This video took me probably a year from when I thought about making it to actually finish it. Video production is quite an undertaking, and I’m not any good at it, but I’m still glad I did it.
Creative work is often a process: you have to make stuff that isn’t that great to eventually make stuff that is a lot better. I think it’s worth sharing the not great stuff, because even if it’s not polished, there are still things worth sharing that others can benefit from. And the feedback helps you become better.
It’s snowing outside, and I don’t want snow. I want warm weather, crocus, and pruning.
For what I thought was our last hoorah for winter, we went sledding up at Tibble Fork. I broke out the snowshoes and went on a little walk with Zack too.
We later went up to Battle Creek and weren’t quite prepared for all the icy snow. I did tell my children to wear good shoes with traction, but that doesn’t mean they actually listened well.
We are also working hard on the kitchen. This is what my husband has been doing with all his free time. We’ve got the cupboards in and are now working on countertops. It’s been pretty satisfying to do all the work ourselves, but a bit overwhelming too.
As a mother of five children, including a baby girl and four boys, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to juggle the needs of multiple kids. But I’ve found that there are several strategies that can help make the job a little easier.
First, I’ve learned to ask for help when I need it. Whether it’s from my partner, family, or friends, having a support network can make all the difference when things get tough.
Second, establishing a routine has been a lifesaver. Having a set schedule for me and my children helps us stay organized and manage the various demands of the day.
Third, taking care of my own physical and emotional health is critical. Whether it’s finding time to exercise, eating healthy, or taking a few minutes to meditate, prioritizing my own well-being helps me be a better mother to my children.
Finally, staying positive and focusing on the joys of motherhood is essential. It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day challenges of parenting, but remembering the good times and celebrating my children’s accomplishments keeps me motivated and energized.
In conclusion, being an overwhelmed mother with a baby girl and four boys is no easy task, but with the right strategies and mindset, it’s possible to manage the stress and find moments of joy in the chaos of motherhood.
That was AI-generated. AI is very weird. I don’t think it’s replacing humans yet, and if what you do can be replaced with AI, maybe it will push us all to be a little creative.
Pictures will be forthcoming. I’ve tried four methods to get the images from my camera to the computer and they all failed. So I’m giving up.
I was watching a video and a person similar in age to me mentioned that she thought she would be on her fourth kid by now. Not single with a career. And then she went on to reminisce how maybe there was someone with a fourth kid who felt like they wanted to be where she was. There I was, feeding my fifth child, and thinking about how I wished I had more time to work on my career.
I’ve been guilty of not appreciating my life. I feel like maybe the life I have didn’t match the life I would need to have to truly excel. I’ve wanted to have more success in my career, more financial stability, and more opportunities for adventure.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be successful. I think it’s easy to get caught up in a narrative that to be successful is to have more: more money, money followers, more influence, and more opportunity. But maybe success is more about having enough: enough money, enough love, and enough opportunity.
I looked at the decisions I’ve made in life and seriously looked at other paths I could have taken. None were perfect, and all had both good things and hard things. The path I did take has led me to a life with lots of love, opportunities for creative work, and the ability to grow into a better person. It has suited me, not that I was already suited for my life, but in a way that my life has pushed me in ways where I needed to grow.
I’m glad that I’m a busy mom with five children, a role that takes up almost the entirety of my time and energy. It’s far better to live and appreciate the life I have, than to pine for a life I think I want, but perhaps is a fantasy that will never be as glamorous as it seems.
Me and babyValentine’s Day BreakfastOld kitchen with new one in the backPiecing the kitchen together
So babies are fun. They are very cute, and loveable. And then sometimes they scream at you for twenty minutes for no good reason. In the middle of the night. During those times, I feel like my life is awful. But it’s good to remember that it doesn’t last very long, and eventually, they go back to sleep. Most things that are awful in life don’t last very long. And the good things are always there to make life worth it.
I have lots of kids, but Evie is the only one who I consistently take pictures of.
I was surprised when my child came home from a church activity that he didn’t hate skiing. He said he fell like 30 times. Trying new things often involves a lot of falling, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still fun and worth doing.
Religious Thoughts are below if you are interested. If you like the kid pictures and life updates more, I’ll try to remember to take more pictures by next week.
I was pondering the topic of fire from a spiritual perspective. The baptism of fire is joyous, but the wicked being burned by fire isn’t. God’s refining fire gets rid of anything evil. If I do not have anything righteous in my heart, that fire will consume me. But if I have righteousness in my heart, the fire is a cleansing act that brings forth my righteousness in more purity.
Also, we started to talk about a new curriculum that I had begun reading on my own. I really enjoyed it because it refocused on Jesus Christ. But during the lesson, we didn’t talk about Jesus at all! Instead, we talked about things like following inspiration and teaching doctrine, etc. I think it’s good to refocus: instead of following inspiration, how about following Jesus? And instead of teaching doctrine, why don’t we teach about Jesus? My religion, without Jesus, is no religion at all. Just a bunch of good advice that I could get somewhere else in a better form. Jesus is the core of religion, and I wish we would talk about Him more.
At church on Sunday, the lesson talked about how we can grow strong roots. The teacher had a picture of a tree with small roots and one with large roots.
Now, with a horticulture background, I started to think about what would cause a weak root system. The first thing I thought of is girdling roots. These occur when a tree starts out in a container. The roots are often forced to grow in a circle, without room to expand. If the tree is planted with these circling roots, instead of growing out, they continue to follow the original circular pattern. As the tree grows larger, the roots can actually girdle the tree and cause the tree to be unhealthy and even die.
I once saw a row of trees. All of them were planted in the same area with the same care, but several of them died over time in spite of being a good fit for the area. I suspected it might be a case of girdling roots. How do you prevent the problem? When you plant the tree, wash the roots off and prune back any growth in a circular pattern that could later girdle the tree. Although harder, you can also take care of the problem after planting by inspecting the roots next to the trunk of the tree.
There’s the horticulture lesson, here’s the life lesson.
I have girdling roots in my life. I have ways of thinking that worked when I was younger, but as I grow they become limiting and can suffocate me. If I want a strong root system, I need to inspect my roots and get rid of the ones that can girdle me. For me, these are things like relying on my own strength to do everything that needs to get done, instead of relying on God. It’s checking things off a to-do list instead of paying attention to what is really important in my life. It’s pride, and my favorite guilty pleasures, and all the times that I know better. Girdling roots aren’t foreign enemies: they are things on the inside that can still tear us down.
If I want a strong foundation, a strong root system, identifying how I can improve my thought patterns to rely more completely on God allows me to prune my root system and start growing roots that are healthy and larger.
If you want a bonus analogy, trees also grow poorly when planted in a lawn. The lawn competes with the tree, and the tree is stunted. Getting rid of the lawn around the roots of the tree allows the tree to grow taller. Distractions also crowd out spiritual growth.
We started to upgrade the house. We just finished a big addition to the house, but now we have to take the old part and upgrade it. The floor has holes, the cabinets also have holes, and everything looks about the same as it did thirty years ago. We started with the laundry room. I wish I had before pictures, but I don’t. Here’s after. And I’m a real-life person who does things to live in not look pretty in pictures. The laundry room is a bit cluttery with stuff from the pantry we tore down, and because of life. The kitchen was also not even remotely staged, but here are the before pictures for later.
And here’s a couple of the kids. Who are doing great, but also complain a lot. I would love to go a day without hearing annoying, complaining sounds. We went to the local Hutchings museum over the long weekend. Kids enjoyed it, and I suddenly realized that it was the basis of a recurring location in my literal dreams. I had been there as a kid, but mostly just remembered it in dreams. Zack’s been loving the local toddler sports, and also got sick and that was awful. He isn’t a happy sick kid. No one is, but some kids decided to just sleep a lot, and other kids cry at me all day.
Henry was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was very ready for this: he has the desire to be like Jesus and has a sweet spirit. It was a beautiful day with a simple service, and his dad baptized and confirmed him.
We all enjoyed a winter break with lots of snow and fun things to do. I tried to keep the kids busy because I like them better when they aren’t bored and fighting each other. We visited family, went sledding, hiked to a waterfall, swam and visited a museum. But some of the best moments were simply being home together and playing games.
Liz Braithwaite 