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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Maize and Blue Birthday Bash.



Oh boy, did we have some birthday madness a few weeks ago.  Please forgive the crappy photography.  I have a crappy camera to go along with my crappy photography skills.  Note to self - ask one of your close friends (who happens to be a photographer and is already coming to the party!) to take a few shots for you.  


I think I might have a small problem.  And I may have been a party planner in another life.  Or just have had OCD.  Whatev.

The theme for Beckett & Kiernan’s First Birthday party was Michigan Football/Hambone and Honey Badger.  The date we chose for the party just happened to fall on the same day as the first Michigan football game, so we decided to go with a Maize and Blue football theme.  Brian also threw out the idea to have a Hambone and Honey Badger (the boys’ nicknames).  I decided I could merge the 2 together, so I came up with this invitation:



Then, I went a little wild.  All of the food was Hambone and Honey Badger themed.  We had Hambone Sliders ( ham sliders), Hambone Wrapped Honey Badger Pretzels ( bacon wrapped honey wheat pretzels), Hambone and Cheese Pretzel Bites (ham and cheese soft pretzel bites) with Honey Badger Mustard, Hambone Tails Pasta Salad (made with curly pasta), Honey Badger fruit (pineapple and blueberry kabobs), and Hambone veggies (carrots with veggie dip and hummus).  Drinks were blue and yellow Powerade and Blueberry Lemonade. 




The dessert table was a little crazy.  Each of the boys got a football shaped, maize and blue confetti cake.  I made coconut cupcakes and maize and blue confetti cupcakes, both frosted with homemade buttercream frosting.  Football brownies, Hambone cookies (iced animal cookies) and Honey Badger cookies (teddy grahams) were all a hit with the little kids.  I also made chocolate dipped pretzels rods with maize and blue sprinkles and even Oreo truffle football shaped cake pops.  There was WAY too much food, but it looked pretty!




I also made all of the decorations.  The Happy Birthday banner behind the cake table, the circle banners strung from the ceiling, the high chair banners, the birthday hats, the cupcake toppers, the wreath and everything else.  I also put out pictures of Brian, Brennan, and I at 1 year old, because it’s fun to make comparisons.  Brian whipped up the white boxes that we put on the dessert table and topped them with fake Astroturf.  He also had the great idea to use the leftover Astroturf as a table runner.  Smart kid, isn’t he?
For Brennan’s first birthday, we had each person that came to the party write a little thought card for him.  I plan is to do this at every birthday party the boys have so that I’ll they’ll have them to look back on some day … and let’s be honest, probably ask me who half of the people are.   Holding the buckets for the memory cards were a stuffed “Hambone” pig and a stuffed Honey Badger. 



We had a great afternoon of celebration with our friends.  The kids played and the adults chatted and shook their heads in amazement every time they discovered something else crazy I’d done.  (Is homemade maize and blue confetti cake really that crazy?  Really, I don’t know when to stop…)  Kiernan completely destroyed his cake, as expected, and then reached over to destroy half of Beckett’s cake since he wasn’t really into the whole cake smashing thing. 





We’re so grateful for the wonderful friends that we’ve made in the nearly 2 years that we’ve been here.  And it was awesome to be able to celebrate with them.  Brian and I were both thrilled with how the party went, but we both agreed after everyone had gone home that it just didn’t feel quite right without our families there.  I’m sure it’s something that we’ll get used to over time, but it’s sad that we have to.  I’m hoping to head back to Michigan in late September next year to have one big birthday party for all 3 boys so that we can celebrate with our families then! 


Brian asked me what I was going to do with all my time now that the party is over with.  My reply?  Start planning Brennan’s party!  I’ve promised not to go quite as crazy this time J

P.S. These are my favorite photos of Brennan from that day.  He was CRAZY high on sugar and walked around guzzling lemonade with a box on his head.  Amazing.


2 comments:

I write for me. 100%. BUT it definitely makes my day when someone tells me that they enjoy reading my blog. Or that they hate it. Whatev.

So don't spare me your words of wisdom, encouragement, or mindless babble. I enjoy it all :)