Minimalism: how much stuff?

I just read a post about minimalism....how little or how much. The phrase was made to the effect of "the things that are needed in each room to live"

It got me to thinking.....what do we require to live? The kids and I have read the Little House series, and whoa. They had very little. And they survived. They thrived. They didn't keel over because they didn't have an xbox, a big screen tv, 40 outfits and a microwave.

I'm drowning in stuff. My kids are pack rats.

Confession? Sotto voce......

They come by it honestly. Mama and Daddy are pack rats too. Hoarders if we aren't careful. Not out of compulsion, just out of laziness and future speculation. We might NEED those spurs one day, right?

So, I'm on a quest. How much is too much? How much is too little? Where do you draw the line and say the hobbies(like spinning, knitting,reading, crocheting , quilting, and so on) are too much?

I'm curious. What do you need to live?

The journey of mothers

All mothers have a unique journey. Some seem to have it all together. Some are an obvious wreck. Some have it a little easier, some have it a lot harder. Where are you in your journey?

I am in a lonely place. I feel very lost as a parent, as I watch my oldest struggle with mental illness, and try to support her without enabling her, all the while protecting her son and her siblings without causing her to go into a tailspin. Then there are all the people who hear her diagnosis and roll their eyes in disbelief. My own inability to truly understand all that she deals with, can't deal with, won't deal with.

Where are you in your journey as a mother? Do you have a support group, or do you feel lost in the adventure?

A simple Mercer Meyer book....
Sometimes they forget. Forget they are too big to play gently. Or that the little princess is too little to dance a tango. Or that Mom's pet peeve is dirty laundry that no one picks up.
But sometimes Mom forgets that they simply......forget.

Custom knits

I've decided to start knitting custom knits. MAINLY woolies(soakers and longies to cover cloth diapers), but I'll take on just about anything.
So there's an etsy store in the making and a facebook page. Look for fibersnob on facebook and fibersnobbed on etsy!

There's a saying that people toss out casually when they learn you are having troubles. It's "God only gives you as much as you can handle." I recently read an article that refuted that. And even that article doesn't begin to touch on how angry I feel when people tell me that.

I'm at a point of certain I cannot cntinue on the path I am on. I'm weary. I'm tired of people telling me how much they admire me, think I'm Supermom. I'm not someone to be admired. I'm not Supermom. I'm a living, breathing, walking talking failure at all I've taken on. Because I have chosen poorly in my past. I can choose better in my future, but that doesn't fix the circumstances I live with now.

I will be honest. I'm terrifically frightened of what lies in my immediate future. I am very up in the air with a lot in my life, and I hate that feeling. I feeling a LOT like Raymond from the movie "Rainman", when he realized he was going to miss Judge Wapner. I'm more than a bit frantic right now.

So please, don't tell me that God never gives us more than we can handle, because right now, I'm staring at a tough old elephant for dinner, with no fork, knife, salt or butter.

Too too long

It's been entirely too long again since I blogged! I've gotten slack since moving back down south.
The barn is still in proress. Darling has bounced from job to job a few times since being laid off from the oil rigs, so finances have been a wee tight. We still have all the goats however! In fact, the goats have been saving the day! I started a small business that seems to have exploded...I am That Crazy Goat Lady(like us on facebook! My husband will tell you) and I have a ton of flavors. My darling love shared some with people who work at Cabela's in Sidney, Nebraska and they claimed my fudge to be better than Cabela's. *blush*

And we had a big surprise take us by stoem on Mother's Day, and then a few weeks later in person.
I am now a grandma. o.O

My oldest child chose Mother's Day to break the news of her impending pregnancy and a few weeks later Frodo arrived approximately 6 to 8 weeks early, after Teen's water broke in the tornadoes that hit Tiny Town, Wyoming on June 8  of this year. He is doing marvelously however, and he and his Mama now are back home with us full time so Grandmoogle can babysit while Mama finishes school. It's not easy for most people to understand when I say how proud I am of her, but if you knew our long story, you would. That little man has changed her life in so many marvelous ways! He and Uncle Rocketman are the best of friends and will one day terrorize the neighborhood!

I'm just busy trying to finish Christmas fudge for family and friends to mail out next week, so I don't get caught in the holiday rush like I always do.

Hoping to get back here sometime this week again!

Life marches on

So let's see....since my last post over a year ago...we've brought home the Teenager. We've set Dad off to work in the oil fields. We've welcome a new little man. We've finalizedour foreclosure after 2 years of battling to keep the house. We've moved. We've brought Dad home from the oil fields.

So now, we're renovating what I hope will be the last place we move to. It's a single wide mobile home, 1993, that has been owned by older families with untrained pets. It needs...help.

Step one: Rip out carpet. Check.

Step two: replace hall floor. Check.

Don Juan helps sand the old glue off the supports

Dad screws the particle board down

Meanwhile...

Rocket Man learns to be independent and read a book. And the doctors worry about literacy in our family O_o

and Tink celebrates her 10th birthday.

New adventures all around!