Oliver's 2nd Birthday Petting Zoo Party

All last week I was stressing and prepping for Oliver’s 2nd birthday party and it all came to fruition yesterday. It ended up being a beautiful day and even if there were a few hiccups, no one seemed to notice, and we all had a great day.
When I was trying to figure what I wanted to do for Oliver's party I knew it had to be something he would enjoy and since he is such an animal lover having a farm/ petting zoo party would be perfect for him.

I get such a thrill out of planning everything. For the food and games, I searched Pinterest for inspiration and found so many great ideas. Now it’s time for picture overload. I enjoy the planning that goes into the party but the best part is seeing everyone’s faces (especially the birthday boy) as they take it all in. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.

My friend, Amy, made this fantastic cake

I love little details... like the forks and knives wrapped to look like corn... 

... and place cards for food with a farm theme...

... there was the chicken coop, potato field, feed & seed, orchard, pig pen, and a watering hole

Favors for the guests included homemade candy apples...

... cheddar & caramel "corn-on-the-cob"

Oliver liked riding the pony...

...but not the tortoise

There was also a pig...

... rabbits, a sheep, and...

... a horse for the bigger kids

For games I had Feed the Pig & Feed the Cow bean bag toss...

... Tractor Races...

... and Pin the Tire on the Tractor

Apparently Oliver thought he was supposed to bite the candle out... don't worry I blew it out before he got too close

Party Ponies and Farm Friends provided the ponies and petting zoo animals. Brandie did a great job and I would definitely recommend them if you want to have ponies or a petting zoo at your next party.

I hope you enjoyed Oliver's party. I found so much inspiration online that I wanted to share how it turned out. This was definitely one for the books!

Four on a Friday

How has the week treated you? It's been a busy one for me trying to get everything lined up for this weekend and Oliver's party so I thought I'd share a few things that I've doing and enjoying this week.

1. Books

When I thought we were going to have to evacuate Charleston and spend hours in traffic due to the hurricane, I went to the library and got a couple of books on tape. Even though we didn't end up evacuating, I still wanted to listen/read the books I had gotten. The first one was Into the Water by Paula Hawkins. I've been wanting to read this book for sometime but there is a constant waitlist for it at the library. A good thing about audio books is there typically aren't waitlists so new titles are usually available. The bad thing about audio books is that they are long... like 11 hours long. If you spend a lot of time in the car or have time to listen to them, then they work out rather well.

Back to the book, I really enjoyed Paula Hawkins previous work, Girl on the Train, so I was excited to read/listen to Into the Water. The book was good but not quite as good as Girl on the Train. It's worth reading if you enjoy a suspenseful who-done-it.
I also listened to One Plus One by Jojo Moyes who also wrote Me Before You and Paris for One. If you've read either of these books then you know her style. Girl has issues, girl meets boy, girl and boy argue, they fall in love, girl and boy separate over a misunderstanding/drama, and conclusion with things working out for one if not both but life lessons learned along the way. Cute book.

2. Television

Tv lately has been crap so I decided to check out a couple of shows on demand and came across a great one. I started watching The Sinner one night and ended up watching six episodes (all that were out at the time) and stayed up until midnight which is really late for me. The story begins with the main character murdering a stranger for no apparent reason while she's at the lake with her family. As the episodes unfold, her past is brought to light revealing where she came from and part of her past that she can't remember. It's pretty mature at times, so save this one for after the kiddos go to bed but it's so interesting how the plot unfolds. 

3. Pumpkin Crafting

I seem to have a slight obsession with pumpkins this fall. They're all over my house. From the mantle, porch, kitchen, table, console, etc... I've added pumpkins large and small. I made a couple out of gingham soft fleece using these tutorials here and here. I wanted to try both tutorials to see which made a better pumpkin and to tell you the truth, the pumpkins for each were easy and turned out looking basically the same. If I had to do it again, I would go with this one here that's just a circle since it required the least amount of sewing. For each I added dried beans (for weight) and poly-fill. I made with stems and leaves using green felt which I cut and glued into shape.

I made the gingham pumpkins and bought the solid colored ones at Target

4. Party Prep

All week I've been consumed by Oliver's party. The planning, prep, and making things is a lot of work but it's the kind of work I love to do. I wish I could do these sorts of things for a living. Today was no different. I made candy apples that I will wrap up and have as favors for guests. I've never made a candy apple before and it took some time but they turned out great. I followed this recipe from Just a Taste and my apples turned out looking perfect. The only thing I would add is that if you've never cooked sugar before, the cooking part takes time. It took me at least 30 minutes to get the mixture to the proper temperature. Just be aware that it does take time. 

How pretty does that look?

Everything is lined up so I should have tomorrow off from party prep, other than cleaning, and then Sunday it's on. I can't wait to show you what else I've been up to.

Have a nice night and a great weekend!

Fall Eats- Chili Time

Guess what? Fall has finally arrived in Charleston. By this, I don't mean extremely cool weather and tons of fall leaves, but I was able to sleep with the windows open and I can now wear jeans and boots most of the day without having a heatstroke. There was even a little rain yesterday, so I was able to wear a cozy cardigan. I'll take what I can get. Soon it will be cold and miserable and I'll be wanting these fabulous "fall" days back again. 

Now that we have fall weather, I've been in the mood to make some cold weather meals and it just so happens that I looking through my Southern Living magazine when I came across a chili recipe that looked delicious. Nothing screams fall food quite like a hearty bowl of spicy chili. I have a standard chili recipe that's my go to but I wanted to give this one a try since my standard could use a little something-something. (I also want to work on my chili recipe so that I can be more competitive at this year's neighborhood chili cookoff.) I added just a few ingredients to give it a little more depth and heat, but all in all, this was a delicious chili. 

Beef and Bean Chili Recipe

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound beef stew meat
1/2 cups chopped white onion
1 cup chopped poblano chile
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon tabasco (optional)2 cups beef broth
2 (14.5-oz.) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 (16-oz.) can light red kidney beans

Toppings:Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Saltines
1 small jalapeño chile, thinly sliced

Step 1
Heat oil in a large sauté pan, add beef and cook, stirring once, until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the beef from pan. Add onion and poblano chile to pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.

Step 2
While beef browns, in your slow cooker add tomato paste, cocoa, chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, tabasco, sugar, broth, tomatoes, and beans. Add browned beef and sautéed onion and poblano. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low for 8 hours. 

Step 3
Serve chili with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and jalapeño slices for topping.

Recipe was modified from Southern Living's recipe which can be found here.

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If you watch my Instastories you might have seen my progress on making Emmett's lily pad costume. Tonight was his pond performance and he was the cutest lily pad ever! I made his costume as a cape, using felt, which I cut and drew in the shape of lily pad. I added water lilies which I made from paper plates and tissue paper. I also added a couple of frogs I found at the dollar store. 

Emmett is a born performer. He did such a good job.

I also painted his face

Yes... I know... I'm one of those moms. I enjoy making costumes and going a little overboard on these sorts of things. I don't have the luxury of being a room mom or doing much during the day in the classroom so I want to make sure he knows I care on the things I can be there for.

Oliver's 1st Birthday Flashback

Oliver's Lumberjack Party

It's hard to fathom that my baby will be two in just a few short weeks. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. He came into this world like a whirlwind and has stopped since. 

The past few days I've been all caught in planning his upcoming party, writing lists (I love making a good list) of everything I need to make and buy, and making a few games and goodies. 
With birthday parties on the brain, I thought I'd share Oliver's first birthday with you. In my opinion, every party needs a theme, and last year I went with lumberjack. He's always been a big boy, or plump as Emmett calls him, so I felt Oliver would be the perfect little lumberjack, and of course, he was!

Trail Mix Bar

Beard Making Station

Ax Toss

Roasted Hotdogs

Lumberjack Log Cake made using this tutorial here.

Buffalo plaid inside the cake. This took some time to make but I love how it turned out. 

My friend, Amy, made the smash cake

Oliver loved the cake. He was a mess and I knew he would be hence, no shirt. 

1st Year Facts

I had plaid shirt for each of us but it was so hot that Pierce and Emmett protested and ended up in short sleeves.

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Here's a sneak peak of ideas for Oliver's 2nd birthday. 

I'm going with the barnyard/ petting zoo theme.

Favor idea

How cute is this cake?

Stay tuned for all the fun. I have lots of ideas for food and games that I'll be sharing after next week's party.