Everyday Life – Nest & Bloom

To celebrate my daughter turning three this year, we wanted a theme to capture all the joy, fun and laughter she brings effortlessly to our life. So we created a pastel carnival inside our home and it turned out magical! I wanted our guests to feel welcomed by the atmosphere and littles to play freely and have fun.

Majority of the indoor winter birthday we hosted on our back porch. We hired a face painter and balloon artist who added such a special touch to the day! Each kid chose what image they wanted painted and chose balloon art such as princess wands, animals and hats.

This wood pallet I found in my garage from another event. I wanted a unique way to display cotton candy. I played around with some string and placed this right next to the dessert table. Which held the most delicious Confetti Cake with vanilla icing and animal cracker pastel cupcakes.

All of the adorable supplies in this room came from Amazon including these hats, plates, DIY stickers, and balloon decorations! We rented a long kid size table with 12 chairs around to sing happy birthday and complete their sticker crafts.

Each guest left the carnival party with a bag including a personalized thank you sticker.

My daughter talks about her birthday party constantly. Frequently asking when she can have another birthday. Some may say she is too little to remember a birthday party this extravagant, which can be true. But that doesn’t matter to me. These early years are flying by and days like this let me hold on to her sweet memories a little longer.

I hope she always feels as special as she did on her birthday party day. This was a perfect way to celebrate another year around the sun with our beautiful Madelyn.

From tiny seeds to tender moments- why the garden is more than just soil and sun.

This spring, we planted our first garden boxes with a few vegetable seed packets, some fresh herbs and a super curious toddler eager to help.

In our daily life, which seems at times rushed and going way too fast; gardening offers us time to be still, patient. We are encouraging our children to wait, observe and trust that their seeds will slowly transform into something beautiful. Gardening gives us time together in an outdoor space for us to connect, without distractions. I’ll ask her questions like “what vegetable do you think this seed will turn into?” “what does this flower smell like?” She stops for a moment and thinks, challenges herself.

These little seeds give her something meaningful to focus on and care for. Helping in the garden has become my daughters favorite thing and I am so grateful to watch her grow alongside the things we plant. I love seeing her face light up with a new growth or running to grab her watering pot to assist beside me. Watching her make this deep connection with the earth so effortlessly reminds me that my own silly worries are pea size compared to this huge world.

I certainly didn’t grow up with a green thumb, acres of land or a manual on how to keep plants alive. Honestly, I used to avoid even looking at plants when I was in stores. I thought I didn’t have space in my life to care for them the way they needed. Well I was wrong. We started small and let nature do what it is meant to do.

I knew I wanted to only plant vegetables or fruit that would not go to waste. Just so happens these were some of the easiest plants to start with: tomatoes, lettuce, basil and strawberries. We even added some cucumbers and jalapeños. Threw a marigold plant inside the box. Since our daughter is flower obsessed, we carved out a space in our yard and sprinkled a variety of wild flowers and zinnias along the fence with the hope they will bloom bright.

Gardening has never felt like one more thing added to my to-do list. This process has become easy, gentle, and fulfilling to my soul. The best part, my daughter fits right into this space. Similar to our motherhood journey, gardening requires us to show up daily with love and hope-even when the results are invisible at first.

Childhood should be slow, simple, and full of curiosity. Gardening offers simply that.

Category: Everyday Life

Madelyns 3rd Birthday: A Pastel Carnival to Remember

In the Garden, We Grow Too