SuRpRiSeS are NICE

It's an impromptu SuRpRiSe Party!!!

Madison is turning 12 and it's a party year for her (every other year we have a party). She actually didn't really want a party (too much drama) and was planning on just going to Knott's Berry Farm with a few friends. Enter another dilemma: which friends to invite without any getting feelings hurt? Plus, when to go . . . Saturdays are totally booked up and so are Friday nights. Dilemma Dilemma!

We decided pretty much at the last minute (OK a week ago) to throw her a surprise party. She would love it, she's turning 12 - it's a big deal.

I just called the moms of her good friends and they were all totally on board. Many of the girls didn't even know about it until that day. Our own kids didn't even know until a couple of hours before. We weren't chancing the surprise getting blown.

Enter grandma and grandpa . . . my parents usually take the birthday kid out to dinner near the actual birthday. Last year my mom took Madison shopping so she could pick out her own gift and they could have some QT together. Luckily it worked out that my parents were free and could plan the annual event without seeming suspicious.

The only caveat: they had to have her out of the house until 7:00 p.m. The guests were arriving at 6:45.

My mom called at 6:30. They ate, they shopped, they walked the mall, they had ice cream, they walked the mall some more . . . they were done! I told her they had to hold out a few more minutes. Poor Madison was getting bored and probably wondering why grandma wanted her to explain how "Build a Bear" works.

Here are the guests waiting for Maddy - they were all enthralled with a 650+ photo slide show I had going on the TV. (Thanks to AppleTv it was easy peasy).

That was seriously so entertaining!!

Surprise!!!!! She had NO idea! Her expression was priceless and she even teared up with the excitement.

Food, food, and more food. But it was all EASY!

Girls were congregating everywhere. I'm so glad that the day was warm (finally!) so not only can the swampy backyard dry out, but they can enjoy being outside.

We set up a strobe light in the backyard with music blasting - they jumped in the dark with the lights flashing which made it super fun for them.

Lemon Lusciousness.

Hurry and blow out the candles before the letters all melt away.

Another congregation spot and non-stop giggles. Some girls, including Ashlyn, got attacks of the giggles and couldn't stop.

Present time! She got so many nice gifts - her friends all know her well. Books, books, and more books, cute clothes, awesome art supplies (acrylic paints, sketch book, etc.) and this hilarious card we all got a kick out of - the cat starts out totally normal then grows and grows and grows until it fills up the entire card with the funny cartoon face.

We deem this party a huge success. Impromptu is the way to go. There were nearly 30 people there. Only one friend couldn't attend but that's because she had a weekend soccer tournament far away and wouldn't have been able to if we gave a month's notice. Practically zero stress and I made a basket of cool nail polishes and headbands of which they were able to choose on their way out the door . . . easy peasy party, yet with all the feeling of specialness included!

My favorite quote from one of the mothers when I asked if her daughter would be available for the party: "Even it Fatima had other plans, we would change it because we wouldn't miss her best friend's party." So very thoughtful. Then when they picked her up at the end, the dad (who owns our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant Ali Baba) brought us a large box of Arabic sweets called tarboosh. So nice!