Consciousness, Like mother like daughter +Twinning Lookbook

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

~Audrey Hepburn

To have children is for me believing in tomorrow. Planting a garden with them and teaching them to treasure this planet is an essential part of the way we are raising our babies. We must protect what is left of nature and try and stabilize the unbalance we are creating as human beings.

Making as many conscious choices as you can possibly make in your unique situation.
From using las plastic and package materials to recycle your waste.
From buying your clothes at your local thrift shop to buying conscious fashion brands. From growing your own food to supporting local farmers.

Lead by example. Like mother like daughter…

Minimalizing our carbon footprint and sometimes spreading a handful of wildflower seeds on to a patch of dirt. To see it turn in to the most beautiful flower field in a few weeks time. The bees will thank you for it by keeping our fragile ecosystem stable. And our children will have a better chance of having a carefree future on this beautiful planet.

How do you contribute to the awareness of conscious decisions in your children? Maybe you have inspiring ideas I would love to hear!
Tell me in the comments on instagram!

Love,
Jolanda, Michiel
Miley, Haley & Quinn

    We love Bobo choses

    Bobo choses,  a Spanish brand has the most gorgeous collections of fair susnainable fashion.

    We are in love with their spring-summer collection “to plant a garden” and we feel like the spirit and attitude of the collection is capturing what we and a lot of parents around us are feeling. Let’s care for our kids, lets care for this planet. And let’s look awesome while doing it!

    Bob choses send us our matching mother-daughter jumpsuits and clogs! So much love for these fun and happy outfits!

    Lookbook TWINNING with Miley

    I went Twinzies with my big girl Miley!
    Spring is here so a perfect outfit to get out into the garden and enjoy the first rays of sunshine!

    We want to thank Bobo choses and Polette eyewear for our Mother and daughter twinning outfits! We are loving it!

      We love Polette

      Polette send me the same pair of glasses that we already had bought for my daughter. This way we can twin!

      Polette has beautiful frames and doesn’t pre-produce the frames. Every time someone orders a frame and lenses it is completely produced on demand. This way there is no wasteful overproduction of their collection.

      The frames and lenses are manufactured in their own factory in China by trained optical professionals.

      Their friendly priced prescription glasses are making quality glasses available for everyone. And in a household with 3 glasses-wairing individuals (from-wich 2 kids) we are really happy that with their frames we can afford it to get everyone the high-quality prescription-eyeglasses we need, without having to completely empty all our piggy-banks.

      SHOP the LOOK

      SHOP the LOOK

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      Consciousness, Like mother like daughter +Twinning Lookbook

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      Happy Midsummer!

      Woohoo, summer is here and we are feeling energized and inspired.

      This weekend was the summer solstice and we are feeling it in our bones! Summer is coming and we can’t wait to hit the road!
      All the Preparations for our big summer trip are totally happening right now!

      I took all the summer clothing from the back of the closet to the front! Re-discovering all my summer favorites.
      The only thing that was lacking was a fresh pair of summer loving specs. This will be the first summer for me with glasses.
      So Polette geared me up with some groovy round frames that makes me feel like I’m back in the ’60s. No wonder this model is called “rewind”.
      Loving it!!!

      Suddenly the kids are feeling “done” with the school. Aldou they LOVE to go to school, they want to stay at home now, “no more school mom!” I know babe… just a couple of weeks and we are free to go!

      We are also still editing a few weddings from our wedding photography, but other than that we are buzzily prepping the van, making a checklist for all the things we want to bring with us, but more important deciding what things NOT to bring with us. Our tiny little van hasn’t much space, so we are taking the BARE minimum with us!

      Also thinking of a way to make the journey and the whole “where are we” story clear for our kids on the way… So I started designing a custom “kids activity book/ travel diary” for them on this trip. With games, logs, and maps to get an understanding of where we are in the world and what to expect along the line of our journey.

      So! Enjoy the weather, and remember to take the time to stop… feel…hear….see…breathe…stretch…and smell the roses!

      Love,
      Jolanda

      SHOP the LOOK

      Happy Midsummer!

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      Chopping wood is Therapeutic

      let them express their inner Rugged bearded man!

       

      Chopping wood, Therapeutic for him. That’s what I would call it…

      During the lunch break, or after dinner, Michiel loves to get outside and shop some wood. Rain or shine, Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter! He is out there chopping his logs in to big chunks of lumber for the fire.

      And to be honest, there can never be to much lumber.
      During the spring, summer, and fall we make nice campfires in our backyard.
      And we are looking for a nice stove to keep us warm and cozy during winter months!

       

      “It’s in our DNA as humans. There is a fascination with creating fire with most men.”

       I guess it’s a primal thing, making lumber to keep fires going has been a ritual for thousands of years.  It’s in our DNA as humans. There is a fascination with creating fire with most men. At least, that’s what I’m seeing.

      Look at the neighborhood barbecue… Where are the men? Where the fire is! Haha, a little bunch of pyromaniacs with their beer in hand poking the fire.

      So I say… let them chop wood. It’s good for the soul. Letting them follow that primal instinct, letting out all their negative energy and frustration on the logs.
      Letting them be wild instinct-driven bushcraft motherfuckers! They are providing wood. Providing warmth. Providing protection from the cold. Providing the fire which we all can gather around.  Hear him roar! My strong man. Gosh, o’ my! Look at him being all provide-dy and stuff! Suddenly I forget I’m an independent woman who can chop her own wood just fine. I bet he would catch me whenever I would faint. Oh wait, he actually did once when I was pregnant! See!? My strong wood chopping for-family-providing-and-protecting man!

       

      “a genius guide that can lead any aspiring Burschcraft motherfucker in the right direction!”

       

      So, whenever he gets grumpy… tell him to go out and chop some wood. Youll see. He’ll come back a whole other man. 😉 Thank you Weltevree for gearing us up with this fresh and sharp new blade for Michiel to get his chopping on! And we are so happy with this Dutch guide that publishing agency SNOR sent to us, it’s a genius guide that can lead any aspiring Burschcraft motherfucker in the right direction! (brilliant fathers day tip for all the dutchies)

      Ladies! Do you send your men out to do some chopping and de-stress!?
      Or is it just me?

      Blog by: Jolanda Marti
      Photography: Jolanda Marti & Michiel Fook

      “man of the house” MUST HAVES

      In this insta-proof flatlay, we laid everything out for you. All the must-haves to make him feel like the ultimate survival backyard bushcraft badass.

      from left to right – top to bottom:

      Follow Michiel on Instagram!

      Our story from his point of view! More guy stuff and how to be a badass dad to 3 badass girls!

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      Chopping wood is Therapeutic

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      Winter garden overview

      Happy new year everyone!

      We collected all Our garden adventures, routines, and preparation for winter and in wintertime. In the wintertime, our garden is in hibernation. We spent most of our time indoors.

      Now that spring has come we shake up the ground and welcome all the new life that is bursting out of the garden! Wood is being chopped for all the campfires to come with the razor-sharp ax that Weltevree has send us ! 

      The lawn is being taken care of with our brand new Hover mower we got send over from BLACK+DECKER and it’s awesome! 

      Check out our full lawn care routine blogpost over here!

       We hope you enjoyed our vlog, when the summer begins we will make a new Garden overview regarding our spring and beginning of the summer season! Until then we will have a lot of other themed video’s coming up for you! See you next time!

      Love,
        Jolanda, Michiel,
      Miley Haley & Quinn

      Winter garden overview

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      Spring lawn care routine

       

      Spring Garden Prep: getting our garden Ready for summer


      Getting Your grass lawn Ready for Summer.

      When all the life starts turning back in our garden and the grass lawn shoots up again, our fruit trees burst out in big fluffy “cotton candy like” balls of blossom. We take our boots and hit the garden. Feeling completely green-depraved after the long and cold winter months. So we are preparing the lawn for a wonderful summer filled with cuddles and playing and chilling in the thick and soft green grass!

      Our garden has a few functions:

      1. Grow our own food
      2. Be a place of beauty and an oasis for us to relax and come together.
      3. Be a place for our kids to play,  learn, discover and have adventures.
      4. Create biodiversity and nurture all insects and animals that live here.

      The green green grass

      The first thing we do is we take care of our lawn. It’s the center of our garden and provides us a colorful bright green carpet on which we can play and relax the whole summer.  I like it when the grass is a bit longer so it can wave in the wind. So that it’s nice and thick and fluffy when you lye down on it. Taking care of the lawn is the number one thing we tend to.

      Trim
      First, we mow the lawn. We have a small lawn and the new hover mower we got from BLACK+DECKER is perfect for the job! I like it when the grass is about 10  long and really soft and wavy… But if you never maw it shorter the quality of the grass will go down, eventually it will get too long and when you mow it too late you will end up with a lumpy patch of yellow grass filled with dead brown spots. Not Ideal. So the first thing we do is trim it down after the long winter to give all the new grass straws that are coming up more light!  This used to be Michiel’s job, but it has become so much fun with our new hover that I wanted to do it. The whole spring and summer we will be mowing it at least once a week to keep healthy.

      Scarify
      After the winter the grass tends to look a bit unhealthy.
      The build-up of dead and dying grassroots, shoots, runners, and other living and dead plant materials and moss which can accumulate at the roots of the grass can make the lawn look a bit Grimm. So we scratch the soil’s surface with a “Rake” to give the new coming up grass more air and room to grow.

      Seed
      Seed in new grass seeds to fill up the dead patches that may have arisen and that will make the grass overall full and thick in no time.

      Aerate
      Poke in little holes in the lawn using a pitchfork or a special roller with spikes.
      This will give the soil more air and water witch will result in better root growth and a fuller thicker lawn to chill and play on. (plus the earthworms will thank you for it! and they are playing a vital part with their composting activities in keeping our soil (and therefore our plants) healthy!

      Feed
      Provide your lawn with plenty of nutrients to grow and flourish this upcoming summer season. Organic lawn fertilizer will improve the overall health of your lawn. Always use organic fertilizer and try and stay away from synthetic fertilizers. That way you are sure you are not poisoning your soil and water with chemical pest and weed control additives that are usually in the mix and the synthetic fertilizer runoff is really harmful to the environment. 

      Water
      Save rainwater in a rain barrel to water your lawn and give your grass the best start it could get to grow into a perfect green fluffy and thick carpet!

      This is our lawn spring ritual we do every year and this way we get to enjoy our lawn every single day during the summer!

      Enjoy the upcoming summer days!

      Blog by: Jolanda Marti
      Photography: Michiel Fook

      Floating on air!

      BLACK+DECKER send us this awesome lightweight hover mower, and its something I’ve never seen before! Normally this part is a job for Michiel since he is strong enough to handle a heavy lawnmower in the first place. But this friendly light powerful beasty is something I can handle with ease! It weighs just as much as an average folding chair. Plug & play!

      The moment I turn on the power on it the mower is lifted and I can slide over the grass without putting any pressure on my arms. No more pushing and pulling like a madman. Just steering the gliding mower over the lawn effortlessly! Getting in and around all the fruit trees and borders without a hassle! This is actually so much fun to do! and when I’m done I just pull the plug and lift it up and store it away. Easy peasy!

      Want to learn more? Read all about it here!

      Thanks, Black+Decker we will never want anything else after this!

      Instagram moments

      We live on our lawn. It’s basically a living space for us and our kids to play, chill and cuddle on! Check out all of these moments that where on our lawn:

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      Spring lawn care routine

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      VLOG: June 2018 – sunshine and blackberries

      Month VLOG june 2018 – Get ready for another monthly overview of 2018

      This throwback monthly overview we look back at a month filled with sunshine and day’s in the garden. 

      We are changing our vlog-concept for 2019.
      So there will be a monthly overview for every month of 2018 but for 2019 we are doing it a bit diverently. I will tell you all about it at the end of this vlog!

       

      Check a month in the live of our family and be sure to subscribe to be updated on all new uploaded video’s!

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      VLOG: June 2018 – sunshine and blackberries

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