Decompression

I need a new routine. When it's been a long day at work followed by the usual nighttime shuffle (and preceded by a night of highly interrupted sleep), I'm usually left with an hour or two to myself. Instead of plopping on the couch, I find that it's hard to slow down, and then I start prepping the swim bag for the next morning and tackling the dishwasher...and then pick out outfits for everyone for the next school/work day and start picking up for the cleaning people (which is obviously better than having to actually clean)...but both things don't happen for two more days!

Then, I turn on re-runs of The Middle, which is in my top three all-time favorite shows because I'm simple like that, but I don't really watch it. It just makes me happy to hear the sound of the Hecks while I pitter patter around the house. Eventually, I make time to blog or read or watch a show, but I usually nearly fall asleep before I finish whatever I'm doing. On the other nights, I am doing a much better job at turning off the motor in my head and taking a freaking chill pill almost as soon as the two Gs are down for the night. But when I need to decompress the most, I just can't stop. Thank goodness the grind is so short so that I don't lose my marbles before every weekend.

Anyway, I've finally stopped, and here I am. Since my last check-in, we had an over-the-top 40th birthday party for Eric. Anne outdid herself, as always, and we were all well-fed and quite possibly over-served. In fact, most people didn't leave the party house until the morning because we kept things safe and legal and slept it off before driving home. Sunday was really something. It may have been the laziest day I've had since Gavin was born. It really helped that the boys didn't come back home until around noon. Then, Dylan and Gavin went to see the Lego Batman movie in the afternoon, and I never made it out of my comfy clothes.

It's hot, but luckily not too hot to keep the boys outside, where they stay entertained for 25 times longer than they do inside.

I wasn't too tired on Sunday to take a thousand pictures of this guy...

...being the cutest thing...

....ever.

EVER, ever.

By Monday, I was ready to move again. G2 and I hit the gym and a well-check (good news...he is well!), and after a nap, we headed back out with the big brother for a playdate at the park.

Oh. That's what all the noise from inside the pantry was all about.

I never pass up a chance to snuggle with this one.

"Painting." Such a fun idea.

Pit stop for some Booty.

And now, at the risk of sounding like a broken record...Dylan left on a trip, we did our school/work thing, and we will be happy when Thursday evening rolls around again!

Also, my mom checked in on Gavin's baseball practice today. Dylan went one time a couple weeks ago and watched, too, and the pictures and videos are so cute. The only evidence I have that he's really doing baseball is the charge to my credit card every month, since I can never get much info out of Gavin. (Today when I asked him how school was, he told me, "Miss Ali said I put my pants on backward after the potty.") So, it's nice when someone checks in on things every now and then.

I'm not familiar with this warm-up exercise, but I'm no professional baseball player.

And with raw talent and ability like this, not to mention his obvious enthusiasm for the sport, I think it's safe to say, "Major Leagues, here comes Gavin!"