**Congratulations to the BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY WINNER-@kindalkreamer!!!**
I’m messaging you TODAY! Thanks to everyone who entered!
Remember this is ALL THINGS BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK and I have a treat for you!
Every year around our birthdays {mine is the 2nd and Tab’s is the 10th} Marla hosts a super fun and festive birthday dinner. She goes all out with an awesome theme, has some delicious food, and now that the kids are older has gotten them involved with this special night.
To see birthday dinners from the past…
I wasn’t supposed to know the theme, but I dropped Ebby Lee off earlier in the day to help Marla with some party things and saw this on the door. First of all, isn’t that cute?! Secondly, that pencil was made with pool noodles! And thirdly, I instantly knew I had to wear something, “school” to this party!
Hahahahaha! She set this out for us too!
This little girl at the desk was greeting us when we walked in. Ebby Lee had worked on her all afternoon. There were school supplies at every turn!
Our schedule for the evening…Tab and I reported to the “teachers’ lounge” upstairs until we heard the bell ring.
Britt and I in our best “teacher” looks. 🙂
My glasses are actually those blue light blocking glasses. Some days I spend a ton of time in front of my computer so I’d randomly ordered them. They arrived just in time for the party and worked perfectly!
There was a little photo booth prop area set up in the “teacher’s lounge”.
And then I stumbled upon this picture again of Tab’s dad on the left. Nixon resembles him quite a bit if you ask me.
Just a few minutes of relaxing before this cafeteria worker began ringing the dinner bell.
Check out the cafeteria!
We were instructed to get a lunch box and then go through the line. Marla found little plastic containers that fit perfectly inside the lunch boxes so they dished the food out onto those.
Hair nets for everyone in the Slaughter Cafeteria!
Isn’t that cute?!
The table was absolutely adorable as well.
As we went through the line these cute cafeteria workers dished up our dinner. Do you remember me talking about that delicious ham and cheese sandwich from Patina Green? We had it recently on our food tour in McKinney? Marla recreated those sandwiches for us! She bought the exact bread and jam from Patina Green and then grilled them up with ham and cheese. They were DELICIOUS! She served those alongside cornbread salad. I’d never heard of this southern dish before meeting Marla but it is one of my favorite things. Cornbread, green onions, and tomatoes? YES, please! I’ve tried to make it numerous times but mine is never as good as Marla’s so needless to say I was pumped to see it being served. Add in some bread and butter pickles…
Britty was in charge of the forks. 🙂
And this super sanitary guy used his hands to dish up some Cheetos. hahaha!
Cake balls-school style were served with ice cream for dessert.
And in true Marla fashion, the four kiddos left with some great party favors.
The bags were full of pencils {with their NAMES}, pencil bags, little notepads, markers, and more.
Sweet sisters rocking those hair nets.
These two worked so hard to make this dinner so special!
Everyone in attendance had a blast!
We love Marla’s birthday dinners!
Thank you, Marla, for such a great night!
XO
Erika! That was OVER THE TOP!!! Marla is so creative!!!
That is something else! She really went all out! xo
This is ADORABLE!! Marla needs her own blog post to share how she planned/prepped this!
This is awesome! Those containers are very similar to what I use to pack my girls lunches. I am shocked at how pricy some of those bento boxes run and these last and are super cheap. They also fit in Pack-it lunch boxes so I don’t have to remember the freezer pack!!
I want to be like Marla! Thats amazing. Also, I noticed the spam lunch box. I live in Austin MN, home of the spam museum. They sell flavors that are sold in other parts of the world which is fun. My kids beg to go there all the time because of the kids play area. 🙂
I need Marla in my life! This is the cutest and I love how she involves the kids–I'm sure they really love that!!
Sarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts
What an awesome party theme! How fun!
Cherish your mother in law. She is sweet
Marla has some serious skills!!!!!!!!!!!! How totally thoughtful and sweet. Very fun and creative. She needs to have a reality show.
I love when you post a Marla party!!!! She is just so creative & thoughtful. I wish I had a Marla in my life!!! 🙂
That was so thoughtful of your mother-in-law!!
I loved the idea of grabbing a lunch box and going through the lunch line.
HOW FUN!!!! Marla, my birthday is next week. Just saying! Hahahahaha! 😉
MARLA is amazing!!!! All of the decorations AND THE HAIRNETS!!!!!
Her decorating and details are amazing! That is super cool.
How fun!!!! Marla is AWESOME!!!!
I want to be Marla when I grow up!!
Marla is awesome! What a fantastic party! Love all the details and how she had all the kids involved.
Marla knocked this one out of the park!! Totally nailed it. And those lunchboxes?! So cute! (PS: Blue light glasses are a Godsend. Craig laughs at me when I wear mine but you look so good in yours! Maybe I need to try those frames instead!)
That Inspired Chick
This was adorable–those hairnets!:) ha! I loved going back and looking at her other parties as well–what a blessing Marla is to your family! Also, I was just talking to my husband about ordering some blue light glasses–what do you think about them???
Omgosh, I love this…Marla is so creative!!! ✏️📚✂️
OH my goodness; that is just so cute! What a fun and fabulous way to celebrate both back to school and your birthdays.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! Such creativity! And I know the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.
I can't get enough of her parties!! She is tooo cute with it all!! I love that she had a helper, too!! 💙💙
Such a fun party idea!
Marla is amazing! And how special that she includes the kids as helpers-setting them up to be wonderful party planners for their future families!
What an amazing gift from Marla and your kids! Can you please post the cornbread salad recipe? There are so many online and I would like the one you say is so great. Thank you
Amazing party! Love the theme and all the little details!
You need to have Marla be a guest blogger from time to time. She’s so creative!
Marla needs to come decorate my classroom! I also love how special she makes birthdays! She is such an encouragement to me for loving my people well! Happy Birthday to you!!!
I need a Marla in my life!! So sweet!