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Happy mother’s day to mothers this month! This one was the first one for me, and it’s pretty cool inheriting a new holiday. Travis made me breakfast in bed with a special card. ?

When we went to the Arboretum on a Saturday—SO many people were there—smiling couples holding hands, families having picnics and photos…it was like what you might imagine HEAVEN to look like! Aren’t you so tired of the quarantining??? For the last two Cinco de Mayo’s I’ve hosted a neighborhood BBQ in the driveway, but this year that and so many other traditions are put on hold right now. ? Which is actually ironic. Remember the New Year’s Eve hype on the news about “2020 going to be THE year for parties”—basically every holiday this year lands on a Friday or weekend. The media’s promises for another “roaring twenties,” disappointingly roared away. ?

I am SO looking forward to BBQs, flea markets, restaurants, painting parties, bowling, birthdays, outdoor movie nights again…. I know this is a season that really sucks right now. (So over this!) But boy…does this make me fully appreciate community events and the presence of others. It makes me never want to take those opportunities for granted ever again!!

And that’s also why I’m already feeling excited (and unyielding) about my baby shower. This August we’ll be hosting a fun garden themed baby shower with a special rock painting craft! This theme includes garden gnomes and magical toad stools! This also means DIRT CAKE w/ gummy worms!! (Dirt cake is a great kid’s birthday food too.) Every baby shower I’ve been to usually has had the same ol’ games with mostly sitting in chairs drinking sweet-sweet punch that makes you sick. (haha) But I want an outdoor patio SUMMER BASH with yummy food –with a never before craft for guests! Won’t it be memorable to walk about the yard & garden, seeing all the special rocks people painted and remembering the person who did it.

?For family & friends who are interested, I’m registered at

babylist.com/baby-megan-hantz

By the way, if you want something simple and fun to do, go get some rocks and have a picnic rock painting date and leave them somewhere at the park for others to find, or keep them! Be sure to paint a layer of mod podge to seal in your special creation. Instead of paint, you can mod podge a collage of pictures & words from magazine clippings if you’d rather!

?These fun mushroom cupcakes will be a fun décor & tasty treat at the baby shower. I think the vanilla ones look the best. All you do it dip the tops in melted frosting. (I recommend a few times and let it cool in-between dips to make it thicker if needed.) Then poke in upside down white chocolate chips! These are so magical I can’t wait! Thanks, Rachel for finding this idea!

One of my family subscribers, Kirsten Brault, reached out to me to say her family was inspired to garden, but didn’t have much of a backyard yet! So they bought an indoor gardening kit! What a great idea! ?

Some of my favorite indoor house plants that are super EASY to grow & hard to kill are pathos and Christmas cacti. You can easily make babies from these and they make great gifts. I still have the Christmas cactus Leona Dater gave me in 2011 in Spokane. And I remember way back when…a friends’ neighbor at an apartment complex gifted me with an empty “Jesus candle,” filled with water and a rooting pathos vine!

MAKING PLANT BABIES: When my cat Sushi was a kitten, he decided the Christmas cactus would make a great bed and a bunch of branches snapped off.? I stuck the broken ends in water above my kitchen sink, and when roots came out, I planted them in soil, kept it wet, and propped them up with rocks. Now I have thriving babies! ?You can go longer without watering cacti, but their plump leaves will thin when thirsty. Christmas cacti bloom three times per year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, & Easter. You can cut off the pathos vines and the existing vine will continue to grow into a long vine you can string around on beams, curtain rods, or hang from bookshelves, mantels, or sills in any room. Stick the cuttings in water to root and they’ll be ready to give as gifts. I currently have about 20 cuttings rooting above my sink. Both plants take off especially after planted in potting soil and do well in shade or sun.
My newest propagation plant project that I’m finding success with is the succulent Jade plant.?

Bonnie appreciates the little things, loves rainbows, gnomes & cats?, and her favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz. She was cussing before it was cool. ? She has a big passionate heart! ?I wouldn’t have Travis if it wasn’t for her!
She’s my mother-in-law! Happy Mother’s Day!