• Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

Simply Bloom Co.

Where Passion & Purpose Collide

  • About
    • FAQ
    • Media & Interviews
    • Blog
      • Everyday Blooms
      • Marriage
      • Motherhood
      • Recipes
        • Breakfasts & Snack Foods
        • Lunches & Main Meals
        • Desserts & Sweet Treats
  • Speaking
    • Topics
    • Schedule
    • Conferences
    • Enneagram
    • Reviews
    • Podcast
      • Episodes
    • Booking
  • Podcast
  • Books
    • SOZO Book
    • Penduka Book
      • Penduka Shop
    • XES Book
      • Book Reviews
      • Interviews & Podcasts
    • R:EVOLVE Journal
  • Design
    • Client Reviews
    • Investment
    • Book in Bloom
      • Book in Bloom Bundles
  • Shop

Assembly Required: A Birthday Story

{alternately entitled: the things we do for our kids…}

Good morning, sweet birthday girl.

VBS & Ali Birthday 134

Your daddy bought you flowers!

 VBS & Ali Birthday 150

He also happened to bring in your massive birthday present from the garage.

{please notice the Christmas wrapping paper, for that was the plan…had we not all been sharing one room at my parents house with no room for enormous play things…so it got stashed for 7 months.  We went with plan B for Christmas}

*Please also note the image of fabulous kitchen assumed to be assembled inside.

VBS & Ali Birthday 154 

This her sleepy, happy face.

Sleepy, because she would have slept 2 hours longer had she not spied the balloon strings dangling from her ceiling.  We love to sneak in the night before her birthday and load her room with balloons…then we scatter a couple around the house, tied to little gifts, for surprises ‘throughout’ the day.

‘Throughout’ usually lasts 17 minutes.

Back to sleepy…how’s a girl to close her eyes again after balloon discovery?

VBS & Ali Birthday 163

Next on the agenda…waffles!

This might possibly be the only day she is allowed to eat sweeties before breakfast all year long…so daddy went all out.  Take 5.

{This might possibly be the most chocolate she’s ever eaten…in one sitting…before breakfast.  Thanks love, how convenient that you have to go to work}.

VBS & Ali Birthday 168

“How old are you today, sweetheart?”

VBS & Ali Birthday 177 VBS & Ali Birthday 178

Expecting to have to pop a couple of knobs or stickers on to present a complete kitchen for post-breakfast play, mommy opens box.

Mommy experiences near heart failure.

VBS & Ali Birthday 184

While birthday girl eats, mommy smashes box with sledge hammer sweetly sits…for almost 2 hours…attempting to assemble above mentioned {deceptive} kitchen before baby Bug awakes and attempts to ingest one of the {horrible} little knobs.

VBS & Ali Birthday 186 

I suppose when you pay $29 for something, rather than $129…this is to be expected.

{But why must I be punished for being a bargain girl?}

VBS & Ali Birthday 185

I do think 342,567,2334 little pieces is a tad excessive, don’t you?

 VBS & Ali Birthday 190

I will look for these words a little better next time. 

Adult Assembly Required.

Bite me.

VBS & Ali Birthday 200

Project “Kitchen from Hell” is completed right as baby Bug stirs.

Just in time for brutal exploration.  It’s Man vs. Kitchen. 

If anything has not been tightly screwed down…we will find out shortly.

VBS & Ali Birthday 222

Our little chef moves in…barefoot, with her baby.  Go figure.

VBS & Ali Birthday 226

I’ll bet there’s a fresh batch of oxytocin being created right here.

VBS & Ali Birthday 202

A stunning rendition of “Happy Birthday to me” is belted out…

VBS & Ali Birthday 204   VBS & Ali Birthday 211

followed by a dramatic balloon release…to the tree tops.

VBS & Ali Birthday 216

She gathers them once again…and then she’s gone.

Just like that. 

The {old, never-requiring-assembly} baby toys in her brother’s room beckoning her.

VBS & Ali Birthday 242

So long little kitchen, it’s been rad.

VBS & Ali Birthday 247

Mommy played with you for hours this morning…

maybe she’ll come love you a little more?

One day.

Until then, you can find her in ward# 253, turning knobs and twitching.

Related posts:

  1. Happy 6th Birthday, Bean!
  2. Happy Birthday, {Big Boy} Bug!
  3. Happy Birthday, sweet Bean!
  4. Happy Birthday, Baby Bug!
«
»

Motherhood, The Kiddos

Don’t miss a thing! Sign up for the monthly newsletter…

Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
 photo Joy.jpg

Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

Subscribe for Updates

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
Easter reminds us that the tomb is empty. But befo Easter reminds us that the tomb is empty.
But before the resurrection, there was a towel.

In John 13, just hours before the cross,
Jesus doesn’t assert power, He kneels.
He washes the feet of Peter.
He washes the feet of Judas.
He loves them to the end.

🎙️ Episode 017 | The Jesus Way is live.

What does it look like to choose love in the middle
of betrayal, grief, disagreement, and struggle?
The way of Jesus isn’t flashy.
 It’s faithful.

🎧 Listen wherever you stream podcasts.

#OhGoodGrief #TheJesusWay  #KnownByLove
Instagram post 17956039791092382 Instagram post 17956039791092382
So very thankful for the life that came from his d So very thankful for the life
that came from his death.

May you know how wildly, wholly
and wonderfully you are loved…

“This is how much God loved the world:
He gave his Son, his one and only Son.
And this is why: so that no one need be
destroyed; by believing in him, anyone
can have a whole and lasting life.
God didn’t go to all the trouble of
sending his Son merely to point an
accusing finger, telling the world
how bad it was. He came to help,
to put the world right again.”

John 3:16-17 | The Message

#GoodFriday #ItIsFinished

📷 Levi Lusko
Boundaries are not the opposite of love. They are Boundaries are not the opposite of love.
They are often the evidence of it.

Jesus touched lepers.
He wept with friends.
He restored the broken.

But He also corrected boldly.
He withdrew intentionally.
He did not entrust Himself to everyone.

You can forgive someone
without restoring immediate proximity.
You can love someone
without giving them full access to your life.

Episode 016 | Grace + Guardrails is available now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #BoundariesMatter
Instagram post 18396581398148716 Instagram post 18396581398148716
Love does not require unlimited access. In Episod Love does not require unlimited access.

In Episode 016 of Oh, Good Grief, we explore what Jesus
actually modeled when it comes to boundaries.

He loved everyone.
He did not entrust Himself to everyone.
He was full of grace and truth.
He welcomed the crowds, but confided in the few.

In a world that demands access to our time, energy, and heart, this episode unpacks what it looks like to forgive without naivety, love without losing discernment, and practice grace with guardrails.

🎧 Grace + Guardrails | How Jesus Modeled Boundaries in a World
  That Demands Access is live wherever you listen to podcasts

#OhGoodGrief #GraceAndTruth #BiblicalBoundaries #FaithInRealLife
Sometimes the most honest thing we can say is: thi Sometimes the most honest thing we can say is:
this is where I am today…
but it isn’t where my story ends.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #GodIsFaithful
Healing after betrayal isn’t linear. It’s messy. Healing after betrayal isn’t linear.

It’s messy.
It’s exhausting.
And sometimes it feels impossible.

In this conversation, Lisa Devine shares what it actually looked like to rebuild a marriage after infidelity: the boundaries, the brutal honesty, the forgiveness that had to be chosen again and again.

But more than anything,
it’s a story about the quiet ways God shows up
when everything feels shattered.

🎧 Listen to Episode 15 of Oh, Good Grief
  wherever you get your podcasts
Instagram post 18079355549386244 Instagram post 18079355549386244
Follow @SimplyBloomJoy

Copyright © 2026 · Designed by Simply Bloom · Theme from Restored 316

Copyright © 2026 · Darling Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Unfortunately it does not contain chocolate chips, you cannot eat it and there is no special hidden jar.