Back when I was training for the half marathon, I decided one day that my husband only turned 30 once and I wanted to celebrate it in style. Next year, he may be too senile to enjoy it ;)
I started planning and I never looked back, even when I was scared he would be mad at me. You see, Brent doesn't care much for parties and he hates, I mean, HE HATES surprises!!!!! I, on the other hand, LOVE surprises and parties :D Which means, I love planning surprise parties! This is the 4th one I've planned. I planned a friend's, my mom's, my mother-in-law's, and now my husband's!
I debated and debated where to have the party. Originally, I was going to have it at a restaurant and say we were going out to celebrate his mom's birthday and his together (her's is on the 4th of November). Then, after lots of thinking, I knew we would have a better turn out if I wasn't requiring people to pay to eat out. I know we would be less likely to attend a party where we also had to pay for our family to eat. Things are tight! We would probably decline the invite. I knew our church's Family Life Center would be the PERFECT location for the party.... BUT... how in the world could I get him there?? If his buddy's invited him to "hang out" and he pulled up and saw lots of cars, he would know and he would probably refuse to walk in the doors. It finally hit me! A friend of mine at church is a "planner" for us. LOL. She always plans girl's days and girl's night out, etc. and she tries to plan something once a month. How bout if she planned a "Couple's Game Night" for the month of November?????!!!! I decided that idea was a winner. I didn't think he would be suspicious of that at all. So, I casually mentioned to him, back at the beginning of October, that I thought Nicole might be planning something for both the guys and the girls for November and that I thought it would be a "Game Night" sort of thing. He looked thrilled (NOT!) and said in a sarcastic voice, "Oh FUN!" (Remember... Brent doesn't care much for get-together's). I left it at that and decided not to bring it up again. Meanwhile, I put it as an event in my phone's calendar-- the "Couple's Game Night" that is. About 2 or 3 weeks ago, I was "looking through my calendar on my phone", when I noticed that Game Night was coming up. I "remembered" and told Brent. I also told him there would be childcare at the church for the kids and it would be the teens keeping them. He actually sounded excited about the plans :D I began saving my cleaning money to pay for everything and I kept it in my underwear drawer in an envelope.
Now it was time to decide on a menu and what to do at the party. His mom said that his favorite meal in the world is chili dogs. That is something I NEVER, EVER would cook at home, so I thought it would be perfect to serve at his party :D I arranged for his mom to make her recipe of chili, my mom to make her recipe of chili, me to make spicy chili, and then to also have a vegetarian chili (we have vegetarian friends). I asked my mother-in-law to make coleslaw (Brent loves her coleslaw) and my mom to make tea. I knew I would need, along with hot dogs and buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, cheese, sour cream, chips, and dessert (I wanted to have the option for chili chips and cheese if someone didn't want hot dogs).
For the dessert, I wanted to WOW Brent and all the guests. I didn't want to spend too much, but I wanted to get something GOOD. If I had a cake made, I knew I would want my friend Ashley Ball doing the cake. She is extremely talented and can do anything! She is amazing. There is no other word for it. I thought and thought about what would be "Brent" and finally decided on his protein powder container and protein shaker. Anyone that knows Brent knows he loves to workout and stay healthy. He drinks at least 1 protein shake a day. I knew that would be "Brent" better than anything else. I called her and told her what I wanted and she said she could do it (of course she could!!!). I was excited to see the final product :D
I had no idea how to keep the kids entertained at the party. I knew they would outnumber the adults. We went to a birthday party at the church in October and they had rented a bouncy house. It fit perfectly inside our Family Life Center and the kids LOVED it. I knew that would be perfect to entertain the kiddos. I began saving money for that now as well. I rented a combo-- bouncy house plus slide and basketball goal--- and was excited to see Brent's reaction to that as well :D
Leading up to the party, I was anxious so much. I was so afraid someone would let it slip by accident. I was constantly deleting text messages because I was afraid he would see something. I would religiously log out of FB if I even walked away from the computer for a min. I usually NEVER log out and leave it up continuously. But, too many ppl were RSVPing on there or IM-ing me about the party. I couldn't risk him finding out. I was so nervous that he was somehow going to find out and would refuse to go.
I went up to the church Thursday night to "help Nicole decorate for game night" and mom and I sat up table and chairs and planned everything out. I also met the bouncy house men and got that all set up. EEEKKKK! I couldn't believe how close it was!
Thankfully, he never found out :D The big night rolled around. I cooked chili to take to Couple's Game Night. I causally got ready--- usually I'm extremely "time conscious" and HATE being late, but I wasn't worried about time in the least, well... at least not worried about "being on time". LOL. I tried on a million different things. We were ready ON TIME, which NEVER happens :D So, I told Brent I really needed to return something to Ace while he was with me to sit in the car with the boys. We were supposed to be at the church at 7:15pm and we got to Ace at 7pm. It took all of 1 min to return that, so I just stood in Ace for a good 6 minutes. When I got out to the van, Webb was crying and Brent said that is all he did while I was in there. Whoops! I said, "Sorry! They just couldn't get their act together." LOL.
On the way to the church, Dane said, "I need to puke". I whipped into the first street we were passing and when I did, the chili that was between Brent's feet spilled all over the van AND all over Brent's shoes. He was not happy :( He was saying, "Always gotta be on a dummy mission. We can't ever just stay home! Why do we always have to have plans. ETC." I was so tickled and trying not to bust out laughing!!! Dane did not throw up and we continued to the church.
We pull up to the church and I text my mom to let her know. I got the chili and Brent carried both boys. When we got to the doors, I opened them up and moved out of the way. The first person Brent saw was his cousin from Cartersville and a buddy from Cartersville. He looked at me and said, "What???!!" I said, "Go on in". When we walked in, all of our family and friends were surrounding us and screaming, "SURPRISE!!!!!!!" A ton of noise things were going off and it was a moment I will never forget :D Brent was surprised. YAY!!!! I was so pleased with the turn out, the party, and Brent's reaction. After hugging a few guests, I wanted to see the cake! I looked over and OH MY SOUL!!!!!!!!
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| The cake--- The protein powder we use and Brent's protein shaker. |
Talk about AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I was so very pleased :D
Brent was mingling with friends and they pointed and said, "See your cake." He laughed and said, "She got me protein powder instead of a cake?!" They said, "NO! That is your cake!" Brent was amazed and he LOVED it. After we went through the food line, Brent hugged me and said, "This is awesome. Thanks for doing it." That made all the hard work, $$$ spent, and anxiety over it totally worth it!!!
It seriously was a great night... one I will never forget. Brent either. We talked the whole way home about it and I shared stories from planning it, etc. He shared stories how in hindsight, he shoulda known I was up to something ;)
When we got home we watched the video from the night and laughed and laughed. Brent's friend, Daniel Ball, videoed before we got there and asked people to say something to Brent. That was great. He got the entrance and shots of everyone there. I am so glad we have that footage! We have been blessed with the most wonderful friends and the best family and couple could ask for!!! God is so very good!!!
Here are a few pics from the night. I didn't get many at all :( But the video rocks!
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| I think it's safe to say, the guests were "WOWED" by the cake! |
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| The actual container and shaker next to the cake :D |
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| Guests |
It was an awesome night :D Thank you so much, to EVERYONE to helped me and came to celebrate my husband :D We love you guys!!!!!
Oh, side note... My table came in and Brent and Josh put it together for me yesterday. They only received 4 of the 8 chairs I ordered, so it's not complete yet. I'm not complaining though. It is so nice to not have to eat on the floor!! LOL
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