Lucy Crazy Eyes from stephanie howell on Vimeo.
perception vs. reality
i seriously have no idea what i’m doing half the time.
i brew coffee in the keurig without a cup underneath and i don’t even notice until the coffee is running off of the countertop and onto the floor.
i attempt to make ruby slippers with glitter glue and red glitter…and somehow end up gluing the flats to the front porch. true story. there is still red glitter in the crevasses on the porch.
i laugh when i should be stern.
i raise my voice when i shouldn’t.
i pin all sorts of cool crafts to do with my girls. and i never do them. i have the best of intentions but rarely follow through.
more often than not, we have convenience meals. pasta,tacos,casseroles.i’m not a very good cook.
i feel like i’m on a treadmill that is going WAY too fast and i simply can’t catch up.
i forget field trip slips and lunch money.
my car looks like a tornado went through it.
i have never made a homemade halloween costume or homemade cake in my life.
when all else fails, i put on elmo. or yo gabba.
i feed my children lollypops just so i can get through the grocery store.
the laundry is piled up sky high. always. no matter how many times i *think* i’m caught up.
and you know what?
i am good with it. great with it,actually.
because it works for me. it works for us. it’s trial and error.
my children are happy. and healthy. and loved. oh so loved.
i used to worry that i wasn’t doing it right. that i wasn’t doing it like everyone else was.
you know. that comparison game. that subtle one-upping that some women like to do? that’s not how i roll.
at least i don’t roll that way any more.i gave that up when i realized it was making me miserable.
i do what works for us. but i’m sure not going to act like i have it all together.
because yesterday i almost hit the mailbox.
today i unintentionally wore pajamas to drop my children off.
i screw up crock pot recipes at least once a week. i mean…how do you even DO that? my favorite was when i cooked a meal on high for 8 hours instead of on low. that was awesome.
i pay the sitter to come three hours a week just so i can be alone. sometimes i don’t even do any work.
i feel like i have no idea what i’m doing.
anyone who says they have it all together?
is lying.
plain and simple.
right? RIGHT! who’s with me??? 🙂
now off to botch a dinner attempt.
love you guys!
xoxo
*love*ly things- i feel…
lately i feel content.
content with being a mother.
content with a new and unexpected opportunity. with change.
content that my family is together for right now. holding on to these moments tightly.
content in the certainty that i'm on a path that will make me happy.
content with having four precious girls.
content with loving someone with all of my heart, and knowing that i'm just as loved in return.
i'm happy. so very happy.
and i'm in love with life right now. still learning, deciding,wondering about so much. but so very blessed. and content.
happy thursday!
xxo
s
where do i find the time?
via evoking you
confession time. i'm going to share a pet peeve of mine with you. i really, really don't like it when non-crafty people look at me like i've sprouted a second head and say…
"where do you find the time?".
i do not like it. not one little bit. it perturbs me. or as my friend jamie would say, it "makes me stabby". haha!
and before some of you get stabby with ME, let me clarify. i'm not speaking of the person that genuinely wants to know, the person that is not saying it in a condescending way. i'm talking about the person that says it in a smug way.
this is something i've noticed over the past few years, a comment that keeps popping up here and there.
here's my thought process on this.
we ALL have the same hours in the day.
some of us choose to run marathons. some of us watch television. some of us read. some of us volunteer. some of us cultivate a spotless house (not me). some of us are caught up on the laundry.
some of us work outside the home. some of us garden. some of us exercise.
some of us craft.
some of us can do more than one of these things.
i LOVE being creative. it makes me me. does that make sense? i'm a happier person with creativity in my life. i grew up around a creative mother. creativity is what i love.
don't make me feel like i waste my time,or as if my hours are less valuable than yours. whew…i said it!
i always feel as if "where do you find the time?" is a backhanded compliment.
as if i must be neglecting my family. or locking the babies in a cage while i make decoupaged toilet paper roll holders.
or like i'm wasting my time. or as if i have no life.
i LOVE making things. i love scrapbooking. i love making my home beautiful. i love throwing parties for my girls (with handmade decorations).
this does not mean i neglect other areas of my life (ummmm, well maybe the laundry needs some help).
this does not mean i put my kids in front of a tv 8 hours a day so that i can scrapbook.
and it doesn't even come CLOSE to meaning that *my* time is any more valuable or any more special than yours. i don't think i'm better than anyone who *doesn't* hand craft birthday decor. it doesn't mean i think i'm better than someone who doesn't enjoy making. i don't even think about it! everyone has their "thing". my thing is making.
where do i find the time? i make the time. i try to spend a few minutes a day doing something creative. that might mean that i make a tree topper (glitter and paper plates- we can't ever find one we like to buy!) with my girls. it might mean i hand wrap a gift. it might mean i buy a bouquet and put it in a transferware pitcher. it might mean i make a scrapbook page, or journal,or decorate my mantel.
sometimes i don't have the time. i don't find it. i feel like that recently. and i miss it! i feel less "me". less fulfilled.
yesterday decorating the tree and decorating the mantel fulfilled my need. paper crafting has falling a bit by the wayside but i'm having to fill that hole in other ways right now.
i make the time because it is important to me! and my family appreciates it.
i do have a life. and it is enriched by living creatively!
it was the same way when i was a prolific exerciser (is that a word???)- i've fallen off the wagon a bit. haha! but people would say the same thing.
is it a woman thing? do women have to say this to one another to justify their choices? or make themselves feel better about something that's bothering them?? i don't get it! you don't need to say it to me! you do what you enjoy doing, i do what i enjoy doing.
one is NOT better than the other!
wow. i feel much better now that i've shared that with the world.
dare i say that blogging might be just as good as therapy? at the very least it's just as good as punching a punching bag.
hahahah! happy thursday y'all!…spend it doing whatever floats YOUR boat. i promise i won't judge you for it. 🙂 ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
xxo
s