WW*: Perspective

Wordless Wednesday is pretty self-explanatory, but today I'm breaking the rules. Because I can. Today is Wordy Wednesday. It's also picture-intensive. Be prepared! 

I find it very easy to get caught up in the mundane. The meals, the laundry, the diapers, the constant questions of small inquiring minds.

It's easy to get frustrated when lessons need to be taught over and over. To be honest, that's not just my kids I'm talking about, but myself too.

Then there's the danger in blogging and following so many fantastic blogs. It's easy to expect your projects and your life to be like those amazing before-and-after pictures and forget about the blood, sweat and tears that went into the project! Oh, and the TIME.

I'm sure when you look at my blog you see perfectly angelic little boys, a nice middle-class house in the country, fun ideas, artistic talent and a confident, contented blogger behind it all.

You're not wrong. We are all of those things--not bragging, but we are so blessed--but we are so much more too. I only show you a glimpse of our best.

You don't see the struggles, the messes, the frustration I admit to having when projects take months instead of days. Sometimes it's the budget, sometimes it's lack of motivation. It is so hard to find the time to do these things while mothering and housekeeping full time!

I admit to not always having the right attitude about other people I meet through blogging. I see perfect homes and happy children and beautiful women with everything put together.

I know you have struggles. I have them too. We all do. They are real and valid and important! I'm not trying to minimize that.

What I want to point out and what I want you to hear is that we have so much to be thankful for.

That's what I mean by "perspective".

Yes, my three small boys take tons of time and energy and more creativity than I can muster most days.

But I have three healthy boys! Not a health concern among them. And they're CUTE!!! And smart. And so, so precious.

We live in a nice house. It keeps us safe in storms (and Iowa has its share of bad ones), holds our stuff, gives us room to play and grow and sleep and eat. We have clothes, toys, computers, gadgets, things that make us comfortable and things that hold memories.

Every time I go grocery shopping I take a minute to remember tougher times. To be thankful for the money I have to spend--even though I need to be careful and stick to a budget, I can afford to buy food to fill our bellies with more to spare.

We are slowly fixing up and decorating this old house. It's much slower than I want and it's hard to be patient when a new furnace and a new baby take the place of a new kitchen. That baby is the one in these pictures, not another, just to be clear!

It's hard to not compare myself, my blog, my style, my budget, my home, my creativity with the others. There are always better and more and bigger and faster and more popular and more talented people out there.

That's what I love about blogging, but also what I don't like. Comparison makes me discontented.

I know blogging isn't a popularity contest, but sometimes it feels like it. When those ugly feelings start to take over, I have to step away. I need to get my perspective straight again.

Because really. There are people out there who are not safe at night. Who don't have enough to eat. Who can't feed their children enough to feel full, let alone a balanced diet. 

So when I want to complain, I've been biting my tongue. What do I have to complain about, really?

My life is no utopia. I'm not sitting here with a huge smile plastered to my face all the time. I certainly don't have it all figured out!

Our family of five continues to struggle and learn and grow. Our needs change and our wants fluctuate. There's never enough time in the day, my to-do list will never be done.

But these days of sweet cheeks, chubby fingers, soft hair and wet kisses are flying by. What's most important to me right now?

It's a matter of perspective.

Tuesday Tip: Must-Read for Parents

I've been wanting to focus more on parenting here on my blog, but I have a hard time articulating what I've learned. Or maybe it's that this parenting gig is constantly changing and evolving. 

Lately I've been inspired by Lisa at The Pennington Point. She's doing a series called "Intentionally Parenting Your Toddler". Pure gold, I tell you! 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I hope you have the time to prayerfully read her first three posts in the series. I can't wait for more!

Inspiration Files: A Basement Laundry

Do you have one of those fancy, pretty, clean, bright laundry rooms? Not me! About the only thing my laundry area has going for it is that it works. Oh, and it doesn't matter that it's not pretty, because no one sees it. Except I really would like it to be pretty, because then maybe I'd be a little more inclined to do laundry. Right?

Our laundry facility is in our basement, so when I saw this basement laundry in a Better Homes & Gardens magazine awhile back, I fell in love immediately. There is hope for basement laundries! Hope that doesn't also mean a million and six dollars for a space no one else will see!

Isn't is refreshingly clean and simple? I think the curtained walls really warm up the brick walls in a basement. I love the folding station and a few places to put supplies. For more ideas, go see the slideshow at bhg.com.

Are you inspired?

Barns of Benton County: Moonrise

I made an effort to take more pictures of barns this week--and I did! Problem is, I had these images of last week's full moon rising over the neighbors corn crib that I recently captured at sunrise... 

Couldn't resist! I love seeing a full moon! Do you?

Kids' Art Display

Kids can be prolific artists. I love being able to hang my sons' artwork somewhere visible and the fridge just doesn't cut it sometimes!

In my recent hall makeover you saw my developing gallery wall that includes this art display board. I love how it turned out, but the idea was not original. This pin is what really got me started on this project.

Source: Random Thoughts of a Supermom

I had the perfect board hanging around so I painted it blue. Why blue? Um, because this shade of blue is my new favorite color. It's from our master bedroom ceiling--which is reason #2--I had it around! Yay for free!
 

I thought maybe I'd just use my Cricut and black vinyl and be done, but I'd seen an interesting technique using contact paper instead of vinyl, painting over the letters and then peeling them off so your words are the color of the base coat. Had to try it.

For you A students taking notes, the contact paper was super easy to work with and cut just fine in my machine. I eyeballed the layout and when everything was good enough, I really rubbed those letters onto the board with a used-up gift card. Who needs fancy tools? 

I slapped on a couple coats of slate-black paint and started the task of peeling off the letters. That's when I ran into trouble. I don't have a great record of straight lines and paint, and this was no different. Some letters bled, others peeled off a tiny bit of paint. 

I gave up and the board sat around in various resting spots in our house... Seriously. I found these process pictures in my "February" folder. It's April now. 

Eventually I prevailed and with the help of a Sharpie to smooth the outline of the letters it was good enough. 

The next step (which I apparently didn't photograph) was to paint clothespins and glue them on the board with hot glue. In less than an afternoon, my project was done at last!

I used long screws drilled right through the board and into the wall. Professional, I am not. I hung the board low enough that my boys can hang their art whenever they want to. This is a collection of those awesome water color pages where the paint is already in little dots all over the picture--do you remember doing those? My husband apparently had this book when he was young. Aw. It's vintage! 

(Am I the only one bothered by things from the 80s being called vintage? Yikes!)
 

So there you have it! This project took, oh, a day, give or take three months. It was also free as I had everything on hand. The boys are loving that they can see their art on display!

Has Pinterest inspired you to do anything lately? Or is it much easier to just be overwhelmed by the creativity of others? Yeah, me too.