Two Days In...

It wasn't a terrible week, but it wasn't the easiest. Our master shower is torn apart because of a leak and won't be back in service for at least a week. The playroom is torn apart because it's being tiled, and the furniture and toys are all up and down the hallway. We've kept our neighbor/tile guy, Randy, very busy this week with our minor renovations. On Wednesday, a water line broke, and I was without water for five hours. Graham and Joe got into the wet cement on the playroom floor that afternoon, and Gavin had the most epic tantrum of his lifetime. Wednesday was a day I'd rather delete from my memory for a lot of reasons.

You know what? Wednesday wasn't completely bad.

This guy turned his frown upside down and was a great help shopping for groceries while I wore Graham in the carrier.

I witnessed these boys play together for a few minutes.

And then we all got outside and had some fun.

When I get to spend the day with a sweet face like this...

I guess I can't complain too much.

But then, Dylan flew in on Thursday and picked up the boys, and by the time I made it home, the whole neighborhood was playing outside. We had a very impromptu dinner of fajita breakfast burritos for the adults, which sound disgusting but were surprisingly good (thanks for the peppers, Tom!) and leftover waffles for our herd of boy cousins. Because only kids can enjoy soggy waffles. It was random, it was loud, it was crazy...but most importantly, it was FUN. Thursday is the beginning of my weekend, and we've been smiling ever since.

Dylan sent me this picture of Gavin when I was heading home from work and told me he'd been asleep in the truck in the garage for an hour. He typically does not sleep during in the day, in the car or otherwise. Poor guy has been in a spiral of being sleepless and overtired...hence the atrocious behavior the day before.

We've lived out our Friday and most of our Saturday, and we've packed in a lot of activities, even more smiles, and just a handful of meltdowns. On Friday, we managed to juggle two separate gym trips, an oil change and a visit to AZ Air Time, followed by lunch at Sauce, into one trip out of the house. (But with both vehicles.) We've become strategizing experts when it comes to our commute and fitting errands around kids' naps, etc. Gavin had a great time jumping on the trampolines, and lunch went really well until it didn't. But we were able finish our meals and box up the leftovers before I had to drag one 3-year-old out the door for hitting and shrieking loudly in the restaurant. #success

I love his cautious jumping. Wild man he is not.

Brothers hunting for dinosaurs. They did not get one.

This guy will never say no to a bowl of mac and cheese.

He's perfect in a restaurant, as long as he's given a constant stream of snacks.

During our trampolining adventure, we met another family. It was 10:30 on Friday morning, so we were the only two families in there, and it wasn't surprising to find out that the husband was a pilot. Who else jumps on trampolines on a week day morning? He flies for Southwest, and the mom is a stay-at-home mom to twin 2-year-old girls and a baby. She looked nicely put-together and seemed sane- I wanted to present her with a trophy for bravery, but I'm not the authority on that. We might get together for a playdate some time. #thelifeofapilotswife

Also, we now have a Crossfitter among us. It's not me...and it's not Gavin or Graham. I'm so excited to see how this goes for D. I think it'll be awesome. He promises not to post videos of himself doing chest presses with giant barbells. In his own words, "Crossfitters and vegans are the worst."

After we put ourselves back together, we headed to yet another restaurant. We ate out more in this one day than we usually do all month. With five adults and seven children, Isabella's was the spot to be. The kids ran around in the grass, and we enjoyed drinks and bruschetta outside under the heaters. Since our buddies have started to flock to the area for the golf tournament this week, Nick, Nate and Megan joined us for a drink. The experience confirmed to Nate that he doesn't want to ever have kids, but I'd say all parties had a great time. Again, it went great until it didn't. This time it was Graham- after his second poopy diaper since arriving at the restaurant and my inability to control his whereabouts, I decided I was done and took both kids to the car while Dylan figured out the bill.

A little back story...we signed Gavin up for baseball while he's at school on Tuesdays. We can't get much information out of him about baseball, and I've spent months trying to figure out if the money would be better spent on an extra curricular he might enjoy more. As far as I can tell, though, he doesn't dislike it, so we'll stick with it through the school year. The only thing I've ever heard him talk about are his coaches, Coach Mike and Coach Cam, and he mentioned running the bases one time. So, I bought bases for Christmas, and they were the least thrilling thing under the tree. We have no bat, no mitt, and we don't even have a ball. But, we are equipped to run bases, and bases we did run at Isabella's!

Saturday turned into a fun and unexpectedly busy day, too. Dylan had stayed out with his buddies till 2am, and even though the day begins in this house at 6am, I decided to let him snooze. That is, until it was time for my favorite class of the week. Gavin didn't care to join me at the gym, and I decided it wasn't worth a meltdown to force him into the car. So, I put Graham down for a nap and put the monitor next to Dylan's head, and then I equipped Gavin with an iPad and told him to get Daddy if he needed anything.

I'm reading Jennifer Weiner's biography, and she described her mother's approach to parenting as "benign negligence." I'd say when you're the type of person who's not above using an iPad as a babysitter so you can do whatever you want, then that might be a case of benign negligence. So be it.

I checked in with the guys at home after my class, and everyone was doing great, so I decided that my next stop would be to the TPC to help Aunt Angie get her Puma gear set up for the tournament. It was fun to get an inside look at everything before the masses appear, and I was glad I could offer an extra hand during an insanely busy time. Then I hustled home to feed my face and get ready for the next adventure. My mom had a hankering to hang with the boys and drove all the way out here to do that, which freed us up to go on a bike ride together. I busted all kinds of exercise records today.

And now, we're taking an afternoon and evening to hang in our sweats and possibly even eat dinner together as a family. Dylan took the boys out to drive their vehicles, and I suppose I'd better grab a desperately needed shower before it's time for me to be a mom again. I don't know what the rest of the weekend has in store, but I can only hope for a round of haircuts for the boys (Graham's first!) and more outside playtime.