Social lactivist for a day

Last Friday I took my kids, met up with a friend and hung around Lincoln Square as part of a "nurse-in," held in reaction to an incident where a woman was publicly hassled for breastfeeding outdoors.
In my years of nursing in public, I was never hassled by a stranger, but I do know the difficulty in wanting to modestly feed your baby while carrying on with your life outside of home. It is not easy. So we donned the International Breastfeeding Symbol stickers and played and visited and watched as nursing moms were interviewed by television reporters.
You can find multiple versions of the story online. Here is the Chicago Sun-Times version.

Glasses fiasco and online eyewear

I have been wearing glasses for 11 years. Until last year, I had only worn 3 pairs total, a new set of frames every few years. Due to some annoying and coincidental circumstances, I now have 4 new pairs of glasses: one pair of sunglasses, one pair of ugly glasses (I'll be skipping that part of the story), one pair of attractive but apparently very damageable glasses, and the pair you see above.
I realized early last year that it was time I had my eyes checked and thought it would be nice to have a change of frames (my current ones being older than all my children). I scheduled a check-up to coincide with a visit from my mom who was planning to gift me with new frames. Thanks to the unexplainable complexity of insurance (and lack of information from store/office employees), however, it was months before I had a decent pair of glasses on my face.
(I just attempted writing out this story in more detail and realized it's way too convoluted. This will be the very abridged version).
After becoming adjusted to my long-in-coming new frames and prescription lenses, they began to break. I say began because they didn't break once, they broke 3 separate times. Now, during the previous 10 years, I had never had a lens break. And believe me, my glasses were dropped, pulled, yanked, stepped on, you name it. As far as I know, no one in my glasses-wearing family (and this totals lots of years) has ever had a lens break.
After a bizarre struggle in acquiring my prescription, choosing a lens that didn't cause headaches or visual distortion, and finding sunglasses frames that effectively did their job and also looked halfway decent, I wasn't really in the mood for having my glasses repaired every couple of months. My official opinion of Pearle Vision at this time is not very high. My glasses are, again, in their possession for a lens change.
The coincidence part of this long, bothersome story is that during my Pearle fiasco (going without my glasses periodically while they were undergoing lens surgery and I was undergoing withdrawal from a life before children when I could run errands by myself instead of waiting for the perfect timing when the store happens to be open, the manager and tech personnel happen to be working and my husband happens to be home), I was contacted by a representative from Glasses USA and asked to review their product. Free eyeglasses.
I don't really enjoy writing reviews and don't fancy myself too good at them, but they did catch me at the right time. Sure!
I don't do a lot of shopping online. I certainly don't buy things online that require a lot of personal attention to detail like glasses, fitted clothing, make-up, etc. But since I recently had an eye exam giving me a current prescription and a new pair of frames I could refer to for shape preference, this was perfect. I perused the Glasses USA inventory of frames, comparing the size of all interesting frames with my current and previous frames, and narrowed it down to one lucky pair. Now, looking at their prices, I have to wonder-what in the world is the difference in frame and lens material and labor used by this company versus Pearle, LensCrafters, EyeMasters or any other glasses company that I would describe as low-end but which costs significantly more?
As I've only been wearing these new prescription glasses for a couple weeks, I can't tell you firsthand how the quality outlasts others, but I can tell you, that so far my experience here has been much more positive than the one I've had with Pearle. My glasses arrived secure in a sturdy case with cleaning cloth in a timely manner, and company follow-up has been prompt and answers to questions thorough.
I am having to go through my usual trouble of multiple trips to the store (local LensCrafters) for adjustments (I have a case of one ear higher than the other, I think, and am easily annoyed by a slightly-off fit), but I would be doing that no matter where I purchased frames. I am pleased with the appearance of the frames, the accuracy of the prescription, the apparent quality, and the customer service (although I haven't had to use it, their eyeglass frames return and exchange policies sound very similar to that of other eyewear establishments).
Who would've thought? Prescription glasses online. I don't know what my route will be in the future when it comes time to purchase new frames (oh, please, let it not be soon), but it's nice to know there's an affordable and relatively easy option.
If you're in the market for inexpensive new specs, feel free to use this coupon code at Glasses USA for an additional discount: Mommy5.

Recent happenings

I'm back! I know, I never said I was going anywhere. It was an unplanned hiatus.
I'm going to do a little catch up here before getting back into some kind of routine.

In the time I've been away from the computer, we've:
Camped near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. (We managed to get a few hours of beautiful clear sky in between all the rain. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it.)
Celebrated my birthday. (Remember last year's?)
Celebrated my baby's birthday with homemade malted milk ice cream from The Perfect Scoop.
Visited the Shedd Aquarium downtown. (Look at that cloudy, cool summer day in Chicago. Good grief!)
Made butterfly contact and witnessed a sheep-shearing at the zoo. (We got lucky and caught one of the 2 yearly shearings.)
Toured Wagner Farm.
Filmed a craft demo for the Pioneer Press Mommy on a Shoestring column. (Should appear in about 3 weeks.)
Enjoyed a week long visit from my mom and started our homeschool History co-op classes.
Whew! And those are just the highlights.

I'll try to be back here soon.

Extreme babywearing

I'm sure babywearing is not an actual competitive sport, but I'm convinced if it was, this mama possum would take home a prize.
My parents watched this possum family struggle through their yard one morning while I was oblivious upstairs. I'm so sorry I missed it!

Morning news

We woke up this morning to Illinois' first probable case of swine flu and subsequent school closing being reported right outside our window.
I'd really rather see a pretty bird.

When nothing works for you Wednesday

No doubt many of you have seen or participated in the Works For Me Wednesday carnival, previously hosted by Rocks In My Dryer and now hosted by We Are THAT Family. It's a great place for tips on parenting, cooking, teaching, organizing, and running your household. Maybe one day I'll participate.
For now, I'm interested in commiserating with you on those days when nothing works for you. Those days when...

• you can't see one inch of kitchen counter or stove top for all the dirty dishes.
  
• you dress 3 times, while running late for a meeting, because each new shirt or pair of pants surprises you with a nasty stain you hadn't previously noticed.
• your son pours a cupful of popcorn kernels all over the living room.
  
• you can't seem to keep the baby off the dining room table or out of the windowsill.
  
• you get all the kids ready to go, down the stairs, and strapped into the car before noticing two of your tires have been slashed.
  
• you realize late into the evening that all you had for dinner was half a bag of chocolate chips.
• your children tear the linens off a bed, rip open the mattress and begin pulling out the contents.
• you steer the shopping cart too close to a large snow globe, allowing your baby the opportunity to send it crashing to the floor, where it shatters and spills across the aisle.
• for the 1000th time this winter, your children refuse to dress, then struggle down 3 flights of stairs shoeless and coatless, screaming.
• you realize how much extra money you spent on unintentional purchases (items thrown into the cart without your knowledge).
• you sit the kids in front of the tv for a few minutes alone in the shower, only to discover that it's fundraiser week on PBS and Sesame Street isn't on.
• you leave the newly cooked pot of chili on the stove overnight.
  
• your children manage to collapse the crib tent, pull off a poopy diaper, smear the contents all over the crib rails, the linens, the collapsed tent, the carpet, some books, then run some toys through it, caking them with poop.
  
• you find the bag of soiled linens from poop-smearing incident months later, neglected in a corner, never washed.

What do you do at the end of a Nothing Works For You Wednesday?

Update: No, these things did not happen to us all on the same day! But, yes, they have all happened in our home.

Beaded Christmas ornaments

We've been making our own Christmas ornaments again since we're still in that stage where having store-bought ornaments proves a danger to the ornaments and small children. Last year we stuck with paper. Chains, candles, stars. This year, we're stepping it up a notch to include beads, pipe cleaners, buttons, wire. And probably still paper.
Last week, while we were in the beginning stages of illness and confined to our home, we had beaded ornament-making sessions every afternoon. Now that we're still sick, we've moved to buttons, but more on those later. The first picture above includes some ornaments I made, some we made together, and a few the kids made themselves (minus the tying off and making a bow). The second picture is made up primarily of their creations. I hadn't anticipated the kids would be so excited, or at the least satisfied, with merely bending a pipe cleaner and hanging it on the tree. Shows what I know. They're proud of them all and so am I.

Personal Update: Thanks to those of you sticking with me through my sporadic posting. Our computer is still shot. Yes, I'm posting with ESP again. No, not really. I'm using something so old I can't even get the italic function to work. You know we were out of town the entire week of Thanksgiving, came home to a dead computer, all became sick, I spent a long weekend visiting my sister in California (more on that later), came home still sick to a still dead computer, and am now just waiting for our new one to arrive and be installed and whatnot. I really do plan to post more regularly once we have a working computer. Thanks to the new folks who've commented recently. I'll be back. (You can say that like Arnold if you want and I won't think any less of you).

Oh, and by the way, we recently uncovered our baby fingernail clippers, my wedding ring, and our green Thomas the Train wagon. I may have to continue posting my ads publicly if it brings that kind of luck.

If furniture could talk....

Attention all dressers, beds, forgotten toys, and gigantic dust bunnies:
MISSING
1 pair boys' brown pants, size 2T
1 pair women's jeans, size...let's just say "between pregnancies"
1 orange sippy cup, likely 1/2 full of soured milk
1/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich
1 green Thomas the Train wagon
1 parrot
1 cheetah
1 large canvas bag
1 recipe for pumpkin bread
1 pair men's blue shorts, size unknown
1 wedding ring...yikes!
1 round plastic Pyrex lid
1 pair baby fingernail clippers
Any possessing knowledge leading to the whereabouts of any of these items, please respond immediately. Anonymous tips accepted.

So, I wouldn't want my furniture, appliances, toys, and closets talking to me on a regular basis. I'd certainly get far too many cries of pain and domestic criticisms. But, I think if my possessions could speak strictly when spoken to, it'd be pretty beneficial.

Withdrawal: Chocolate fudge and computers

Hello! We're back! I think I'm experiencing chocolate fudge and pumpkin pie withdrawal. Not to mention, doting grandparent withdrawal.
We had a lovely holiday week. Hope you all did, too! Coming home, though, we found our computer reluctant (refusing) to function. I was fine for a week without it. Out of sight really was out of mind. But now that I'm walking past the thing every 5 minutes, I find myself experiencing withdrawal from my electronically-generated social and creative life.
I hope it won't be long, but just so you know, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I'm actually pretty excited to start some new projects. Especially after reading your nice comments on our embroidered handprints from last week. Thanks!
Stay tuned!

Good in the 'hood

Just some neighborhood silliness today. I know the picture at the top won't be featured on The Tonight Show or anything, but it still makes me giggle inwardly every time I drive by. Dozen egss, anyone?
The second picture is really not silly at all, but something I'm pleased with. Finally, the city of Chicago graces us with these color-coded large print No Parking signs. A small convenience but a worthy one. It's nice to be able to look at the sign from a distance and know what it says rather than inching up as close as possible in the car or getting out to read it. Giant M for Monday, TU for Tuesday, etc. Now, if we can keep up with our personal car locator system, we'll be set.

S'more time, please

That's all I ask. More time. More time to finish making my own birthday cake, more time to sweep the rice off the floor, more time to wash the dishes, to play at the park, to go camping, to learn the words to that song stuck in my head, to sit and have tea with a friend, to take a shower, to remember how amazing and fun small children really are....
Yesterday was my birthday. My kids were looking forward to it, as they'd helped Daddy make a surprise gift for me and had been counting down the days on the calendar. Mainly, I think they wanted to eat cake.
With my birthday on a Monday, I knew going into it that it was going to be a pretty normal day. You know, life with kids, but with a special party at the end. I was looking forward to making my own birthday cake so I could try something new that I wouldn't necessarily have the excuse to make otherwise. Never mind that I waited until the last minute, as usual, and had to settle for my 3rd choice cake. It was still my choice and was going to be good.
The kids enjoyed helping mix the ingredients and were excited to see the three cake layers sitting on the counter, although, weren't able to understand why we couldn't yet dig in. I planned to finish it up during their "rest" time, chill it in the fridge during afternoon play time at the park, and have it sitting beautifully before us after dinner. Unfortunately, I was short on an important ingredient. Why haven't I learned to thoroughly read directions and look for all ingredients even when I think I have them? I couldn't exactly run to the store by myself so I had to wait until after nap time.
I'll skip all the fun we had when my daughter fell in the parking lot of the store, hurt her knee and screamed until I had all kids seated in one of those grotesquely huge pink plastic butterfly-shaped steering-wheeled carts, with which I proceeded to practically knock down an entire display of paper towels standing about 9 feet high and a rack of canned beans, and move right to finishing the cake at home.
My daughter hadn't taken a nap during the prescribed rest time, had remembered her knee was scraped and bloody, was probably hungry, definitely sweaty and dirty (this was to be the no-matter-what-happens-it's-bath night since they hadn't bathed after our state park trip on Saturday) when we got home from the store. Not good under any circumstances, but especially considering I was trying to assemble some sort of healthy dinner (cereal?) while preparing two separate frostings for a layer cake intended to be eaten in about 30 minutes that really required a few hours additional chill time, feeding the baby, and directing my son to stop whatever it was he was doing.
Amazingly, I kept up with things until the kids had been fed, I'd put the baby to bed, listened to my kids melt down during their bath with Daddy, and come back to the cake. Then I realized it wasn't going to happen.
At the end of this long day, we celebrated my birthday with oven-toasted s'mores. Felt sort of like Mr. Bean's Christmas sandwiches. (Except my cake wasn't thrown out the window so I still need to finish it once it firms up again from being left out too long in the heat when I attempted to pour on the ganache a while ago.) Happily, the kids ate these as if they'd never heard of birthday cake and were thrilled to help me open birthday cards from faraway, loving family.
After celebrating, my husband put the kids to bed while I ran the intimidating tower of laundry, created by my not-so-keen on toilet-training child, downstairs to wash and rode my bike to the video store to get my free birthday rental. Which we didn't watch because we were too interested in the Olympics.
I don't know when I'll have the time to finish my cake, eat it, watch my movie, wash the dishes, or do all the other things I'd like, but I did manage to find time just now to remember that the people who loved me yesterday on my birthday probably still love me today, that my kids really had fun driving that big shopping cart, eating s'mores, and keeping a little birthday secret with their dad, that I enjoyed some fresh nighttime air on my bike, and that if days were filled with all the time I wanted they probably wouldn't be nearly as interesting and the changes we see in our children wouldn't seem nearly as amazing. Hmm. Happy birthday!

I growed up here

My mom recently pointed out to me that, according to an article in Best Life magazine (and as reported on The Today Show), I grew up in one of the 10 worst cities to raise children. Hmm. I wouldn't have guessed that, necessarily, but okay. It certainly didn't have the advantages of Chicago, but then, what do you really need to raise a family?
The study also listed 100 best places to raise your family. For both lists, they used criteria such as safety, favorable student-teacher ratios in schools, above-average test scores, and respectable budgets. They looked for plenty of museums, parks, and pediatricians; short commutes, less expensive houses, and low divorce rates. See the article for additional info.
Here are their lists of best and worst places to raise your children (from 257 cities studied....It's a lot more dramatic when you think it's out of every city in the country, isn't it?):

Top 10 from the 100 Best Places to Raise a Family
1 Honolulu, Hawaii (Schools spend almost $9,000 per pupil, unemployment ranks less than half the national average, and you can play on the island of O'ahu's 125 beaches).
2 Virginia Beach, Virginia
3 Billings, Montana
4 Columbus, Georgia
5 San Diego, California
6 Des Moines, Iowa
7 Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 Madison, Wisconsin (Madison has a high number of pediatricians per capita).
9 Colorado Springs, Colorado
10 Santa Rosa, California

The 10 Worst Places to Raise a Family (from best to worst)
10 Springfield, Missouri
9 Dayton, Ohio
8 Corpus Christi, Texas
7 Flint, Michigan (Country's highest violent-crime rate)
6 Columbia, South Carolina
5 Waco, Texas
4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3 Fayetteville, North Carolina
2 Beaumont, Texas (Long-standing air-quality challenges)
1 Clarksville, Tennessee (Low educational spending: $6,729 per student)

Chicago did make it into the top 100. Whew. I guess we don't have to move. But then again...Honolulu, anyone?

Love/Hate

I was tagged a month ago by Michelle from Hathersage Hall and I am finally getting around to responding. I'm supposed to list 6 unimportant things about myself and I'm going to do it in the form of a love/hate list. Here goes.


1) I love this pose. Children inspecting bugs. I have many pictures of my kids doing the exact same thing in varying locations. Very sweet.


2) I hate this high chair. We've been using it since my 4-year old was born so I've been hating it for 4 years. Maybe I should clarify. It has good points: It rolls into the next room, it folds in between children (not literally between them, but between needing to use it from one child to the next), and the seat is soft. Cleaning it is one of the biggest nuisances I've ever encountered. It has more cracks, crevices, screwholes, reachable plastic parts than should ever be allowed on anything a baby with mushy food is going to come near touching (notice the detail of me toothpick-cleaning). The tray insert is useless, I think, and now I've rendered the tray itself useless by leaving it on the stove with the oven on, thereby melting a corner crucial for attaching it to the chair. I'm not in the market for a new high chair, but if I were I'd get something extremely basic.

3) I love homemade biscuits with a drizzle of honey. And biscuits with jelly. And biscuits with crumbled sausage and gravy.

4) I hate phrases ending in "with." Not like, "What does that go with?" (Even though I'm sure that should be something like, "With what does that go?") But phrases like, "Do you want to come with?" and "She went with" and such. I never heard anyone say that until we moved up here. Is it regional?

5) I love being in the water. Swimming pool, lake, creek, fountain, whatever. I particularly enjoy being submerged up to my neck during the summer, but a wading trip through a cool, clear, rocky creek will thrill me to my bones. Now, I hardly ever am in water (recreationally, that is-I do make a habit of bathing), but I sure do like it and wish I could enjoy it more frequently.
(I wasn't about to show a picture of me in the water, but that is me with my baby in the lake).

6) Despite my love of feeling the water, I am a terrible swimmer and hate having water in my eyes, nose, and mouth. I could never go under water without holding my nose as a kid and now as a stubborn adult, will probably never learn. We'll see. My husband enjoys swimming, so at least we've got someone in the family to help the kids and me, if I decide I need it.

Now, of course, I'm not going to tag anyone else because that's just the way I am, but please feel free to let me know if you relate or if you think I'm crazy.
Thanks, Michelle, that was fun!

The wonderful land of blog

Find me here today: The Crafty Crow and The Recipe Box Swap.
Cassi at The Crafty Crow has featured our puppet theater today. If you haven't looked through her site, you should. Her blog is dedicated to children's crafts and activities, and she posts multiple ideas from various bloggers every day. It's a great resource.
Randi at I have to say... is hosting a cookies/bars recipe swap today. We made granola bars recently and posted the recipe, so that's where I'm steering her readers. See her swap list for other cookie recipes.

Thoughts (or confessions) on crafting with children:
I visit a few blogs by other crafty moms who seem to always be working on really creative, unique projects with their kids, or seem to have a well-thought-out philosophy on creating with kids and appear to be indefatigable when it comes to seeing it through. It's easy to start thinking they're superhuman and I'm less-than-human and then get all depressed about the amazing things I'm not teaching my kids. I recently read a blog entry where the author tried to dispel any myths about her lifestyle by admitting to dirt and disorder in her home. It was refreshing to read. I would love it if there was some day or week when all crafty-genius-bloggers had to post pics of their messes and describe in detail the things they let go around the house, the fights they have with their kids, etc. (assuming, of course, that everyone has these issues).
So, anyway, back to kids...I love the idea of growing creativity in the brains of my little ones. I love the idea of building a strong relationship by engaging with them on their level. I love the idea of teaching them valuable skills and concepts (of so many different natures) through playing and creating together. But, the reality in the day-to-day is that one of my primary motivations for playing/crafting with my kids is keeping my sanity and keeping them from killing each other. I am not alone in this, RIGHT?

Earthquake!

We survived our first earthquake. Or, rather, we felt an earthquake for the first time today. It was about 5am. I had just nursed the baby and gotten back in bed. I heard rattling in the walls (these old plaster walls tend to spontaneously crumble so we're accustomed to that noise) and general rattling around in the room. Then I felt the bed shaking. Pretty roughly, really, but it was shortlived. Then I felt several lighter shakes of the bed, like someone was standing at the foot gently nudging it back and forth. None of that lasted very long, but was certainly out of the ordinary and actually made me think, "Hmm, I bet that's what a little earthquake feels like." Sure enough!

One of those mornings

Do you see what's happening here? It's like when you put the milk in the cabinet, the box of markers in the refrigerator, the bananas in the microwave...you know. Why do our brains and our bodies sometimes function at two completely different speeds? Today I'm blaming it on the time change, but I don't know what the problem is the rest of the time.

You're It!

Well, I'm it, technically. Sara from Odd Dotty Dollymaker tagged me (thanks, Sara, this is fun!) and I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself then tag 7 other people.

1. I moved to Texas from Missouri when I was in college. Everyone in Missouri (well, the people I knew, anyway, not the entire state) seemed to think I'd end up saying "y'all" all the time and that I'd go off and marry a cowboy (because all Texans are cowboys). Looking back on my Texas experience, I can see that not everyone is a cowboy (they do tend to say y'all an awful lot), but I was inclined to believe they were when I learned these things within my first few weeks as a Texan:

• how to 2-step...at a bonfire with a cowboy named BILLY BOB! I still think this is too good to be true.

• a "dualie" is one of those big trucks with double rear wheels. Of course, I thought they were saying "dooley." Actually, it took me a little while to figure this one out.

• even girls wear custom-fitted cowboy hats.

• Rockies are jeans for cowgirls (specifically those tight jeans with no pockets on the rear) and Ropers are boots.

I did enjoy my time spent with cowgirls and boys, but no, I did not end up marrying one and I do not say "y'all."

2. I could drink a pitcher, or more, of iced tea a day. I wouldn't care if I ever had anything else to drink. Tea is fine with me.

3. I was a cheerleader in the 8th grade, which I find kind of embarrassing to admit. Watching old pep rally routines on tape, with your husband, is even more embarrassing. Except when you watch in fast forward. Then it's pretty funny.

4. There's this line in the movie Spiderman (where Peter goes to that wrestling match to win money for a car and he's fighting that hairy guy called Bonesaw), "Bonesaw is readeeeeee!" that absolutely makes me crack up every time I say it or think of it. Why I'm thinking of it or saying it that often, I have NO idea.

5. I am constantly tortured by feeling trapped and sorry for myself in winter in this city, but thinking I shouldn't be feeling that way because so many people have it worse than we do. Surviving the ever-gray and unending winter in Chicago with 3 children under the age of 4 in a 2-bedroom, 3rd floor apartment with street parking, no dishwasher, no job, no preschool, and no extended family is HARD. Maybe it's because I'm not as creative as I like to think I am, maybe it's because my heart is just not in the right place (two sizes too small?), maybe I have SAD or maybe it's just true. At any rate, I know we're blessed, but it's sometimes hard to remember.

6. The first piece of art I sold was a clock I made for a class project in high school. It was on display in the class window and a teacher I didn't know asked to buy it. Now "making art" seems past-tense to me, but I hope it won't be that way forever.

7. I have a sister who is an absolute wizard at the original Nintendo game Dr. Mario. I can save the princess in Super Mario Bros., but somehow that doesn't seem quite as impressive. We fondly remember the days of Mario, Duck Hunt, and sleepovers and I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to make a character even walk around in one of the contemporary game systems, let alone win something in it.

So, yes, it was fun to list these completely random things about myself but I've always been one of those people who stops the chain and I'm afraid I'm going to continue my tradition by not tagging anyone.

What I Can Do

But, despite my shortcomings, I am able to do a few commendable things. I can post occasionally (if not for the masses, then for my few dedicated fans who know me best), I can encourage my children in simple crafts (hopefully, more to come on this!), I can parallel park in really small spaces (oops, not so much anymore with a minivan), I can unclog the kitchen sink (where I do occasionally wash ALL of our dishes), I can upload (or is it download?) the pictures off our camera onto the computer, I can bake a delicious batch of cookies (cracking my eggs singlehandedly) and thoroughly enjoy it, I can dream about all the lovely things I'd like to make for my home or family or self, I can sing all the verses to American Pie, I can type a blog entry one-handed while bouncing a baby on my lap, and I think I once carried all three of my children downstairs at the same time (3-story building).
Today, we're snowed in and have already made pumpkin cookies (minus some of the dry ingredients that went flying all over the kitchen when my son turned on the mixer without being told), and have plans to make Christmas ornaments and take a bath. My, what a busy day.
Stay tuned for Christmas ornament pics.

What I Can't Do

When I envisioned my blog, I pictured lovely photos, crafts, food, some tutorials, creativity abounding. What I forgot, however, is that while I may, on occasion, exercise some creativity at home, the degree to which I can recreate it in an ongoing, attractive, interesting, and functional blog is limited by the extent of my knowledge (with some time and energy thrown into the mix).
I can't post on a daily or even regular basis, I can't take good photos, I can't manipulate the ones I do take in any way, I can't create shareable templates or do anything else graphic design-related, I can't take my children's art and embroider it onto quilts or bags, I can't teach them to sew gifts for each other, etc. and so on... like other (part alien, I'm inclined to believe) blogging moms out there. That list doesn't even touch on my failings in the domestic maintenance arena (you know, keeping a clean and organized home and such) or the tech-trendy arena (I don't know how to use our scanner, I don't know how to text from my husband's cell phone, I don't know what a Facebook is, I don't know what all Google can do for me).