Two Surprise B-day Parties

Craig and I both surprised each other with birthday surprises this year. { Just a side note: we count our years in school years because Craig is a teacher. Just to clear up any confusion! } I wanted to do something big for Craig's 30th birthday and I had been planning it for over a year. At the beginning of the Thanksgiving break, Craig came home from his last day of school before the break to find this:

My parents came all the way from Tennessee for the surprise.

Ben took a break from work to come.

Walking in the door with no idea about any of this.

He wasn't sure what I had planned, but he was excited.

Craig was shocked to see my parents and brother there, but he really didn't know what was going on. The key to his surprise was all in the amazing cake made by Aimee McCroskey of Bake-Me-A-Cake by Aimee.

 Aimee made this amazing cake to look like Craig's gift : a weekend with me away from the kids to St. Augustine staying at Alexander Homestead Bed and Breakfast. She did an amazing job and you should hire her to make your next birthday cake! Here is what it looked like:

Craig was very excited for this surprise weekend away. We had an amazing time for our first time away from the children as we celebrated his 30th birthday. A big thank you to my parents for coming all the way from Tennessee to watch the kids for us. An entire other blog post or two or three will be written about our trip, because I have discovered a gem right here in Florida that I can not wait to share with all of you!
 


Just this last week I turned 29 years old. Hopefully, next year we will be too preoccupied with our new lives as parents to four to have time to celebrate in a big way, so Craig did something big for me this year to celebrate my last year in my 20's. The day started as any other holiday does in our family:

Breakfast in bed! The kids even wore ties to make it fancy.

I thought that Craig didn't have anything big planned because I had made plans with my sister-in-law, Drew to go thrift store shopping. I forgot to take pictures, but we scored some amazing finds and then headed to her house for one of our shared passions:

Tea time!

After a fun afternoon, I headed home to find this:

A surprise party with my closest friends here in Florida!!!

They all brought my favorite snacks to share.

It was such a blast and such a surprise to celebrate with all of these special people. Craig did an amazing job planning and getting the house ready for such a large gathering in our house and yard. It felt like a fabulous start to my last year of being a 20 and all that Craig did for me made me feel treasured and loved. 

To advertise for my party, Craig created a Facebook group where he posted videos to give the details of the party. They are so adorable and I had to share them with you. I am married to one creative and talented man!

After the party, we put the kids to bed and my brother stayed in the house while Craig and I went on a date to GrillSmith. It was the perfect end to the day, even when our car wouldn't start on the way home!

It has been a year of surprise celebrations filled with a lot of love, laughs and living to the fullest.