balance?

I can learn a lot from Ava about balance!

You may (or may not) have noticed that I haven't posted in this space for about a month.  Oh, you might say to yourself, "it's summer and she is probably out having fun with the kids at the pool or busy doing something creative with the kids".  NOT SO! Well, not completely so. While yes, I have been at the pool or being creative with my babes, it has been in such small increments that I don't even think it counts.  

I have been busy with the busyness of "making do".  In the last month I have taken our simple family challenge and kicked it up to crazy and unrealistic proportions.  

For the last month I have been trying to::

keep the house clean...while trying to constantly de-clutter,

keep groceries to a minimum.... i.e. be creative and make do with what we have,

throw a birthday party and re-docorate Ava's room within the confines of our challenge,

help out at the farm 2x/week,

be a mindful and present parent,

find free and fun activities for us to do as a family,

blog (it fell right off the list but i thought about it a lot),

cook ALL meals (it started to look like a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches),

keep convenience foods (crackers, chips, granola bars) to a minimum,

be fun and spontaneous,

have dinner parties and friends over to hang out,

try new activities with the family,

keep up with sewing and ongoing projects...new dress and duvet cover for Ava's birthday,

keep calm despite the increased bickering and horrid attitudes of Ava and Anthony,

keep Rao life fresh and exciting,

be a model of gratitude and appreciation for my family 

This weekend my list came crumbling down on me.  

The kind of landslide that left me in a heaping, crying, flailing mess on the couch (leaving Sri dumbfounded!).  Feeling like I was failing at every aspect of my life.  Feeling sorry for myself.  Guilty that I have dragged my kids into this insanity.  Angry at "our challenge" and angry with myself for turning it into this ridiculous and unattainable list of rules.  How did "hey, lets try to live more simply and live off of what we already have instead of buying more" turn into me running around like crazy to try and create a modern Little House on the Prairie life  while trying to juggle everything else.  

I need to sit down with my family and redefine the guidelines of this challenge.  I need to simplify the challenge to simplify within my own mind and not be so black and white about it all.   Any suggestions?  I would be happy to hear your opinion about how to make this process a little more enjoyable.  

green isn't always a good colour on me

                                                               Source: jackrogersusa.tumblr.com via Krista on Pinterest

i’m jealous

i’m jealous of people out there who are able to pull off living “simply”.  You know the people/blogs I’m talking about. The people who un-school their children, make all 3 meals from scratch (i’m talking right down to slaughtering livestock), knit a sweater a day, don’t own a t.v, hand make fresh bread each morning, have time to read, go on hikes, tap some trees, watch their children play NICELY with eco-friendly toys and then tuck everyone in under their handmade quilts after some sort of gratitude ceremony... oh and I forgot that the house ALWAYS looks neat, tidy and uncluttered.

Yes, I know that blogs are like reality tv, its all in the editing but that doesn’t stop me from  flying into a jealous rage at least once a day (only a minor exaggeration).  Sri would at this point mention to me that the above person has actually complicated their lives by not taking advantage of modern conveniences and is probably running around like a maniac trying to get everything done and making everything look “perfect”.   

We like think that we are living simply and then we look around our house and at our lifestlye and re-think “EPIC FAIL”.  We have way too much, spend way too much on nothing really, spend a lot of time watching TV (ahem, hello Netflix) and don’t spend enough of our dollars locally.

So in conjunction with 2012 being my year for organization it is also going to be a year to simplify.  buy less, make more, shop locally, watch less tv and get rid of excess.  

We are going to start with small steps and not my usual "okay thats it...throw out all plastic toys, any food that comes in a box and cancel the T.V".  We are thinking about starting with fermenting our own gingerale.  Is that starting small? 

what time is it mr.Wolf??????

oh it is time for a great many things. Most importantly it is time to start living more creatively instead of just talking about it.  There was a time (oh about a year ago) when a day didn't go by without me spending some time sewing or knitting.  Since the arrival of Sir A. I have really neglected this part of who I am and what I need to be happy.  I realized today that all of my attempts to rekindle my motivation to create have been thwarted by my lack of organization.  I spend most of my time trying to gather up all of the materials for a project instead of being able to just sit down and begin.  By the time I get started the baby is crying, someone wants a snack or a bum needs to be wiped.  Today marks day 1 of mission crafting organization.  I will soon be posting before and after pics of my sewing room... if all goes as planned.  

I am also so happy to announce (to who I don't know) that I finally put in my application to be a vendor at the Mississauga Fall Festival.  This year's focus is on simple living and green living... both things of which I am quickly falling in love with.  After the organization of all of the supplies is finished I will be able to plan what I am going to make for the festival.... also another source of motivation for getting myself going.  I am looking forward to this June adventure....I will be keeping you posted.