miracle monday

ok, i meant to have this ready for last week, but my days got a little confused and as i was getting ready to write it, well, i realized it was tuesday. so i figured i would wait until the next monday to write it...and well, that's today.

well, you all know we had our local county fair a couple of weeks ago. we had to be there every day. every morning, and every afternoon/evening. alex's pig went the first day of the fair, haley's lambs went on wednesday. the animals aren't released until saturday night at midnight, so we have to be there every day, a couple of times a day, to make sure they have food, and clean their pens. it was a very expensive week. besides the fact i wasn't able to babysit, the passes we had to get ended up costing us about $100, the gas to drive there twice a day, plus buying a soda/water, and dinner up there...well, let's just say, the money added up pretty quickly and i was getting pretty short on cash by the end of the week. saturday came and i was down to $30. i had my 5 kids, and grace's little friend with us, and it was lunch time. it was so very hot, and i knew they wouldn't eat a lot, so i bought them some drinks, and told them to pick something small to eat, so i would have enough to buy them some ice cream for the long walk to the car. every one wanted a hamburger or hot dog or huge thing of fried potatoes...and i just didn't have enough money (and i knew they wouldn't eat all of that) so i told them "look guys, i don't have unlimited amounts of cash, if you want an ice cream for the walk home you have to get something small...like one or two dollars". as i was getting their orders ready and counting out my money (just enough to get what they wanted...not enough to get ice cream later) a $10 bill gets put in my hand. a man and his wife overheard me talking to the kids and he told me to get the kids an ice cream. "oh no, (i am red faced with embarrassment over being overheard) please, it's ok." he tells me "get your kids some ice cream". his wife smiled, and he grinned. "please, really, it's ok". "get your kids some ice cream" he says. smiling, he and his wife walk away. i said " thank you" and made the kids say it too (they didn't even know what was going on, but did what they were told.).
the people at the fair were some of the nicest and most helpful people i have ever met. these people volunteer their time to set it up, work the booths, and help out those of us (namely me)that have no clue what we are doing.
they even help out frazzled moms (that have more kids than they know what to do with) get the kids a cool sweet treat on a unbearably hot day. (and $10 was the exact cost to get the kids their ice cream)