what will this day bring???

That's God's business, I suppose. Worrying about things won't help in the least, although it can help us be more careful. Take Mali's accident, for example: She was 18 when she got her license, and had been driving for two years. She could have gotten it when she was 16, but we like the kids to get as much experience as possible first. And I told her and told her and told her about back roads, and being careful, and not going too fast. Yet, she still crashed the car. We do what we can, but I can't forget that it is God who pulls the strings.

And shh don't tell Abigail, but I am kind of glad this happened to Mali. Because although a car is worth lots of money, the lessons I hope she learned are priceless. Mali really thought she was a goner. She thought she was going to die. She didn't lose consciousness at all, but when she crashed, she thought she wasn't going to be able to get out of the scrunched up car, and she smelled smoke, and thought that it was IT for her. Just to have that experience that life is so temporary and we are so mortal, is something I could tell her and tell her, but. And. I am really really hoping that she sees that God has a plan for her life...to me, it was like, "Wake up, Mali!!"

Anyway, my nerves are getting back to their usual calmcoolcollected selves, ha. As long as Benjamin stays safe and sound over there on his Afghanistan vacation....But seriously, God does have it covered. I just need to breathe deeply, trust Him, and battle against those thoughts of worry....because, as it says in Matthew, it doesn't add one cubit to one's life, whatever a "cubit" is.

Yesterday's field trip with Jon's second grade class: amazing. Here's the thing: I haven't really grown up yet. Either that or I can just magically revert to any age I am with, because I laughed at their jokes and played, "cheese touch", which means if you touch someone who doesn't have their fingers crossed, they are IT, with the cheese touch! I did draw the line at playing Sissy Fight, and stopped them from playing it too. I did let them sit three in a seat instead of two, and backwards so that they fell on the floor when the bus went over a bump, it was very funny. I gave them gum on the bus if they promised not to spit it out on the floor, the word spread fast that someone had gum, so I ended up giving it to like 10 kids. We sat near the back of the bus, and I told them not to be too bad, or we would get in trouble and have to sit in the front seat on the way home. The museum itself was kind of boring, we had to sit through two lectures after the hour and forty-five minute bus ride, and I was more antsy than the kids. The kids are so funny, and they don't even realize it. When the curator gave the welcome speech about museum behavior, she mentioned the concrete floors and not to run, ect. One little girl raised her hand and told about how she fell on concrete one time and scraped her whole leg...She was told firmly to keep comments to things that apply to the rules that were being given. Anyway, my group and I had way too much fun. In one room, we thought the best part was turning on the light and pretending we were blowing it out when we switched it back off. The bones and fossils were really cool, but we had too much energy to concentrate too much. Lunch time was nice. The kids were instructed to throw any lunch they didn't finish directly in the trash, as they could not bring anything back on the bus. Chase T. said to me, "these crackers are expensive. Can you put them in your purse?" Of course I could, along with Konner with a "K"'s graham crackers. And Jon's fossils. And Brice's cheese crackers.

Anyway. Today, I have to bake a hundred+ cupcakes. And clean up around here since I went shopping after the field trip yesterday. And the older kids who were here all went to Cleaning at church, and left a dinner mess behind...for me, I guess. No fair, I said, I was out shopping to get the food for the snack bar at this coming conference weekend, and I come home to...a messy kitchen. blah. Today we are going to have a chore list after school!

The food is mostly bought, just need soda and water and fresh rolls and chicken....I think I will save that for tomorrow, and stay home today.

Abigail is without a car, luckily Emily is on vacation this week. The only vehicle here is the huge van, but if Em wants to do something, she can use it.

Camille is playing Fisher-Price little people, the kind they don't make anymore. We only have a few people left, but lots of buildings and the school bus and the boat and an airplane. It is all over the living room, the kids got it out when we were away for the weekend. We just clean up around it....

We stopped at the library yesterday and I got a stack of books...wouldn't I just love to go burrow into my comfy bed with those books!

Emily and I, and Kathryn, Evelyn, and Suzanne did the shopping yesterday. We got a Domino's pizza to eat in the van, I had ONE piece. Bacon, green peppers, and pepperoni. We spent hundreds of dollars on stuff for our church grill...I go to lots of different places to get the best prices on stuff, so our prices can be low and we can still make money. It is too much work sometimes though...because then we have to go unload it all before going home, and I get tired.

Today, I hope I am staying home. The pool is not opened yet, the filter is all fixed and running but I need to buy more chlorine. blah, I do not want to go to Walmart...

blah blah blah, right?