Two New Nephews & A Question Answered

well, two of my sisters-in-law have completed their rwandan adoptions.  we have a "new" five year old nephew who will be visiting from rwanda next week for the summer and a "new" two year old nephew who is safely back in l.a. and will be visiting within the next month.

we're all pretty excited, especially my boys.  my oldest twin was just asking again to see photos of his cousins.

i do have to say that despite my excitement, i admit it is kinda hard to see so many families going over and picking up their children, as well as my hubby's sisters.  of course, i'm very very happy and relieved for those children and for their new families.  it's a bit bittersweet.  that's all.

anyway, my nephews are beautiful and it'll be so fun so see them meet and interact with the rest of their new family members during our family reunion this summer.  yay for my in-laws and their new sons and brothers!!

the other topic i wanted to blog about is a question that i get on almost a daily basis which is how do i do it?  how do i manage three small online stores which include making stamped jewelry and sewing quilts, along with my numerous political posts on facebook (i strongly believe that god and politics go hand in hand -- there's no separation -- so i'm passionate about what is happening in our world and country right now), read books and my bible (this has, admittedly, been a challenge lately -- i need to make it more of a priority) and taking care of my three little guys, my husband and the house.

well, i want to answer that today for anyone who follows my blog and i would do that by first asking you what is it that you do so that you cannot do all of those things and more.  do you work fulll-time?  do you watch tv?  do you spend every waking minute with your children?  do you chauffeur children around from activity/sport to activity?  are you obssessed with keeping your house clean?  do you have a garden/yard that you must maintain?

if you answered yes to even one of those questions then i guess i can understand why you wonder about my time organization.  i don't do any of those things.  i don't work full-time (not for pay, anyway).  i don't watch that much tv, although, i do keep the news on in the background sometimes.  i don't believe in spending every waking minute with my children (that whole attachment parenting thing is a bit much for me and in christian homes, the family/household does not revolve around the children).  my kids are not yet old enough to really be involved in many activities or sports (although, that will be changing next year).   my yard is maintained by deer.  and much to my husband's dismay, i don't keep my house looking like a model home.  i have three boys under the age of five for goodness sakes!!!  what would be the point?

so with all that said, i guess i should explain a couple of things because i know there are moms reading this right now shaking their heads (yes, you are).  i spend a few hours a day with my children.  it might be broken up into ten and twenty minute blocks at times but it's a few hours and that's plenty for me and for them.  my house, that's a different story.  we don't spend that much time together.  it's not spotless but it's far from filfthy and we'll leave it at that.

i wish that i had a more spectacular answer for all of you who are curious but that's really it.  i just don't enjoy some the other things that you all might enjoy.  i don't have the same responsibilites yet.  and i guess i should also add that all of my quilts are baby quilts and take about a month to complete.  maybe a little bit more.  maybe a little bit less.  and i do most of my keeping up with current events on my phone (thank you, apple), just as some of you read your paper everyday.

so see?  it really can be done.  the next time you find yourself wondering how that mom does it, that overachieving mom who seems to have it all together and be able to gets all of the hobbies done that you wish you could do; maybe rather than asking how she does it, you should be asking "why can't i do that?".



*bev*