Two Lambs and a Bear: Birthday Bash

Our family just had a big birthday bash. Our twins are 367 days older than the baby so we combine all the birthdays into one big celebration. This year we did a our theme based on 1 Peter 5:2 "Take care of the flock God entrusted to you" and ran with it. The basic theme was sheep and an old fashioned farm ambiance (if that is even the right word to describe 2 two year olds and a one year old's birthday party). It was a labor of love. I have to thank so many people that made it even come together because basically the idea was in my head and the small details did not materialize until the week of the party.
It took a couple of months to illustrate and have the fabulous Robin draw the design, but once we got it hammered out, she was so timely and helpful! Then, thanks to Emily, who did a lot of small labels, stickers, and gift tags to pull the theme together. And a HUGE thanks to Shelley, my sweet friend that listened to my ramblings, made the birthday cake banners, and helped with the handmade cones for the veggie straws and hay. HUGE thanks! Also, I am pretty sure my family and husband would never ever help me again if I did not thank them for the assembly line and team effort during the party favor stuffing the night before the big event.
I did not take near enough pictures but I will try to describe in some detail some things that made the party come together nicely. The main thing was, besides the fact I had fun planning the whole event, it celebrated my sweet little children. Their arrivals into the world are still so vivid and feel-like-yesterday to me. My husband and I laughed at all the small things that happened the days of their births and enjoyed remembering their big days. I really cannot believe the twins turned two and my sweet little baby turned one. In a lot of ways, I am amazed we survived the year. We are still exhausted and in a bit of shell shock. Mary Ellie, Fenley, and Bear welcome to the world, and we are so glad you are here. We loved celebrating your birthdays and look forward to so many fun memories with you in the future. Happy Happy Birthday, babies! Children truly are a gift from God and there is not a day that goes by that we do not know it.
Back to the basic party details: We did burlap and not red check or any kind of checks to do "farm". We put burlap on the childrens' table and serving buffet tables. The invitations had sage scalloping so I pulled in lots of greenery such as green and cream ticking striped cloth tied with twine over baskets, green apple sauce in squeeze pouches, and green Crisps bags. I also tied regular sage napkins and utensils with twine for a burlap look as well. We also had orchard apples, animal crackers in tiny brown lunch bags with Animal Cracker stickers and little food labels such as "Eat Your Veggies" next to the cones with individualized servings. These were a big hit. There were also had "Farmer's Market Berries" and "An Apple a Day" little signs. To continue the farm theme, I put sunflowers in mason jars, galvanized buckets for drinks, and galvanized pails with faux hay(no need for real hay near the eating tables) for the centerpieces. The center pieces had various "Flock Here for Coloring and Playdough" or "Flock Here for a Pettting Zoo"or personalized little sheep on them and the childrens' names. They turned out cute!
Robin made the the adorable cupcake flags and Susan made the cute cute little lamb cookies (delicious!). The cupcakes stands, handpainted flags, and sweet lamb cookies made the dessert table so yummy and fabulous. Shelley made the adorable "Happy Birthday" banners for the cakes that I made for the children. Shelley tied these together with twine so they went with the theme and they turned out perfect.
There was plenty to do with a Coloring & Playdough station complete with farm pictures to color and galvanized pails holding the crayons, a ballon artist and face painter dressed as a cow, and the wonderful petting zoo. The children sent their friends home with favors to keep the fun going: a personalized coloring book, box of Crayolas, Homemade Playdough, a wooden rolling pin, and a cookie cutter. It was a perfect party at our home celebrating the children and their birthdays. Happy Happy Birthday, Mary Ellie, Fenley, and Bear!

"happy birthday flowers" as Mary Ellie would say to describe the sunflowers

dessert table

setting up

snack table

sign on the petting zoo gate

setting up the drink table with galvanized buckets

cones for feed and hay for the petting zoo

centerpieces

*A small footnote: I am in no way a party planner, claiming to be or really fabulous at party planning. When putting this together, we (my hubby, me and Shelley who I dragged into my craziness), we thought of what our children loved most (raisins, applesauce, animals, cookies, playdough, etc) and went with it. Everyone was so kind and sweet about the party, and really complimented our efforts to celebrate the children. I decided to add these picture and party details for all my friends who asked for them. Thanks for your encouragement. If you need more ideas or where to run and get stuff, contact me! It truly was a labor of love, like I said before. Enjoy the pictures!!

** Here are the pictures of the kiddies enjoying their party.