A Tale of One Mom and Two Boys

The house paint is done, and we've moved back home. It was a lot of work putting the house back together and going from this...

to this...

But it looks so much better than it did before. And to compare, I found this picture of Gavin dancing in his undies on the breakfast bar. Try to focus on the paint color, not the undies.

I like being in this house wayyyy more than I did before, when it was brown. And though the color we chose is not going to knock the socks off of any potential buyer, I also don't think they'll find it offensive. It really helps to brighten things up, which this place needed. BIG TIME.

Many thanks to my parents, who kept the boys at their house for three nights and all of us for two. And then, after all that, they kept the boys all day on Friday so we could get the house back together and clean the dust off of everything, and then they hand delivered them back at home with dinner, too. The MVPs of the week, for sure.

In the meantime, we clocked some time in the hot tub. Well, not me, but everyone else did.

We also dug up this photo of my dad from the late 70s. Holy short shorts!! Can you believe this guy was somebody's doctor? Wearing his infamous favorite Hang Ten polo and holding fried chicken in one hand and a beer in the other, you can just tell he is all about having a good time.

We also went to the art fair at The Scottsdale School, which was so cute.

Continuing with the fun and games with Nonna while we were working on the house on Friday.

As far as the last few days, the boys and I made it through- just them and me- reasonably unscathed. Dylan spent the weekend in Telluride, and since he's the most popular person I've ever known and constantly has to turn down invitations to do fun things because of work or because of the boys and me, I told him he should go. He's a good dad, a good husband, a hard worker and a good person, and he deserved the time away. I'm glad he got to do it, but selfishly speaking, I wasn't excited about the prospect of a weekend on my own with the boys. I'm no stranger to weekends on my own, but lately (and luckily), Dylan has only had to travel during the week. That is tolerable because I do much better on some sort of regimented schedule with these boys. So, I could put on a fake smile and pretend to be a better person and a better mother than I am, but instead I'll be authentic: me + the boys + nobody else = not my favorite way to spend a weekend.

We did lots of time at the gym, where I grabbed a shower every day. Because being naked in public while my kids are in child care is less annoying than keeping kids entertained and safe while I get the job done at home. We took two trips out of the house each day in order to accommodate a nap for Graham and to also stay busy and fill the time, which translates to about two or three hours in the car. Fine by me because driving = barely parenting. One time we even took a trip to just go buy toys. I usually don't support buying things for no good reason. Especially now, in this season of decluttering and minimizing. But I didn't know what the hell else to do with these kids, and when Gavin spent over an hour with his new kinetic sand rock crusher thing once we got home, I knew it was the best $20 I had spent in a long time.

Forking a strawberry has never been more hilarious

Just keep crushing that sand, G

Breakfast is always an adventure in this house

BEAST

I'm having a hard time keeping this guy from putting himself in precarious positions

The weather was nice, and the boys were pleasant. We did what we needed to do, and I refused to let myself feel trapped in the boonies. Overall, it was pretty sweet, and I was able to spend a lot more time enjoying myself with the boys than I had imagined I would. I'll have to adopt the IDGAF attitude more often, and just do whatever keeps us sane. Even if that means an hour round trip to spend too much money on plastic POS toys that will clutter my house and teach my children to place too much importance on material things.

Thankful for weekend morning cartoons

Team walk

Stopping every couple minutes to fix Graham's engine

Another pit stop to pick a flower for Mom. What a sweet boy.

Ugh, I will definitely have some backwash in my favorite water bottle.

This keeps them entertained for a while and laughing the entire time.

My parents stopped by today for a few minutes after dropping the boat off across the street, and my mom snapped this sweet pic of me and G2.

Sometimes, in this time of life, it's all about the bargaining to get the sweet, sweet time to do as one pleases. It's not romantic, but it's necessary, and it keeps everyone refreshed and liking one another. I'll get a night on my own at The Westin Kierland and some after-work dinners with friends, which should be plenty to keep me smiling and functioning as the best version of myself. #adealisadeal

I should catch some kid-free time in the car this week so that I can get back to S-Town. I'm about half way through the series, and it is GOOD. With a 3.5-year-old asking me the meaning of every sign we pass on the road, it makes it a little tough to concentrate on a podcast, so I've had to put my listening on hold. The Sunday Blues are nowhere to be found around here. Dylan is expected back tonight, and we'll be back to business as usual soon.