There's a reason I've been MIA on this blog. Well, a lot of reasons actually. I'd like to use the excuse that I'm a mom to three young kids, but I keep finding that I use that excuse way too often. And it's affecting the way I do things. Or rather, don't do some things.

You see, (and you probably understand), that three young kids can be a great excuse to get out of stuff. A totally legitimate excuse. They take plenty of time each day to care for, their moods can make for a peaceful day, or a really rough day, they require constant monitoring and supervision so they don't injure themselves or destroy the house, they eat nearly every minute of the day (which means stopping to prepare food, serve food, clean up food...you get the picture), and there is almost always one of them that is crying for one reason or another. 

Another excuse that I use quite often is the fact that I'm also a work at home mom. Our soap business has been steadily growing for 6 years now, and in the last 6 months it has more than doubled in size. And in those 6 months I gave birth to a newborn who is now 4 months old. It was a huge juggling act to take the time a newborn required while also providing our customers with soap to meet their needs (along with everything else a business takes to survive- customer service, restocking ingredients, manufacturing our products, paying business taxes, marketing, website upkeep, shipping orders, etc.). 

And, since I'm home doing the business thing while making sure our precious boys stay alive, I also have the primary care of the house work. Now, Nick is great to pitch in and help, or simply take over tasks to make my life easier. For instance, a week or two ago he came home from work when I was in the middle of sweeping up a mess while supper was cooking on the stove, and I'd been wearing Baby E. in a sling to keep him calm. Baby E. was so calm that he fell asleep, and I stopped sweeping long enough to take him out of the sling and lay him down on his bed. When I came out of the bedroom, Nick had grabbed the broom and he'd finished sweeping the floor until it was totally clean. Yeah, he's awesome that way, and it REALLY helped me.

But, everyone has housework to do, no matter your situation. There's always the important tasks like dishes and laundry, and everything else just gets done according to the degree of how often it's needed, or by how clean (or not) you want your dwelling place to be. 

A wise teenager once told me that if something is important enough to me, I'll find time to do it. At the time she was refering to my problem of keeping up with washing my dishes. I used to be able to do them everyday, and then once we had two kids I only found time to do the dishes every 2-3 days. I was lamenting the fact that I wanted to do better at keeping up with them because I was ashamed to let the dishes sit that long. To me, a clean kitchen is one where the dishes are done, and since the kitchen is the first room you see when you walk in our front door, it really bothered me. After her comment, I realized that I could make time each day to do my dishes, and in turn, that made me happy to see my clean kitchen. And guess what? I haven't had a problem keeping up with my dishes ever since.

I guess I'm telling you all this because my plate has been full, and still is full, and will continue to be full. I'm stuffed. Or rather, I'm satisfied. I'm happy with where our life is at, despite how full our days are. But, I don't want to lose my touch with you, my readers. I love blogging. Even if nobody read my posts, I'd still want to blog just to let out all my crazy thoughts. I love hearing when someone tells me they've read a post, or when they offer to help out when I post about life getting a little out of control. Friends are great like that.

The truth is, I find that I'll always have things to do, just like everyone else. But I need to take time to also do the things I enjoy. And putting my thoughts on this blog is one of those things. It is important to me, and it makes me happy. It's one of the things that keep me sane. So, I'm resolving to somehow make more time for it. 

And I'm going to use my housework, home business, and kids as an excuse when I really need to, and not just as a way to let things slide that need to be taken care of.

Be patient with me. I have no idea how often I'll be putting my thoughts out there for you to see. But it will happen! I know at least that. 

Now I just need to sort my thoughts to find out what I want to talk about first. Kids? Soap related stuff? Motherhood? Married life? A random mix of it all? Oooh, the possibilities!

Got any suggestions for me of what you like to read about us? Help give me a nudge in the right direction. What are the excuses you use?