I usually don’t let my kids bring toys into stores. You can imagine why. This time I’m not really sure what happened or how she snuck it past me, but Adelaide brought in a little (cheap) jewelry box she got for her birthday a month ago. All fine and good, whatever.

Problem is, she ended up wanting me to “hold” it, but then decided to put it in the little velcro pouch on the outside of the Old Navy cart. I didn’t pay it that much attention and, unfortunately, it wasn’t until we were picking up the big kids from my sisters’ apartment that I realized that box was still in the (now abandoned) cart, 20ish minutes away.

The other problem is, I had no idea what was actually IN the box. It could have been anything. The kids are not typically allowed to play with my jewelry but sometimes they still do. I had no idea if there was anything valuable in it and that alone forced me to figure out how we could get it back. I called the store and the VERY SWEET manager found it and put it up at the counter for us. We were going to be out that way again later that day so it wasn’t too much of a hassle.

Take a peek:

Yeah. I sure am glad I went all the way back for a broken Nerf dart, a knob off one of our glass-doored bookshelves, and a stroller clip. I’m sure my life could not have gone on without such treasures in it.

Anyway, when I got to the hospital and checked in, the receptionist said to go to the info desk for directions. I asked the guy standing there and he said “Pulmonary. I gotta get you a chair.”

He left and a few minutes later came back with a wheelchair.

A WHEELCHAIR. I looked at him, said “seriously?! For an asthma test?!” His response was “well, they want you to have breath by the time you get up there.”

Um, okay.

I felt SO SILLY being pushed around the hospital. I could hardly keep myself from busting out laughing and had to bite my lip to keep from doing it. I felt so utterly ridiculous, being quite capable of walking and all.

(Except, after a few minutes being pushed around, I realized what he was talking about when we went hallway after hallway after hallway (where IS this place?!) with no end in sight. Yeah, I probably WOULD have been out of breath by the time I had walked to the moon Pulmonary.)

And also? He pushed that chair FAST.

The test itself was no big deal and I was out of there within the hour.  Which was good because Wednesday is my shopping day and there was still plenty of the afternoon left for that.  (Andy was off and he had the kids. Nice.)

Today we’re going swimming and then Madeline has her 5-year check up (she doesn’t know).  I started reading her Pippi Longstocking yesterday and so we’ll bring that.  And I’m sure we’ll stop to buy a watermelon and a Sonic slushie on our way home, as a post-check-up treat.

Apparently I aged 10 years last night as I slept.

Happy Mother’s Day. Hope you are younger than your kids think.

The bedhead continues.

Drew’s snowman CRACKED. US. UP.

Don’t know if you can tell, he used a nail file for the nose.

Genius.

And, I probably should also mention that the two who play as dogs are just as obedient* as Max.

(*rolling eyes)

Madeline makes the best one… she just crawls around with her tongue out, panting, and won’t say a word. Drew, on the other hand, tries to keep organizing things from his perch on the floor. We constantly have to remind him that dogs don’t talk.

The ‘kennel’ is Drew’s closet. They even knocked down a folded-up Pack N’ Play to use as the gate. It’s most funny when Adelaide is the master and she’s ordered the big dogs into the kennel with her bossy little two-year-old voice. And then she slams the door.

(And I may or may not encourage them to play in the kennel for hours on end. It’s a little quieter around here when they do.)

***Edited to add: some have told me they get a “deleted” message when trying to view the video. I can see it from firefox and I know others can, too. So I’m not sure what’s up… if you can’t see it, well, I’m so very sorry.

First, the context.

When Andy and I first got married my sweet aunt and uncle gave us their old living room furniture. It was basically a navy and white scheme with stripes and flowers (many of you will remember it well). Then, a couple of years ago we used our tax return to buy updated living room furniture (i.e. some without stripes or flowers). I was planning on selling the old stuff but that turned out to be a dead-end road.

So we gave it to our church. It has lived ever since in the Lower Pod (otherwise known as the perfect place to spend a Wednesday morning). Every once in a while Nicky and I would find ourselves sitting in Women’s Bible Study happily perched on our old sofa or loveseat. And she would occasionally dig around in the cushions and find stuff that we had long lost and forgotten. I myself would never so much as stick a pinkie down in such a disgusting abyss.

Her findings provided endless Bible study entertainment as well as a chance to get really good at not laughing out loud while the pastor was teaching on, say, Ecclesiastes.

After we moved I pretty much forgot all about our old couches until the mail came today. In it was a package and a letter from Nicky:

“…so I was sitting on your old floral couch in Bible study, thinking how Bible study just isn’t the same without you. Then, for old times sake, I stuck my hand down in the side and lo and behold I struck gold! I even found an unopened SoftLips to replace the one Drew ate the other day!”

The package included the aforementioned SoftLips, a tiny blue piece of the Settlers game, an old cassette tape, and one of Andy’s German notecards:

You cannot even imagine the level of laughter around mailtime here today. A big thank you to Nicky, that package was just about priceless. I may even need to go hunt up the ‘Maintenance Chart’ now to go with it.

Oh, and I’ll include an ‘after’ picture. This is what Madeline has been up to while I’ve been typing:

Most of her newborn hair has fallen out and I trimmed off the old man mullet. No Dade County hair in this house! I’m sure those thick locks will now be growing in full force.

Madeline:
She will get her own post, as usual.

Drew:
I have no idea how this came up during dinnertime conversation, but it did. (And yes, I have Andy’s full permission to reveal what I’m about to.) I must have been teasing Andy for his naturally-tinged yellow teeth. And working on colors with Drew and Madeline. So I asked Drew, “Drew, what color are Daddy’s teeth?”

He thought, furrowed brow and everything, for a minute and then,

“brown.”

We BUST out laughing. I think they had to scrape me up off the floor.

Drew: “Madeline, she drop my bug!” And twenty seconds later, “Madeline, she broke my bug!” Obviously, Madeline ain’t so gentle-like. All she cared about was the part that glows, naturally.

The adult conversation instantly turned into this roleplay of the local lightning bug convalescent ward. Andy: [cue wobly bug voice] “Hey Ed! She getchya too?!”