Where is the balance?  Where is the line between enjoyable and stressful?  Why do I so often sabotage my days by trying to do too much and spread myself so thin?

Here is my example for the day.  A birthday party, and a basketball game.  Fun things!!  Cake pops.  Pinterest project that boosts my mom-confidence.  I have never attempted cake pops before.  Cake balls, yes.  Cake pops, no.  I figured they'd be simple though.  Right?  Not for me.  I got going on these babies first thing this morning and didn't think I'd have any problem whatsoever being done in time for the game at noon.  Wrong I was.  Those things were a pain!  For me anyway.  How do you keep the darn chocolate from dripping down the stick before it hardens??  Frustratingly wiping stick after stick and trying to neatly wipe away the chocolate icicles hanging from the underside of my cake pops, I would not give up.  I was determined to create perfectly adorable edible basketballs...

Well, at 11 a.m., I had to call it quits.  I scrambled to get the girls and I ready and head to Stockton's game, which we were late to.  Now here I was, having missed the first quarter with unfinished plain orange balls at home.  Grrr!  What fun are plain orange cake balls?!  And honestly, am I the only parent to be late to their kid's big game?!  Double fail!  And lots of mom guilt.  I realized this is a feeling I get far too often, and I realized that most of the time, it is 100% my own fault.

I have this tendency to over-do and over-plan.  I expect things to take less time than they do, and I try to fit in things that really, truly are not necessary.  This morning, that thing was cake pops.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not against Pinterest and I'm not against cute.  I'm just pointing out that on this day, a store-bought cake would have saved me stress and two failures.  And guess what?  It would have been just fine.  I may not earn crafty mom points, but I would have enjoyed my morning.

So this is me starting a goal to simplify.  Stop feeling guilty for taking time to relax and enjoy simple things.  Stop staying busy, for the sake of staying busy.  My time would be better spent playing ball or barbies or blocks :)

• 1/25/11:  Zack and I celebrated anniversary #3  :)
• 2/21/11:  Stockton turned 6  :)
• 7/1/11:  Kristin turned 26  :)
• 7/14/11:  Stockton got staples in his head-swimming accident :(
• 8/22/11:  Stockton starts 1st grade  :)
• 9/8/11:  Jaycie turned 1  :)
• 9/11/11:  Kailee turned 3  :)
• 9/14/11:  Kailee started preschool  :)
• 10/4/11:  Zack turned 27  :)
• 11/28/11:  Kailee got staples in her head-falling accident :(
• 12/31/11:  reflected on an amazing year  :) :) :)

At the beginning of June, I got the kids pictures taken by a friend... Tiffany Moody! She did a great job and I am SO happy with them. I think they both look adorable and I couldn't resist showing them off! Thanks Tiffany!