And That's Why We Call It The Circus

Madeline was a little cranky Monday, which we attributed to the normal challenges of Sunday (no morning nap when you're at service!) and to the extra excitement of hosting a gathering for the Super Bowl. (It's really a pity I don't have photos of that, because it was pretty hysterical to watch our girls offering pretend pie and cake from their kitchen to a bunch of PhD students who were trying to watch football.) The real cause of the crankiness became clear, though, in the middle of Monday night, when Madeline woke up, sick. Poor Daddy had just gotten into bed after finishing a paper when he was summoned to help with the aftermath...

We muddled through the night and awoke Tuesday morning to find that our middle of the night laundry -- including Madeline's lovey, Yaya -- hadn't finished. The washer had given up. (Fortunately, the washer is under warranty. But no one from Sears can come out to repair it for more than a week.)

We muddled through the day much the way we'd muddled through the night. Daddy stayed home to help mitigate the chaos. Friends loaned us their washer so we could at least finish those sheets. (In case you were wondering, we couldn't hold out that long on the lovey, so Mama had washed it in the sink with boiling water.) And everyone survived.

But today, things were undeniably looking up.

Although Madeline woke early and slightly cranky, she and Mama spent an extra hour snuggling and sleeping in the guest room bed. And by the time they made their way downstairs, they were both in reasonably good spirits. Madeline snuggled in on the sofa for a round of "Signing Time" while Mama set about baking some chocolate chip muffins with the leftover steel cut oats from the weekend. The muffins had come out of the oven, tasty and chocolate-y when Daddy and Kathleen came downstairs, and we ate a family breakfast. Daddy headed off to school, and the girls and Mama played some Candy Land and some Go Fish and a number of imagination games (everyone took turns at being the doctor and Angelina Ballerina and various Disney princesses).

Madeline, all snuggled up and watching "Signing Time."
You can tell she's sick because she's actually still.

Kathleen enjoys a chocolate chip muffin and the Sunday comics.
Why she was so interested in the Sunday comics on Wednesday morning, we'll never know.

Madeline begged for a bottle at naptime, and Mama reluctantly gave her a bit of milk, which she seemed to stomach just fine. By some miracle, the washer decided to work and was immediately pressed into service. Kathleen and Mama worked on more crafts. Nan and Grandpa called to say that they'd found bunkbeds on Craigslist, and that, if we liked them, Nan and Grandpa wanted to give them to the girls. Wow! We did! We do! (Big girl beds arrive tomorrow!) Kathleen and Madeline even rested at the same time in the afternoon, allowing Mama to fold that beautiful, clean laundry while watching some DVR'ed shows. Perfect!

By the time dinner arrived, even Nan had noted that we ought to buy a lottery ticket, things were going so well. Everyone was looking forward to supper since it was a circus favorite: breakfast for supper. The girls stood on the chairs in the kitchen and helped as Mama made fruit salad. Kathleen cracked the eggs without getting any shell in the bowl, and before we knew it, we were done. Daddy arrived home just in time for us all to sit down together. Beautiful!

And then Madeline threw up on the dinner table.

And in the chaos of clean-up, Mama put all her clothes into the laundry. With the cell phone in her pocket.

And that, friends, is why we call this the circus.