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 bar, chalkboard 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?

Between the Raindrops

I still can't believe April is almost through...or by the time I publish this post, totally done!  Also, slightly depressed by the fact that we've either had RAIN, SNOW, or COLD sunny days!  Hope May brings us more signs of spring!  (Or we could just head straight into summer weather!)  As I publish this, we finally had two georgus days!  Makes me so excited for the weather next month.

I'll start out with my most exciting project, although I don't have any pins for it.  I'm just excited because of this new niece I get to cuddle!  Sad she will be so far away from us, but maybe it will get us visiting Belleville more.  So last April we also welcomed a niece and since everyone was convinced it was a boy  (I don't guess as I'm horrible and had the sex of both my babies opposite what they turned out to be) I had made a cute fleecy no-sew tie blanket.  I went with green and cream fleece that said I Love Mommy!  I love Daddy!  I was soo bummed bringing it to the hospital because when I was picking out the fabric (pre-baby) they had the same stuff in the cutest pinks!  Anyways, the blanket got used alot, and it was still super cuddly no matter the colour! 

This time, knowing the sex of the baby and what colors Mommy was doing in the nursery made it irresistible when I saw some flannels in pink and gray while we were shopping in the US.  I have never seen flannel no-sew blankets, but my Mother did raggedy quilts (edges are left out to fray) for M&M and Moose so  I decided to give the flannel a whirl.  So far it looks cute and based on how well my kids flannel quilts have held up, I think it will work even being washed often.  The size was 42inches square with about 11/2-2 inch ties on all sides.  At the last minute I cut out a B and sewed it on with my machine (mostly because it's so much fun to have a good machine and now easily accessible).  Unfortunately the parents are keeping the name a surprise so I could only do the last name initial.  So cozy...I just want to go find a baby to wrap it in!

Back to doing a bit more cooking from Pinterest.  I made these no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars.  They were supposed to be super healthy, but I didn't have any of the actual healthy ingredients so I ended up using normal stuff...veggie oil for coconut oil, regular peanut butter instead of natural, quick cooking pre-packaged breakfast oats, ect.  I also don't like coconut or walnut so they were axed as well.  So if you are like me and try to think minimally about how healthy or unhealthy the food in your cupboard is, leave out some of the sugar in this recipe.  Normal peanut butter has sugar added and these were extremely sweet.  I'm usually a failure at no-bake cookies, because you have to watch so closely how long they are on the stove for...not the case in this recipe and they turned out delicious, even with the extra sweet factor!  Super easy too....took me all of 10 minutes to turn these babies into bars!


The Best No-Bake Bars via Rebekah's Pinterest via I Hear Exercise Will Kill You

For our last winter coffee hour with the girls I made this strawberry cheesecake.  It was a little different than I expected and I think it was mainly due to the cake-like bottom crust.  I pulled it out of the oven thinking it looked done, but the bottom layer was a little gooey.  I couldn't tell if it was over mixed or not cooked properly.  Sometimes as the head cook you are a little harder on your own food than if you were eating someone else's.  I thought the recipe was okay but everyone else loved it.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake via Rebekah's Pinterest via Food Wanderings in Asia

I also made these wrapped meatballs as a side dish for our cheese tortellini one night.  Basically halve a meatball, throw a chunk of mozza cheese beside it, and wrap both in a biscuit or crescent roll.  They were fun to try and I think I would make them again.  My only real complaint is really my own fault.  Store-bought meatballs, while time-saving are just never quite the same as homemade.  That being said, I'm not sure I would ever use homemade meatballs like this, because they are slightly time-consuming to make, cook, and then start with a whole new recipe.  If it takes longer than 30 min to prep a meal (not including cooking), I'm not interested!  M&M and Moose had a fun little surprise tho, when I got them to bite into their bun!

Meatball Stuffed Biscuits via Rebekah's Pinterest via Recipe by Photo via Menu Musings of a Modern American Woman

I think this about covers my picks for Pinterest in April.  Looking forward to May!  Not only am I determined to cuddle that new niece in some warmer weather, I've also started planning a John Deere party for M&M and Moose!