Collin filmed tutorials for Something Splendid yesterday so the camera was all set up on a tripod. I had to snap a quick photo of Quincey, my little helper. Yes, I put her on my desk. This kept her busy looking through jars, taking everything out and putting it back, this gave me enough time to at least get started on some pages. She also was far enough from her baby sis to give her too-tight-squeezes that Lola is not a fan of... yet. Quincey & Lola's ages are tricky to find time to craft but I'm figuring it out. If I can keep Quincey in close quarters & distracted while Lola is napping & Avery is at preschool then that works. Otherwise, the only option is late at night and I'm tired by then. My only other escape is eating a cookie in my closet or counting reallllllllly slow while we play hide and seek. ;) What's your secret to finding time?
Awesome deal right now at 2 peas if you are in a scrapping mood too.
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41 comments:
im in the while-baby-is-napping and big sister-is-at-school camp as well. it seems to be the only way - although my 2 are as far apart as your oldest and youngest so that works in my favor too. and my craft space is with the play area so i can sometimes get crafting done when the oldest is busy playing
i'm pretty much in the same boat as you. i have a 3 year old who no longer naps and isn't in preschool yet, and an 8 month old, and one of the way. nighttime is not an option because that bun in the oven wears me out by then. so i've started rotating toys. i pack them away for awhile and when i bring them back out the kids are so excited that i can sneak a few minutes at my desk. good luck finishing those pages! and make sure to share when you do!
cuuuute!
xoxo
R
My neighbor has kids the same age as all 3 of yours, she just had her baby a month ago, I babysit for her a lot, but the best way to get time is to send the 2 older ones outside to play. We have huge yards though away from anything, the only thing we have to watch for are the moose and they're here a lot. Had 8 moose in the yard yesterday morning.
I'm in a similar boat, having one and three year old daughters. I find the time when my eldest is at morning pre school and my wee one has her morning nap. That allows me about an hour. I quite like scrapping once they are in bed, but like you I am tired by then. I let my three year old, Poppy, to sort through my buttons and put them into colour coded jars - she loves that and it keeps her occupied for ages and slightly educational too! Love your blog :)
Such a cute post!
I'm very lucky that my Caitie (age 6) and Payton (age 4) LOVE playing together! They ADORE each other! I've never seen a more loving sister bond than with these two...and I'm the middle child with two sisters! I get to scrapbook whenever I feel the creative juices flowing. Well...Except weekdays 1-4 pm while Caitie is at Half-Day Kindergarten, Payton plays with me...no naps (unlucky with naps with both girls) and Payton will not be going to preschool.
It must be tough with three little ones around...I can't imagine. I really admire you...you are doing a great job balancing everything you have to do.
What a cute picture! I bet Quincey loves this time where she can spend "helping" you! Time is so sacred with little ones isn't it! We just resodded our backyard and that has been my savior lately! I feel like a new woman! I send the bigger ones (3 and 2 years) outside while the baby (8 months) jumps in her jumpy and I can get a small amount of me time, to craft or cook. (As long as one eye is on the window looking outside! ;-)
Most of the time I can only craft at night (but I'm a night owl), or when the youngest (almost 2) is napping. The oldest is almost 5 so he can entertain himself while I am crafting. I can't imagine having another one in the mix!
Love the picture of Quincey she is so adorable. I don't know how you do it. I feel like I can never find the time to scrapbook with my work and I don't even have kids.
Don't have the same time and space for scrapbooking like I use to with a very (constantly) active 13 month old grandson that I watch daily. That is why I love blogging. I can snap pictures all day, edit and post. The posting will help me remember what was actually going on with the photos. I have found time to craft a card or several as a gift set this week. I did matching envelopes and gift tag too, I feel a true sense of accomplishment. Motivation always comes when you are doing for others, you find the time and energy. We should put ourselves in this category.
You are a marvel. I know it's your job, but you seriously are doing it all so well. Job, Wife, Mommy, Creative Inspiration. Big Smiles and Hugs to you and your adorable family.
Lizzy,
With one little munchkin I can hardly find time between a full-time and job and evenings with her and the hubs....but every once in awhile I get to sneak in my craft room and it's like the floodgates open, and I have so many things I want to do that it's analysis paralysis! So glad your finding sometime to scrap!
P.S. I'd say eating the cookie in the closet is much more important than scrapbooking!! ;)
www.inspiredbygiving.blogspot.com
Oh, she is just too cute! I love your craft area. If only I had one other than the coffee table... ;)
I'm one of three children born quite close in age and my poor mum barely had a second to herself. Her favourite trick to keeping me entertained was to tip a huge jar of buttons on the floor and ask me to sort them into types (colours, sizes). It kept me quite for long enough for her to sit and have a coffee and a sew.
Hello Dearest Lizzy!
Finding time? I'm lucky, my youngest sisters are fanatics about crafting. I pop in some ADVENTURES IN ODYSSEY (a childrens radio drama, its fantastic and keeps them relatively quiet. My rule of thumb. Less talking,less bickering). And then I enjoy my quiet time with crafting too.
-Susanna R.
oh she's so cute! I just want to kiss those cheeks!
btw, we used to listen to adventures in odyssey when we were kids. I think my mom had some tapes from Focus on the Family. Collin might remember...
I have two boys about Quincey & Lola's age (Luca 2.5 & Micah 3 mo) My secret to finding ME time is when my husband gets home I tell him I have to really go to the bathroom. I hand over the kids to him and sometimes take as much at 15 whole minutes...truly I am just catching up on email or playing a game....all us moms know that with two young kids we have taught ourselves to get in and out of the bathroom in under 20 second :)
my two girls are 19 months apart and when they were little like that, my only option was to have Daddy fall asleep in the bed with them (we did the family bed thing) and then I could scrap at 7:30 or so until as late as I could stay up! As they got older, like age: 3 until now (ages 11 and almost 10) I have them scrap or craft with me! they love that time together!
tara
Did you repaint your walls?!? The white looks nice and crisp, but I also LOVED your blue walls.:)
www.focusonthefamily.com/popups/meadia_player
has all the latest Adventures and Odyssey show for your listening pleasure (best part, no purchase necessary)
-Susanna R.
Oh Lordy, I can totally relate! I work full time (8am-6pm m-th) so late night & weekends @ naptimes is my only option, really. I have a 6 and 2 and a half yr old. When they're asleep I end up staying up WAY too late to finish what I want to finish, but when my little one is napping, I just get my 6 yr old out playdough, my stamps & (his) markers and let him craft with me. My daughter is too dangerous (she tried to eat my crafty stuff!!! - my son NEVER did that!!) Ya just gotta do what works for you. Nice that you got some stuff done. Makes ya happy - and God know kids need happy mamas.
Funny thing (about the counting reallllly slow...) I've taken to washing dishes (usually my hubby's area of expertise) to sneak a mini mental break. It's sad what I've resorted to... I know this... :D Have a great day!
I seriously use to scrapbook and I still buy the stuff. Hey once a sticker collector always a sticker collector. Rember Lisa Frank? Anyway this is darling! Ha I've been known to eat a cookie or two in the closet!
One day I will get back into the swing of things, when I get organized.
I thought I had been following you but now I am your new again follower.
Love it and love your rosettes on your shirt, did you make them?
Megan
Put yourself in a timeout! That is what I use to tell my kids "mommy is in a timeout" and then I would hide in the laundry room for a bit, lol. Enjoy these days they go by fast.
I have used the same strategies as you as well as having 1 of babies naps at the same time as my toddlers. I have to use little windows of time to accomplish small pieces of projects as I never have a large block of kid free time to work. Meal time while kids are in hi chairs is a time when I can accomplish something at the kitchen counter.... Lots of pre planning. Sometimes the best thing to do is to go eat a cookie in the closet! Unlike you, though, I do not dead lines to meet other than ones I set for myself. You are a patient mama :)!
I am currently a mother of a one year old dachshund. My secret is giving her a big, rawhide bone and putting her bed in the craft room!
I always scrap when my older two are in school and the little one is napping, he's 3 1/2 and still takes a good two hour nap, so that is my time and I do what I want, even if there's laundry or dishes, I don't touch them just scrap, nap or watch a taped episode of Idol or Desperate Housewives...love your new scrap space, looks cozy!!
I miss her crazy curly hair!!! I need to come visit you soon :)
I too have 3 kiddos and I'm still trying to figure it out!
Hahaha. You crack me up!! I do the same thing - I count really slow while playing hide and seek, but while I am seeking I am grabbing things and putting them away, or doing other small and quiet things while talking about where I'm looking!
Craft time? Hmmmm. After a 2.5 week holiday to visit my kids 9 cousins and other family, my 4 year old seems to have lost the ability to do anything by himself!! So even while my almost 2 year old is napping, there is still no craft time!! There's not even cleaning time! There's always night time... but then there's the hubby time, the blog time, the facebook time, the scripture study time... hmmm. I think I really need to prioritise a little more!! It's ok though, one day I'm sure I'll have way too much craft time on my hands!! I'll enjoy these precious boys while I've got them so close :)
can i ask you how do you paint your easter eggs ? with wiche kind of paintings ? is it posible to eat them after ?
here in France, it is not usual to paint egss this way and i'd love to make that but I found only one kind of eatable color.
thanks for your help
fred
lovely picture. Just noticed the stand you have for displaying/working on a scrapbook page-where did you get that from-looks like a super way of working out a page.
Thanks
Becky
I can totally relate! I have two very young girls. Eva is 17 months and is all over the place NONSTOP and Ella is 3yrs 9 months and wants to do everything Mommy does ;-). I try to involve her in my crafting but the attention spam only lasts so long :-/. Anyway, as they grow I'm finding new ways to get to my crafting time. For right now it's at night after they're in bed. I'm not really a night person but I brew a cup of coffee around 7pm and I'm good to go. Not the best thing for me I know but It's my effort to get to what I want to do! Make something and feel oh so happy I did it! I want to share with you one way I escape. While the girls are playing in the tub I have my coffee and watch some YouTube videos or read blogs from my phone and then by the time they're in bed I'm soooo inspired and ready to scrap or sew or do anything that makes me happy :).
Well currently I am letting my son, who is a year and a half,shred paper in the living room. I'll have a huge mess later, but the few minutes of quiet is so worth it. He's getting molars and is miserable :(
Oh and I don't hide to eat cookies, but I take really long showers when daddy is around to be with him LOL
I'm a night owl... not so much since I have been working full time again BUT.... I have two boys.... my quiet time? When the boys "play shoot" me and I am "dead"....ahhhhh...silence....
My neighbor once came over and asked if I was alright... I told him it was the only time the boys actually left me alone... playing dead allows a few seconds to breathe... :)
Finding time? Well, I have five kiddos--three are in school all day. One has preschool 1/2 a day 3x a week. If I can then get my 2yo to nap, I have about an hour to do something before my middle schooler comes home. Nights have been too hard lately because the kids aren't in bed until late and up early so need to sleep. Bits and pieces of time here and there is how I accomplish things. But, you know, I'm ok with that because everything has it's time and season. I figure in a few years they'll all be in school all day and I'll feel so lonely at home :)
I have a scrapbooking night arranged for Wednesday nights. We take turns having it at each person's house the other 2 ladies that I do it with have kids as well so for the most part the kids entertain each other.I try to leave the kids at home when I can though. That is the only time I get for crafting!
You're in the thick of it. Lower your expectations, that helps. Ha!
I get up at 6 in the morning, exercise for an hour, then find some time to craft before the kids get up.... works great for me!
Adorable picture, but I do have a question: How do you manage to keep your little ones out of the paint and supplies that are behind you in this pic on the bookshelf? My little ones seem to think my cute supplies are theirs!
Love the blog! Keep up the great ideas, cute pics, and love seeing the children grow.
Donna
What a cute photo! Love it:)
I loved sorting my grandma's button jar, marble jar or rolling balls of yarn for her while she was sewing, knitting, crocheting, needlework,etc. She was always working on something, and I loved being a part of it, thinking I was helping her picking out the red buttons, etc. I never could figure out why her buttons were always mixed up, lol! Who knew?
nice pics ithin u are happy with your life god will happy u in feuture
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