Mom's birthday was on a Monday this year, and we were busy the weekend before, so we planned on doing it next upcoming weekend. I had the idea to make it a crab themed birthday party and started collecting things over the course of the month. I found a really cool crab plushie at the Big Lots. I sometimes stop by there to see if they have any good sales when I am in that part of town. I ordered some crab decorations (balloons and table cutouts) and crab bibs from Amazon. I already had red streamers to hang from the chandelier and I had plenty of red plates and napkins.
I asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner, and she said she had to think about it. I gave her a few days to think, and she decided upon the sheet pan meal we've made a few times for family gatherings. It included red potatoes, green beans and chicken. You add spices and Italian dressing over the top. We enjoy making the meal every once and a while because it's quick and easy. I asked her what kind of dessert she wanted, and she said a peach pie. I had to ask her if she had a good recipe and she just said I could get it off the internet.
I made a shopping list and drove around on Saturday to the stores I needed to visit. I went to Winco first and grabbed my ingredients for dinner, then Hobby Lobby to try and find some beach themed cookie cutters but struck out, I went to Target and then finally to Michaels. I didn't really find what I was looking for, but I did manage to find some beach themed small cookie cutters for the peach pie.
Around 4:15, I headed home with my groceries, unloaded the Escape and put away everything. I got out my pie making stuff, turned on my podcast and opened up the recipe. I did not make my crust, I just bought the premade stuff because I didn't have a ton of time and honestly, I didn't really feel like making a crust. Maybe next time. I got the filling mixture done, dumped it in the pie shell and then cut my other pie crust into strips so I could lattice it. With the extra dough, I got my small beach themed cutters and cut out one shape of each and put it on top of my pie lattice. It looked fabulous. I stuck it in the oven and let it cook. Sadly, I should have covered the edges before I put it in the oven. Oh well, I will have to remember to do that for next time.
I did a couple of things around the house, Ben helped with some of the cleaning and the rest of the night we just hung out and relaxed.
The next day, we did a little bit more cleaning to get ready for the afternoon birthday party for Mom. Doug and Ben brought in the chairs, while I set up the tables and the decorations.
About an hour before everyone was supposed to be there, I got the food ready on the sheet pans. I had Ben cut up the potatoes. We assembled both sheet pans, sprinkled them with the spices and squirted Italian dressing on top. We stuck them in the oven for about an hour. Meanwhile, we finished up the little things and waited for everyone to arrive.
We had the Seahawk and Cardinal game on. The Seahawks won 20-10.
Once everyone arrived, they immediately asked why there were crab bibs on the table. I told them, it's because it is a "crabby momma" birthday party, you gotta have bibs! Everyone thought it was weird, but they were a good sport; they all wore their bibs. The food was done on time, so everyone went and got their plates of food, sat down and ate. We talked about a bunch of stuff, including, Mom's upcoming dental trip to Ecuador. It's been almost four years since the last one we went to because of Covid. I wasn't going this time because I needed to save money and vacation time for the upcoming wedding in July. She was going to have a couple of the newer girls from work go with her this time around.
We finished up dinner, so I went and got the crabby peach pie from the kitchen. We stuck some of our numbered candles in it, lit them and sang Happy Birthday to Mom. She blew them out, I got out some plates and scooped some vanilla ice cream and added a slice of pie to those who wanted it. We ate pie and ice cream while Mom opened presents.
Before everyone left to go home, we got a family picture on the couch. We wore our crab bibs, held balloons and the crab decorations. It was a good time.
Mom thanked everyone for the presents and the party, we gave out some hugs and everyone went home. Ben, Doug and I spent some time cleaning up the living room after everyone left. We did the dishes, put away the tables and chairs and ran the vacuum over the floor. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening finishing up laundry, getting ready for the work week and watching football.
Happy Birthday Momma!
Next Adventure: Pumpkin Carving Night with the Family, a Halloween Game Night with Friends and a Geocaching Event
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