About

Bonjour!

That would be the extent of my French. It makes my French-Canadian mother cry.

My name is Sierra, but most people around here call me “Mom.”  A perfect day for me would start with (very) sweet coffee, end with ice cream and involve a fair amount of cooking, reading and chatting with friends. The other days involve looming deadlines, stomach viruses and radishes.

I have a husband named Edward, called Eddy by everyone – myself included, but whom I refer to as Ed here; can’t explain why, that is just how I roll.

He is long suffering; remembers everything he’s ever heard and read and is smart enough not to remind me of either. We married in 2001; I was 23 and he was 30. He is Canadian and and an Anglican priest working in an Episcopalian parish. They are different, trust me.

He dragged me into the world of social media after I mocked his love of Facebook; I think he has stopped kicking himself but I can’t be sure. Ed is my best friend.

Here he is with a tie; take a long look, he normally wears his white collar.

We are up to five kids. Gwyneth, Henry, Benjamin, Jane and Margaret, whom we call Maisie, joined us in May ’11. We want more and guess what -  I have names ready. Ask me and I’ll tell you what they are.

Our kids are wonderful; they play nice, fight fair and love hard. I can’t imagine anyone I could love as much as those four…at least until the next one comes along. Yes, three red heads. It is freaky. Ed & I thank our mothers’ for their carroty genes. For poor Harry’s sake, we were hoping Maisie would be a brunette but, alas, another carrot top!

I’ve had a variety of jobs including conference planning, librarian, bakery assistant and stay at home mom. Just this September I was laid off from a job I loved and a company I’ve been with since 2006. C’est la vie (look at me throwing the French around). It was a shock and a disappointment, but I’m thrilled to find out that I have a lot of options in the job market, and have been interviewing for a number a great opportunities.

I’m devoting my free time to charitable works I really believe in and have gotten more involved in my Church’s Sunday school and family activities planning, as well as jumping into the Operation Christmas Child waters and trying to drive involvement in my area. Check them out. A.Maz.Ing.

In 2009, I started blogging to make up for the baby books that sit untouched in our hall bookshelf. Our kids were growing so quickly and I wanted to remember the kaleidoscope of moments that make up their childhood. Blogging and bloggers created an unanticipated opportunity to connect with interesting people – make friends.

I’m still learning. There aren’t a lot of hard and fast rules. I like that about blogging. This new frontier can be a lot like the Wild West, except it is primarily being “settled” by women wielding laptops, cookbooks with a child on their hip and a cell phone in their “free” hand. I happen to love all those things too.

Thank you for coming by. I am looking forward to getting to know you!

Drop me a line at Sierra@actualmom.com.