Project Make Kiddo Smile

My nephew and godson Kayden celebrated his 8th birthday on February 1st and I can hardly believe it's been eight years.

I still remember the day he was born and rushing to the hospital to meet him...I had been waiting for his arrival for so long! I adored him from the moment I laid eyes on him...he was such an adorable baby and all I wanted to do was spoil him rotten.

We've had so many great memories the past 8 years and he has grown into such a great little man. He is an awesome athlete, very handsome, has such a sweet heart and still gives the best hugs...even if they aren't the cool thing to do anymore.  Isn't he such a good looking kid?

Operation Birthday Gift:

For his birthday this year I wanted to come up with a cool gift that would be different than just a video game or clothes (the kid has more clothes than I do!).  Enter Pinterest and an idea I pinned months ago. Ship a box full of balloons to his house...and when he opens it he would realize the balloons are filled with money (or notes, but I figured the notes would be big losers). This way he can buy whatever he doesn't get for his birthday, but also has a cool experience opening the gift!  So I filled a bunch of balloons with different denoms from dollars to $20s - and threw in a pair of the Nike Elite socks he likes for good measure - shoved the balloons and some colorful tissue paper into a box, went to UPS and sent it off. It was waiting for him when he got home from school on his birthday. 

So, this may make more sense if you live in different cities than the kiddo you're sending it to - because the UPS guy sure looked at me funny when I told him I was shipping it within the same city - but this was fun all the same. I recommend being proactive and sending it sooner than the day before - damn procrastination! - because when they mentioned shipping it air (huh? air? it's going a few miles away) I about had a heart attack....and pulled a couple of those $20s out of the balloons!

I got this pic of him opening it and a call not soon after. I loved listening to his excited voice as he thanked me and said when he opened it and saw the balloons he thought that it was cool, but THEN he realized there was money in the balloons...and thought it was REALLY cool. 

I would say this little idea was a winner.