Live, Love, Simple.

live simply, love madly, make magic.

Live, Love, Simple.

  • Shop
  • About Us
  • Start Here
  • Our Birth Stories
    • Roman’s Birth Story
    • Marina’s Birth Story
  • Parties
    • Unicorn Party
    • Camping Party
    • Princess Party
    • Cowboy Party
  • Partner With Us
  • Contact
  • Disclosure

baby’s been

Roman James // livelovesimple.com

Roman James at 4 Years + 5 Months

October 31, 2017

When I was young, my mother always cried at my concerts, plays, graduation ceremonies, and so on. I’ve always been incredibly empathic. Even as a child, I had some understanding that my mother was crying because she was proud of me and because she loved me. However it wouldn’t be until many years later, until…

Read More
Dena No Comments
Roman James // livelovesimple.com

Roman James @ 4 Years and 2 Months

July 21, 2017

Roman is four. Roman is four. Roman is four. I have to say it over and over again, just to get my head around it. It’s already been three months, but even still, I can’t quite believe it. In my mind, he is frozen at three. My heart refuses to allow my mind to go…

Read More
Dena No Comments
Aquarium Birthday Adventure // livelovesimple.com

Aquarium Birthday Adventure // Marina Grace is Two!

March 23, 2017

Marina Grace turned two-years-old on Monday. My goodness. Ya’ll already know how I feel about my babies growing up and time passing too quickly, so I’m not going to get into it… again. Instead I’ll share these photographs that I snapped at the aquarium the other day. Instead of a traditional birthday party, we decided…

Read More
Dena 2 Comments

Roman James @ Three Years and Ten Months

March 14, 2017

It’s been over a year since I’ve done a Roman update. That makes me so sad, but considering the year that I’ve had, it’s understandable. You know how most of the time you look at your child and you’re busy thinking about life’s happenings. You look at them but you’re thinking about what you’ll make…

Read More
Dena 1 Comment
livelovesimple.com

Of All The Things My Hands Have Held…

February 18, 2017

When my children look back on their childhood, my greatest hope is that they will remember the magic that I have worked so hard to create for them. “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.” “For all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you.” “Life…

Read More
Dena 2 Comments
Marina @ 18 Months // livelovesimple.com

Marina Grace @ 18 Months Old

October 9, 2016

Growth & Appearance: You are about six months overdue for a well-visit. Just keeping it real. There are a lot of reasons for this. The two primary reasons are that 1. I don’t like the way that the pediatricians make me feel when I tell them that I’m spacing out your shots and 2. Life…

Read More
Dena 2 Comments
First Day // livelovesimple.com

Roman’s First Day of Preschool

September 14, 2016

Today marks one week since I took these pictures and one week since Roman’s first day of preschool. Over the years, I’ve shared how I’ve gone back & forth between sending my children off to school and homeschooling. About a year ago, I began bringing Roman to church with me on Sundays and leaving him…

Read More
Dena No Comments
magic in the woods // livelovesimple.com

In the Woods // thoughts on childhood

September 7, 2016

“Fill your children with good thoughts before they go to bed. Ask them about their favorite part of the day, praise them for a good deed, pray with them, and tell them they’re the best gift God ever gave you. They’ll fall asleep feeling ten feet tall.” –David Young, from “A Little Guide to a…

Read More
Dena 2 Comments
Pink & Gold Princess Party // livelovesimple.com

Pink & Gold Princess Party // Marina Grace Turns One!

April 7, 2016

On March 20th, 2016 my sweet girl turned one-year-old. We celebrated the day before with a great big pink and gold princess birthday party. It was such a fun and beautiful day. Our family and closest friends were with us to celebrate. We had great food, lots of love, and lots of fun. My baby…

Read More
Dena 5 Comments
  • « Previous Page

Categories

MOTHERHOOD
FOOD
STYLE
HAPPINESS
SIMPLICITY
ADVENTURES
PARTY

CURRENTLY LOVING

SUBSCRIBE

Top Posts & Pages

  • 101 Inspirational Quotes
    101 Inspirational Quotes
  • How I Saved $10,000 in Six Months
    How I Saved $10,000 in Six Months
  • Fate vs. Freewill: How to Fulfill Your Life's Purpose
    Fate vs. Freewill: How to Fulfill Your Life's Purpose
  • He Sacrifices His Health In Order to Make Money
    He Sacrifices His Health In Order to Make Money
  • A NYC Christmas Walking Tour
    A NYC Christmas Walking Tour
  • My first colonic. (Yes, you read that right.)
    My first colonic. (Yes, you read that right.)
  • Poetry Friday: The Uses of Sorrow | Mary Oliver
    Poetry Friday: The Uses of Sorrow | Mary Oliver
  • Poetry Friday: For Women Who Are Difficult to Love
    Poetry Friday: For Women Who Are Difficult to Love
  • 4 Incredibly Inspiring Female Bloggers
    4 Incredibly Inspiring Female Bloggers
  • Poetry Friday: The Thing Is | Ellen Bass
    Poetry Friday: The Thing Is | Ellen Bass

CURRENTLY READING

POPULAR RECIPES

Archives

Instagram

  • โ€œStay close to people who feel like sunshine.โ€ ๐Ÿ’›โ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ’ซโœจ // ๐Ÿ“ธ: @erinwitkowskiphoto
  • All of the magic. โœจ
  • How were they this little? How were they this sweet? Want to make me cry on a dime? Show me this picture. Every damned time. ๐Ÿ–ค๐ŸŽƒ
  • โ€œThe Guest Houseโ€

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond. โ€”Rumi
  • I made a blog post the other day all about autumn and I was searching through old posts looking for fall pictures. I found a bunch of golden ones from Halloweenโ€™s past. Iโ€™ll share a couple of my favorites here over the next few days. This one is probably my all-time favorite. I canโ€™t believe how little all of my loves were here. I remember this day like it was yesterday. Precious in every way. ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚โœจ #childhoodunplugged #childhoodlove
  • On our second day in Ireland, we visited the village of Kilkenny which is a beautiful little college town built around an ancient castleโ€”Kilkenny Castle. We wandered the shops, took photographs outside the castle and had a lovely lunch at @leftbank_kk. It was such a special day. On our ride into town we passed this house with their gorgeous hydrangea bush in front. Gratefully my sister was ever-patient with my need to work backwards to find the things that caught my eye & let me take a million photographs. โœจ
  • There was this stretch of time in my mid-twenties that I called โ€œThe Golden Periodโ€ because life felt so beautiful. My days and nights were warm and dreamy and magic. It was as though everything was coated with sugar and gold-dust. I remember living through that time and wishing that those days would never end.
โ€ข
But of course one day they did end, and in the years that came nextโ€“those warm, dreamy days became a distant memory.
โ€ข
Nearly 7 years would come and pass after that. I wonโ€™t call those years a period of darkness because, my God, there was so much light. But it was hard and it was heavy. Through most of it, I felt like it was too much to bear and I was always buckling under the weight of it. I pressed through it, as one does. And one day the heaviness became lighter, and one day I found myself looking at photographs and thinking, this is goldenโ€“the golden has come back to me after all.
โ€ข
And these days, they are filled with so much love and so much gold that most moments my heart feels like it will explode for the gratitude. These days there are adventures and sunlight and the colors of the world are rich and saturated again, like an oil painting. The feeling of hope rises up in the air like bubbles blown softly from a wand, riding on the wind, up and up and up. And where the scars are, now there are soft hands and whispers that it will all be okay. When the nightmares come, there is something to reach out and hold onto and ride out the storm. My own arms carry me when I am afraid, and in learning how to trust and love myself, I have also learned how to open my heart again.
โ€ข
It is only when we trust in the strength of our own arms enough, that we can be brave enough to truly fall at all. ๐ŸŒ™
  • Now, three and a half years after leaving, I realize that there is not, in fact, less of me. I am undoubtedly changed, yes, but I am not less. For all of the things that I lost, I gained that much more.โ 
โ โ€ข
I grew and I transformed and I overcame. I had no choice but to. This experience will take everything from you at times, but when you come out on the other side of it, you will be so strong from the act of surviving the storm. Then, you will decide what you do with that strength. It will harden you or it will soften you. Or perhaps, it will do both if you are brave and unwavering.โ 
โ โ€ข
I have also learned, perhaps most importantly for me, that I did not fail my children. I saved my children. The โ€œbroken familyโ€ life was not the life that I would have chosen for us, but it was the life that we were meant to have. And in our case, it took breaking to allow us to heal. โ โœจ
โ 
  • ๐•๐• ๐•ฆ ๐•™๐•’๐•ง๐•– ๐•ค๐•ฆ๐•—๐•—๐•–๐•ฃ๐•–๐•• ๐•–๐•Ÿ๐• ๐•ฆ๐•˜๐•™. ๐•€๐•ฅ'๐•ค ๐•ฅ๐•š๐•ž๐•– ๐•—๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•›๐• ๐•ช. โœจ
© 2019 Live, Love, Simple. | Designed by: Theme Freesia | Powered by: WordPress