Mothers have a not-so-secret club — a universal one, where we look to each other (often strangers) for that proverbial pat on the back or knowing head nod that says, “Keep going. You’re doing great!” Autumn Kimball lives out in Colorado with her husband Brent, a neurosurgeon (imagine those hours), and their five boys: 10-year-old quadruplets Everett, Severin, Lincoln and Guy, and one-year-old Tor. Kimball’s Instagram has become an inspiration to many thanks to both its beautiful photos of her family life and her poignantly honest captions about what’s happening. In an age when social media images and videos make it easy to throw a filter on life and make it seem perfectly charmed and put-together, to read Kimball’s account is to understand that their life is one she and her husband lovingly, energetically and authentically create completely by themselves and for their boys. No filters needed (though Kimball’s job as a creative director and fashion illustrator does help). Kimball invites her followers into the ups and downs of every day, even when things get really personal and tough, as they did recently. Kimball is brutally honest, which strikes a chord with people, and has found a way to share without over-sharing. The boys’ personalities shine through, as does her willingness to revel in all the silliness, mess and chaos five boys, ages 10 and under, can create. Which, we think, is the best kind of filter.

In a word, being mother to five boys is…
Chaos

My boys have taught me…
Endurance, perspective, everything can be fixed with weekly family movie night.

Favorite thing to do with my boys…
Travel. I have loved experiencing someplace new with them and learning from their viewpoint. I also feel like I extend my youth by being on adventures with them.

Best advice my mother taught me that I am teaching my boys…
You can be anything you want to be, but you will find being a child’s mother overshadows almost any accolade, job or career success.

Being a mother has helped my creative process by…
I stockpile images from my daily life that I use in my work. The way the light makes silhouettes of my sons running up the back field. Or how they lay like tight sardines while sleeping on the trampoline under the stars. But I think they most influence my work by sitting beside me when I’m working. We have quiet drawing sessions that become more important than any deadline.

My greatest challenge as a mother is…
The ever elusive balance of “self” and “motherhood.”

And I strive to overcome it by…
I believe in allowing yourself to evolve in ambition, in love, and in perspective. No one wants to be a resentful person; the best way to prevent it is by not dwelling on what could have been. Always move forward.

My greatest hope is that my boys grow up to be…
Men who are observant. Observant of others, great and small, observant of what they contribute and what they take. And I want them to fall in love and learn how to love in return.

Favorite Mother’s Day tradition with my family…
My boys draw pictures of me. I like how they see me as a super hero and other years Mother Nature. If I look back through them, it’s like a timeline of my motherhood.

Best Mother’s Day gift I have received from my boys…
When they were born. I was the reluctant mother, but when each of my sons was born, it was as if another part of me opened and I became “more” than before. I have never looked back.

Follow Autumn Kimball on Instagram.