Our Fabled Nest

Birthdays are a big deal! We love celebrating you for a whole week! A whole week dedicated to you, your growth, your goals, and your beautiful soul! A small gift a day, something simple to make you smile (or howl) and remind you of how much you are cherished. Also included is a week of favorite meals and goodies. This is my favorite way to celebrate my loved ones!

Laveena Grace, also known as Batshit Beanbat, Jelly Bean, Baby Bean, Bruja Bee…. ya know how it is. A million nicknames! Our sweetest, craziest middle child is turning 8ish. She acts much younger with her spicy hood mama flair but on the flip side, she has some granny tendencies. She NEEDS her sweaters and heated blankie (mine) in the cooler months. She loves to lounge by the woodstove when nights turn bitter cold. She must be tucked in bed by 8:30pm, any later and she will give some of the dirtiest glances. She also can conk out in five minutes flat and snores worse than your grandpa taking a nap after Thanksgiving dinner. Her teeth are also worn down… as a street kid, she had to fend for herself day in and day out. This meant she ate what was available, namely rocks and grit. As for her younger side, she’s feisty at 45 pounds, tiny but spicy. Her and Atty are besties and even though he’s double her size, she has no issue rolling him over and kicking his tail. When we first adopted her, she came barreling in the kitchen, uninhibited and free. She has this spirit about her, she’s carefree. Even though, I chose her after seeing her break out photo on social media… there was this knowing. It was like I knew she was meant for us. There’s a lovely Native American saying about her blue, brown eyes that she can see both the ethereal world as well as our earthly plane.

Gifts are always fun! Especially when it’s an entire week of things that make your heart happy! The Honest Kitchen Cod Chews were the first gift she opened. She and the rest of the crew love these! They’re easy on their bellies which means no one has an upset tummy! Honest Kitchen has Goat Milk Cookies too! I’m a huge fan of goat milk for them and will often fill one of the water bottles with goat milk for hikes. It’s a fun surprise and they seem to love it as much as their dandelion tea or apple juice! Bocce Treats are also a beloved cookie; these are the Witches Brew flavor of beef broth, carrots and parsley. Seriously delish! I found the best gift for her too- little “cake slice” plush toys at Target! While we don’t purchase toys a lot because of issues with resource guarding, birthdays and other fun holidays will always be the exception! End of summer clearance also had treat stuffers. Ice cream shaped toy with a hole in the top to dispense small treats. Basically, the kiddos can roll these toys around and as it rolls a certain way, the treats will fall out. It gets better though! The top “ice cream” part comes off for easy cleaning! I am thinking these will be a huge hit in the colder months to keep their minds occupied when we won’t be outside as much. A bored husky is never a good thing! I mentioned House of Fur Babe back in February for Magda’s birthday ensemble. I knew I wanted to purchase Laveena’s birthday tee from them too! The best customer service, cutest styles and I love supporting small businesses! With Laveena’s theme being “Bee-Day, I was pleasantly surprised they had a little Bee Tee in stock! Perfect! Pure Bites is another brand I absolutely love! It’s a tossup between the minnows and freeze-dried beef liver but those are both crowd favorites. They love it when I crush these up with warm water as a fun addition to their meals.

Honey Lavender Cake is something so beautifully unexpected that you will want again and again. Promise. Floral herbaceous lavender, dainty hint of honey, baked to perfection with a simple glaze drizzled over. Just delightful. Like Laveena. This cake was an easy choice. Last year, I made her a cranberry orange cake. Fresh cranberry jam tucked in those delightful orange layers wrapped in a cream cheese frosting. Seriously good. This year, I wanted to celebrate her delicate side. She is more spice than sugar most days but those sweet moments she has are unexpected, appreciated and beautiful. On her one-on-one dates, she’s a little treasure. Her inquisitive side comes out and she is absolutely in love with everything and everyone she meets. Hikes, she is the same way. She loves to adventure; she loves to see the world and be a part of whatever is happening. I thought of the cake long before I decided on the birthday theme. Keeping with her sassy fierce delicate theme what better dinner than an unexpected sweet and savory grilled cheese with earthy garlicky roasted butternut? Hmm, yes! We started with a fresh loaf of gluten free bread, and homemade farmer’s cheese and fresh butter. After frying up some bacon, we layered the bacon and cheese on that fresh bread. A drizzle of honey over as the cheese became all warm and melty. Happy dance kinda sandwich especially when dunked in a simple honey Dijon sauce. An easy dinner, I think I will be adding to my favorite list!

Cheers to our next adventure!