balance

(Zions National Park 2011)

BALANCE is a word that has been going through my mind a lot the last year.
I am learning a lot about what it is and what it means to me.

It is something I am constantly trying to achieve and something I am afraid I will never achieve.

Only because it is always changing.  Always needing work.  Always needing my focus and attention.

The balance between being a loving mom and a disciplinarian (I am not sure that is the right word)
The balance between taking care of myself and taking care of others.
The balance between being a good housekeeper and then knowing when to let it go.
The balance between responsibility and relaxation.
The balance between eating healthy and eating things I love just because.
The balance between standing up for things and then knowing when to back down.
The balance in being a wife.  A mother of two super heros.  A friend.  A neighbor.  A daughter of God.  A pinterest addict.  An ice cream eater.  A pretend exerciser.  A journal writer.  A lover of clothes and all things beautiful.
Not all of the areas in my life are ever in balance all at the same time.  Each day my balance can change and from one day to the next my definition of balance will change.

I often ask myself why I focus so much of my energy and time on finding the perfect balance when I am not sure it exists.

Then I think of these rock formations (cairns) we saw last year in Zions National Park.  I love the image and what the formations stand for. 

That each individual rock has to be balanced in order for the whole formation to stand.

To have my whole life make sense and be in balance I have to spend time and focus on all of the individual areas in my life and make sure that they are in balance.  A continual day to day process that I will continue to strive for.

Seriously

The boys have been ganging up against me lately.
Every time I leave the room even for a second.  They are conspiring against me and getting into things they KNOW they aren't suppose to get into.  Seriously it is every time.
This morning I asked them to stay in their room while I took a shower.
I came out 5 minutes later to them sitting under the kitchen table...
They had gotten the bag of permanent markers, the butter, duck tape and apple juice.
SERIOUSLY?
Lewis was coloring with a silver permanent marker on duck tape.  Luckily he also had on a gray shirt.
Thomas was coloring on an apple juice bottle with a blue permanent marker.  He had opened some butter, taken some bites, and then sat it on the floor for later I guess.
They both had greasy lips.  I suppose from the butter.
They were both happy as can be.  Although they knew they had done something wrong.  Why else would they have gone underneath the table?
Seriously what I am going to do with these two?
Seriously?
I am guessing they are bored.  I get that.
BRING ON SPRING.  We need to get out of the house.