warning:

sunshine & rainbows

Seriously. Sometimes I talk to people who know me only through the blog (or who aren't around me much in real life) and I realize that they have a very idyllic impression of my family and our activities. This, while extremely flattering, is not entirely accurate.

This blog represents the very highlights of our life here- I talk about and take photos of the beautiful and wonderful parts of our days, and completely avoid almost anything negative. I don't usually complain or rant about anything and I actually tend to just not post if I'm in a bad mood or going through a stressful time. All the posts that do appear are dedicated to the sweet and happy times that I want to share and remember, sort of like a scrapbook or photo album.

I have fallen myself into a strange sort of admiration/obsession for several different wonderful blogging mamas over the years I've been reading- especially the crafty ones. I have gotten a fairy tale idea in my mind of how these ladies must be happily crafting with their delightful children at their sides, everyone laughing and chatting together as they clean up the mess they have made, and then going off on a nature walk to observe local wildlife and collect items for the next day's craft project before returning home to cook dinner together out of homegrown vegetables and eggs from their own chickens. After all of that they tuck their smiling children into beds draped with handmade quilts and tell them amazing stories out of their own imaginations, kissing them each on the forehead on the way out of their rooms.

It's hard to remember that even though a mom can take lovely pictures and craft a wonderful scene for you out of words, her life is still probably very hectic and messy. She might even serve frozen fish sticks (the cheap kind) on a regular basis and make her kids wait until another day to do the craft they have been begging to do for weeks while she desperately tries to dig her way out from under the laundry pile and get the baby to take a nap. She might be crabby and say things to her kids that she would never want repeated (especially on her blog!) and her counters might never get cleared off, let alone wiped down. And let's not even discuss how her floors might look.

But we all want to forget that part of life and focus on the pretty parts, don't we? So here we are! Let's get on with it (and don't forget to bring the camera!)

P.S. Thanks to Hazel for painting me the perfect picture for this post!

5 comments:

  1. For a long time that was how I saw you (minus the chicken eggs). Even when we visit your kids are so great it's hard to imagine to many bad times. Anyhow, I still look up to you as one of my ideal moms. (The birth of Lyle is a huge inspiration).
    That's all.
    Oh, "Me Talk Pretty One Day"! I LOVE Sedaris. One of my favorite authors that has me laughing and reading out loud the entire book, each book.

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  2. Jennifer! I love the new look of your blog!!
    btw: i did not make the horse frame, but I'm sure it is simple to make.
    hope to see you guys real soon!

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  3. LOL Ansley I meant the one with Oscar's name spelled out in photos of letter shapes :)

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  4. jennifer, you are such a doll. you just came to my world the other day and acted like it was all cool, even though it was close enough for to be considered civilized, but a long way from clean. but geez, did we have fun or what? even though our kids watched i carly non-stop and all kinds of other junk that most of us hate to admit, and the they convinced me to buy lots of sugared cereal and ice cream, but we got to hang in somewhat realative peace, right? lol

    i miss you guys already and just love your family bunches. i'm glad we've stayed in contact all these years and chris really enjoyed jason's company;)
    I still want to be jennifer when I grow up (even though i've got a "few" years on you).

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  5. typos everywhere, time for bed ;)

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