strawberry bliss

so  much has happened these last couple weeks

that I can barely even keep it straight

birthday party after party

after some much need fun with friends

and then its the 21st of the month

I was without my computer for 3-4 days

so if I haven't checked with you it's because

of many reasons such as that

and me having the flu

and planning Madison's birthday parties

two in a day

and then just the rest of life on top of everything

i've been trying to sort through these birthday pictures of Madison for days

and i'm falling asleep at the computer every night trying to get through them

i do thank all those that continue to visit me when sometimes

i just don't have the chance to return the favor

i really do love having this blog

something i don't want to give up

it's something i love

so just bare with me in being behind with you all

hugs and love to you

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Strawberry Bliss

our little butterfly

had quite the celebration a couple weekends ago

she chose Strawberry Shortcake theme party

and during the day we had her school friends party

I found a family owned pizza place in town that had a perfect {free} room

{and to keep it easy for 10+ kiddos}

i brought all the desserts and decor to their party room

and that was that

we really kept it simple with her friend pizza party
{just wanted to bring simple parties back a little if you know what i mean}

had pizza

made shortcake houses

enjoyed desserts

she opened gifts

handed out favors

and cleaned up

this is the last year all her friends are in the same class

they have been together for three years now

so it was important to celebrate with these friends

next year they will all be in different schools with kindergarten

it was such a great group of kids and parents

 after we were home

it was round two of setting up

 for our friends and family party

it was so much fun

it was truly Strawberry Bliss

homemade strawberry icing

desserts from every shortcake friend

strawberry pails and ribbon

strawberry shortcake favors and milk

strawberry scented candles

a shortcake hat and pink sequence on her shirt

strawberry lemonade

balloons

strawberry floats

fresh fruit everywhere

 we decorated strawberry shortcake houses

an idea i found under some strawberry shortcake searches

i had no idea how to make them

but then i remembered kasey's peep houses

and thought as long as she is okay with me using her idea

of how to make them

they will be perfect

and the kiddos will love to decorate them

and of course she was

i'm just thankful that madison's birthday is usually somewhere around easter

so it was so easy finding plenty of candies to decorate

for decorating the houses i made my favorite strawberry icing

{recipe to follow in another post}
but bobby constructed the houses using pre-made strawberry icing
since i was behind in making it the night before

purchased

strawberry marshmallows

mini marshmallows

skittles

jelly beans

and i had some extra edible flowers from hayley's birthday

i found strawberry stickers to place at the peak

and filled with edible colored easter grass

and found huge edible raspberries

{I used them as strawberries since they looked more like strawberries to me}

and placed those puppies inside the house

and there we had it

setting up the table for the kiddos to decorate was so much fun

of course both parties made shortcake houses

and there was waaaaay too many desserts

but i had to cover strawberry shortcake and all her friends

strawberry shortcake

plum pudding

blueberry muffin

orange blossom

lemon meringue

so here's a

weekend in pictures
{warning of a lot ahead...and it's only showing about 1/4 of what i took}

Strawberry Bliss

and dressing the part is Madison in her shortcake hat and strawberry shoes

for favors

i had pink and green pails

strawberry shortcake color book wrapped in strawberry ribbon

bug tattoos so the boys would have something not girlie

organic flavored suckers from trader joe's

organic strawberry milk

we'll start with desserts

plum pudding's chocolate cupcakes

{because I have no idea of any plum dessert}

orange blossom brownies

{recipe came from Lissa @ humble pie blog}

lemon meringue's lemon bars

{which is the only dessert i purchased...thank you trader joe's

because i can never cut my lemon bars as pretty as theirs}

blueberry's muffins

i just topped with vanilla bean icing and a cute blueberry

and strawberry shortcake's strawberry bliss cupcakes



for the drink menu for the kiddos

decorating the houses was so fun for all

i have a few left over houses so we can make a few more for easter

and of course some of the moms

seem to be in competition for creating "best house"

{smile}

three times of blowing out candles

two parties

and her actual birthday

and since i'm known to forget to take pictures of when guests are at my home

{because i get chatting...i always end up with decor and food pics}

so this time i made sure i got everyone in a couple of pics

the kiddos first...

and to me there is no setting up for a picture with that many kiddos

as long as they are all in it...i take the photo

and all of our adult friends in one pic

bobby's parents and my parents didn't want to be in the picture

they all sure were there to celebrate with us

just no photo:(

 because all six of us girls happened to be together

we have way too much fun together

and did a housewives pose

we chose lemons since i had a surplus from lemon meringue...

but i'm thinking we should have picked the plums instead

since of course oranges were out of the question since there is a housewives of orange county

lol

just too bad these pictures happened to be in my garage

{sigh}

I was dying about that fact

and my friends said "who cares?"

which is one of the reasons why i love them so much

and this birthday girl woke up to a very relaxing sunday

on her actual birthday

happy birthday sweet love

we were so appreciative of all friends and family that celebrated with us

we are so thankful to be surrounded by lots of love