Welcome to you, my sweet friend!
I'm so happy you're here.
I'm just a regular 'ole mommy, somewhere out in NJ, with a smoke alarm that goes off at least once a day.
Too much baking, you say?
Possibly.
Eh, who are we kidding, you can never have too many baked goods.
So why The Crumb Factory? Because that's what my husband dubbed our minivan years ago. No matter how often I vacuum, the interior always looks like the inside of a Fruit Loops box. So we go with the flow and brush off our clothes when we get out of the car. Once though, I will admit that I walked through Target with three kids under three with a half of a granola bar stuck to the back of my skirt. SUPER. CLASSY.
***
Prior to this whole mommy thing, I was an editor at several different magazines, both on the national and local levels.
Once I got married, I had the amazing experience of following my husband across the country to Phoenix, where he was completing a fellowship. In Arizona, I was lucky enough to teach preschool in the cutest little two-room schoolhouse you've ever seen. Teaching three-year-olds was an awesome gig that allowed me to fingerpaint with abandon, sprinkle glitter everyday and use my glue gun for many many different reasons.
Very soon after our return to the East Coast, my husband, Josh, and I were blessed with four delicious little kids in four and a half years. Crazy, you say? Wait, it gets better - they were all c-sections. Nutty. But in a good way.
Over the past six months, we have slowly started crawling out out of this baby-induced fog as our youngest has turned two and our oldest is now seven. Shockingly, there does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Some of the kids even sleep through the night these days. And sometimes - not often - but sometimes, we are able to see the color of our living room carpet (blue) through the mounds of toys. We really thought we'd never get here.
**(Update 3/2017: It's been YEARS. Our youngest just turned seven and our oldest 11. We've also moved house and states two more times and you guys, I have EVEN STARTED EXERCISING, but not too much cause you know, exercising. Everyone (for the most part) sleeps through night, but we do still have trouble finding the floor amidst the Lego sometimes. Also, we moved to Florida and then we moved back to NJ. Loong story, don't ask.)
**(Update AGAIN: It's now Feb. 2019, how can that be? Why are we not using hoverboards to fly on highways in the sky?! Why am I still cooking dinner every night, I thought that by now, I would for sure have a robot named Rosie bringing me dinner every day. Oh well. Also, we've already made one bar mitzvah and we are in the process of planning the next one, with the 10-year-old girl already asking about her bat mitzvah... And, I drive carpool ALL THE TIME, for hours, literally every day, we have no idea where the oldest is going for high school, the youngest turned 9 and we are officially parenting IN THE MIDDLES, and I can't believe that I am saying this, but it's waaay harder than parenting littles because let's just say it all together, middle school sucks and three out of four are in the middle of all that. I have also discovered the joy that is a good podcast.
***
I have been incredibly lucky in that I have been able to be a stay-at-home mom for the past many years. We might not have any disposable income, but at the end of the day, I would not rather be anywhere else than at home with my kids.
(EDIT #2: Guys, this mama has gone back to work. Sigh. We still have no disposable income, we have way less in the homemade cakes department but we do have four shiny yeshiva tuitions! Can I get an Amen?)
I do admit, the past years have been insane, but my motto to get through the days: I have nothing to do and nowhere to be but right here. And that has always helped me feel less anxious about sitting on the floor and playing with blocks, rather than doing yet another load of laundry.
And that's what I think life is all about. To be able to share your passions with your kids, to make time to do fun activities even when the sink is so full of dirty dishes that there is not a clean spoon to be found; that's what makes my life sing.
I don't post everyday, but I do my best to share the fun that we have.
(EDIT #3: How weird? I posted way more with four kids underfoot. Now that they're out of the house all day, and so I am, I just can't seem to get it together. That right there might be the new theme of this blog. Parenting the middles while working. I could go on and on about that, that's for sure.)
I'd love to hear what you think!
Have a question?
Just want to say hi?
Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll get right back to you.
I'm just a regular 'ole mommy, somewhere out in NJ, with a smoke alarm that goes off at least once a day.
Too much baking, you say?
Possibly.
Eh, who are we kidding, you can never have too many baked goods.
So why The Crumb Factory? Because that's what my husband dubbed our minivan years ago. No matter how often I vacuum, the interior always looks like the inside of a Fruit Loops box. So we go with the flow and brush off our clothes when we get out of the car. Once though, I will admit that I walked through Target with three kids under three with a half of a granola bar stuck to the back of my skirt. SUPER. CLASSY.
***
Prior to this whole mommy thing, I was an editor at several different magazines, both on the national and local levels.
Once I got married, I had the amazing experience of following my husband across the country to Phoenix, where he was completing a fellowship. In Arizona, I was lucky enough to teach preschool in the cutest little two-room schoolhouse you've ever seen. Teaching three-year-olds was an awesome gig that allowed me to fingerpaint with abandon, sprinkle glitter everyday and use my glue gun for many many different reasons.
Very soon after our return to the East Coast, my husband, Josh, and I were blessed with four delicious little kids in four and a half years. Crazy, you say? Wait, it gets better - they were all c-sections. Nutty. But in a good way.
Over the past six months, we have slowly started crawling out out of this baby-induced fog as our youngest has turned two and our oldest is now seven. Shockingly, there does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Some of the kids even sleep through the night these days. And sometimes - not often - but sometimes, we are able to see the color of our living room carpet (blue) through the mounds of toys. We really thought we'd never get here.
**(Update 3/2017: It's been YEARS. Our youngest just turned seven and our oldest 11. We've also moved house and states two more times and you guys, I have EVEN STARTED EXERCISING, but not too much cause you know, exercising. Everyone (for the most part) sleeps through night, but we do still have trouble finding the floor amidst the Lego sometimes. Also, we moved to Florida and then we moved back to NJ. Loong story, don't ask.)
**(Update AGAIN: It's now Feb. 2019, how can that be? Why are we not using hoverboards to fly on highways in the sky?! Why am I still cooking dinner every night, I thought that by now, I would for sure have a robot named Rosie bringing me dinner every day. Oh well. Also, we've already made one bar mitzvah and we are in the process of planning the next one, with the 10-year-old girl already asking about her bat mitzvah... And, I drive carpool ALL THE TIME, for hours, literally every day, we have no idea where the oldest is going for high school, the youngest turned 9 and we are officially parenting IN THE MIDDLES, and I can't believe that I am saying this, but it's waaay harder than parenting littles because let's just say it all together, middle school sucks and three out of four are in the middle of all that. I have also discovered the joy that is a good podcast.
***
I have been incredibly lucky in that I have been able to be a stay-at-home mom for the past many years. We might not have any disposable income, but at the end of the day, I would not rather be anywhere else than at home with my kids.
(EDIT #2: Guys, this mama has gone back to work. Sigh. We still have no disposable income, we have way less in the homemade cakes department but we do have four shiny yeshiva tuitions! Can I get an Amen?)
I do admit, the past years have been insane, but my motto to get through the days: I have nothing to do and nowhere to be but right here. And that has always helped me feel less anxious about sitting on the floor and playing with blocks, rather than doing yet another load of laundry.
And that's what I think life is all about. To be able to share your passions with your kids, to make time to do fun activities even when the sink is so full of dirty dishes that there is not a clean spoon to be found; that's what makes my life sing.
I don't post everyday, but I do my best to share the fun that we have.
(EDIT #3: How weird? I posted way more with four kids underfoot. Now that they're out of the house all day, and so I am, I just can't seem to get it together. That right there might be the new theme of this blog. Parenting the middles while working. I could go on and on about that, that's for sure.)
I'd love to hear what you think!
Have a question?
Just want to say hi?
Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll get right back to you.