Busy As A Bee

I always think I live such a boring life, but tonight I sat down and realized how much is actually going on.

In the world of Matt: He built a railing for our front porch. It looks amazing! I can't wait until we rebuild the steps and add a gate in the spring. He's also getting the garage cleaned and organized. He's working a lot to bring in extra money. He will be starting college again in January.

Matt working hard in the garage.

Keith: He's doing amazingly well in school. He is in his schools Lego League. He actually has had friends over lately. He's eating well again. After a joint parenting decision, he will be spending all of Christmas break with us, and Thanksgiving break with his mom. The way the school has Christmas vacation broken up makes it so one parent gets a really short holiday with the kid, so I asked Domi if she would like to alternate Christmas breaks. She was on board. Her request was that if we get all of Christmas, could she have Thanksgiving, since technically it's Matt's year, that way each parent gets to spend a major family holiday with Keith. It seemed fair to us so we're going to see how it goes. I don't foresee any problems, and it's nice that we're all getting along.

Keith wanted a poncho, too, but he couldn't decide between one for the Detroit Lions, or Michigan State University. So, I gave him both in one. It was a lot of work.

Nicolas: He is my little talker and awesome sleeper. He sleeps 6-10 hours a night. He gave me a heart attack the other night when his Snuza went off. Yikes! He has such a deep voice when he talks to me. He mimics all the sounds I make, and he's so stinkin' cute. He is the most laid back kid on the planet. Avalyn will come over and take something right out of his hand and he'll just frown at her. She lays down on him, and he frowns at her. He doesn't scream or cry, he's just like, "Hey Mom... can you move her please? And get my toy back? Thanks." He's sitting up for a few seconds by himself, he's rolling, he turning himself around when he's on his belly... this kid is ready to move. 

Avalyn took something away from me... Again!

Pinterest inspired pic: Camera around neck + self timer = fun.

Avalyn: She's two. She's testing us every day. She's mean to Nicolas, she tells us no, she throws fits, she yells, she mimics  she laughs, she's bossy, she's helpful (and not so helpful), she wants to make us happy, she wants to make us crazy, and we love her. She's doing great on the potty. We've gone a month with very few accidents. She picked out her big girl undies (My Little Pony), and tells me when she needs to go. We even got toilet seats with built in small person seats (bonus: they're the non slamming seats - I love them). Avalyn loves going to the fabric store with me. Seriously, it's one of her favorite things. She helps me pick fabric, tells me what I can make with it, and then we go home and she screams at me when I try to work with it. Joyous. She is obsessed with My Little Pony. I can't go a day without hearing, "Rainbow Dash is fantastic " Or, "Rainbow Dash is my favorite!" Or, "Rainbow Dash is so fast!" So, what did I do? I made her a Rainbow Dash sweatsuit complete with "cutie marks." She's in love, but is now asking for a matching stuffed Rainbow Dash. I looked on Etsy and those things are going for $150. Looks like I will have a new project for Christmas.

It's Rainbow Dash! I still need to add the wings.

Me: I made enough on Etsy to buy myself something nice. It has been a lot of work, but it's been really fun. I even made a poncho that looks like an animal (I made an owl, unicorn, monkey, and frog so far), and one for Keith's (and my former boss's) favorite sports teams. The Detroit Lions and Michigan State University Spartans. I'm feeling like a bad mom lately though. Avalyn is driving me insane. I love her, but my goodness, the not listening thing is making me what to rip my hair out. Then when I snap at her, she gives me this lip and cries and I feel so bad for not having enough patience. I'm trying to carve out some Avalyn and Mommy time when Nicolas naps. She wants to play with her "corny's" (unicorns) with me so badly, but I never have time. I need to make time. She's only two once, and before I know it she'll be a teenager who would rather hang out with her friends than her mom.

My plans for the next couple of months:
Keep making things for my etsy store
Paint the little bathroom (I'm thinking a pale yellow and lavender)
Make the office/guestroom more user friendly. There's no room to move in there, it's not ideal.
Help Keith make gifts for his other sister's for Christmas
Paint the main floor - I'm so tired of the white.
Make a desk in the living room for a family computer, Keith is that age now and with all of these horrible stories of bullying and suicide rates going up - I am a firm believer in monitoring internet/computer usage
Rebuild the PC so we do have a family computer

Anyone else have big plans, or have a busy life without realizing it?