Weekending, briefly

I must go to bed. I have to be up and at work early to finish prepping for the testimony I'm taking Tuesday morning, but I'm in such a good mood and I have these pictures I just pulled off my phone and the baby is kicking me and I've promised myself (and JP) I can share my little iPhone snaps and trivial stories in 5 minutes or less. He already knows that really means at least 15 minutes and he appears to have settled back in with his own laptop, probably to do important things like update his books and respond to client emails, so I'm going to type quickly and look serious because I'm doing important business too.

We had a lovely weekend. It didn't start out that way. I was in a terrible mood on Saturday. Terrible. JP was gone for his 7 hours of coaching crying children under the hot sun, and for some insane reason my brain decided I was deeply jealous of this because he wasn't here, he wasn't home doing laundry and dishes and organizing (all things I don't actually mind doing) with our children (who are awesome and whom I love deeply). No, I was doing All The Things and he had it better and I was crabby and yelly and when he got home with a sunburnt smile for his family, prepared to immediately jump into yard work (something I have never, ever done) in 100+ degree heat, I promptly bit his head off and decided I needed to leave the house to run errands for a while. I literally drove away wondering what on earth was wrong with me while also feeling entirely justified with whatever I'd just said. I'll go ahead and blame the baby here because she can't defend herself and I can't really believe that I could possibly have been in such a foul mood all on my own, but thank goodness JP is used to shrugging of moments of temporary insanity after growing up with his mother (not something I'm thankful for often), so all was well when I got back home a couple hours later.

Even if what I came home to was proof that JP is often the better parent than me. After 7 hours in an outdoor pool with screaming and crying children, he came home to jump in our pool with our own screaming crying children. Because they asked him too and he loves them and misses them so much all the hours he's away coaching, something he'd just been regretfully pillow talking to me about the night before (making my yelling at him on Saturday even more awesome, but let's not dwell on the past).

 

He gave Claire a swim lesson. Through her tears, she went through all the objectives and even managed to swim freestyle a good 10 yards by herself! JP is a genuinely incredible coach, and gives directions calmly and firmly over the sobbing, even on lesson #15 for the day.

 

I contributed by not yelling at anyone and sitting with my feet up on the chairs by the pool, even managing to sit so still for so long that a butterfly made its home on my running shoe (or really, "running" shoe).

 

I also volunteered for the indoor post-lesson cuddling while JP did yard work.

 

I did make dinner, but only because I did a countdown in my head and forced myself off the couch to do it. And then I made big fat chewy chocolate chip cookies because I wanted to eat the dough. And so the day ended on a much higher note than it started.

Today, JP and Landed headed out to Landon's new Sunday reading camp at TCU. JP said it was so weird to be back in a college classroom, and even weird to be there with his 6-year-old son, but Landon sat proudly in his seat with a big grin on his face. As JP said, it was like a flash forward of Kindergarten, and though he didn't love school nearly as much as I did, even he felt a little wave of nostalgia for himself and excitement for Landon. The camp went very well- we have some homework to do each night until the next class and I am just as excited about it as Landon. Assignments! On ruled paper! I love it.

Claire and I headed out on important business of our own. First to the Starbucks drive-through for some foffee (tall nonfat nofoam chai for me; tall water for her, but she calls it her "foffee" and sips it while wearing her heart glasses in the most awesome way), and then on to the depressing Garden Ridge store that is grungy and always eerily devoid of shoppers but also oddly filled with perfect things for my house. I hadn't been in months, but today, armed with $100 in leftover monthly budgeting dollars we came away with a trunk full of treasures. Most excitedly, these two canvas prints for our new dining room. They are PERFECT and they were $10/each, as pulled from the bargain-priced, but generally overwhelming "damaged" item aisle.

 

I can't see the damage, but they are going to look great in the space, as are my fun decorating balls that will go in the beautiful Tiffany & Co. glass bowl we got from my very best childhood friend and his family at our wedding and have never showcased properly. Now they sit proudly in the middle of my appropriately sized table in my new official dining room and I couldn't be happier. We also snagged a long thin canvas to fill the wall above the bookcase in the new play room, the perfect four big frames for the art in baby 3's nursery, the even-more-perfect wicker bins to turn my former romance novel bookcases into baby bookcases with liners that match the weird pinky peachy color of baby 3's art, a tall brown wickerish bin for the duplos sitting in the corner of our TV room (which Landon pointed out on Friday "don't look good like that mom, they need to be in something." Yes, child, YES! May All The Things always be in bins!).

 

Claire and I were so thrilled with our finds, we immediately retired as shoppers for the day and returned home. Our work in the Fort Worth area strip malls was done.

I made lunches, the boys came home and ate them with us. JP and Landon finished the outside chores while I did a workout video and Claire watched/participated. We all swam in the pool and then we all watched The Lion King. We assembled Landon's basketball goal (bday gift from Papa and Gigi) and JP tried to teach Landon to dribble.

 

As Landon very seriously informed me on our drive home from his first day of outdoor YMCA camp, "Mommy, in basketball, we throw the ball in the holes with the nets, we do NOT throw the balls at our friends." Clearly, someone had mixed up dodgeball and basketball and Landon was passing the wisdom of his camp troupe on to his family.

 

After a dinner of hamburgers, corn on the cob, and pasta salad (and cookies), we took Landon's new birthday bike out for a spin. He was delighted with how well it matched his helmet. I'm delighted at how my most important teachings seem to be rubbing off on him.

 

Claire rode her birthday bike too.

 

Filled with the joys of 10 hours of sleep on Saturday night, a relaxed family day spent together (I am a 1,000% better parent when JP is there to parent with me, I also have way more fun and patience and get way more kisses, it's an everyone wins situation), and the happiness I always feel when I walk around my beautiful old neighborhood, I was close to bursting with love when I took this picture.

 

I can't wait to see a third little bike riding between them in a few years.

 

So then we can take up even more of the road than we already do.

 

And now, not exactly 15 minutes later, it's off to bed to rest up and maybe not yell tomorrow. Happy weekending everyone.