Photo Gems and Other Updates

I uncovered a few more camping photos from other people that were just too good not to share, even after a very lengthy stream of photos that have already been posted from our trip.

If you're wondering whether those pasty arms and shoulders pictured below ended up terribly sunburned, the answer is yes. #ultimatemomfail

In my defense, I was left stranded on the dock with a particularly rambunctious 1-year-old and with no control whatsoever over the sunscreen situation (or lack thereof). Graham was finishing a nap in the truck when D & G took off on the boat, and the nap wrapped up pretty quickly. Somehow, nobody thought to look for us. So, an hour later, I hoisted Graham on my shoulders and hiked around the lake until we could track them down. Once we found them, the first order of business was screening up those already-red arms. Not a real highlight of the weekend. #notbitter #notatall

Gavin's first time driving the boat

G doing some roasting on his first night of camping with Dad.

When you just need the comforting embrace of a big cousin.

Triple decker!

First time fishing!

All the boys on a bug hunt...Gavin's favorite part of camping.

Switching gears, we have had a great little Wednesday over here. Typically one of my least favorite days of the week, this one has played out a-ok so far. Dylan has been able to stick close by today, and he even sent me off in the morning for a kid-free trip to the gym...a place that I hadn't visited in over a week. We all teamed up for swim lessons followed by a family lunch at Panera and a shopping spree at Target. And now, we're just kickin' it at home. My kind of day.

And if you're wondering about the latest with the house, well there isn't much to know. We were planning to lower the price after a couple of weeks, but now we aren't going to do that for a little while. If lowering the price drums up interest and then the house goes under contract, well, it could interfere pretty severely with one of several carefully laid-out summer plans. On the other hand, if somebody wants to pay top dollar for this house, then I say be my guest and ruin the whole summer. Seriously.

In reality, it looks like we'll be here for at least a few more months. Real estate doesn't tend to change hands very quickly out here in the Rio Verde Foothills. I can live with that. And since Dylan says that he's moved every single time during the heat of the summer since coming to Arizona as a college kid, then maybe we can do this one when it's a few degrees cooler. Back in 2009, our house closed a few days late and messed up plans. Dylan was left with a large moving truck packed to the gills with furniture and stuff to unload by himself on a hot July day while I was at work. So, I owe him.

In the meantime, I'm going to put my formerly favorite past-time of cruising Zillow to the wayside. I think it just makes me frustrated because I've only seen one or two "perfect" houses, and of course they get sold. (Yes, the one I posted about with the awful backsplash has sold. It was so perfect...) It's one of those things that I have to recognize is largely out of my control, and whatever will happen will happen. It's like the Serenity Prayer that they say at AA meetings. You know the one..."God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference." In fact, I should probably apply that adage a lot more to my life. Like, a LOT. Heaven knows I'd probably sleep better at night!

Emergency!

It has been a week that, if not necessarily physically busy, was very mentally and emotionally so. First, the house has officially been listed. Woo! Keeping this place show-ready will prove to be a challenge when I live amongst the universe's biggest slobs and I'm not such a neat-freak, myself. (Let's not sugar coat it...the level of slobbiness around here is off the charts. I [usually] love them all despite the mountains of mess they leave behind.)

Okay, but the less happy news was that I received a text while at work on Thursday that my dad was headed to the ER because of chest pain. No bueno. Somehow, my mom, my brother and me were all able to meet him there within an hour. The four of us from the core family get together almost never. There's nothing quite like an emergency to get us all in the same room at the last minute!

I was off work 15 minutes after receiving the text, and I was able to get ahold of Dylan to ask him to kindly cut out of work early and grab the boys for me so that I could go to the hospital. By the time I got there, they were just finishing up with my dad in the ER, and they rolled him right on up to the cardiac cath lab in record time. The procedure took quite a while, but the good news was they found the blockage and were able to place a stent while they were in there snooping around in his arteries. No further surgery required. Dad came out feeling almost totally fine. Heart attacks are super scary but a good dose of reality check.

To put it into perspective, let's talk about how much worse things could have been. Dad began having chest pain that morning, while on a houseboat on Lake Powell with his buddies. They were due to come back home that day, and his pals did most of the packing up so he could rest. Then, he felt better. When they made it back to town, they dropped off a buddy in far north Scottsdale, and then he felt sick again. So, he asked his other buddy to take over driving. Then he felt worse, so together my dad and his friend, both MDs, decided the Thompson Peak ER should be the next stop, with boat in tow and everything. His buddy has been an ER doc in Scottsdale for probably 35 years, so he knows some people, and Dad got right on in. (In truth, anyone with chest pain is never asked to wait.)

If this had happened at any time earlier in the week, things could have been much worse. I'm not sure the quality of the medical facilities in Page, but I'm guessing they're not awesome. And even still, it takes a few hours to get off Lake Powell, even in the speed boat. (Fun fact: my dad had chest pain and what turned out to be a mild heart attack on Lake Powell when I was a teenager. The lake seems to be the common denominator when it comes to my dad and trouble with blocked arteries...) While my dad was on Powell, my mom was with her friend in Nashville. She had flown in a few hours earlier. When my dad was resting in his room after the procedure, another friend who was on the trip, also an MD, called him to tell him to please be sure to get in to see the cardiologist tomorrow. My dad told him the situation was taken care of...he was sitting in the hospital with a fresh stent in his artery. His friend was a little blown away, but relieved, I'm sure. There's just so much about the timing of events that makes my whole family feel very grateful that today my dad is home and feeling well.

You know what else came of this? A random Friday night road trip for D and me. My parents had tickets to see Darius Rucker at the Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, but after the turn of events, that wasn't going to happen for them. My mom insisted that we use the tickets and that she take the boys. Trust me, I wouldn't want someone else's two small children in my home on the day I was released from the hospital, one day post-heart attack. But, over and over, my dad said he felt fine and that they really wanted the kids, and that they really, really wanted us to use the tickets. So, OK! We headed north on Friday afternoon and stopped in Anthem to pick up some summer duds at Banana Republic factory store. Then, we were off to Cordes Jct to have drinks and dinner at my brother's bar and restaurant. (Did you know my brother has a bar and restaurant? It shouldn't surprise you...his ambitions and business ventures are varied and far-reaching.)

Going to a concert at a casino pavilion was an experience. We don't go to many concerts as it is, but this setting was a first for us. It was nice being outdoors, and it wasn't too big. The opening band was fun, but Darius Rucker took FOREVER to come on because his lead guitarist had fallen down (or something?) and had to go to the hospital. So, we stayed for 5 or 6 of his songs, and then it was wayyyy past my bedtime and we were far from home, so we called it a night. Going to a concert at a casino two hours away is not an opportunity we would seek out on our own, but since it presented itself to us, we thought it would be a random and fun way to spend an evening. We weren't wrong! As usual, the best part of sending the kids to spend the night with my parents is the next morning. So, we are enjoying an uninterrupted cup of coffee and some peace and quiet right now, and it is nicer than nice.

And what would a blog post be without a few photos of my children?

In an instant, Gavin has become obsessed with Duplo Legos.

We took advantage of a few days of cooler weather to go on one last neighborhood walk before it's too hot to even look outside.

Sunscreen nose! And look! He's actually wearing pants.

Ok, onward with the weekend. Let's hope things calm down and just stay normal. Unless it's a good kind of abnormal...

Chapter 3: Sunday, De-Hoarding

My apologies, as the various chapters of the weekend were not published in order. You'll discover, however, that it doesn't really matter.

On Sunday, we dropped off our boys with my parents bright and early. Actually, Dylan dropped them off, and I got right to work. Originally, we had hoped to squeeze in a bike ride while the kids were gone. And then it became just a gym trip, which then was whittled down to a morning jog. Which then became no exercise at all. Because we had our work cut out for us. It was time to unpack the guest room closet, dressers and desk.

I'm sure you'll believe me when I tell you that we had stuff stacked almost to the ceiling, and you could hardly open the door to the closet. Yes, that is the contents of just one closet, and that's not even all of it. Yet again, we dropped off another truck full of donations, and our trash can is overflowing. It was a lot of work, but it feels so, so good. I'm confident that I won't be putting myself in this situation again, hopefully ever.

Before I go any further, though, let's talk about the fact that I'm a recovering hoarder. I found an entire drawer full of Saguaro High School t-shirts. Also, a boombox with a CD and tape player, a discman, CDs and cassettes, my pager from eighth grade, a Nokia phone from high school and an Apple Newton. And many, many, many artifacts from my childhood. It was fun to revisit these memories, but I've learned that we don't need material things to hang on to our past. So, off they all went. Memories are fun, but life is about the right now.

As we work toward getting out of this house, it's starting to feel like the end of an era in a very, very good way. I don't even know the 27-year-old person that I was when we moved in here. Back then, I didn't know anything about anything. In the last eight years, we've endured our share of heartache and hardship. Not an unusual amount of the tough stuff. But just enough. And of course, all the good things, too. I went to school for a lot of years, but I've never learned more about life than I have since we got married and moved into this house.

We've hated jobs, lost jobs, quit jobs and started new ones. We've taken turns being unemployed, sometimes by choice and sometimes not. We got our first dog and our second. Had our first child and our second. (How this can up-end a life is a post all on its own.) Along the way, we've had health issues and lost a couple of pregnancies. There were the string of tenants from hell that lived in our condo. We've been separated by geography a lot of the time. We've been bored and busy. We've made a few good decisions and plenty of bad ones. We took some cool vacations, spent time with friends and family and developed new interests. We've learned to take better care of our minds and bodies. Just like anyone else, we've had some hard hits and a few lucky breaks. And with that, I've thickened my skin and learned to respond to disappointment with grace. I stand a little taller and feel a little prouder. I know that everyone else is out there fighting the good fight, and we're all just doing the best that we know how. Every day, we figure out a little bit more than we knew yesterday.

I always tell Dylan that the 40s will be our glory decade. We'll still feel good enough to do all the things we enjoy. Our kids will be school-aged, and hopefully we'll be in career situations that are tolerable if not fulfilling. We'll be well-established adults, and that will feel good.

But, as we all know, life can be unpredictably short, and nothing is a guarantee. And, just as life isn't meant to be lived in the past, neither is it meant to be lived in the future, and so I'll choose to focus on the right now. It will be a tough year, but with an end game in mind, it won't be so bad. I'm just so glad to be who I am, where I'm at, and on this journey with the three boys that I call my family. We have so much good to celebrate. So, so much. I am tired, I have more lines on my face to show for it than I did at 27, but right here and right now, I am so much better and so very grateful.

A Book Review, etc.

I try to read a lot. Sometimes it happens for me a lot more often than other times. I did, however, just finish this book the other day.

I've read a lot of books that I've enjoyed, but I've never felt so compelled to share with the (female) world what an enjoyable experience I had while reading this book. Every night while I would read it before going to bed, Dylan would remark that he couldn't wait for my next laugh out loud moment. Few things make me LOL, but Mindy is hilarious on a variety of levels. A true creative genius. And I don't just love her because she is a minority female killing it in Hollywood (which is almost reason enough to love her), but she is real, she has good stories to share and she's LOL hilarious.

A couple of excerpts and/or descriptions to guide your judgment on whether or not this book might also be a good fit for you.

- "Luckily, I was not born a white man.*"

     *This has never been said before in the history of humanity.

- An entire chapter of email correspondence between the Mindy that Mindy imagines she would have become if she stayed in New York and that Mindy's colleagues. Specifically, this Mindy is a Latin teacher at a private school in Manhattan, and she sends mildly inappropriate emails on her work account, and it is just the best.

- A detailed description of how chasing a crush who was a member of President Obama's staff played out over several months. Also, she met the Obamas. She went to the State Dinner and a handful of other White House events.

- A Day in the Life chapter, with an hour by hour recap on her incredibly grueling schedule as both a comedy writer and the star of the show. She takes cat naps in the writer's room and eats McDonald's. She's so unashamed about her love for McDonald's, and I love her for that. For the record, I've sworn off McDonald's, and I understand that it is gross and really bad for you...but deep in my heart I still love it and find an excuse to eat it a couple times a year. I love her for loving it shamelessly.

- A whole chapter on the body image thing and the praise that she receives for being a regular-sized person, which she thinks is kind of weird. She's fine with how she looks, but she's not completely at peace with it because she is, in fact, a product of modern society. (And I totally get that. I'm a full-blown feminist-love-your-body-type-person, but I think that being as skinny as a movie star would be awesome...and that is wrong on multiple levels.) Anyway, her point is that though she'd like to be skinny, she says, "I cannot imagine a life more boring and a more time-consuming obsession than being preoccupied with watching what I eat." I hear you, sister. Live your life. Rock on.

- This diagram of what's on her mind.

- Her Harvard Law School Class Day Speech in its entirety.

- On being asked about how girls, especially young girls, can be confident like she says: "The truth is, I have never, ever, ever met a highly confident and successful person who is not what a movie would call a 'workaholic.' We can't have it both ways, and children should know that. Because confidence is like respect; you have to earn it." Ugh, I've spent so much time lately trying to be mindful, making a point to enjoy quiet moments, and trying not to let life pass me by while I'm caught up working (at a job, or otherwise). And now, Mindy says I have to work harder. Great. Seriously, though, I get what she's saying. If I ever stumble upon a job or just a hobby that I'm passionate about, I will work very hard to feel good about it and good about myself. I don't have much leftover energy by the end of the day to feel passionate about anything right now, though. Except maybe blogging. Sometimes.

Okay, I guess that about wraps up the book review. This was her second book, actually. I saw it on a reading list. I can't decide if I want to try out some fiction before I read her other book. Usually I alternate between the two. Anyway, it's just a book suggestion...take it or leave it!

And as far as a family update, Gavin's last sick day was Sunday, and he's been mostly back to normal ever since. Graham still demands to be held a lot, but he's got more personality in his tiny body than I ever knew was possible.

Our organizer was here all day on both Monday and Wednesday. The bathroom and closets look amazing, and she did have time to clean out one kitchen cabinet, too. The truth? It was grueling and kind of awful, and I didn't even have to be here for a lot of it. It forced me to get rid of SO MUCH STUFF. Like, two minivans full of stuff went to the dump or was donated. In the end, it was worthwhile, and she definitely knew a lot of organizing tips and tricks. I know that living in a clean, uncluttered space is supposed to work wonders on the soul and peace of mind. So far, I find that to be true. But we have so much house, and so much more stuff, and the thought of doing more organizing is painful. Also, our goal was to minimize and declutter in preparation for moving in the next year or so and also to make the house look nice so we could put it on the market. So...having our toiletries neatly organized under the bathroom sink isn't actually ALL that important right now. We just have to really commit to decluttering the rest on our own. And whatever doesn't look good, I will just shove in a cabinet because right now, I don't care about drawer dividers and things being neatly folded and arranged by category. When I'm somewhere more permanent, I'll care more, but right now I'm just focused on getting out of here. I can't imagine you're even still following me right now.

So, I'll begin the wrap-up process by posting a few photos.

Three days later, he found the golden egg!

Gavin's own extended straw invention.

Craft time. i.e. making a gigantic, annoying mess while I worked on the kitchen with Rachel, the organizer.

This can't be a safe play thing, but a cute pic nonetheless.

My mom's birthday dinner at our house tonight. 

After Graham finished his dinner in the high chair, he just put himself right in the mix with the cousins. Guy just wants to be part of the action.

Cousins and besties.

One day left till the four-day weekend. It's amazing what a dramatic decline my enthusiasm for work has taken lately. I don't even know what is behind that. Seriously, anyone can do anything for just two days a week, right? But honestly, I'd prefer to be digging a ditch for eight hours than talking to 125 different people on the phone. #dontcallme



Kind Regards,

Trying to Buck Up

Cancelled: All Weekend Plans

Happy Easter! We've spent the weekend cleaning up vomit and fishing diarrhea out of the bathtub and power-washing and sanitizing almost everything we own. Repeatedly. Fun!

Poor Dylan was on his own when Gavin projectile vomited in the truck. If I was a normal person, I could have rushed out of the gym and been home in 10 minutes to help. But nothing is only 10 minutes away from where we live, so he was on his own. I found the carnage in the driveway upon my arrival after Dylan took the power-washer to the carseat and floor mats. The child had been bathed and the carseat cover and other things were running through the sanitary cycle. Luckily, they were only 15 minutes out when the incident occurred, and they turned right around and went back home. But still, 15 minutes is a long time to hear Gavin screaming and howling. (Who wouldn't scream and howl if they had to sit in a pool of their own vomit for that long?) In the words of Dylan, the car vomit is the "most underrated emergency."

And then there was the time that Gavin got sick all over In 'n Out Burger on a Saturday afternoon. I have to say, those In 'n Out employees are really incredible. Everyone was SO nice and gracious about something so disgusting. We were placing our order when it happened. I was holding Graham, so Dylan whisked Gavin to the bathroom in seconds, leaving his card in the chip reader. I straddled the vomit so the other patrons would know to avoid it, while the three (3!) employees garbed up in legit hazmat suits and masks. It was a whole procedure, and they used some white powder material to first cover the barf before proceeding with the next steps. It took FOREVER to clean up, and I would have been more embarrassed, except that I apologized to everyone around me a 1,000 times and everyone was very nice and empathetic. After visiting the restroom to clean myself off a bit, I finished the transaction like everything was totally normal, except that I changed our order to be to-go. We would have never taken a sick kid into a restaurant, except that he wasn't acting sick, for once. He was so excited to get in the car and go somewhere, and he was dying to eat French fries at "the cheese sandwich store" after not eating anything for two days. It was the first time I'd seen him have any energy. And then he went and barfed. Anyway, I collected our food, and Gavin still had a hankering for the fries, so we sat outside and ate instead of driving away with our tails between our legs.

In 'n Out, thank you for being so nice to my barfy family!

We cancelled our county fair plans with my parents and with Shawn and Luke on Friday. We cancelled having Jess L. and the boys over to play on Saturday. We cancelled Easter plans with cousins. Gavin stayed home and rested and fell asleep on the couch a couple of times, which is how you know he really does not feel good. Graham recovered after one barf and two days, but as it often seems to go with Gavin, it hit him harder. He's on his fourth day of throwing up, this time in the car with my parents, but it wasn't bad because 1) they were in our car and not theirs, and 2) Gavin finally used the bowl I've made him bring everywhere as a vomit-trough, and he used it successfully!

Easter morning! Not pictured: Graham. I think he was crying.

There he is, and with a smile!

Wearing his emesis basin before it had been used for that reason.

To see this little guy sick again saddens me on a very deep level. He had really turned a corner lately, and his teacher noticed him being much more social and energetic. He would come home and talk about things I've never heard him mention before, like riding trikes on the playground. He'd get so wound up and wild sometimes that I'd think to myself, Calm down kid. But then I'd be so relieved to witness him being a normal, rambunctious 3-year-old. I didn't notice how disconcerting it was to me to have a low-energy child until he wasn't anymore. With this bout of sickness, we've seen a return of that funky rash that brought us into the pediatrician's office a couple months ago, but in a much more localized spot. So, if he doesn't bounce back to being energetic again soon, I might be exploring whether there's something we can do figure out what's going on and to help him feel better.

Gavin felt good for a few minutes this morning. Good enough to go on a half-hearted Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Afterward, in a split-second decision, we sent the boys home with my parents. If any grandmother is fearless enough to take on a sick kid, it would be my mom. Hooray for her! Besides the sickness, we've had a certain 1-year-old that will not allow us to put him down lately. Like he makes a bloody murder scream (a new ability he just discovered!) and rolls around on the tile in any second we are not holding him. And then you pick him up and he's back to smiling and acting goofy. But good ol' Jude is never intimidated by barf or crying, and we were v. happy to get a break.

With our newfound freedom, we decided to go on a bike ride. Even though it was hot, even though we haven't been sleeping good, and even though both of us have been nursing a much milder case of Gavin's illness. We wondered if we'd regret it, but we didn't at all. We actually felt better when our blood got pumping.

My most favorite things to do are to snow ski and mountain bike. I believe I've mentioned that. In the last two years, I've skied one time, and neither Dylan nor I have gotten out on our bikes in a couple of months. With the season for biking quickly coming to a close, we figured this might be our last chance. I know this isn't the phase of life to worry too much about the kinds of activities that I, personally, like to do. Especially when those activities completely exclude small kids. But, still it's important to do these things, I think. I'm not getting any younger, and with time passing more quickly the older I get, it makes me sad to think of all the things I'm not doing lately. I guess I'm the only person that can do anything about that.

BUT MOVING ON...

We did sneak into a house in the Scottsdale Rd and Cholla area before the In 'n Out incident when we thought Gavin was on the mend. And by sneak, I mean we went inside the vacant home under legitimate circumstances. It was a flipped home, staged and ready to sell, and it was super awesome.

The house is on a full acre, so it has a giant backyard that would accommodate our travel trailer and more. Also, it's in the Cocopah/Chaparral school district, as opposed to the whatever/Horizon school district, like many nearby homes. (I'm not that anti-Horizon, but I'm Scottsdale born and raised, so my preference is Chaparral. Even being a Saguaro Sabercat, I'd have to go with the Firebirds over the Huskies on this one. However, the school district thing isn't a deal-breaker or maker for me.) The backyard also has a pool and a waterslide and a ramada, like the ones at the train park. And stuff for horses, which we would remove ASAP. Inside, there is a fabulous wet bar, where we could host our neighbors for a night cap. Since, obviously, we will be doing that all the time. I have big, grand ideas about this sense of community we will be a part of once we live in a neighborhood.

On one end of the house is a fantastic master suite, complete with a fully jetted tub and a GIANT closet. (Who knew you could find a giant closet in a 1960s home??) There are also two other rooms...one an office and the other I don't know. Maybe a craft room or reading room? Or just a room on a lock to which only I know the combination where I can hide out when everyone else is making too much noise?

Apparently walls have been torn down because it has a nice, open floor plan. It also boasts an oversized 3-car garage that is actually the size of a 4-car garage. And THEN, it has two really, really big rooms on the other end of the house. One, perfect for the boys to share. Because even if we buy a 17-bedroom house, the boys will be sharing a room. The other big room has it's own entrance to the outside...a perfect guest room. It is a spacious home with three full bathrooms and perfect in every way...

Except...

Though it was flipped and updated, the materials they chose in the flip were very cheap. I would be sad about having cheap cabinets and cheap countertops and cheap everything. The walls have a fresh coat of paint but a totally 1960s texture. Gross. Not that I'm a total home materials snob, but I am, just a little bit. The kitchen island has a contrasting countertop, which I am all about, but it didn't contrast enough to really work. Plus, it is quartz made to look like marble, and anything that looks fake sucks. Quartz is fine, but just go with white or black. (My preference is white, if you're wondering.) And, the backsplash they chose is that awful white/gray/black pattern on the tiny tiles that was popular like five years ago, but which hurts my eyes every time I see it. I hate that backsplash, and I don't understand how people who invest in flipping homes still find it to be a reasonable choice. (I'm sorry if you have this backsplash in your home.) Hey, people who flip homes listen up! Go with white subway tile in every kitchen and bathroom. ALWAYS. Unless you want to add a special flair, and you really know what you're doing, and it doesn't involve stone. Please and thank you.

Do you even know which ugly backsplash I speak of? It's this one.

This is a picture of the actual kitchen in the house. Again, I'm sorry for my strong feelings against the backsplash if that is in your home. Please notice the not-quite-contrasting-enough kitchen and island countertops.

If we bought this house, we'd be totally tapped, and I'd probably pick up an extra day at work and still we couldn't afford to change anything in it. Which is fine. It's completely livable and checks off every box. Huge garage, huge yard to accommodate the RV, a large master closet for me, perfect guest quarters, plenty of space all around, very nice and livable. Also, a waterslide (Gavin's requirement) and wet bar (not a requirement, but fun nonetheless.) I'd have to change out the awful kokopelli sconces on the outside, but I could probably scrounge up some spare change for that.

The other major BUT is...

By the time we're ready to buy a house, somebody will have already bought this one, so this won't be the place we call home. Unfortunately. (I really, really love this house. Like I really do, and I'm deeply sad that we've looked at it and now I can't do anything about it.) It does, however, give me hope that we will find a place to live that is comfortable and that we actually like.

I don't know if it's a bad thing to be checking out homes when we're unprepared to make an offer, but I think it's okay. It's been a really good learning experience. I think if I had waited to check things out until I had the $$$ to put in an offer, then I would have bought something that I regretted. Anyway, are you okay with hearing about this (extremely slow) home selling and buying process? I'm sorry if it's boring, but it is life right now. Tomorrow, the professional organizer comes for five straight hours of dirty work. So, be prepared to hear about that. It should be riveting.

And with that, I have to say that this was a very lengthy and extremely loaded blog post. Sorry not sorry. Back to business as usual!

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.

Highlights

We've got a whole lot of the same to tell you about in our lives. Short on sleep and free time, big on love and laughter. So, I'll just stick to the highlights from the week.

I had happy hour with Anne. We had our eyes set on the new Postino but landed at Ra because Postino was insanely busy. Great by me...I got my rare sushi fix!

Gavin found the perfect spot to watch the excavators building the new Shake Shack while we waited for Dylan to pick up the boys.

Let's see...other than that, I was happy to get back to the Babymoon group after taking a couple weeks off due to illness, I had a visit from the Bolics (the parents of my dear friend, Lexie), my stitches came out and I was so glad to get those itchy bandages off my body, and I made some progress re-doing my living room so it's not such a hodge podge of junk. Best of all, I had both boys down by 7pm last night, allowing for the most free time I've had at home in ages. Previously, Graham wasn't falling asleep until about 9pm, which is just when I would start to nod off, too. I won't expect it to be the new normal, but I'll take what I can get. I signed up for Netflix and have an episode of Fuller House under my belt. It was cheesy, as you'd expect, but I liked it! (Also, as you'd expect.)

We've had lots of time at home having fun on the patio and around the neighborhood in this beautiful weather, including dance parties, grilling steaks and riding tractors, of course.

Sweetest little guy!

Serious face

Bubble blaster!

Love this face

Throwin' shade

Bop on the head

I left for an hour the other morning and Dylan found a neighbor to give Gavin a tractor ride. Perks of living in the wild west.

We have a week with no Dylan on the horizon. No fun! I'll have no hope of getting any exercise, but I'm brainstorming ideas for keeping the boys and me busy. We will make the best of today, though!