Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Strawmary Shortcake's Birthday Tea

One of my greatest pleasures of motherhood is planning my children's birthday parties. Each birthday provides an opportunity to celebrate that child, and as a family we try to make the Birthday Child feel special in every way. We have stretched out our festivities, allowing the Birthday Boy or Girl to savor the birthday week with special privileges like choosing restaurants or going first when taking turns.

For our birthday parties, each child chooses his or her theme, and then my fun begins. I enjoy the creative aspects of party planning: making invitations, decorations, cakes and party favors. I try to keep the parties economical but thoughtful, with an eye to details. I hope we are creating memories our children will treasure and that their hearts will be drawn home each year for their birthdays. Nothing would thrill me more than to get a call from one of them saying, "Mom, I want my 38th birthday theme to be my doctoral dissertation on Fluorescent Analysis of Pigment Composition of Phytoplankton." ("Ooh, we could do a lot with that ... .")

The day after Mary Ashley's third birthday, she began planning her fourth: a Strawberry Shortcake tea party. Polka dots in yummy colors of light pink, dark pink and lime green set a cheery background for a cupcake-themed decor. We invited little girls from church and school for a fun-filled afternoon. I took the pictures below, but most of the photos I will be posting were taken by my brother, Nathan Prichard. He is a gifted photographer and captured many special moments during the party. I plan to post quite a few, but he took nearly 500 pictures at the party, so I have many more I wish I could share. I hope you will enjoy this glimpse into Strawmary Shortcake's berry special day!

Friends Like You Who Are So Berry Sweet

Make Celebrating Birthdays Such a Treat!


Mary Ashley's fanciful cottage cake was inspired by the children's playhouse.

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