeport. His buddy D. had called him and wanted to take him to Iron Man 3 for the afternoon so it worked out perfect. We grabbed some ice on the way home and got to our house 5 minutes before Grandpa Peepaw showed up. The next guest to arrive were our friend Katie and Skipppy, and then the  rest of Jake's buddies rolled in. The second to last guest arrived about 2 minute before D. and Jake pulled in. Jake's face was priceless when he walked around the corner and saw everyone. He was stunned. We had done it. He greeted everyone and then we went in to the house to eat. It was very relaxed and everyone seemed to have a good time. Katie and Skipppy and Grandpa spent the night so we had a big doughnut breakfast the next morning. Overall it was a good birthday and we seem to have broken the curse of the bad birthdays.

#4: Total budget $56.23 (this included all the drinks we had -an there were plenty left over)

p.s. I attempted my second atomic cake making and it turned out great. Grandpa even went so far as to say that the bakery in Chicago that we normally order it from had nothing on me. I still need to have a piece - I was to busy making sure everyone was doing ok to get some last night. : )