Kailee's SURPRISE party!

We wanted to do something a lil different for Kailee's birthday.  She's had big parties, small parties, amusement park celebrations, pizza parties, swim parties, and every other kinda party in between ... so what's left, a SURPRISE party!

Her Aunt Jen took her and Alliyah out to lunch and for a mini shopping trip, and to keep her out of the house for a while, so we could get to work.

A few hours later, we got the - we're around the corner text & everyone got into position.

SURPRISE!!

Saying she was surprised is a understatement, she was shocked! 

"OMG!  There are a lot of people and they are all staring at me!"

Since we were celebrating her birthday early, she was a lil confused too.  She locked eyes with her Daddy and headed straight for him.  She slyly whispered to him, "why is everyone here".  He said, "for you".  lOl!  She didn't want to assume it was a birthday celebration.  Haha

I adore this picture!

Some goodies

& decor

Some family & friends

Cousin Johnny & Justin

Opening gifts [she mostly got money]!

Getting everything ready

Mmmmm

Kailee & Taylor

Our almost 14 year old!

Her fav ~ mint chip ice cream cake from Cold Stone

Cool affect with the camera lens

Make a wish

Lots of smoke after 14 candles

It was a great day!  I think she felt extra special, which is all could ask for!  Everything went perfect!  I couldn't believe we actually pulled it off.  When we invited the kids in the neighborhood, we only told their parents and asked them to keep it a secret from the kids ... we were sure someone would accidentally slip if they knew!  That was a great idea because she never found out! 

This was a couple of days later ... spending all that birthday money!  She has to take advantage while she can - because we don't normally let her spend her birthday money, it all goes into her savings account.  She usually only gets to spend her gift cards, so she went a lil crazy!

Happy NewGivingXmas Day

Let the celebrations begin ...

Kailee got in last Sunday & since we won't have the opportunity to see her for Christmas or New Years ... we celebrated New Year's, Turkey Day, & Christmas this week [our every other year tradition]!

Wrestling around ... there is a Daddy & a Dae-Dae in there somewhere

<>

 Tay & Kai ... & what else are lil sisters for

 Besties

 Daddy getting Kailee back

 Pretty much they are the cutest ... LOVE them!

 Fast forward to Wednesday ... or New Year's Eve:

Just what every New Year's celebration needs ~ junk food!

 Marshmallow pops

 A few of us didn't make it til midnight!

 Justin fell asleep too [but he was in his bed].  

I may have dozed off too, but made the midnight celebration!

 It was fa-reezing outside

 She got silly stringed

 Now Thursday ... Turkey Day:

Our neighbor brought over these scrumptious cupcakes! 

Mmmmm

Sisters

 Somebody didn't want to take pictures, but Kailee had the perfect solution ...

Finally ... the whole clan!

Friday = Christmas:

Complete with Christmas plates.  We had the quite the dinner ~

Lobster, Crab, Shrimp,Steak, Scalloped Potatoes, Rice, Calamari, Wonton Shrimp thingys, Rolls
 ... Deslish

& after dinner was present time!  The other kids each got a 

new movie to open [I was really close to breaking down & giving them a 'real' present, but soon enough]

  They were pretty excited to watch Kailee open presents though .. hence posing w/her presents!  :]

Still celebrating the big 1-3

Sunday morning [Kailee's actual birthday] everyone woke up bright and early and went out to breakfast.

Had Kailee take a picture of this sign @ the restaurant since it now applies to her! =)

Yup, we had one super loooonng table!
It's Karlie, Alliyah [lil booger look at her], Sassy Kyrah, Tati, Grammie, Poppie, Daddy, Uncle John, Shisha, Birthday Girl, Auntie, Damon, & Justin!

After breakfast we stopped @ Great Grandpa Ray's & hung out. Then it was off to Uncle Paul's & Aunt Michele's for a BBQ & swimming!

Justin pretending to be Donkey Kong [seriously]

He wouldn't take these things off ... he sure looks cute!

Off to the gun show

Alyssa & Kailee

Lyss & Dae-Dae ~ chillaxin

Miss Alliyah

Summer salts

She's a teenager - wow!

& she'll be doing even more celebrating! One lucky lil lady!

Oh, & just for fun ...
There is a Daddy in there some where, talk about having your hands full! lOl

OH-EM-GEE a TEEN

Surreal, yup that pretty much sums it up! It's seriously amazing at how fast time flies, especially after you have kids! I seriously cannot believe Kailee is 13! As much as I miss her raspy voice, her dirty blond stringy lil hair, her 'Brooklyn accent', and all of her imaginary friends, I am just so proud of the lil lady she is turning into and I am so excited to see where her bright future takes her.

I wanted her to feel extra special for her big day ... turning 13 is quite a milestone in a girls life! I thought and thought and thought and finally decided on a dance party. Pre dance party we did a scavenger hunt at the mall [Kailee's great idea]! The girls LOVED the scavenger hunt [seeing more scavenger hunts in our future]!

Scavenger hunt prizes
[Claire's gift cards, candy, & stickers for your electronics, i.e. iPod, cell, laptop]

The girls ready to set out for mission impossible

Pose with a mannequin ... check

Take a picture with your team members in mirror ... check

Take a picture of a team mate in a high chair ... check

The girls had a whole list of fun tasks and they were able to complete most of them. After the scavenger hunt we headed back home for some grub!

Center piece

After dinner it was a free for all.

There was a candy bar, soda bar, photo booth, fortune teller, and of course dancing!

The candy bar
Mmmm
Cupcakes made by GrammieThe soda bar! There aren't any pictures before it was ransacked, lOl!
My idea of a 'photo booth'

A glimpse inside the photo booth
Check out the crystal ball behind the curtains!
Wish I had a better picture of Club KAMZ, but that's about as good as it gets folks. I hung curtains on both walls to make it feel like more of a room vs. a garage ... I think I might leave them up, hehe! There were 'line dancers' [those colored lights that 'dance' around], strobe lights, & a bubble machine.
The disco ball ... woot, woot
Part of the party favors ... some of Kailee's favorite songs on a CD
The party favors all wrapped up and looking pretty. The cd's & necklaces I made

& in no particular order

Some of the girls
Deuces ... guess that's what the cool kids are saying these days! ;)
Birthday girl
Bree & Kaylors - dancing queens
In the photo booth

Alliyah was in this thing all night & acting crazy
In the bubble machine
Photo Booth [during day light]
With her Uncle, Pa, Grandma, & Cousin
Meet Madam Zula
Kailee having her fortune read
'Happy birthday to youuuu'
Hope all of your dreams and wishes come true, baby girl!

Thank you to everyone that came out to help us celebrate. & a special thank you to Rachele & Fred for helping to get Kailee out here and letting Kailee spend her special day with us!