My little sister Stefanie and I are 9 months apart. We are complete opposites in almost every way, so growing up, we bounced back and forth between being best friends and bitter enemies.  Now I’m glad to say that she’s truely one of my closest friends in the world… We are still extreme opposites though. This past weekend my mom and I loaded up the kids and drove to california to my sister’s house for my niece Ava’s 2nd B-day party. This is what we arrived to:

       

A circus themed party complete with mini corn dogs, a nacho building station, chocolate carmel apples, cotton candy and a custom cake with hand painted horses on the carousel. This is the epitome of my sister… she is Martha Stewart to the core and being a mom and a homemaker is exactly what she’s always wanted to do. Now, if this was my kid’s party there would be an uneven betty crocker box mix cake on the table and presents wrapped with diego band-aids (not even kidding…sadly that’s how my children experience birthdays.)

       

She even made sure that my kids (on the extreme GFCF diet) had fun things to eat… I’m telling you she’s amazing!! She didn’t even mind when Sawyer came out screaming for everyone to stop singing “happy birthday” and let him sing it to Ava instead. (Slightly embarrassing and one of the major reasons we avoid birthday parties in general:)) 

Since I was in the third grade I have prayed that God would use me to do something big in life to really impact the world… I just knew I would be a missionary in Africa, working in a hospital or teaching english… instead that dream went to a friend of mine and I am home with three boys. I LOVE my life… I love it… it’s just the exact opposite of what I always dreamed it would be… and honestly I struggle with the domestic stuff. I don’t like cooking or baking or gardening…I HATE housework and organizing … but I love my boys (all of my boys) more than anything in the world. They are my life, my breath and my reason for living.

I do know though, that giving up on my dreams would be doing a disservice to my babies. WhileEarth Monkeys isn’t world changing or life altering… it is a passion of mine. Trying to get a company off the ground in the midst of the chaos of life is exhausting and there have been plenty of times I’ve wanted to give up… but I know that God is pushing me to challenge myself. I think it’s important for all moms to remember what your dreams and passions were before kids… for many, like my mom and sisters, being a mom and home maker is what they shine at and that’s amazing… but for others, like me… who realize that God made microwave cooking and box mixes for a reason…don’t give up on being you… we owe it to our kids and our spouses to be who God created us to be…What’s your dream?