Surprise Party

Today we’re getting the house ready for Elias’s birthday party next Monday.  Can you believe he’ll be 2 years old?  He hasn’t been acting quite himself yesterday and today and is mildly warm with crusty eyes and nose, so I hope whatever he’s fighting will be gone by then.  Our plan for his party is pretty simple.  Grandparents and great-grandparents are coming over, along with Knut’s sister and family.  Our nephew will be celebrating his 2nd birthday too just a week after Elias, so we decided for simplicity’s sake this year to combine their parties.  I’m trying to keep things simple and I really don’t have much to do besides make a cake and try to get my laundry all folded before then.

However, this blog post is not about Elias’ birthday party on Monday.  It’s about my surprise party on Wednesday. 

It was about a week ago when David and Silje informed me that they were going to throw me a surprise party.  It’s not my birthday or anything.  They just wanted to throw me a surprise party.  I told them if they wanted to throw me a surprise party they better work it out with Daddy, because it wouldn’t be right for me to help them throw me a surprise party.

Anyone who knows Silje knows that we can’t have anyone over for a little supper without her making specially designed place cards and centerpieces.  For her, the ideas just started flowing and David got swept away with the whole plan.

We haven’t been paying much attention to their scheming, and for the most part, have just let them have their secret meetings, as they plan.  It was when I was picking up homeschool paperwork this last week when I found their list for plans for my party that I was getting concerned.  The sheer volume of food and guests was a bit overwhelming.  Then there’s the ponies and bumper cars.  I asked Knut if he knew about this party they were planning.  He said yeah, he was just letting them go to town with it.  I said he should probably check in with them on it.

The next morning, he commented to me that he had attended the most recent of Silje and David’s meetings and realized just how “to town” they had gone.  He talked them down from serving 10 different kinds of juice to maybe one.  He also talked them down from inviting the entire family and our entire church, to just inviting the “farm families” (Knut’s parents, uncles and cousin who work on the farm and their families.)  This party is planned for next Wednesday, and he also told them he couldn’t take the whole day off work for the all day party planned, and talked them into just a little dessert after supper.

What keeps cracking me up is the way David keeps running to me throughout the day and asks me things like what is my favorite kind of cake.  I tell him, chocolate and then he asks me to make one for my surprise party.  I remind him that I can’t help him throw me a surprise party, and he can’t make a cake by himself, so he should talk to Daddy about it.  He then thinks about it, and then grins from ear to ear and says “Mommy!  Are you going to be really surprised?” (I wish you could see his jazz hands pop out for this question, and the sparkle in his eyes and his voice softens as he is in awe of the magic of such a celebration.)  What exactly we’re celebrating, I’m unsure. 

I feel bad a bit for Elias who actually has a reason to celebrate this next week, and wonder what in the world this party for me on Wednesday will look like.  Whatever it is, I guess I’m supposed to be surprised.  I’m actually very curious how it will all turn out.