she's seen better days, as have I

We had a small reunion this morning with Madeline. Apparently, she's been "sleeping" in the field behind or house since, oh, maybe mid-Summer? She's been sorely missed by miss Mary, so the reunion was sweet. Unfortunately, what I thought was dirt actually looks like mold growing under her "skin". I'm not sure we'll be able to get her back to her formerly cute, pink cheeks. She's whipping around in the washing machine right now. I tried hand-washing, but nothing was working...I figure how much more damage can the washing machine do? I'm not sure she'll ever make it through the spin cycle though because Mary has pulled a chair up to the washer and keeps lifting the lid to check on her...

My morning began with a quick stop at the gas station before heading to IKEA with the girls for some long-overdue Christmas returns. As I was coming around the corner of the building, another girl came flying around the corner towards me. I had to swerve a bit to miss her which caused me to slam my right front tire into a cement curb. When I stopped to get gas, I checked the tire, which is now sporting a 50-cent piece sized bulge. Perfect. A consult from my dad and then the tire store shows that I now need a new tire. ugh.

I was on the cell phone with Dan, driving to the tire store, practically in tears over the frustration of this kind of annoying spending, my children were fighting and screaming in the back seat over a bag of pretzels, almost coming to blows. It was one of those pull-your-hair-out mother moments.

So anyway, plans were changed. No IKEA until the tire gets fixed. I don't think I'll risk a blowout on the highway with my two girls in the back and little babe in my belly. I'm sure I'm being overly cautious, but it's not worth the 99 cent kid lunches in IKEA's relaxing cafe.

Oh, and these two are still at it, pretending to give each other shots. I overheard the one pretending to be "Molly" say, "Get it out of me!". C'mon. Do I really say that??!! I can't believe it. Maybe during labor, but not during shots. Where do they come up with this stuff?