This Week in Our Haven: No. 29
This week in our haven has gone by really quickly, for me at least. I’ve been busy getting new items ready for the shop, preparing for Joanna’s birthday, getting back to our school and work routine, and enjoying some unseasonably beautiful weather. Between the weather and the new Huggable designs, I can’t help but feel like summer is just around the corner, even though I know it’s just the beginning of April.
Shop announcements:
Can you tell which new Huggable is Joanna’s favorite?
What we’re talking about: Joanna’s seventh birthday is today, so needless to say, we’ve been talking about that a lot this week. She is pretty excited to be able to celebrate with some family and close friends this year. She handled her quarantine birthday like a champ last year, but we didn’t want to do a zoom celebration two years in a row. All these “one year ago” milestones make it so apparent how far we’ve come since the beginning of the pandemic, and yet we still have quite a way to go. How much Joanna has grown up in the last year amazes me. I couldn’t be more proud of how she has handled all the challenges of this year.
What we’re doing: We had five consecutive days that felt almost like summer weather in the last week, so we’ve spent a lot of time playing outside in the yard and visiting our favorite playgrounds. It’s so nice to be able to get out of the house, even if it’s just to hang out in our backyard!
What we’re cooking: About a whole month ago, Joanna drew me a picture of what she wanted for her birthday cake. It is two layers of chocolate cake with strawberry frosted, topped with chocolate covered strawberries. Here are the chocolate cake and strawberry frosting recipes I’m using. I am pretty excited to make her cake and really hope it turns out exactly as she imagined. We also got a variety of popsicles from Pretty Cool Ice Cream to have as a special snack this afternoon.
What we’re reading: One of Joanna’s early birthday gifts was a set of books called Hotel Flamingo by Alex Milway. Peter has had the honor of being the one to start reading them with her, but I can tell she loves them because she has been carrying them around the house to re-read them and look at the illustrations. Once we finish the four book series, I’ll let you know which one was Joanna’s favorite!
I’m giving Joanna the final words today. She wants me to tell you that when it is your next birthday, she hopes you have a really good one too.
(Disclosure: I do not receive any compensation for the recommendations, links, or reviews I post here. All opinions are my own.)
