Flowers for Friends

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

I have this goal.. I want to be the flower lady. When people think of me, I want them to think of the flowers. When people gather together for my funeral someday, I want them to bring up how flowers make them think of me. I want to be associated with flowers. I just truly adore flowers. Years ago I had a pretty impactful, personal moment happen to me while I was among some flowers and…I don’t know. The flowers changed me in a really special way. Thats why my flower gardens are so magical to me. Thats why I became a florist. I feel like I owe a lot of my happiness, motivation and energy to the flowers.

But beyond that, I want to be the person who doesn’t just have pretty flowers, I want to be the person who gives beautiful flowers.

Thats been a little mission of mine since becoming a florist. Every once in a while, maybe for intentional reasons, and maybe just because, I want to deliver flowers to neighbors, to friends, to whoever I feel may benefit from a little gift of flowers.

These were some I put together this week for some special women in my life.

The colors, the smells, the textures and the feel are some of my favorite in these. Do you see those little peonies? (the pink, ball-like flowers in the top two) I’m really obsessed. It was so fun to process, arrange and the best part, deliver. Yay for flowers!!

Thanks to June

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Wow, June was a really good one. Like really, really good. Everything just felt so right and things went so smoothly. It makes it a little hard to kiss it goodbye today. Seriously, it was a near-perfect month. My mental health was great, my kids were dreams, we went to Disneyland, we celebrated Craig and F’s birthdays. We finally got our pool open and have been fishes. We have a thriving garden and beautiful flowers. Everything was just how I pictured it. I’m grateful for it.

The best part of June was hands down, Disneyland (are we shocked?). I’m still planning on doing some in-depth posts about my favorite place, but for now, you can rest assured knowing that it was truly the grandest thing and something our whole family really needed.

Thanks to June, we are a little bit closer and a little big lighter and happier!

See a Need, Fill a Need

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The other day (on World Refugee Day) I was watching a video on a church app about a family who traveled to Poland after Russia invaded Ukraine and the Ukrainian people started flocking to Poland for refuge. They went there because they felt called to help and serve those people. It was a quick video, but it really touched my heart and stirred me to change.

Toward the end of their little speech, their son gets on and shared their family motto: See a Need, Fill a Need.

See a need, fill a need.

The words echoed through my mind. My heart practically burned with the way the words impacted me. It’s something so simple – all my life I’ve tried to serve others. The principle of seeing a need and doing what I could to fill it, isn’t new to me. So why did it light my soul on fire so vigorously this time?

I think I know why. Lately I have been struggling internally with this dilemma that I just always feel like I could be doing more – especially when it comes to spiritual things and dealing with other people around me. I know I have all this potential, but I’ve had the hardest time figuring out what I should be doing to try and reach that potential. It’s been weeks of confused, sort of frustrated prayer just trying to figure out what I need to do. What my calling here on earth can be.

When I heard those words – see a need, fill a need – and everything in me froze and fixated on those words…I mean, I don’t know how that couldn’t have been my big, bold answer I have been painstakingly searching for.

Now am I going to move to Poland? Well, no. But I know without a doubt there are people in my community who can use me, too. So that is where I intend to start.

In this video, the family also talks about how sometimes you may not have anything left to give, but the most powerful thing you always have, and can always give, is your LOVE.

That seemed like such a beautiful place to start. By loving others. Making sure they feel my love. Making sure they feel valued by me. Making sure that when they parted ways with me, they felt a little happier or their burdens felt a little lighter. I’m going to start there. I’m going to start with love, and through prayer, listening and thinking of others, I’ll expand.

I’m not entirely sure how to end this post. I’m actually not really sure how it’s sounding either, I just knew I wanted to share something that became so blatantly impactful to me with you all.

In the meantime, I hope I’ve helped you feel happy. I hope I’ve been a safe place for you. I truly believe each of you are wonderful, magic and worthy of joy and goodness!!

And hey, if you feel called to do it too, remember! See a need, fill a need!

SUMMER

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Happy first day of Summer, friends!!

Its here! We made it! That’s something to celebrate.

The kids and I made a Summer Bucket List and let me just say, it’s the cutest thing ever. They’ve all added things they genuinely want to do, and I can’t wait to start tackling it and making their summer dreams come true before the school year starts up again (gulp).

You’ll find us in the pool, most days. You’ll find us looking a little scraggly and messy, because who has time to get really ready when the sun is out!

I hope your Summer is beautiful!

Its Called Fashion: Wet Bum Edition

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I know, I know. You just saw that picture of me and you instantly became jealous of my outfit and now you want to know the details, right? Well lucky you, I’m in the mood to share my #ootd (outfit of the day for those of you who don’t know the cool-kid lingo).

First off, we’re gonna start with the name of this outfit. Presenting the…

OH SHOOT I’M IN THE POOL AND THE STORE CLOSES IN LESS THAN AN HOUR AND I HAVE A SIZABLE GROCERY LIST BECAUSE I’M HOSTING DINNER TOMORROW

We’ll start from the head and work our way down, shall we?

  • A nice Mickey Mouse balloon hat because sun protection in the pool is important – and because Mickey is ridiculously awesome
  • Hair pulled up into what I’ll call a salt-water-pool-low-bun that was thankfully mostly hidden
  • Make up thats been compromised by water and sunscreen – an obviously enviable look
  • A maternity swim suit, even though you aren’t pregnant, BUT you are nursing and it zips down the front, so its real convenient for that
  • Very, very wrinkly overall/coverup thing
  • Pillow Slides on the feet because nothing says style like those, am I right?
  • Lastly, and the real cherry on top to the outfit… When I got to the store, my swimming suit was wet. I literally had to jump out of the pool and go, remember. So what does that mean? Yep, my bum was wet the whole time I was in Costco.

What can I say? Its hard to be so fashionable and stylish.

I hope you’re feeling inspired by this outfit. Maybe wet bums in public will be the new trend!

The Mountains + Kids

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I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes it’s hard to be a ‘fun’ parent. Sometimes its so much easier to just stay at home and let the kids play with the toys the play with every day. But I’ll also admit, that when you do put forth the effort to be fun and do something just a little out of the ordinary, very seldom will you regret it.

The other day Craig got off work a little early and was going to go on a trail run (his fave) and, well… the kids and I decided to crash that idea. I invited my dad, who’s also a big fan of the mountains and trails, and we each packed a backpack with snacks and water and we took off to the mountains for a fun family hike!

The whole time I couldn’t quit thinking about how WOW we need to do this more. The mountains have always been healing. The peace, the quiet, the vast change of scenery and the (usual) lack of cel service make it a bit of a sanctuary away from every-day life. You know what I mean?

It was beautiful, really.

We hiked about 2.5 miles in two hours. Yeah, thats not winning any trail running races or anything, but boy did we have a great time. There were small rivers to cross which totally thrilled my kids, there were butterflies that would circle around us and kinda make us feel like Disney Princesses and the time together as a family to chat and actively do something together without any distractions made for an incredible family memory – one that we’ll cherish – and hopefully recreate often.

And hey, look. I know you’re all competent people who know how to do life and do it well. But if you’re anything like me, sometimes a list of things to bring to make a moment enjoyable is just really nice and takes some pressure off. Especially as mom, I feel like I’m always the one needing to make sure everything is packed and squared away. So maybe this will help you if you feel so inclined to take your littles out on a family adventure to the mountains!

What We Brought to our Family Mountain Hike:

  • Baby Hiking Backpack (our baby is 9 months and he’s a big, big boy – so having him in a nice pack on Craig’s back was a game changer)
  • Sunscreen – cause even in shade and on cloudy days, the sun still shines, my friends
  • Hats and sunglasses – sun protection always, folks
  • Small backpacks – my three older kids (7, 5 and 3) all carried their own stuff in small backpacks – they are more than capable and I think its good for them to haul their stuff because it builds character and all that
  • Water – obviously!
  • Snacks – on this particular hike we brought: nut rolls, fruit snacks, apple sauce pouches, hello panda and a small pack of cookies (balance haha)
  • Our good and realistic attitudes! This is important, my friends. Craig, my dad and I knew this wasn’t going to be fast. We knew we’d probably study each bug we passed (we did), and grow our rock collection (we did), and take lots of breaks – but being realistic about what this would be make the whole experience an even more enjoyable one

Happy hiking, friends!! Go make those memories. You and your kids will thank you for it. Promise!

The Thing About LOVE

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Ok now listen. I don’t claim to be any sort of love expert. I can’t tell you the magic thing that will make your marriage better or the perfect words to say to make everything peachy keen twenty-four-seven. BUT Craig and I have a real good thing goin’. We’ve been married over a decade, and that time has given us a lot of, well, time, to learn and grow together. What’s especially exciting to me is that we just get to keep learning and growing!

We just celebrated my mans birthday, and on his special day I had a lot of time to ponder…us. Are we perfect? Nope. Do we get along every second of every day? Absolutely not. But do we love each other a tremendous amount? YES. Yes, indeed we do.

And thats the trick!

Love.

For so long I tried so hard to find the way to make everything perfect inside of my marriage. How to be the perfect wife. How to have perfect meals and a perfect house was something I’d drown myself in. Kids were added and I wanted to be the perfect mom. I never wanted to be anything but perfect so we could always be happy.

But, yeah, hi. Thats not how it works.

Turns out being perfect? Its impossible. Like 1,000% impossible. And once you work past the fun mental game of allowing yourself to be imperfect in front of your spouse (woo!), you find things to actually be really great – so long as your relationship is built off of….what?!

Say it with me…

LOVE!!

I’m just seeing that more every day. As long as there is love in our relationship and in our home, things work out. Nothing can get too bleak when we have love to fall back on.

And gosh dang I LOVE my Craig. He is as good as gold. If you have him on your team, you can be rest assured you’ll be cared for, protected and covered. To know him is to love him. To have him is as lucky as you could ever be.

So happy we got to celebrate his birthday! So happy I get to love him and learn and grow with him every day!

Shiny and New

~ ceeceesparkles ~ Leave a comment

Oh, hi!

Things might look a little different around here if you’re a longtime follower of mine. This has been something I’ve contemplated doing for quite some time now. My blog wasn’t a place I found joy anymore. Somehow though the years it just felt messy, chaotic and just…not what I wanted it to be. I didn’t love the idea of leaving so much about my children on the internet for anyone to find. I didn’t like that so many of my posts were half-hearted and only posted because I felt like I needed to post only for the fact that I had a blog. I was finding less and less joy in this space the longer I ignored the feeling that I should start over.

So I finally did it! I started over.

Welcome to the shiny, new and improved CeeCee Sparkles!

I’m genuinely happy to have you here, whoever you are. It’s going to get better here. I’ll be more involved. I’ll be more passionate about what I post. I *hopefully* won’t go months and months without posting.

In this restart, it’s also a bit of a rebrand. To be completely honest with you, I’m not sure what CeeCee Sparkles’ theme was before. Messy motherhood and the rambles of my mind? Yeah, maybe thats how I’d categorize it. But I plan to fall sliiiiightly more into a niche this time. Kind of. Well, ok, I’ll be a few niches. But you know my brain – there are eight trillion tabs open at all times. How could I possibly just limit myself to one single topic to talk about?

This blog will still be Disney heavy, it’ll have home projects, crafts, favorites, beauty and skin care talk, floristry posts, if I find recipes I like I’ll share them here, I’ll probably chat about my newfound love of gardening (!!), it’ll have some style stuff, recommendations, hopefully some of my old sponsored posts, and who knows what else. Believe it or not, thats really condensed for me.

I’m excited for this change up. I feel excited about my blog again for the first time in a long, long while. Thanks for being here! Thanks for reading! Thanks for being patient with me while I figure this all out and thank you for your support.

You guys are MAGIC!