How Does She Do It?

We woke up to a winter wonderland today!

Ayden was the Prince Charming at one of his playgroup girlfriend's princess party today!

All of the girls got princess wands for their party favors and lucky Mr. Aden got his very own sword (she made it out of cardboard, felt and twine)!  He LOVES it so much. David also got to meet another of the play group dads which he enjoyed. There were 3 of them total there and they all got along really well. 5 dad's down and only one to go!  We all keep talking about getting our whole families together but we've yet to make it happen. Maybe when things warm up and we can have a cookout or something...  

Last night after I finished making Ayden's thumbprint monster thank you cards, I made another Pinterest inspired card for the birthday girl:

I posted photos of it and the monster cards on Instagram and follower asked, "How do you do it?" And went on to call me super mom. I had to put a stop to that crazy talk right away because I am JUST LIKE YOU and every other mom out there. I do not have everything together all of the time and to prove it, here is what our house looks like today because I took the time to make all of those cards last night: 

And that's just two rooms. I'm embarrassed to even show you our office because it's where all of our clutter went to die for Ayden's birthday party and I've even putting off even opening the door for fear that David might have to perform some sort of search and rescue for me. So to answer her question, I don't.  Not all of it all the time anyway...

It's a big game of give and take. After the boys go to bed, most nights I publish my blog post for the evening, wash dishes and tidy up the place. Every other night I throw in a load of diaper laundry. If I'm lucky I have a little extra time to wrap my head around the next day and relax with David before it's time for us to go to bed ourselves. When I start getting an itch to do something for myself, I let the dishes sit (or David will do them if he's not too tired after working all day and working on the house after that) and that's when I get crafty. Sewing is my favorite and I plan to teach myself to crochet soon. 

The favors for Ayden's monster party.
Reusable "snack monster" bags.
{Following this tutorial}

Those took MUCH longer than I thought they would.  Our house was pretty messy for a while thanks to these guys.  Haha.  It was SOO worth being able to share them with Ayden's friends, though!  And in the process, I learned new skills.  It was my first time with making anything with liners and my first time with zippers.  After making 14 of them, I was a pro at both by the end!

Making things from raw materials simply feeds my soul. Putting activities together for Ayden, making gifts, or putting together photos and video montages from events also satisfy my creative needs in the same way. It's what I enjoy and it recharges me, making me a better wife and mother after I take the time to do it. 

So long story short, I don't find time to be crafty. I make time because self care is important. I can't expect myself to serve my family if I don't first serve myself and part of that is tapping into my creative/crafty side on a semi-regular basis.

What do you do to recharge?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Bath Painting Fun"

Two years ago today: "Any Time Anywhere"

And three years ago today: "Got Milk"