This weekend officially kicked off the start of summer in our household.  On Saturday, we celebrated our daughter’s 3^rd birthday with a small family BBQ.  I am usually big on party planning, but this time I was forced to pull it all together last-minute.  This week has been hectic to say the least, as our daughter also started Preschool.  I am happy to report that things went well and the only tears shed were our own!  She handled going to school and riding the bus with ease and excitement, and asked us several times throughout the weekend if she was going to school!  Mission accomplished!

On Sunday, the hubby and I decided to do something we rarely get a chance to do:  Enjoy our backyard.  I like to think of our outdoor area as an extension of our indoor living space, but we very rarely get to relax and enjoy it together.  This weekend, with the holiday in full swing we decided to enjoy some time outside.   Sunday night in our area was absolutely beautiful.  No mosquitos and a cool evening breeze tickled the trees.  It was the perfect evening to sit and enjoy what Mother Nature had to offer. We put the little one to bed,  hooked up the monitor outside to listen for her, and  we lit a fire in our outdoor fireplace, sat back and enjoyed a relaxing much-needed evening together.

I thought I would share some simple ideas to creating the scene for a relaxing evening at home.  Kudos to my husband, who came up with a simple but very useful idea.  A popular item at kid’s parties are glow sticks and bracelets. The sticks that continued to glow, he used to line our back porch stairs.  Not only did it look cool, but helped us navigate the stairs safely in the dark.

Over the years we have received quite a few decorative candle holders as gifts.  As much as I would like to display each and every one in our home, there just isn’t enough wall space.  This particular gifted item was originally a decorative fireplace screen that was also a candle holder.  Although it was a lovely idea, we could no longer safely use it with our three-year old.  I decided to repurpose it as an outdoor wall hanging.  I attached it to our patio area wall with screws and used flameless tea lights to illuminate it.  It adds a festive and romantic feel to our seating area, and was a great way to repurpose an old decoration previously destined to attic exile.

I have always been a fan of the neighborhood Dollar Store.  Dollar Tree in particular has some great affordable decorations.  Patriotic decorations are no exception.  Since our daughter’s party is held close to the Memorial day holiday, I always incorporate patriotic decorations with her birthday décor.  I picked up these great round paper patriotic decorations.  Dollar tree sells a version of these that light up online, but the ones that I purchased did not.  To remedy this I added flameless battery operated tea light to illuminate them.  This added such a lovely look.  Battery operated tea lights are a great way to add decorative lighting without the dangers.  Having a three-year old roaming around, open flame candles and tiki torches become a hazard.  Despite this I still love the look and feel of luminaries and this is a great way to enjoy them without the danger.

When my husband and I sat back and soaked it all in, we spoke of, and were thankful for all the men and woman who sacrifice so much to protect our freedoms.  If it wasn’t for these sacrifices, we would not be able to have moments like these.  Thank you to all those who have sacrificed so much so we can live in freedom and have a quality of life that we often take for granted.