Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Green, Yeller, and Pink...How we celebrate John Deere style!

Been a little quiet around here this month.  On the blog that is, not in the household.  I had a post on Mother's Day, but it felt a little too personal and raw still, so I haven't got the courage to publish it...maybe next year!  In the meantime....May is what made me a mother (and my mom), so here's to our May Birthdays:

We celebrated M&M and Moose's birthday's (5 and 3) John Deere style this year.  It was really fun to plan and I had lots of crazy ideas pinned here.  We certainly didn't get to all of them, but I did find my cake inspiration, chili barchalkboard design, and favour idea on Pinterest.

For the chili bar we used three types of chili and a whole bunch of sides.  I had planned on only two types, but as we got ready to plug the crockpots in and head out for church my husband decided we needed more food and he made the third batch of super spicy/peppery, which actually turned out  a favorite.  I also used this cilantro and lime chicken freezer meal I still had frozen (see this post earlier) that I added some baked beans to in order to make it more chili-ish.  It was my favorite, but then I'm not really a fan of chili.  (I hate all beans, except refried which is why the only beans we use in any chili here are canned baked beans.)   It's one of M&M's favorites tho, and it makes a great party food as the prep can be done hours before, leaving you time to run around at the last minute with the other things.

Our sides included cheese (Monterey Jack and Old Cheddar), tortilla chips (lime, multi-grain, and white corn) green onions, avocado, sour cream, corn, jalapenos, and pickled bell peppers.  I also served corn-bread muffins, watermelon, and a friend brought a veggie platter with some yummy dill dip. 


For drinks we threw ice in a bucket with pop and water, but I also made an Orange Julius drink recipe that turned out to be really easy and yummy.  It was a staple of our Friday night pizza routine when I was a kid, so I was glad to rediscover it via Pinterest!  We loaded up Tommy's John Deere tractor with some Rice Krispy hay bales, inspiration here.  The wagon wasn't totally authentic; it was a hay wagon, but my bales were round and it was supposed to hold square.  Details, details.



Manda Cakes made another delicious and beautiful cake.  I kept it simple this year, because I had trouble figuring out how I could possibly get a scene on the top of the cake that covered both tractors and horses without having multiple layers of cake or being too busy.  I asked for random pink, green, and yellow circles.  Turned out cute with the tractor on top.  The inside was the most fun.  Bright layers of pink, green, and yellow again.  Our favorite John Deere colors!  Pin that here!

In order to entertain 10 crazy kids under 6 that were hyped on being together, I gave them pots and glitter glue.  While we ate their designs dried.  After cake we added some soil (I've got lots as we are in the midst of landscaping) and flower seeds.  I haven't been watching Moose and M&M's, but their cousins said there's are already sprouting.

We had lots of fun with family and friends.  The farming fun will continue for awhile yet.  Moose has lots of new tractors to play with and M&M's birthday is still to come.  I've already booked a riding lesson from a nearby horse farm.  Plus horse cupcakes with her class.  I'm sure the horses will be another highlight.  After the party she went out to her cousin's farm while they did chores.  After coming home she just couldn't get over how lucky she was that day (not for the party, mind you), but because she got to go to the farm!



My display of the kiddos changes year by year!  Where did my babies go?






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