I am turning 40 this year and feel as though it is a big step. I feel like I need to start that year with the Waldorf tradition of leaping out of my bed. I had written a letter to myself years ago of all the things I wanted to do before turning 40. Things like "find my true self" Thank you Etsy for the help with that one. AND Put fun colors in my hair, I never did it in high school even though it was the era of PUNK! So I'm thinking some purple chunks!
I tend to always see the brighter side in life. I believe we have a purpose and that humans are meant to create, when we don't we get lost. Who I am is very much molded from my childhood. I came from a LARGE family, 9 kids to be exact with lots of foster kids here and there. They (foster kids) were mine all of them. I took them under my wing, loved and nurtured them like one of the baby animals on the farm. There stories would break your heart but I wanted them for how ever short of time I had with them that they felt love. I learned a lot about the differences in people and families. I learned how to be a leader, how to be calm, how to delegate, and how to succeed. And sometimes when the world was just too much for them or me I made up a story. A story about fairies, mermaids or pirates. The good always won and there was always a happily ever after!
I have since been able to reconnect with some of the kids as they find me on facebook. They tell me sweet words of how I made things for them that they kept and how I made a difference in their life. I think it is pure magic to be able to create and give a little of ourselves. I am just so tickled to know that there are children all over the world playing with my toys, weaving their own stories. Sometimes when I am overwhelmed I close my eyes and imagine those kids playing.... imagine the little hands, the tiny giggles, and the big smiles.
In the real world I get to hear my kids and see them play. Sometimes they help me with ideas but they always inspire me. I think it is a wonderful blessing for them to see me truly happy and being creative. To make something that someone else is willing to pay what I say it is worth is like winning an Oscar ever time that sale email comes in! I do a lot in my day with 4 kids, homeschool, Etsy shop, and teams but I love every minute of it! 
Some people think I do not sleep, I am just very organized. It really is the key to having a life that your are living not just surviving. I hear moms beating themselves up all the time about feeling guilty about what they may be taking from their families to have their Etsy Dream. The truth is Yes you can't have it all...at least not all of it all the time. You need to make time for all the parts that you are... self, wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, etc. When we do this our children see it and we change the next generation. 
So who are we? 
Some of us work with natural materials as part of the Waldorf educational philosophy.
That's 7, yes 7 chances to win!
