It's a balancing act.......

I'm working on finding a balance between all the hats I wear......motherhood, wife, friend and sister, frugalista, blogger, cook, maid, social media rockstar.....  ;)   I want to do them all well - I want to be a great mom and be there completely for my kids, have a clean home, have a great helpful blog (that ideally will also be able to help with the family's finances), have time to devote to friends and family, while personally working on my relationship with the Lord and taking care of myself physically, and having time for just relaxing and taking care of my sanity......but some days I just feel like everything is vying for my time and I'm being stretched in e.v.e.r.y. direction while not really doing anything well.

I find myself getting frustrated that I don't feel I have the time to keep the blog as up to date as I'd like......frustrated that the kids don't understand why I'm needing to take time to "work" and then frustrated at myself for taking that time away from them......I've been blessed with an amazing family - a wonderful husband and 5 beautiful children that need my care and attention and I treasure that, but don't always show it.
It's easy to get distracted, but I have to remember what the priorities are and not get busy with something only "good" while I should be doing something "great"! 

This season of my life is a busy, sometimes hectic, and "needy" one.   We bought our first house about a year and a half ago.  It was a bank owned home that we've been putting a lot of work into, and now that the weather is getting nice again, we'll be able to restart the siding project that must be completed in a couple months - with a deadline in order to refinance.  My husband's employment has suddenly changed - unexpectedly, but for the better, as he's now able to pursue his interest and gifts in marketing and social media.  He'll be home much more, so we'll be "jockeying" for computer time to work on projects.  ;)

We have a full, fun and crazy family with a 5th, 4th, and 2nd grader, a preschooler and our baby just turned 1.  They're all in different stages and require my attention in different capacities, but need me nonetheless.  As cliche as it sounds, they do grow up so very quickly.  I want to be present in this short time they've been entrusted to me and be responsible to teach and train these tiny treasures and not miss the opportunity.  I often think of a poem we had hanging on the wall growing up, "The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep."  I want to show the kids with my time and actions what's important - never wanting them to feel like blogging or housework or anything is more important than taking care of them.

I wanted to share something about all this so that hopefully you can understand where I'm at with this blog.  I want it to be a great resource for all of you and a way to share my excitement and passion for frugality, but I can't let it monopolize my life and take over all my other responsibilities either.  I don't have a team or even a few other people helping like some amazing bloggers do, it's just me.  Hopefully you're not frustrated when the newest deals aren't posted "on time", but I'm trying to figure out a healthy balance of home and "work".........please bear with me while I work on finding it.

Now that I've spilled all that out, do any of you have any advice or tips?  My fellow mamas, how do you juggle everything?  Any bloggers with tricks on how to balance it all?  Ladies that work outside the home, how do you make time for everything? I'd love to hear from you!