SURPRISE!

Jessa Lynn Key is almost 5 years old. Can you believe it?? I cannot. It seems like just yesterday she was a brand new baby. . .

I LOVE planning birthday parties and buying and wrapping presents. David gets tickled at me because I get so into it. And Miss Jessa is all about the party thing now, too. The catch this year was that she asked for a surprise party. Yes, she is turning 5 and planning her own surprise party. I tried to explain to her that the guest of honor does not usually KNOW about the surprise ahead of time. But every time I asked her what kind of party she wanted, she answered "surprise." So I went with the flow and planned her a surprise party. She spent entire car rides explaining to me about people hiding and saying surprise and flipping the lights on.

With the move, we are going with a more family oriented party. My kiddos always get multiple parties. They usually get a school party, a friend party, and a family party. I always think of that as a benefit to being an army brat to try and balance all the drawbacks. This year, we are just doing the school and family thing. The special part is that since it was Columbus day, Daddy was able to come for the festivities. And being a couple weeks early helped with the element of surprise, right? They have both always had their parties at random times to accommodate David's schedule, so this is sort of old hat.

So she planned the party concept: a surprise. The actual time of the party WAS a surprise. The party venue was Mimi's house, to help with the surprise time part. I arrived early to decorate and put out the food, the guests arrived shortly after. We all got into place when Momma and Daddy called to say they were close.

They walked in, the lights flipped on and we yelled "SURPRISE!" And it was one of the worst moments of my life! She literally jumped and the look on her face was sheer terror. We scared her half to death!! Immediately, I was sorry about going along with her idea, but it was HER idea. . . She huddled with Momma and Daddy, and I was able to pick her up and comfort her. She would not look at anyone for a little while, but she finally warmed up and had a good time! Bless her heart! I think we were all just so excited that our "surprise" was louder and more scary than we meant for it to be.

Jessa LOVED all the Barbie decor - especially her cake. . .

And, of course, all her presents


David even sent a video clip to play at the party:

that led her to her big present:

Spencer had lots of fun and got awesome unbirthday presents, too! (Mom's idea with me and Lucas. You get something on your sibling's birthday to avoid jealousy.)

The weather was perfect. The company was wonderful. We missed David terribly, but a great time was had by all. That is, once Jessa's sweet little heart started beating again!