Cailey's SURPRISE party!!

I'd been planning since January. The second Cailey told me that she didn't want a party this year but wanted to go to Carowinds I knew that I could pull off a surprise party for her DOUBLE DIGIT year. Because she really DID want a party but knew I wouldn't agree to do that AND let her bring a friend to Carowinds. I knew August 11 was perfect because we had nothing going on the weekend before and wouldn't go to the beach until the weekend after. I looked into having it at several places but apparently I needed to know a YEAR in advance for my top two choices! Mom helped me figure out that I could empty the family room furniture out to make more room so it was settled that it would be at home.

I've been planning this for SO long and told everyone 'officially' back in May so they could mark it down in their calendars. I kept it a secret from our kiddos until July when I finally told Braden. He's a GREAT secret keeper and helped me make a ton of things for the party. Kinsey helped me too but NEVER asked what anything was for!! I shopped for candy/decorations, etc. and was never questioned by her about it...though Ephram asked me a few times who was having a party:).

I looked for blue and pink candy EVERYWHERE...and glass jars. Thankfully I ended up with more than enough and just LOVE the way it turned out!

I LOVE a good surprise but when we found out that Cailey was getting her tonsils out on July 30th I thought it may not go as planned with getting her out of the house. I was told she'd need a good 10-14 days to recover which wouldn't have been enough time.

Thankfully I told her that if she felt better on Wednesday then we could go to Carowinds with Rebecca (the first part of the plan). It helped her get better faster..or at least WANT to get better faster and we went. Next I left her with Laura for three days so everything could finally come together. I had been planning, searching, and buying so many turquoise and hot pink things that I just couldn't wait to see them come together. I kept all the stuff in my closet except for the tissue paper flowers that I made while she was at Aunt Camp..those were in the attic. I didn't want her to see ANYTHING before hand. Not because she would know what it was for, but because I wanted every part of it to be a surprise.

I made tons of paper chains, votive holders, tissue paper flowers, pink chocolate/sprinkle covered marshmallows, blue chocolate/sprinkle covered pretzels, skewered taffy (and my hand), and all the other decorations and food (minus the free chicken nuggets) for the party. Her favorite color since she could talk has been turquoise. In the past few years hot pink joined the ranks as another loved color (only when it's paired with turquoise). So that's the theme I chose for the party. After I had already planned it we were talking about what she'd want for her 11th birthday and she told me that she wanted it to be turquoise and pink themed with matching candy. That solidified it for me!! She hasn't been "into" themes for a few years so I was surprised she wanted one for 'next year'. So since she brought it up I was able to ask her about other things she'd want at her party for NEXT year (while saving it in my brain for this year).

After taking most of the furniture out I was left with the train table, toy box, ottoman, and window seat. I wanted EVERYTHING to be in the 'theme' so I took down the shades and curtains so I could decorate that area. Then I had Kinsey bring me down the girls giant Minky blankets (Kinsey has hot pink and Cailey has turquoise). I used pins to cover the existing cushions on the toy box and window seat to make them match. They turned out super cute!! I used a hot pink sham on the ottoman, which brought it all together.

We could have taken out the train table but I decided it would be perfect for presents and got to work on decorating it with craft things I had laying around the house. Wire came in handy for EVERYTHING from the tissue flowers to the train table! I used old hot pink sparkly tulle that was in pieces and basically bunched it together, secured with with wire, and duct taped it to the table! It looked like pretty flowers! Then I turned the train board over and used a plastic tablecloth from the dollar store to cover it. Braden helped me weave hot pink and turquoise ribbon in different patterns around the legs and it looked amazing! I'm SO glad I kept it in because otherwise there wouldn't have been room for the gifts.


I found cute turquoise and pink Christmas ornaments on clearance and had to snag them as well. Both chandeliers were COVERED in turquoise and hot pink mardi gras beads...and were SO cute! The beads were used all around as decorations on the windows, fireplace, and tables. GREAT way to bring in cheap decorations since they can be ordered in bulk! I also ordered a ton of turquoise/hot pink colored glow bracelets and lit a few in the bathroom, which everyone loved. As it got darker out the kids made bracelets and necklaces with them too. Braden and Kinsey blew up a ton of balloons then we got 20 of them filled with helium.


I tried to make everything either pink or turquoise...and if it wasn't then I served it in pink or turqoise:). We had blue jello (in a matching bowl, of course:), cherry salad (one of Cailey's favs), pink cookies (another fav) served on a fun sparkly turquoise platter), blue chocolate covered strawberries, peaches, chex mix (cailey's fav), veggies, chili's chips and salsa (another fav of Cailey's), hot dogs and beans (requested by C), nuggets (FREE:), and sweet and sour meatballs. Added to the HUGE candy bar it was a TON of food!! I also made a pink punch and had turquoise Hi-C for everyone to drink.


The guests arrived at 5:00 and Brian moved their cars so they wouldn't be visible to our ever observant daughter:). While they were waiting for her to arrive (at 5:30) I had a framed picture of Cailey for them to write an encouraging word about Cailey on. A word of truth to help her get through the tween/teen years. An "I am" word. Brian spray painted cans (from veggies) hot pink and I decorated them with turquoise ribbons and beads. Those were used to hold the pink/turquoise Sharpies to write on the picture mat with. The words people wrote were SO sweet. Words like "Worthy, Precious, A great friend, Beautiful, Strong", etc. In the dining room I set up a table for the kids to make duct tape book marks while they were waiting too. Of course it was hot pink and turquoise duct tape:)! I cut rectangles from cereal boxes as the base and provided duct tape, Sharpies, hole punches, and string to decorate them with. They turned out super cute and made the time pass quickly!! My original plan was for them to play outside while they were waiting but it was rainy so thankfully I had a back up plan! I wouldn't let anyone eat the candy before Cailey could see it all put together! They also played with the 100 plus balloons and chatted while waiting. I love that Caroline and Kinsey were hiding UNDER the candy table ready to throw balloons at Cailey:)!

Laura dropped Cailey off at Cheryl's when she got to Raleigh and Cheryl was able to get her dressed, etc. without her having a CLUE about what was going on. Cheryl spoils Cailey normally so she didn't think anything was strange about getting a new outfit and getting loved on after being at Laura's. I gave the dress/shoes/earrings to Cheryl on Friday when I was watching Alex. Brian and I spent FOREVER trying to find her an outfit Thursday night!! Cailey is 'in' to 'bling' and sequence these days so we wanted it to be something she really loved. I found super cute flip flops that were turquoise and glittery at Charming Charlie in June and grabbed them up...for 3 dollars! Braden got her the earrings from there too...for her birthday. The dress came from Justice. Brian and I both swore we'd never shop there. Sigh. The things we do for our kids! We honestly looked everywhere possible before finding it there!

Cheryl, Chris, Alex, and Ashton came in first. Cheryl sent Cailey back to "get her purse" and shut the door. Cailey did say that she didn't know why Ms. Cheryl would shut the door in her 'face' but quickly understood. She came in and saw the food on the counter but in her words she, "thought we were going to have a fun family night.:) Ha!

SURPRISE!!

Completely shocked and still holding Cheryl's purse!! Brian and I talked about how we thought she would react and sure enough she did it to a T. She was awe struck and silent. She put her thumb nail nervously in her mouth with a HUGE smile on it. She giggled quietly. She got hugs from everyone. Then she went right over to the candy and said, "WOW! Just like Nellie Olsen!" Lol! She quickly 'Christened' the candy table by eating the first pieces and everyone else joined in. Nonny and Poppy were there...and Granny and Aunt Michelle..those were surprises in itself! She couldn't believe mom and dad had been there since Friday, though!

the place was 'hopping' after the surprise!

Posing with our sweet birthday girl who had a blue mouth pretty much all night from the candy:). I made the 10 above the fireplace the night before and LOVE how it turned out. I used pictures from birth until last week. LOVE it!! She wanted it to hang in her room and constantly talks about all the memories of the pictures. Sweet friends who could come:).

This was the best hug EVER! Cailey adores Miss Katherine (as do all of us) and was so excited that she took the time to come to her party.

Back in February when the kids ran the 10K we won a raffle for a session with Mimi the Clown which I just knew would be perfect for the party. I had games, crafts, and turquoise/hot pink polish planned because I assumed Mimi would just be painting faces and the kids would have to wait in line but it was WAY more than that. She kept the kids completely occupied for two hours! She did a super fun magic show which had the grown ups laughing as much as the kids (and they were totally mesmerized the whole time..(all ages). The last trick she did involved Cailey, a picture of a bunny, and an "empty" box. She made the picture come to life and pulled out this sweet bunny! The kids were amazed and loved petting it. Cailey told me later that she was afraid that Mimi was going to turn her into a bunny...lol!! Love that girl!

After the awesome magic show she started painting faces while her oldest daughter made fun balloon shapes to go along with the face paint. IT.WAS.AWESOME. and SO worth paying for it if you are looking for great entertainment. I'm so glad we won having her there because it really made the party even better! We never even needed the games, etc. that I had planned.

Mimi gave Cailey a gorgeous face that matched her outfit and wings...and a giant wand. Cailey was thrilled! She wanted to pose with her candy and then found out I made her favorite cake! This is the cake that Cailey has decided she wants every year. It's a very moist homemade strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and she loves it. I love that it is super easy so I didn't have to worry about it falling apart:). The kids had SO much sugar that most of them were surprised they forgot all about a cake:)!

LOVE LOVE LOVE that I caught these two looking at the pictures together and remembering them with smiles. They had matching faces:)! Cailey was so excited that Rebecca could be at her party because usually it just doesn't work out because of the 2 hour drive each way.

Cake time....then presents

The girls were playing outside with their glow jewelry on while waiting for parents:). A BIG hug for Nonny and Poppy after the great party.

Once again she told me the same thing she does every year after a party, " This was the BEST party I've ever had!"

My girl is double digits this year. I remember that being SUCH a big deal when I was a kid. I've noticed a lot of things changing in her relationships and seen her mature quite a bit this summer....praying she doesn't grow up too fast, though! I love you Cailey girl and hope you have a GREAT 10 year old year!

I am beyond thankful for everyone who helped me pull off this awesome surprise!