Holiday Highlights

For those of you who don't follow Busy Mama on Facebook, I think it's time for an update! I've been quite regular with posting random bursts on the page, but I have not taken time to write on the blog for a while. I had a completely messed up holiday season compared to most years, but I think it was the most peaceful holiday we have ever had.

Our tree is usually up during the first week of December, but this year it was not. We didn't even buy one until about the 20th. December went so fast!

We had a great time working through our craft advent calendar, even though we didn't manage to keep up with it daily and had a few days of massive crafting. My sister worked hard through November, testing, planning and preparing a craft for each day for the kids. Each day had a package with three bags (one for each child) and a set of instructions. I posted some pictures to facebook of the projects, you can see some of it there.

I love New Years Eve with the kids. Sure, the boys stay up til midnight more often than once a year, but it's still fun to stay up late. This year, I made a deal with Angel Baby that she could stay up as long as she was behaving. She made it to midnight like a trooper. Thankfully, she also reverted right back to bedtime routines as normal the next day. We spent the evening with my niece and her new family as well. It was a great relaxed night.

We played some Just Dance on the Kinect. It was a lot of fun. Even when the low ceiling got in the way for the guys.  One of them hit the blade of the ceiling fan, the other smacked the light bulb and they had to finish the dance in the dark.

I got a power drill of my own for Christmas. I'm pretty happy about it. I can never find the bits when I need the Trucker's drill, or it's not charged. He's tired of not being able to find it when he needs it again, so he got me my own. Unfortunately, I had to test it out at 11:30 at night a few days ago. Angel Baby always rocks on her hands and knees at night. I'm not sure why she does it, but it's a comfort thing for her I guess. I've been trying to break her of this habit lately but it seemed like the more I asked her to stop, the more force she used on the landing.

I told her that sooner or later she was going to break her bed. She broke her crib this way and I knew her big girl bed would not really hold up any better. The joints can only take so much force! Sure enough she broke it. One screw was literally broken in half. Both the head and foot on the wall side let go from the side of the frame. I tried desperately to get her to go to sleep somewhere else, but eventually gave up and flipped it over. That little drill is going to come in very handy! Got her bed fixed up and her back in it, in no time.

Art was playing spiderman (or something) the other day. He hopped across the loveseat and balanced on the arm rest to look under the end table for who-knows-what. He lost his balance, hit the wall with his hand and lamp with his head. The clock came straight down and smashed the glass on the end table. He was not hurt, thankfully, not even a scratch. And besides having a deep down clean in that end of the living room done now, I also have the extra benefit of neither him or Angel Baby climbing all over the loveseat anymore.

I keep telling the kids that I don't make this stuff up! They just don't believe me. I say "don't rock like that or your bed will break." And sure enough after the laughing at mommy stops, the bed broke. I tell the kids not to climb all over the furniture or something will get broken. No one believes me until something gets broken.

I've begun quilting. Like making ravioli from scratch, it was just one of those things that was on my list of "I'd Love To Try That Someday." Like the Pinterest board in my brain. The first one was made just for Angel Baby's Baby. Then I made a second quilt and a matching crib sheet for my niece. Now I'm working on a new one, sized nicely for snuggling up with the Trucker on the couch. It's a big project, but right now I have the time to do these things, so I'm doing them.

Once I started working on the sewing machine more, Art wanted in. He asked me to teach him how to use it. And I said "Yes." He loved it. He started just with some scraps, to learn how the machine worked and later made a patchwork style Barbie sleeping bag for Angel Baby. It was awesome. Now, he's ready and willing to stitch up anything that he can. I love this. Macboy can sew too. He no longer asks me to fix the little things. He can sew on a button or stitch up a rip in a stuffy. He fixed Luigi's overalls when they came undone, completely on his own. I mean completely, I didn't know it needed fixing until it was done.

As usual, it's all fun and games around here. I know that so much of my holiday was nowhere near what I would have planned, but I think we all benefited greatly from having no plan. Even the kids were calm, until they reached cabin-fever levels from having two weeks off. There was no pressure anywhere. We were all engaged and connected with each other. Everyone was heard. We all had time together. Even the Trucker got in on the craft time, and he is not normally interested in these things.

January has started well and I am looking forward to the New Year and all that it has to offer. Looks like I will be starting school in September when Angel Baby starts kindergarten. It's scary, but it's a wonderful thing too. This will be the year I do great things. At least, greater than last year.... and every year before that. Because each year, I have learned something new and I only improve and grow.

Just like you.

What are you aiming for this year?