60th Birthday Party for Two

For the past month and a half, I have been working on putting together a birthday party for my parents--both of them are having their 60th birthday this year, within two weeks of each other!  Dad turned 60 on the 14th, and my mom will on November 1, so I decided to throw this party inbetween them.  I was limited on the choice of the date, however, as hubby, Dad, and I have a mud run on the 28th (which I can't run in anymore since it is still in my six week recovery time...boo).

It started with sending out about 70 invitations to friends and family.  I was thinking about creating the invitation, but it got to be a big complication.  Instead I created the response card, prestamped them all and addressed them back to me so all they would have to do is fill it out and pop it back into the mailbox.  I think it turned out cute, and I had a few funny ones come back. :)

 

 

Next week, these and the photos that we took will be put into an album that I am going to make for them.

 

Since I ended up having surgery in the middle of the planning, I enlisted the help of my mom (plus, I knew that she would want to see what was going on!).  She wanted to make favors of chocolate lollipops, whereas I wanted to have little favors of paper plantable seeds to hand out.  So we did both--I made the favors of seeds, she made the lollipops.  They both turned out cute!!

 

 

 

I also wanted to do something special for taking pictures of the guests.  After seeing some cute ideas on Pinterest, I recruited my dad and hubby to build me a super big picture frame with stand out of the scrap wood and old parts of the fence we had by the shed.  I was THRILLED with how it turned out! Then I bought some garland with fall leaves (the theme), detached the leaves from the garlands, and glued the leaves to the wooden frame.  It was so big we couldn't put it together until we got it to the party, and even then we had to use a trailer to get it there! :)

 

 

And finally, after much planning and organizing, the day arrived.  Right on time, too--I was getting tired from losing sleep over all the things I needed to get done!! I even did most of the food for the 50 people we were expecting, not because I am totally nuts, but because I didn't trust catering to not cross-contaminate the food with gluten (and I really didn't want to spend the party time sick after all of this!).  I did have the cake made by someone else, but I made my own GF cupcakes.  There was brisket, green beans, Tahiti salad, pinto beans, pickles and onions, and loaves of bread (kept away from the other food).  All super yummy!!

 

The cake table

The cake! (inspired by Cake Wrecks)

Gluten free cupcakes--yum!

The dinner buffet being set up

The favors table

The table where guests were to sign a photo mat for my parents, and place birthday cards

The photo mat guestbook and basket for cards

The assembled frame where guests had their pictures taken

One of the tables

Another table setting

 

 

The party went wonderfully.  :)  Everyone had a great time, got to mingle and catch up, and my parents were very happy.  Every last bit of effort and planning was totally worth it--I would do it all over again!! 

 

 

 

Happy birthday to the most amazing parents!!  I love you!!!









From Colorado to Texas, With Love

Last December, we moved for the last time (I really hope).  This house is what I consider to be my "forever home"--the last house I will live in.  I love it, and despite the few cosmetic changes that I am planning on making over the course of the next few years, the house is perfect for me and my family.  We have already started making the changes...the kitchen was the first place that we started.  The tile on most of the counters have been replaced, along with sink and faucet.  It was supposed to just be the grout, but it kinda blew up after a bit of work started.  :) 

Before (trying to clean the grout)

The destruction of the old

New tile!!

Backsplash and tile around range (which needs to be replaced--next on list)

New sink and faucet! :)

 

 

Ok, but this isn't what my post is about.  Although it does make me happy.  :)  But my point is, I don't plan on moving any time soon, and hopefully never.  My parents are a short three miles up the road--almost literally up the street.  Hubby's parents have lived in Colorado the past 30 years, and even tho D has been here since the late 90s, they had only seriously tried to move down here once.  Now, munchkin and I have entered the picture, and they have a more compelling reason to be close to family--and extended family on my side (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc all are also close by in either the next city or up to three hours away).  So a few weeks ago they made the trek down here to do some house hunting.  It took only three hours to decide on a house and put in an offer.  Two weeks later--last Saturday to be exact--they officially moved a mere 1.3 miles from us, in our neighborhood!  Munchkin is thrilled to have his other grandparents so close, as he has gained two more happy playmates.  They, too, see their new home as their "forever home" since family is where home really is.

 



Their new home!

 

They are slowly getting settled in, and I know that is a process that takes awhile.  Despite being here for almost a year now, I am still trying to find things in boxes we have in the attic!  Looks like when the weather cools some more, I will be climbing back up there and doing some organizing.  :)  Lucky for my in-laws that the weather here has been quite mild and not the dreadful heat from last summer--makes the chore of moving just a tad more tolerable!  Plus there is the bonus of having all the family in a three mile radius, something that is invaluable!

 

My Favorite Gluten-Free Dish This Week: Polenta Pizza Casserole

When I first started on this gluten-free lifestyle, I was terrified that I was doomed to having boring or terrible tasting food.  But after doing more research, I realized that I was quite wrong.  Yes, there are foods that I can't eat anymore, but a lot of the things that can be substituted are just as good (if not better!).  The only down side for me is that there are a lot of dishes that use rice...and I do NOT like rice.  However, I am learning to ease that back into my diet and hopefully I won't mind too much soon.  :)

Today's dish is one of my main go-to dishes.  It's quick and easy, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand (or at least something to use in place of one thing or another).  Here it is...my recipe for Polenta Pizza Casserole!

Polenta Pizza Casserole

1-18oz roll of precooked polenta
2-3 Tbsp. water
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can mushrooms, drained*
1 can black olives, sliced and drained*
2c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crumble up polenta in a medium size microwave safe bowl.  Microwave the polenta for 20-30 seconds until it is warm and mashes more easily.  Add the 2-3 Tbsp of water, however much it takes to make a fairly smooth consistency (but still thick!).  Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, and 1c. of the cheese.  Mix well.  Put polenta mixture into an 8x8 baking dish, and top with remaining cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.  Enjoy!!

*Note: You can use whatever veggies or meat that you prefer.  We just seem to always have these ingredients on hand, as we do love our mushrooms and olives in our house!  I do want to try it with fresh spinach sometime...if you do, let me know how it is!

Catching Up

I had every intention to keep at blogging from when I wrote my first post, but life had other plans for me!  No matter, I am back.  :)

Now, the past few months have been SUPER busy.  Mostly with moving, followed immediately by little man's first birthday party, and then some health issues that I had to deal with.  Moving is done (completely unpacked!!), the party is over, and I am on track with my new diagnosis--and feeling better than ever.  So much so that hubby and I have signed up for not one, but TWO 5k events!!

Z's first birthday was wonderful, but extremely stressful.  Thanks to Pinterest, I was feeling like the most uncreative mommy on the face of the planet, not to mention lazy.  I mean, I am a SAHM, so I should be able to do all of that, right??  Mind you, I did not live up to the party I modeled after, but I did go for the "Winter One-derland" theme.  I am still very proud of what I DID do, and I will share a few pictures of my creations.

Me with one of the two food tables.

The Picture Tree

Marshmallow Snowmen (found here)

Snowman Nutter Butters

Revamped S'mores

Z's first birthday portrait and some of the food labels

Food labels

One table of food, mostly done

Cupcakes, round two (my batch failed)

Second table of food (mostly done)

Finished first table

Birthday boy eating his cupcake!

I made 17 dishes, 5 were gluten-free (we had some guests that have Celiacs, and I really didn't want them to feel left out), and I had to buy the cupcakes.  I had planned on making some awesome sounding blue velvet cupcakes in these cute snowman paper wrappers that made them look like they were melting snowmen.  However, they flopped big time, and I was rushing to the store at 10pm the night before the party, buying 6 dozen mini cupcakes since that was all they had.  I hadn't planned on making so much food, but there were three main issues:  (1) I had people that had specific dietary needs, and had to make food that they would be able to eat,  (2) I wanted to make sure that there was a balance of savory foods and sweet foods, and (3) we had invited 70+ people to this party, and not very many people RSVP'ed like they were supposed to (meaning I had NO CLUE how many were going to show!).  In the end, we had 30-35 people come, plenty of food, and a very happy (and very tired, once it was over) toddler! :)

After breathing a sigh of relief that the party headache was over (technically four migraines), I launched my never-ending quest to figure out how to make my life healthier and rid myself of prescription meds--and be done with pain.  I'm obviously not getting any younger, and soon we are going to want to start trying for another kiddo.  I won't do that while on prescription meds, as it scares me to go thru pregnancy again and running the risk of hurting our future child.  Now, because we were having guests at the party that were gluten free, I wanted to make sure when I was making the food that I was doing it correctly.  I started researching what gluten free meant, why people would want to take gluten out of their diet, and how to prepare food without gluten while still having it taste good.  It was rather interesting reading, and I noticed that a LOT of the symptoms of gluten intolerance/sensitivity were problems that I had.  I emailed my doctor right off, and she said that it would be worth checking out.  A few days later my little guy had an appointment, and I piggy backed to get a blood test done (we have the same doctor).  I was very eager to get the results, but all it said was it wasn't Celiacs.  But I had already decided to go gluten free (GF), and had been for a week.  Already I was feeling better, so it was decided by her that I was "non-Celiacs gluten intolerant." 

So now I am navigating the new waters of a lifestyle without gluten.  It isn't always easy, and I will say I get frustrated at times.  But I can't deny that there has been a major change in how I feel.  I am no longer on fibromyalgia medications.  I can walk without the pain that I had come to expect, just a feeling of normal.  I don't dread getting out of bed in the morning, or wondering how I am going to keep up with my child.  Instead, hubby and I are getting back in shape, have registered for two different 5k's, and I am a LOT more active than I used to be! Plus, I plan on sharing my favorite recipes, the ones I fail at making, and anything else that comes to mind.  :)

Happy Tuesday!!