sweet thing(s)

post #500

looking out, looking in.

you may have noticed i haven't been posting much lately.  i've had a touch of blog burnout.

i'm still here: crafting, island adventuring, sewing, cooking new recipes, mothering.  i just haven't felt moved lately to blog about it. 

when i first started blogging- 3 1/2 years and 500 posts ago!- i wrote this:

About 2 years ago, ...I came upon this post in Hillary Lang's blog Wee Wonderfuls.  ...I was immediately fascinated with her writings about her experience as a sewing, craft-making, stay-at-home mother.  I felt an immediate connection to this person I had never met or spoken to (I still haven't).  On her blog were links to other similar blogs (all mothers who make stuff!), and on those blogs still more links.  Ever since then, I have regularly read Hillary's blog, my very favourite blog SouleMama ...and other great blogs by creative moms of young kids.

I am inspired every day by the things these crafty mamas make, by the beauty they find in everyday life and in their children,  and reminded to make space in my own life for that creative part of myself.  I am also inspired by the coast-to-coast community they have created in the blog world and the way that being part of this community seems to help them stay focused on creating.  Staying home with young kids it is so easy to get lost in all the drudgery, in everything you haven't done in a day.  It seems to me that blogging is a way to inspire myself to carve out time to be creative and to focus on the beauty I have around me every day. 
So. 
Thank you, ladies!!

as I read those words i realize they are still true.  I have made new friends and continue to be inspired as i write this blog and read others.  I think part of my 'blog burnout' may be due to forgetting the most key part of words above- that i 'inspire myself to carve out time to be creative and to focus on the beauty I have around me every day.'  it also comes from a sense of frustration i've felt as i witness blogs i like getting more and more popular, their authors getting book deals and the like.  i sometimes feel like my blog is less than successful as I have garnered neither fame nor fortune.

pretty whiny, eh? 

i have to remind myself that those are not the reasons I'm here! 

(if you have a blog, you know that there are books and articles everywhere on how to get more readership and/or make money from your blog.  if you read blogs, you have probably seen some of those tactics in action.  while i wouldn't say no to a book deal and i would love to get paid to write this blog :) i have consciously made a choice to make my blog an anti-consumerist one.  doing lots of product reviews and giveaways is a good way to increase your readership, and ads and sponsors can bring in some cash and most of us could use a little extra.  But...  i want this space to be about making and sharing, not buying stuff.  we get enough of that everywhere else!)

so, 500 posts and it seems i do have more to say still!  amazing.  i am going to try to get back here more often.  and i will continue to remind myself of the sentiment in this quote:  "If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."- Max Ehrmann

before i go, i have a favour to ask of you, dear readers:

leave a comment once in a while!  i know lots of people stop by here every day- what do you think? i feel liking i'm talking to myself sometimes and it would be great to have a conversation with you all. 

thanks for listening!

technological housekeeping

okay, so sometimes technology can be challenging for me.  I've come a long way since I started this blog...  BUT the Facebook "Like" button I put up here yesterday is not the one i meant to put up:  from the Typepad help centre- "Currently there isn’t a way to combine existing Fan/Business Pages with the sidebar Like button. We are actively looking into how to achieve this blending of the two features and appreciate your patience while we do so. In the meantime you will want to use the Facebook Fan Page widget instead of the Like button that we currently provide."  Blah Blah Blah.  I accidentally used the Like button instead of the Like widget!!! 

SO!  If you still like this site, and you liked it yesterday, will you like it again?  Thanks!  (look left)

today

i've been writing a post in my head for a few days now- with these photos (this plant is growing on the path to our house- planted by the gardener next door- and i just love it) and a little update- not that they have anything to do with each other. 

the update: Lee and Asa are in school and Maxine is at a small home daycare down the street 2 days a week.  (Maxine and Asa are thrilled, Lee not so much- but we're giving it a chance)  I'm enjoying the break from homeschooling and especially the time alone with my girl- something we've never had.   we had a great Canadian Thanksgiving weekend- with a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner for the first time (this book, Eating Animals, has really affected me) My man and i just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.  The weather has been great, everyone's healthy.  we have so much to be thankful for.  i'd say, in general, i'm living a blessed life.

my planned post was about this one area of frustration: not getting enough done in the day.  I'm sure there are many of you who can relate.  but after a tough morning in my own head, i'm starting to see the problem a bit differently.

i was going to write about how finally now i have some time to myself for the first time in a few years.  All summer i planned all the projects i was going to do with all that time- 15 hours a week!- (baby books for Asa and Maxine, cataloguing our digital photos, blogging more, some sewing for myself, a few other small projects, and just gaining a higher level of organization)  i haven't done any of that stuff, the house is still messy and i still feel generally overwhelmed.  (I have been running a lot which has taken up a lot of my time -more on that later). 

Even though i am aware that I do tend to be a bit hard on myself, my level of anxiety about not getting to any of the stuff on my big mental to-do list has been creeping up.  this update post was going to be about just that- the frustration i have been feeling about my inability to 'get stuff done'.  i feel like i have been 'wasting' my time that i had been so desperate for- everywhere i look i see eveidence of what i'm NOT doing.  i found myself in tears this morning after i had to chase down the garbage truck- and thought 'what the heck is wrong here?'  i had a bit of a cry and made a cup of tea, and watched this TED talk video (Carl Honore praises slowness)  (i had been meaning to watch it for a while now but i hadn't felt i had the time -oh, the irony)

 

it got me thinking- maybe i just need to chill out.  i am definitely always in a rush- trying to squeeze the most i can out of each day- i laughingly say sometimes "I'll sleep when i'm dead"  but i am tired- i realize that when i stop sometimes- and i am driving myself a little crazy with my need to get things done. 

here's a quote from the talk that gets right to the heart of what i'm realizing:

"But why is it so hard to slow down?  I think there are various reasons.  One is that-- that speed is fun-- you know, speed is sexy.  It's all that adrenaline rush.  It's hard to give it up.  I think there's a kind of metaphysical dimension-- that speed becomes a way of walling ourselves off from the bigger, deeper questions.  We fill our head with distractions.  with busy-ness, so that we don't have to ask, am i well? Am i happy?  Are my children growing up right?  Are politicians making good decisions on my behalf?  Another reason- perhaps the most powerful reason- why we find it hard to slow down, is the cultural taboo we've erected against slowing down."

what does this mean for me?  i don't know exactly- stop and look at the little purple berries? try not to have such high expectations for myself.  don't compare myself to other people.  be more present.  a blog world friend of mine posted a really nice entry on the theme- 'we only see what we are looking for'- that really spoke to me in the area of relationships in my life- maybe i need that here too.  i tend to only look for what i haven't done, and not what i have done.

okay, enough for now!  thanks for indulging me in such a wordy post.  this process is always helpful.

xo

{this moment}

inspired by Soulemama's 'blog-along' Friday ritual:

from Soulemama:  {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Anna Maria Horner: the Bridge

I'm not sure what I was expecting. Taking her to school. I should have guessed what would have drummed up inside me ready to spill everywhere, leaving a trail of years and memories between here and Brooklyn. But I didn't see it coming, not all of it. I am very used to living in the present, but was shot out of a canon to the past. So many times over this past summer. Just shot towards her birth and the beginnings of all of us, the beginnings of Jeff and me. But being hurled past it in a rush of memories it is so hard to see it all the way you saw it then. You think it will last forever, and some days even wish away the difficult parts. Humans just don't know the blur it will become. I believe this to be by design. Inherent in our making. We couldn't handle the frailty of ourselves walking around, if we knew how fast.

via annamariahorner.blogspot.com

here's a really moving post from a blog i read regularly. it makes me remember the power of connection that blogs can have- even if the person who writes doesn't realize how she has moved a stranger.

fairy skirt giveaway

Fairy Skirt winner is Leah-

"i just happen to have a young girl turning three this summer that would love to twirl around in this skirt!"

Thanks to everyone who entered!!

happy summer!

i made one extra fairy skirt (from Maxine's birthday) to give away to a lucky reader.

leave a comment before July 2 to be entered into the random draw.  Contest now closed-  thank you!

a homemade life

i've been reading this book- A Homemade Life:  Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table  by Molly Wizenburg.  it's very good.  it's a memoir that encompasses snippets of her life and the recipes that go with them.  they add up to a very full picture that reads like a novel.  i'm now going to have to check out her blog, Orangette.

i was immediately inspired to try her custard-filled cornbread.  (2 of my fave things together!) 

(uh-oh- just discovered the recipe is not on her bog- i already returned the book to the library!  here is a very similar recipe if you leave out the corn kernels)  

it's one of those magic recipes where you pour a liquid on top of the batter and it magically transforms while baking. (have you seen my post on Denver Chocolate Pudding?  it is an amazing and so easy dessert)

mine came out with the custard on top for some reason, but i topped it with peaches and maple syrup and it was so yummy!

bench monday

on my way to a sewing class at The Workroom- taking a Reverse Applique Corset class- from the Project Alabama book.

my creative space

lilacs are my favourite flower.  

i have loved them since childhood, but even more now because the time that they bloom on the island is the exact time of Asa's birthday.  the day that he was born my man filled the house with lilacs and the heavy scent of them will now always remind me of my sweet baby.

my creative space today:

lilacs and a lilac-coloured sweater for a custom-order Sweet Thing(s) sweater

guess what?  here it is 3 days after i made this post, and i realized i have a heart in my photo- the leaf of the lilac.  there was a 'challenge' this week to hide a heart in your picture, and i had already taken the photo when i read that, so i kinda ignored it- but there it is!  how cool.

bench monday

bench monday: sea wall, with my eldest boy, after monday evening piano lessons

the island: Asa's school

we have a lovely little school here on our island.  Lee went there for pre-school and kindergarten, and Asa is now there for his kindergarten years (in Ontario we generally have junior kindergarten- JK- which is an optional year, and senior kindergarten- SK- or, at WMCC- 'blue jay' and 'robin' years)  I feel extremely lucky to have this little school for the kids to blossom in!

yesterday was the spring concert- Animals of the Island Sing Songs About Animals.  (I like the self-referential nature of the theme.)  The teachers really went all out for the sets and costumes- all made from stuff they had laying around the school!  You can see the forest on the left, the lake in the foreground, the meadow in the centre back, and the city (including the CN Tower) on the far right.  I don't know if you can tell, but the 'grass' is green faux fur.  Asa is the fox in red.

**i have to say, i am very self-conscious of this post after reading Urban Craft's rant about 'craft blogs' going off topic.  I am for sure guilty of posting pictures of my garden, my children and my food!  (and my childrens' kindergarten concerts)  I guess i always considered my blog a 'craft blog' BUT i guess it must be more of a creative lifestyle blog (okay, I try).  I personally like reading about aspects of peoples' lives other than just what they've made.  What do you think?

my creative space

as part of Kootoyoo's My Creative Space:

Maxine's birthday prep is underway:

- some fabric for making flags
- some wooden peg people to make 'guys' of our family
- a green dress to transform into the 'birthday dress'

my creative space

kirsty at kootoyoo is hosting 'my creative space'- post a picture and description of, yup, your creative space.  i became aware of this just after Maxine (age 1) had gotten ahold of my camera and snapped this picture of my workspace.  fateful.

jar of buttons, paint and paintbrushes, necklaces made by Lee as a preschooler, snap press, fabric that covers my printer, mystery project.

what's in your space?

Goop 'Make'

here's what i made for dinner tonight.

it was from Gwyneth Paltrow's weekly email newsletter, Goop,  (here's Gwyneth's recipe) that i signed up for for some reason.  every week she sends out a newsletter with the themes 'Make,' 'Do,' 'Get,' 'See,' etc.  most all of her suggestions are totally unrealistic for me, but i guess i like the rubber-necking aspect of it (the same reason i thumb through US Weekly at the grocery store)  I've never made anything from her emails before, but this was pretty good.  I did add a bit of garlicky-anchovy dressing and serve it on a bed of steamed kale. 

a few months ago, a columnist in the Globe and Mail (a Canadian national newspaper- our New York Times), Elizabeth Renzetti, wrote a hilarious column that sends up not only Goop, but us 'domestic-bliss-mama-crafty' bloggers as well.  SOOOOO funny.  i'll put it here in its entirety because i can't find a free link to it.  enjoy.

In the old days, ladies would turn on the television set and find Donna Reed singing the praises of soup, with the idea that purchasing this soup would make your house tidy and your hair glossy and your children upstanding heterosexuals. Who wouldn’t want that life?

But then “style” had to come along and create that most dreaded compound noun, lifestyle, and its patron saint was Oprah. Until this week, that is, with the introduction of Gwyneth Paltrow’s new website, Goop.com. Why is it called Goop? Perhaps “Any Old Load of Rubbish” and “Learn From Me, Ungrateful Peasant” were both taken.

“My life is good because I am not passive about it,” writes the woman last seen serving coffee in Iron Man. “I want to nourish what is real, and I want to do it without wasting time.” The website is in its infancy, but you can sign up for the e-mail newsletter, which soon will tell you what cool restaurants to visit in London or where to stay in Austin. “Learn something new,” it urges. “Don’t be lazy. Work out and stick with it.” It’s as if John Calvin and Princess Grace got together and wrote a game plan on a cocktail napkin.

In essence, Gwyneth would like to reach down from her aerie in north London and show you how to live, and shop, meaningfully. Except that the point is completely moot: You and I will never be six-foot tall blonde goddesses constructed entirely of lentils and self-righteousness.

These people are different than us, not because they’re better or more interesting, but because they are held aloft, much like Marie Antoinette’s hair, by a team of dedicated professionals. They never have to swallow a dirty aspirin found at the bottom of their purse, nor do they look in the fridge on a school morning and realize all that’s left for the kids’ lunch is a can of cat food and a red cabbage.

They have staff. They have staff to find their shoes and write the content of the websites we are meant to emulate. Should we really take beauty advice from Gwyneth Paltrow, who is the face of Estée Lauder and as such probably has a team of technicians delivering vials of age-retarding whales’ tears to her door every night?

Briefly, after spending time with Goop, I thought I might respond with my own lifestyle website - low-budget, practical advice for you and your kids and your misaligned chakras. I think I’ll call it Poop (Gwyneth must be kicking herself for not thinking of it first!) On Poop, for example, you might pick up these nifty hints:

Scavenge last night’s cake crumbs from the folds of your bra or stomach, put them on a pretty plate, and treat yourself to a picnic in the park.

Get your children excited about “cocktails” - I like to give mine soda water and a splash of lime cordial, sometimes with a grape if they’ve been particularly good. Watch them run around the house screaming, ‘Where’s my cocktail? I need another cocktail!’ Fun for hours, particularly if you invite the neighbours over.

Take the kids to the local pool and let them play Treasure Hunt with whatever they find in the drain. Band-Aids are good, organic matter even better, and whoever gets the pool cleared is the winner.

Alas, the field is already too crowded with other women all too willing to dole out advice to their overburdened sisters, who clearly are not overburdened enough: Have you worked through your issues today? How about the kids’ glove drawer? The dog’s fur knots? If you don’t, no one else will, you know, and the world will dissolve into a fiery ball of magma.

You don’t see men falling for this, do you? They’re not rushing out to buy Jeremy Clarkson’s Fine Art of Gonad Scratching, or Vin Diesel Tidies Your Toolbox. Let us take a page from their book of sanity.

Because, ladies, your guilt box is full. There is not room in it for another recipe featuring ancho chiles, which you must spend five hours sourcing and another three soaking. There is no room in it for a course in woodworking, or Kabbalah, or thermonuclear yoga. Your guilt box is already full of calls you haven’t made to your mother, birthday presents long forgotten, and the six bags of clothes in the closet that - one day - you will take to Goodwill. Take your guilt box to the back yard and burn it, and then have a glass of wine.

Fetch. Burn. Drink. Now there’s a manifesto we can get behind

**************Not that this has anything to do with anything, but i have been importing our entire CD collection onto a dedicated hard drive, and today i am up to the P's.  Remember Liz Phair?  i may be showing my age here, but man, is she great!  i am listening to Exile in Guyville right now, and it's so good.

craft FAIL

there's a hilarious website called Fail Blog, that has pictures and videos of things that don't work or are really bad or weird or funny.  Our family sometimes looks at it together and we laugh our heads off (there is a link near the top for a G-rated version if you want- it can be racy)  One of my favourites is a personalized license plate that reads "DIVA GINA"  Lee said to me out of the blue 2 days later "Oh! I just got that Diva Gina license plate!"  Very funny.

I started thinking about the various creative endeavours I've done lately that didn't really work out. 

Here's my "Craft Fail" offering, Part 1.

Dorodango, or shiny mudballs.  they are a pasttime of Japanese schoolchildren.  I saw them first in Craft magazine and had to try.  well, i got mud balls but they are not shiny at all. 

this photo is the 'during' but the 'after' does not look much different!!

I think the problem was lack of fine enough dirt for the powdery outer layer.  All the dirt around me was either sandy or really rich- nothing powdery.  you would laugh if you knew how much time i spent, by myself and with the kids, making my mudball!  (my man certainly laughed)  I am not beaten though- I'll try again someday.  They fascinate me and they are so beautiful.

Roasted Cabbage.  ahem.  it sounded like it might be good.  it was not.

 

next up:

wool roving from scratch!

"Get 'Er Done" and puffy petticoat giveaways

Toronto Craft Alert is sponsoring a giveaway called "Get 'Er Done" encouraging us to get out those old unfinished projects and well, you know!

Here are the details.

here's the loot for "Get 'Er Done"

 

Here's what I'm entering:

these lovely hats were crocheted by Buff (my mother-out-law) for the kids for Christmas, but they were a bit itchy.  last night i got them out and finally sewed fleece liners (dollar store hats) into them.  a small project but how many months have passed since Christmas??!!  thank you Toronto Craft Alert.  I Got 'Er Done.  the kids woke up this morning and wanted to put their hats on right away.  (Asa was still sleeping for the photo op)

 

Asa and Max went off this a.m. wearing them (did I tell you about my little plan for some time alone?  it's now!!  the kids are at my friend Karen's for the day.  I have big plans... gotta get off the computer though)

Lee didn't want to wear his because "I really like it.  it's weird and cool.  but i'm not going to wear it to school 'cuz the person i am at home is different than the person i am at school.  i don't wear hats like this at school."  sigh...  we are actually thinking about an alternative school for next year, where i think my little boy could actually be his quirky "weird and cool" self.

here's the loot for another fun giveaway on Grosgrain's blog.  you might want to check it out if you have a princess or kids who love dress-up! 

there is also a link to Martha's guest's instructions to make one yourself!

some good stuff

ahhh, back at my own computer for some web surfing

some good new stuff:

(new to me that is- sometimes i restrict myself to checking in with the old favourites- today was a wide open yonder sort of day)

Wild Parenting: A Counter-Cultural Childhood blog (another ex-pat American mom in Toronto- just like me! )

A Low Impact Woodland Home  very groovy DIY house in Wales

Simple Mom  blog  one of those blogs that i know will be very useful, but gives me a bit of an anxiety attack to think about all i want to/need to/should do around here for 'simple living' -HA!

also some movies worth mentioning:

Happy-Go-Lucky directed by Mike Leigh  fun and different

Gran Torino  with the fabulous Clint Eastwood who is SO COOL!!

PS I Love You with Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler  I don't even know why i watched this movie.  i made fun of the terrible title for months and i am not a big fan of Hilary Swank but I LOVED it!  maybe it was where i was at, or the incredibly suave and handsome Mr. Butler.  did you see it?  what did you think?  here's the trailer, but if you haven't seen it, it gives a lot away.

some 'north cajun' food and blog friend love

Lucia sent me some authentic Louisiana ingredients and a recipe book:

 

Thanks Lucia!!

I finally made something with them:  I'll call it 'North' Cajun Style Black-Eyed Peas and Rice.  Of course the kids hated it, but the adults loved it!

it's funny putting recipes on this blog.  i don't really want to have a food blog!  but i've realized that because i have to cook to feed the family, and i want to be creative, i end up with food as creative endeavour chronicled on the blog!  i've noticed that with a few other craft bloggers too- more food on their blogs when they have less time for crafts.

okay, here's the recipe:

chopped onions and celery and tons of garlic, with 1 lb pork tenderloin cut into bite size pieces- sauteed until soft and pork is browned. (you could leave out the pork with no other adjustments i think)

add 1 cup brown rice (uncooked), some diced canned tomatoes (1/2 or whole large can), 3 cups of water, and a bay leaf- simmer until rice is cooked.

add some black-eyed peas (i cooked 2 cups of dried peas until they were not quite done- black-eyed peas are fantastic because they don't need a soak- great for me, i love using dried beans but i hate having to plan ahead for the soak) and a bunch of kale (washed, stems removed, chopped into smallish pieces and wilted until bright green) and some seasoning.  I used 2 tablespoons of 'Slap Ya Mama' but you could use salt and pepper and chile powder and paprika i think.  especially lots of salt and pepper!!

simmer for another 1/2 or so- adding more water as needed, until beans are soft.

enjoy!  i served it with some West Indian hot sauce for more kick.

thank you & book giveaway

i'm really glad i wrote that last post.  i had really mixed feelings about doing so because i do love those 'bliss' blogs and i like looking for all the good stuff in my life to blog about.  it was good to get it out and it came from a place of real emotion.  and you know, it made me feel really happy that a few people (that i don't know personally!) enjoy the blog and it gives me energy to keep going.  i also found a few new blogs to follow

but the best thing was reading the comments from you guys who let me know that i am not alone in my feelings of inadequacy and overwhelmedness. 

we're all on this crazy mother train (crazy train, not crazy mothers!) together, connected. 

have you read Between Interruptions: 30 Women Tell the Truth About Motherhood?  it is an anthology of essays about just the sort of thing we're talking about here.  it's canadian (which means you american friends have likely not heard of it- many great canadian books don't seem to like the trip south)  i really recommend it. 

actually, you know what?  leave a comment here, and next week i will choose someone at random and send it to you.  it is (american) thanksgiving after all, and i am thankful for this community.

if you didn't read the comments to my last post, i encourage you to read them.  they were heartfelt.  to you mamas who wrote- thank you for your honesty.  especially homemama who wrote "i can not manage my time, i yell at my kid, i make lousy dinners and basically do no crafts"- man, did that resonate! 

sara wrote "Each person has their limits. Each person has their triumphs. We all have dreams and ideals, and most of the time those go beyond what we can do."  i will try to remember that- i always think i actually can do everything i want to do (you should see my project list right now...)

thank you, ladies!

let's all try to 1) realize that we all have these feelings 2) not be so hard on ourselves!

blog heaven or hell?

i have to admit (and i don't think i'm the only one) i've been regularly (ok, semi-compulsively) checking Soulemama's blog in the past week or so to see if she'd had her baby yet.  her blog was the one that really inspired me to start blogging: her life and family and creativity are so beautiful.  and a wonderful thing i realized was that i felt that my life wasn't that different- i just wasn't documenting it.  i was inspired to blog to recognize the beautiful and the creative in the ordinary moments of my life (and hopefully connect with the community of other creative mamas out there). 

but somewhere along the time that Soulemama announced she was pregnant with her 4th, i started to feel downtrodden rather than inspired when reading some of my favourite blogs.  anna maria has five kids (and counting) with a hot career in fabric design, a new book, and a popular blog.  soulemama has three (now four) kids, has written two books, homeschools her kids and writes her fabulous blog with time to bake sew and do art projects with her kids.  two sisters who write a blog have had their immaculate groovy arty lovely houses showcased in a popular US parenting magazine.

i have trouble some days finding time to take a shower and almost always have gigantic piles of laundry strewn about the living room.  and i have to set a schedule for myself to give the kids baths on Sundays and Wednesdays or i forget.  i would love to have a 4th baby, but (insert 12 reasons not to here)  Lucia of Dimsum, Bagels, and Crawfish and I have discussed this feeling that comes when we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves wanting- it's made me wonder whether the type of blogs i like to read (Humble Woodcutter calls them 'domestic bliss' blogs) are just another way to sell ourselves short? 

part of me says 'no' (see above) but part of me thinks that by only writing about the best moments of our lives (and yes, i know no one would read each other's ramblings about dirty toilets and unfolded laundry) we are creating a world of domestic perfection that no one could ever live up to.  a little while ago angry chicken wrote a post where she alluded to some deep troubles and despair she was experiencing (in it she wrote something like, 'i'm sorry i just can't write another post about homemade sour cream right now') and than apologized and deleted the post the next day.  humble woodcutter once wrote 'this would never happen to Soulemama.' 

i don't have an easy answer- this post is something i have been thinking about for months.  i was moved to write it tonight when i saw Amanda had had her baby and of course while i am so happy for her and her family, i cried because i know with my brain that i shouldn't have that 4th baby that my heart and my body so want.  what is wrong with me that i can't do all that, start homeschooling again, and have that 4th baby?  but i see her life, and i think she can do all i can AND MORE.

what do you think?

why

About 2 years ago, I was Googling "felted sweaters"and I came upon this post in Hillary Lang's blog Wee Wonderfuls.  I hadn't really paid too much attention to blogs before, but I was immediately fascinated with her writings about her experience as a sewing, craft-making, stay-at-home mother.  I felt an immediate connection to this person I had never met or spoken to (I still haven't).  On her blog were links to other similar blogs (all mothers who make stuff!), and on those blogs still more links.  Ever since then, I have regularly read Hillary's blog, my very favourite blog SouleMama (my name is a reflection of this blog's influence on me!), and other great blogs by creative moms of young kids.
I am inspired every day by the things these crafty mamas make, by the beauty they find in everyday life and in their children,  and reminded to make space in my own life for that creative part of myself.  I am also inspired by the coast-to-coast community they have created in the blog world and the way that being part of this community seems to help them stay focused on creating.  Staying home with young kids it is so easy to get lost in all the drudgery, in everything you haven't done in a day.  It seems to me that blogging is a way to inspire myself to carve out time to be creative and to focus on the beauty I have around me every day. 
So. 
Thank you, ladies!!