When Living the Simple Life Makes Life Complicated!

I have not been around and able to write anything recently.  Between a visit from my mother-in-law, our internet being out for a week, sick kids and life in general, this little corner of my life had to go into hiding for a while.  But now, my MIL is gone back to Alaska, our internet is working, life is a little slower today, and although the kids are sick, I have a few minutes, so I dusted the cobwebs away and wanted to say hello again!

In our home we try to lead a simplistic life.  I try to cook simply, deal with the children simply, live simply...  I cloth diaper (most of the time), I like to use as little cleaning agents as possible, making my own out of non-toxic ingredients for the health of my family is more important than convenience.

 My concern is this:  How much can you take upon yourself to do the natural way before it becomes more complicated?

Take cloth diapering: I love it!  I love knowing that I am doing a huge part to save our family money.  The cost of disposable diapers is unreal, even buying the store brands.  By using cloth diapers I free up room in the monthly budget for other things,they are healthier for the kids, not to mention I am taking steps to take care of the Earth that God has given us.  But as I sit here and type this I have a full hamper of clean diapers waiting to be stuffed, folded and put away.  I just can't keep up with the mountain of laundry.  As of late, Tiger has been in sposies because with Buddy and Baby having the high fevers I just decided that I didn't need to add one more task to my days.

Next on the list: I had begun making all of our bread.  I enjoy baking, it is healthier because I know what goes in it, and the outcome is happy kids and full bellies!  Since having Tiger, I have had to give up dairy because he has a dairy protein allergy, and every bread recipe that I like has some sort of dairy in it.  I have yet to find a replacement recipe that I like well enough.  I have wasted so much time searching for the perfect recipe. I have decided to buy our bread for a while, but now I am on a quest to find options for lunch that my kids will eat that don't involve bread since the cost of healthy bread is high.

As the kids get older and become more involved in things and more active and able to experience life, some things are going to have to give, but what do you sacrifice and when do you take the easy way out?  I wish I could be the Proverbs 31 woman: plant a vineyard, reap from it, run my own business, do it all on my own, be completely self sufficient, but I am not, nor will I ever be.

Question of the day:  What, if any, strides are you taking to lead a simple life, and why? At what point is enough, enough?