The Balancing Act - How Do YOU Do It????

(Yes, they are in our dog's kennel.....what fun!)

This is a question I am constantly asking myself. In my efforts to be a great wife, mom, friend, daughter, sister, budding entrepreneur, house keeper, cook, vet, book keeper, church goer, activities coordinator, gardener, neighbor, need I go on???? I wonder..............,

How do other people do it? How do you do it? Or, what do you let go? (such as pet hair floating throughout the house, grimy windows, etc)

Since starting this blog, my goal was to convey the trials and tribulations of combining all of the above with trying to get my business off the ground, or at the very least, keeping it up in order to give myself a creative outlet.

What I struggle with, is how to fit in what I need, with what my family needs (quality time with me, . Now, don't get me wrong, I know full and well there will come a time in my life when I will greatly miss being needed so much. I try not to think about the days when my little ones are all grown up (or think they are) and don't need their mommy quite so much.

I have found little tricks here and there to fit in what needs to get done, as I'm sure all mothers have.
One example is enlisting the "help" of my little munchkins when it comes time to clean. My boy loves to push around his little vacuum cleaner while I run mine. (That a boy! He won't be relying on a woman to clean his house when he's all grown up! At least I hope not.)

I also keep the pack-n-play close by. Even though my boy is 21 mo. old, he can't climb out of it yet. So, when I need a shower - I just plop him in there for 5 minutes (with different toys and Sesame Street). He cries 50% of the time, but hey, I smell better! And that's makes the whole family happier!

I also have found ways to actually sew while my kids are under my feet - I just let them get into it all - I have bins and boxes and more bins and boxes full of fabric scraps, yarn, ribbon, buttons, etc. that they just dump out and have a hey day with. It allows me to get some sewing in, even though the clean up at the end of the day can be a nightmare, but hey, it works for the moment.

I also participate in a neighborhood Supper Club. Four of us get together once a month and swap dinners. We each go home with 4 dinners, freezer ready. That way, one night a week, I don't have to think about dinner. Just grab it from the freezer, defrost, bake and serve.

I know my house is not all that clean and spiffy. My drawers and closets do not stay organized. Some (well, most) days I have to let one or two rooms (or ends of the house) just "go" in order to tackle the other areas.

The thing is, I like to be clean and organized. But I just don't know how to do it right now with kids, dog, etc, etc, etc.

So,....let's all share.

What are your tricks of the trade????

How do you keep your kids from smearing lotion all over the windows, from dumping out the dog's water, from scattering little bitty teensy weensy pieces of paper all over the floor? Clearing the bookshelf of books in one clear swoop? Dropping various objects into the toilet?

Get my picture?

How do you fit it all in????

For some inspiration on what you would do with 5 hours to yourself read my friend Forever Flamingo . Thanks Lacie for allowing me to dream a little dream!

Blog Giveaways

Thought y'all (or "you guys" in the midwest) - might like taking a look at this list of blogs that are giving away stuff. You have to do it fast though - the deadline is Friday the 25th.
It's fun - a HUGE list! Seriously - 879 when I checked last.
Let me know if you win anything!

Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Giveaway Carnival

Good Luck!

Some Sad News.....but there's always Marguerita's!

Some Sad News....

I don't have a picture at the moment, it's just too sad.

We had a hail storm the other night, and my dear garden took a turn for the worse. At least 4 tomato plants were pummelled, as well as my squash, and cilantro. The radishes may make a recovery as well as the lettuce. They were close enough to the ground that they didn't get the brunt of it. My kids and I along with our doggie had a little camp out in the bathroom for awhile and heard on the news that a tornado had touched down 6 miles north of us. So we're quite lucky that only my garden was damaged.

On a brighter note,....let me introduce my newest apron. The Senorita Cafe Apron............

I'm envisioning serving marquerita's to my guests on the patio while wearing this one! Yes, it's available on my Etsy shop if anyone is interested.

Speaking of marqueritas, here is a picture of my sister and I after having a lovely marquerita during her visit to Texas! Yum...so cold, so icy, so sour, so.....YUM! Especially with good company and good chips and hot sauce.

Gardening added to the Mix (along with a little horse manure!)

While my family was visiting, my mom, daughter and I planted a garden. My mom has had a quite large garden for many years and I was thrilled to have her input. I'm a garden virgin. Tried once or twice to grow tomatoes in a pot, and didn't have very good results. So, I'm very excited at this prospect! I was ready to just dig a hole, put the seeds or transplant in...and cross my fingers. Mom gave me some better advice, and things are actually growing!

We have little tiny lettuces, little tiny radishes, little tiny pumpkins and little tiny cucumbers popping their heads up. During this whole process, my husband was giving back seat advice on where to plant what, how much space, etc, etc, etc.....He was very upset that one of his requests - beans - didn't get a seat in the garden. So, behind our backs, he "planted" his beans...scattered somewhere in the garden...well...I think they are actually coming up too. What a toot!

OK, this next picture is a little scary.......

Mom, I know you're gonna kill me for putting this picture on here! Sorry, but I had to document the afternoon! Thanks for helping!

I promise to start posting about my sewing concoctions again soon. I am very busy working on something, but don't have the liberty of telling you all about it yet. But I assure you, sewing is being done, and my house is a disaster zone to prove it. "Cleaning" and "picking up" is on an as needed basis right now! As soon as I can, I'll be showing you what I've been up to!

Family Fun, Goodies from Home and a new "Friend"

Hi Ya'll!

The reason I haven't been posting much this past week is because my house was invaded by my family from Indiana for several days! My sister, her husband, 2 little nephews and my mom. We had so much fun watching all the little ones playing together. 4 little cousins in all. Even the littlest - 9 mo. old had fun. He grew just watching the older ones and trying to be a big boy himself. I love you guys - thanks for driving ALLLLL the way from Indiana to Texas!

As I think I've mentioned before, my mom and dad have an antique shop in Indiana. So, frequently when they visit she shows up with a few goodies for me. This time was no different; although, the goodies weren't from the shop this time. They were treasures from the family.

You'll notice the picnic basket, which I adore, this came from either my grandmother or aunt - we're not sure. The books were all mine when I was little, as was the Cinderella album. I'm planning to hang that on my daughter's bedroom wall somehow. She wanted a "Cinderella" room a few years ago. I really, really did not want a "Disney Room" - you know, decorated with all the Disney Princess paraphanalia that you see everywhere. Not that I'm necessarily against it, I just didn't want an entire room devoted to that. I thought that a "vintage" Cinderella room would fit the bill though. So, now she has a very pretty blue room - sort of Shabby Chic and finally it'll have an actual Cinderella in it too!

The little cowgirl outfit was mine as a little girl. I'm loving the turquoise blue tin - it's full of vintage buttons!

The Christmas decorations belonged to my parents. Most of them came from Aunt Bernice's store in New Mexico, years ago.

Which leads me to introduce the newest member of my sewing world -

"Miss B" - named after Aunt Bernice and my grandmother- who was also Bernice. I'm not sure if I'll keep calling her Miss B, or maybe just B, or maybe Bernice. We'll see. I have to live with her for awhile!

My little boy has a raging fever - I think it's an ear infection. So, gotta run - we're headed to the doctor's office!

EXTRA EXTRA...70's Sheet Turned Adorable Skirt

I took that borderline gaudy 70's sheet that I posted about earlier and turned it into the cutest wrap skirt. Added a vintage doilie to the front. Turned out great. I used my serger too - and boy was that a breeze! So far, I've got side seams down on that thing! Also used my Blind Hem foot for the hem. Super easy too. I used the intructions found in Sew What Skirts.

I'm planning to add several of these to my my Etsy shop in the future. I'm thinking a little bit shorter, but this pattern is so simple that it would fit many sizes. I may even end up making one for myself!