A bunch of stuff...

1.
Our van is dead.  Actually, it's more mostly dead, but it will cost more than it is worth to fix it. This is devastating to me.  I know that we are in the market for a school bus anyway, and I know the old van is a filthy, banged-up, outdated, and did I mention filthy? jalopy but....I loved it.  In light of the monster we are about to buy, it looks sleek and.....really easy to park.  I had hoped to spend many a school day tooling around in the old "dusty camel" as it is affectionately called.  (The nickname comes from the time we were heckled about our unkempt car.....by churchmen hosting a drive-thru nativity.) It makes me sadder than is maybe reasonable to think about putting the Dusty Camel to sleep....

2.
We are in the market for a 12 passenger van.  This is deeply unexciting to me.  I am terrified of the logistics of driving such a gigantic van. The cost of the gas alone is enough to make my knees shake.  Plus, you know, I'm not exactly a stylish-car kind of gal, but I never quite pictured myself at the helm of an industrial vehicle.  On the plus side, it will be nice to fit our entire family in one car!  And for the first time in about a gazillion years, we will have an extra space for anyone who would like to ride along with us. (And really, who won't want to be seen cruising in our party bus?)

3. We have not had a single illness-free week since Christmas.  Christmas!!!  Claire is on antibiotics now and I am hoping against hope that we are finally done.  I finally understand what drove poor Jasper to chew up the walls.  I'm about there, myself, these days.

4.  This is how our first day of Lent ended.  Very appropriate, let me tell you.  Full day of school + multiple illnesses/injuries + mass close to bedtime = ugly scene, indeed.

5.
Early this winter, I was in need of a hat for Ruth that wouldn't slip over her eyes but wouldn't cut off circulation on her big ol' bobblehead, and that would keep her head warm without making it too warm.  So one afternoon I knit one, and it has been her signature look ever since.  I put it on her the other day, after a while of not needing it, and :  whoa!  This baby is growing!