Celebration Inspiration

Photo of Maggie by Modern Kids for OhHappyDay! 

Maggie's 2nd birthday is coming wayyy too quickly, and I just started getting my party-planning in gear! Because it's a 2nd birthday, it'll be a small party, thankfully, but I want to make it very "Maggie." She's a big fan of puppets: finger puppets, hand puppets, puppet fans... they all make her laugh, so I used my winnings from the Land of Nod to get a surprise puppet stand for her. We have plenty of garland to hang, and goodie bags and party hats are a total requirement, according to her big sister.

Here's are some other things I love for celebrating my little Maggie-girl:

ONE || TWO || THREE || FOUR || FIVE || SIX

I Honestly Love...

...The Honest Company.

I've been guest- writing for The Honest Company for about ten months, and have never really talked about why it is that I love the company so much, and about what products are stand-out, must-have products for our family.

Where do I even start here?

Well, since you can pick five products for a bundle every month, I'll just tell you about my top five products that I have in my home at all times:

1. Fruit & Veggie Wash: I try to buy organic produce for our family when I can, but just to be frank with you, it's not always affordable! Can I really be spending 50-100% more on organic when my family consumes excessive volumes of it daily? (seriously, my girls are fruit & veggie monsters. It takes a tad more convincing to get my husband to eat the peas and broccoli...) The answer is no. I felt guilty about buying the cost-effective produce until I received the Honest fruit + veggie wash. Game-changer, I'm telling you. Give that bottle a little shake, spray, rub, rinse, and bright, shiny, CLEAN goodness on their plates. It's a no-brainer. Add that one to your monthly family pack, stat. No, seriously. Cleaning fruit is a new addiction of mine (do berries EVER look as bright as they do in the picture above??? Amazing).

2. Honest Dishwasher Pods: These are the BEST. No residue left, dishes are truly clean when they come out, and it really means a lot to me- as a parent especially- that they don't have the harsh chemicals. I recommended them to my mom and she raves about how well they work too... and she's very particular about her dishes.

3. Sunscreen SPF 30: Always. Protect little faces from anything. If you tried the sunscreen from a year ago, it wouldn't lather, but this new version of Honest sunscreen is amazing. Non- whitening, and neither of my children have ever had any sunburns!! Not even kidding.

4. Healing Balm: Okay, so I don't have little babies who get diaper rash anymore (ohhh, my children are such big kids!!), but while I did, this was a miracle-working diaper rash healer. I'd apply it liberally to the area and (seriously!) the rash was gone the next time I changed her diaper. We also use it for little cuts or scraped knees and noses. 

5. 4-in-One Laundry Pods: I got to #5 and I really couldn't decide on the last one, because I use several other products excessively, but this is a must-have for us. The detergent gets out the stains and keeps our clothes fresh-smelling and clean- clean looking and clean from hazardous chemicals.  

This box is the FREE trial. Whaaat? Yes. Free.

(I have to give honorable mentions to the multi-surface cleaner and the shampoo and... everything else...)

Here's the deal: it costs $35 a month to have bundles full of this goodness delivered to my home. In theory, if I had an ample supply, there would be no need to keep them coming, but really? I use the extras for gifts: they have great new-mom gifts (don't even get me started on those cute diapers- that's a post in itself), hostess gifts (Dishtowels! Hand soaps! Candles!), and little add-ons to birthday gifts (perfect lip balm, anyone?). It's great to have fabulous products on hand for anything. The pretty little trial is free (except shipping! yes!!), and a great way to see what it is you love best. 

It is beyond amazing to be able to contribute to a site for a company whose values are to keep families safe at a reasonable cost, and products line up with the needs of our own family. 

Also: make a train from an Honest box with your kids when you get your order! :) 

xoxo, 

Kate

I was not compensated for this post. I received some products for review, and I have purchased some of the products on my own. I have also received some products for guest contributions to the Honest blog.

Oooh, I made a...

---

SO, last weekend I attended a shower for two of my favorite people in the world. I had already gotten gifts for them, but I still wanted to do something for them that was sweet, because I love them so much. I got it in my head that I'd make a diaper cake.

Now this isn't something I'm very experienced doing, especially for baby BOYS, so it was a ton of trial and error.

First off, the Honest diapers get you off to a good start- they're crazy adorable even without all the bells and whistles. I went with the dinosaurs here, because- again- it was for a baby boy (tempting though it was to use pink strawberries). I tried wrapping them with this ribbon, then that one, then crepe paper, then landed on a mix: one stripey ribbon and one yellow crepe paper. Still it lacked brightness, and if you know me, you know I like things to be bright. 

The gamechanger? Puppets! Everyone loves finger puppets, and Ikea has the most adorable options for a nice little price. Add one full sized puppet on the bottom tier and voila! Instant brightness, and cheer. 

Make your own! It's simple! If I didn't change my mind on ribbons and such so much, it would have taken me 30 minutes, start to finish. And every new parent needs plenty of diapers!! 

Have fun!

Kate

Welcome to...

The other day, my mom came in with a vase of flowers for us. Sophie took them right from her and said "thank you gramma!" and took them directly to her playroom and set them in the middle of the table. They looked perfect and beautiful and I smiled at my mom and said "I hope you don't expect the vase to get back home to you." 

It was that moment that I realized that she takes a bit of pride in their little playroom, so I thought I should share it on their behalf. First: our place was rented to us as a two bedroom, and this little nook between the kitchen and dining room was considered a little walkthrough, not an actual room. It's bigger than Sophie's toddler room was (HA), and it's perfect storage for all their toys! I love that we have the girls share a room, and their toys are separate so I can really manage them and keep them in order. Don't get me wrong, they make giant messes in this little room, but at the end of the day, everything has a place. I love that. 

I also have to show you the storage cabinet and other wall, but it's tricky getting pictures of everything, so I'll save that for another day. 

Some of my favorite little elements in their room (almost all gifts!! SO thankful for family & friends who spoil the girls rotten):

Kitchen || Grocery Cart || Table & Chairs || Stacking Ring || Garland || 3-Tier Storage || Aprons (similar)   

Another little corner of our home: we dine in HERE.

Fancy Little Tea Party

We have a lot of tea parties around here... it's inevitable when you have two little girls and plenty of tea sets. Most of them are set by Sophie and have a lot of pretend food and pretend friends.

SOMETIMES though, it's fun to create a little surprise for her and set a real tea party for the girls and their little friends. Yogurt parfaits, fruit, and little biscuits set on a kid's table with a pretty kid's-size tablecloth (this one is Rufflewood- just convo her if you want to order one similar) and tiny tea cups. It's a special treat for the kids to be dressed up for tea, and you can even teach them extra little manners while they're feeling like little ladies.

It's extra fun if you let the kids accessorize themselves in their fanciest headbands and princess dresses too. ;) -- you can tell, Sophie takes accessorizing very seriously...

And let the kids enjoy!!  

photos by Pictilio for StyleSmaller. 

Pico de Gallo + Chicken

​You guys, I have so much to say today!! I want to write and post all sorts of things, but everything else has to wait till the weekend because... here's the biggest one for ya: it's Cinco de Mayo weekend! As a half-Mexican girl who loves eating Mexican food, I couldn't let the opportunity to post a a good Cinco de Mayo / American healthy version of a recipe for you.  If I had a lot more time this week, you better believe I'd be making and writing about my favorite enchiladas- which are NOT healthy, but are SO GOOD- but I'm going with a little chicken pico de gallo deliciousness instead. 

I grill my chicken in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a few bits of onions. Somehow it tastes perfect with basically no ingredients, go figure! It's best to cook it thoroughly for awhile on medium/low heat so it cooks slowly through.​

Now for the pico de gallo. This is my dad's recipe, so lucky you and lucky me that he shared it.. I added the mango at the end myself because I had it and I love it:​

Pico de Gallo:​

• 5 Tomatos, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped tiny
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped tiny
• A handful of cilantro, to taste
• 1 Avocado, diced
• 1 Green chile, for a kick, so be careful if you don't love spice
• 2 Limes
• 1 Mango chopped small
• Plenty of salt and pepper, to taste

Mix it all together and enjoy! OR to have it taste even more delicious, have it sit in the fridge for an hour or overnight to let all the juices blend and become even tastier. Mmm. ​

(Also, I think my recipe increments are improving slightly, but differentiating between the size you cut each item is still tricky for me.)​

I poured it over the grilled chicken on each plate, added a bit of extra lime and there you have it: a perfectly healthy Mexican-influenced Cinco de Mayo meal! 

Happy Friday to all!!​

Kate