To blog or not to blog???

That really has been the question I have been asking myself for the past several months and although I could name a few good reasons for doing it, I had so many questions and concerns about the whole thing.

Would I have the time to do it or would it just become another thing to keep up with? Would I really have anything interesting to blog about?  Would anyone even want to read it if I did?

I started looking at blogs of other moms for inspiration and answers to my questions but, what I found did little to encourage me. 

Everything just always seemed so perfect in these little blog worlds.  Homes were clean and well decorated, homeschooling was fun and engaging, kids were cute and entertaining.  I just felt that there was no way my messy, busy and often chaotic life could keep up!  But then I realized that I didn’t have to.  You see, blogs are perfect in that they only show what the author wants to show.  If you don’t write about or post pictures of your sticky kitchen floor or the five baskets of dirty laundry, no one will know they even exist.  If you don’t blog about your five year old daughter kicking her sister in the face and giving her a bloody nose on the first day of school (yes that really did happen at our house), the world will assume you are raising perfect little angels!

So that’s when I decided I wasn’t going to even try to compete.  I was just going to be me; and that means real and honest. Like right now for instance. I could tell you that I am typing this as my little darlings are all tucked in bed and I sit in my clean living room with a nice glass of wine reminiscing over a fun filled and educational day, or… I could tell you the truth.  Right now, the computer is on the kitchen counter, I am impatiently waiting for some cupcakes to hurry up and bake so I can frost them for a baby shower tonight, the only way I am keeping the teething eight month old from screaming at me is by letting him lick frosting off of my finger every few minutes and I literally just locked the three girls out of the house to keep them from running into the kitchen dripping wet from the sprinkler!

Ah, the truth will set you free!  If it’s good then good if it’s not, well, I will share that too. This is going to be an adventurous year for us.  Homeschooling a kindergartener and a preschooler; all while keeping the two year old from smothering her younger brother, is going to be pretty interesting. I want to be able to look back and the successes and the failures.  I want to learn and grow from this and if others can learn something as well or even just feel better about them selves then great!

  So, if you are in the need for some honesty, a good laugh and maybe a little inspiration, then keep on reading!

What’s in a name???

“Well, you sure have your hands full!”

This seems to be the unofficial catch phrase of my life right now.  I hear it from anyone and everyone when I am out with my four children.  It has become so predictable, that I can bank on hearing it at least once if not more while we are out and about.  

Actually, they usually first ask if they are all mine.  At this point I am thinking “Do you think I am crazy enough to be out in public with a five year old, a three year old, an almost two year old and an eight month old that are not mine???” But, I just smile and nod.  That is when it comes… some form of “you sure do have your hands full!”. 

Most people just smile when they say it, with a look of “better you than me” about them, but it doesn’t really bother me.  In fact, I think it is a bit of an understatement!  Four kids age five and under… there are a lot of things that are full around here and my hands are just the beginning!  What about the dishwasher that is always full no matter how many times I run it?  Or the laundry baskets full of dirty clothes that are trying to take over the house? Or my mini van?  That thing is at max capacity for car seats!  There are plenty of good things that are full as well.  My refrigerator door is full of beautiful artwork.  My scrapbooks are full of happy memories.  My kitchen if full of laughter during meals as the five and three year old try to invent their own new jokes (I won’t even try to explain the one about the cow and the microwave!)  And of course my heart is full.  So full of love, appreciation and absolute wonder that these four little blessing are in my life. 

So yes my hands are full and yes there is  rarely a dull or quiet moment around here.  But what is the alternative?  Empty hands?  No thank you; I’ll keep my hands full and I will be happy. OK, so the washing machine and dishwasher could be empty; that would make me happy too.  But, let’s face it that is never going to happen with a five year old in finger painting phase and a two year old obsessed with anything covered in spaghetti sauce!