Its PARTY time!

, , 44 comments
Ultimate Blog Party 20095 Minutes for Mom is hosting their annual blog party and this year I am joining in the fun!  So kick your shoes off, change in to some comfy pants and make yourself at home, because the best thing about a blog party is you can join in the fun from the comfort of your couch!

I’ve been blogging for almost a year now.  What started as a fulfillment of my new years resolution, has grown into a means of making new friends and reconnecting with old ones as I share my circus life as a wife and stay at home mom of three active preschoolers.

Have you ever been to a circus?  Then you know that a circus is a chaotic event with a ton of things fighting for your attention. Your watching a trapeze artist in the center ring when BOOM! A crazy fool shot himself out of a cannon in the ring to your left.  You start watching the clowns in that left-hand ring only to find out that you totally missed another man actually stick his head into the mouth of a lion in the right-hand ring....

My roles as wife, homemaker and mother of 3 feels much like a three ring circus with each ring constantly vying for my attention. Life is often chaotic and many aspects (like folding laundry ) simply don't get the attention they deserve.

In Ring #1 - My Role as Wife




I start with my role as wife because aside from my relationship with our Lord , it is the most important relationship in my life. With three small kids vying for my attention and mounds of laundry and dishes piling up to be taken care of, it's all to easy to take him for granted.

Me and my husband at college graduation (two weeks before being married) I am incredibly blessed to be married to my high school sweetheart and best friend. We dated for 4.5 years before we were married almost 8 years ago (after graduating from college together). I can honestly say that the highlight of my day is when his car pulls into the driveway (and not because it means I will have extra help with the kids). He adds a level of fun and enthusiasm to the house that brightens all of our lives .

Each day before he leaves for work, when we pray as a family, my husband prays that God would enable each of us to bring Him glory in all we do that day. That truly is the goal of our marriage. While we often fail, our gracious Lord is patient and forgiving.

In Ring #2 - My Calling as a Mother




When I am navigating my way through the grocery store with my 3 kids... the baby sitting in the seat on top of the grocery cart, my toddler in the basket sitting on the bread, and my preschooler standing on the end of the cart pointing out all the things he insists are on "his grocery list", people often look at me and say, "My, you've got your hands full ." Often I literally do . Life with three kids in 3.5 years is busy to say the least . Someone always wants me for something, and often everyone wants me at once. BUT, I can honestly say I love every minute of it . I love my kids ! I love being their mommy . I love staying home full time with them.



People ask me if I miss teaching (the profession I had before I had my son) and I always respond, "Not a bit!" I am teaching, full time, 3 of the 4 people I love most in this world and there is no place I'd rather be. Sure, it is loud , and my to do list is always greater than my energy level, but I am often reminded that our children grow up in the blink of an eye , and I don't want to miss it.

In Ring #3 - My Profession as a Homemaker




Folding Laundary No Martha Stewart tricks here. Laundry is the bane of my existence . We do wear clean clothes, but most of the time we find our days clothes in the laundry basket. It is a rare week where I get the laundry folded , and put away... we celebrate being washed! I do enjoy cooking though, especially baking (I'd take eating raw cookie dough over folding towels any day). Thanksgiving Turkey I also have a ton of fun throwing birthday parties and making fun birthday cakes. I love holidays and get a kick out of decorating the house, doing crafts, and making themed food to celebrate the occasion. We celebrate St. Patty's Day, Valentine's Day, Flag Day, Cinco de Mayo and I often host big family dinners on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The two most important holidays here are Christmas and Easter and make no mistake, our kids know the reason why those holidays are important.




Now that I've introduced myself and the rings that I juggle, please leave a comment introducing yourself and a link to your site.  I'd love to get to know you a bit as well (we all know it takes two-way conversation to make a party fun).  If you’re looking for a blog about living life and keeping it real, I hope you'll subscribe to my posts and read more of our circus antics!  And one more thing:

party streamersBe sure to come back next Friday, March 27th and help me celebrate my blogoversary.  I’ll be christening my brand new, custom made blog design and having a give away too!  I'm really excited about it and would love for you to join me.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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44 comments:

  1. Hey there!!! You know I absolutely adore you and your blog!

    I reply the same way when I'm asked if I miss teaching! Hope you have lots of fun this week!!

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  2. Have fun partying! Hey, the anniversary of your blog is Pebbles B-Day! I have always enjoyed your posts and I'm glad I found it. :)
    We'll both have a great day.

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  3. So many hats to wear. Life of a mom...pretty cool, huh?
    Swing by my site, The IE Mommy, to check out my Ultimate Blog Party Post.

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  4. A party isn't complete without complimenting the hostess on her fine job so....

    I love my daily fix of reading Life At the Circus. Often I get a good chuckle. Other times I get a tender hearted story with a picture of one of the world's cutest kids ever to accompany it. And even more often, if not almost always, I get the motivation and encouragement to live the way the Circus does by giving glory to God each day, living life to its fullest, and not sweating the small stuff (like a perfectly clean house or clothes that are pressed and hung or put away).

    You've taught me so much, Crystal! I'm so glad to have become one of the friendships you've formed through blogging!

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  5. Stopping by to say hello! Great party...stop by for your chance to win my door prize.
    Lisa

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  6. What a fab intro & post!! I feel like I already know you. Thanks to this and Rebecca's high recommendation, I'll be following you, and not in that scary stalker way. :D

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  7. I love this post! What a great introduction to your blog. I am going to have more people to compete with the be the first to comment now. :-)

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  8. Happy UBP!!! I am a professional blog hopper:-) Nice to meet you!

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  9. Nice Blog , I will be coming Back !!

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  10. Passing through fro the blog party to say Hi and a women's work is never done is it? Love your blog!

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  11. Happy almost bloggiversary! And I have a slight issue with laundry, too. Just a small one, you understand.

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  12. woohoo! who doesn't love a good party!

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  13. So nice to meet you! And your note that comments are like chocolate cracks me up!

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  14. Hello! Nice to meet you. Party On!

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  15. Just going from party to party to see how others are doing this blogging thing.
    My prize is #115 check it out!
    Have a good weekend

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  16. I feel you about the laundry! I have Mt. Sock on my dresser and every day we tunnel through it. One thing I've learned about being a SAHM is to forget privacy. I am never, ever, ever alone.

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  17. I love your blog and I too can never seem to get on top of the laundry situation. Well, I can't get on top of the dish or toy or crumb situation either but that's what being a mom of 3 little ones means, right?

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  18. love all those photos. happy UBP

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  19. Hello! Poppin' in from The Ultimate Blog Party...all the way from Queensland, Australia! G'Day! I hope you have time to visit my party soon.

    Ta!

    I want to invite you to the Mommie Daze Virtual Baby Shower that I am hosting May 15 to June 8. This is an international even and there are prizes! Stop by my blog for all the details.

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  20. I am out and about enjoying the Blog Party. It has been so much fun, I am a new blogger and this is my first Blog Party. I am committed to visiting as many blogs as possible.. Didn't realize that there would be almost a 1000 blogs to visit when I set that goal. I have no children of my own, but I know how busy you must be, I am a Home Daycare Provider for 6 very busy little kiddos, ages 7 months to 4. I love the kiddos and love seeing the new day everyday thru their eyes.
    thanks for inviting us to stop by your party today.
    I am Aunt Rene from auntrene.blogspot.com
    if you get the chance stop by this week and leave a comment to win my Surprise Door Prize, Its a surprise for sure because I do not even know what it will be yet.
    Have Fun!!

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  21. Great post! Nice to meet you! Hope you are having a great time at the party!
    I would also like to invite you to join Show off your blog Saturday. I would love to read your favorite post!

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  22. Hi, stopping by all the blogs in the party that I can get to. It's very nice to meet you and your blog! With how many blogs in the party right now, that is 254 blogs per day for 4 days! Wow!

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  23. Nice to meet you! I think I've stopped by your blog before for a blog carnival. I also used to teach before I had my son. Congrats on the upcoming blog anniversary!

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  24. loved you post, nice to meet you. Love the name of your blog life sure can be a circus
    Happy UBP 2009

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  25. Your blog is intriguing.. I will be back!!

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  26. Hi. Nice to meet you. I married my high school sweetheart also. We've been together since I was 16 (31 years, 27 years married).
    Have fun at the parties and I hope you can stop by.

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  27. Wonderful intro. Happy UBP! Hope you'll stop by and check out my week of giveaways and party videos. Happy almost blogoversary!

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  28. It's great to meet you! What a wonderful blog. Hope you have a wonderful bloggy party!

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  29. LOL! I know what you mean about the laundry. It's clean but it's usually folded in the floor or in a basket somewhere.

    I hope you are enjoying the UBP!

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  30. I am new to the blog world. I am from Shreveport, La.
    I love a good party and this is my first BLOG party.
    So glad that I found your blog. Hope you will come by and visit me.
    Teresa

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  31. Hi! I'm part of the UBP too! Glad to see you are a part, and that it's almost your blogoversary! I have a giveaway on my blog too, stop by!

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  32. Nice to meet you!

    Talk about a party!

    I'm quite intrigued and am learning how to get around!

    Just stopping by from 5minutes for moms blog party!

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  33. Thanks for hosting a blog party! I love the way you organized your party and introduced yourself! I truly look forward to getting to know you better. I hate doing laundry too. I'm glad to know there are other people out there who live out of the clean laundry basket like we do.

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  34. If you were to come to my house right now, you would find a huge pile of at least 3 loads of unfolded, but CLEAN laundry! I can so relate to your post! This is my first visit to your blog...I'll be back again soon!

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  35. Your blog is so cute! I'm glad I clicked on it ;)

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  36. Great post! I also have a basket of clean laundry needing to be folded calling my name but I wanted to get some blog hopping done first!

    If you get a chance between the folding, dishes, and cooking come on over and say hi!

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  37. From one former teacher turned stay-at-home mom/teacher I say Party ON!! We deserve to whoop it up every once in while right??

    You can visit my party HERE!

    Kari

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  38. Stopping by from UBP to say "hi" - party on :-)
    carma

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  39. Wow, you have a lot to do! I love the Erma Bombeck quote. It's actually my motto. We just kinda push things to the side so we can walk. When we have company, we shovel things back into the toy box.

    Come by and visit my place if you have time and check out my Etsy store. I have some really fantastic flashcards that would be wonderful for your little ones. If you are interested, email me and mention UBP and I'll give you a 15% discount.

    Best,
    Shannah at The Flashcard Zoo

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  40. Greetings! Just stopping by via the UB Party. Sweet pictures and story about you. My kids are older (two teens, on about to graduate) and I still don't care for housework; although, I don't really mind laundry. It's sort of comforting in a way. (I guess that's a little strange.) Anyway, it's nice to "meet" you and come on by for a visit sometime. Blessings!

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  41. Nice to meet you. Thank you for sharing about yourself.

    Please come check out Lipstick Wisdom (www.lipstickwisdom.com) -- I am just getting started and would love your feedback.

    I am also giving away a $100 Zappos gift card to one person who registers during this UBP week!!

    Good luck with the laundry :-)

    Karen
    www.lipstickwisdom.com
    twitter.com/lipstickwisdom

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  42. I just loved your story! I'll definitely have to check out your blog more later... (I'm just bookmarking everyone right now, while I blog-hop my way through the party :-p)

    Feel free to check out my blog, too! While I found the party too late to be part of the official prize giveaways, I do have a door prize at my blog: I'm giving away a free print copy of my book, "Two Snowflakes." Here's my address: http://twinhappyjen.blogspot.com/

    It was nice to meet you!

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  43. Hi! I followed 5MfM link to your blog. I really like your page layout! Very cool design! I could relate to your post on so many levels...minus the three kids- we only have one!

    Please stop by my site and take a look around. I have two giveawys going on right now as well that you should def. sign up for!

    Enjoy your weekend!

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  44. Blog Party Woohoo! Talk about fashionably late, right, sorry. I have been sick which left me in a fog all last week, so I am still trying tomake my rounds. Better late than never I figured. Anyway, hope you had a great week at the UBP. Hope to see you again sometime!

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