So my Mom is turning 40, and I want to throw her a surprise party?

What a great surprise for your Mom. She will love it. I had a surprise BD party for my boyfriend who turned 50 a couple of years ago.

I made one huge "mixed drink" for the group. I will attach the recipe. I purchased beer, canned soda, bottled water and had those all iced down on the deck.

I cooked marinated boneless chix breast, hamburgers, and hot dogs on the grill. (I had a designated grill person.) I made macaroni salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and had a birthday cake. It was help yourself and the things that I made were very inexpensive. I got the meat all on sale.

I think that if you make it a pot luck that would be very easy for you and your guests. You really don't need to do anything other than provide the food/atmosphere. You don't need a theme. The adults will just sit and talk, and eat and talk, and drink and talk. You don't need any entertainment. You may want to turn the radio on, but I would not worry about anything else. They will take it from there as long as the basics are taken care of.

Sounds like it will be to much fun!!! Kudos for making your Mom's 40th a special day for her. Have FUN!!!

Double or triple this recipe for a party. Set the slush container into a bowl of ice to help keep it cold & make it a self serve mixed drink. I put mine into my tupperware cake taker top that was turned upside down. (Any huge bowl will work as long as it will fit into the freezer.) Make it several days ahead so that it will be nice and frozen.

BOURBON SLUSH

2 BOILING CUPS OF WATER WITH 2 TEA BAGS

(place water in microwave with tea bags for 3 minutes on high)

1 CUP SUGAR

1 CAN 12oz FROZEN ORANGE JUICE

1 CAN 12oz LEMONADE

7 CUPS WATER

1 ½-2 CUPS BOURBON

Allow sugar to dissolve in the hot tea mixture.

Mix in the remaining ingredients.

Freeze 24 hours or until completely frozen.

Serve as slush.

Serves many.

A BBQ would be awesome!

A potato salad, some raw veggie plates with dip. Some family members would be glad to help by bringing a covered dish.

Do a photo display. At 40, she must have a fun history on film or digital record. Have friends and family members tell funny stories of experiences that they had with her, expect leave out any that could be embarrassing.

A few drinks would be great for some and allow them to be more relaxed, and there are those who would enjoy them..even as a punch.

As people socialize and mingle, it takes on a life of it's own and you don't need to do allot.

A 40 candle cake is a must...make that 39 candles from now and ever after! Ha ha!

Me! :- )

Just have a great bbq with her favorite foods, some drinks because it is her birthday and even though it's not my cup of tea either, I would like some kind of drink at my surprise b-day bbq to sip at. Music--some stuff she likes mixed in with some new music just so she doesn't feel too sentimental. I like the covered dish idea but organize it a bit or you'll be overrun with 5 potato salads and no buns or whatever.

If you want to do a fun little gift thing that I've seen twice. Everyone brings the b-day person one or some scratch off lottery tickets and they string them up like streamers. That way, the gifts aren't the wrong color or too expensive or embarassing to open, etc.

At my cousin's 50th b-day party, his kids ran a movie of his life that they put together. It was great. They basically took pictures from the time he was born to school days to married life to now and they put it together with music. Everyone enjoyed seeing him in crazy 70s hair and clothing. Windows movie maker is probably on your computer and would work fine.

Have fun with it and everyone else will too! :)

A BBQ is a good idea. Maybe you can make up silly games about your mom, like a 20q thing, and give a prize to who knows her best.

Or put out a bunch of pictures, and have people guess how old she was in them. Get a list of happenings around the year she was born, and see who can guess which ones are in her birth year.

And turning forty might be her reason to get drunk, so have some alcohol. The guests will expect that.

Birthdays are good,the more you have them the longer you live. Organizing a birthday party needs a lot of planing- the budget, the venue,food and the guest list.Dont consider the age,everybody likes to celebrate their birthdays in some way or the other. Why dont you give her a surprise birthday party on a cruise? This year my family gave a surprise birthday to our grandfather for his 70th birthday on the Magistic Cruises on the Sydney Harbour. He knew we were throwing a party, but this cruise party came as a big surprise for him.We invited only our close relations and it was awesome.He said he wanted to have his next birthday party along with his friends on the same cruise.I am sure she too will enjoy such a party on a cruise.Wishing your mom a happy birthday and a wonderful year ahead.

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Have a BBQ in the evening and serve something a little more special than the usual hot dogs & burgers (like grilled chicken breasts or ribs).

Make sure you have a couple of buckets of ice filled with a variety of beverage (one with soda, one with beer/wine coolers, etc)

Get some fun patio light strings to hang outside.

Play music from the year she was born.

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thats a good idea invite her friends and some of her family with out her knowing and have a cookout.....

ask her about her favorite foods.......

hope this helped