Bank Trip and Machu!

So on Thursday, we got home from the 5k at 7pm. (Ben's comment was, "I'M STARRRRVING!!!!") The next morning, when the bell rang to start school at 8am, we loaded the same 11 kids up in the bus for a Math field trip! We have been learning about checking accounts, savings accounts, foreign currencies and exchange rates, and simple interest. We though that would make a perfect trip to the bank to see the inner workings! The kids had written questions on index cards, and I loved the things they asked! Francis was definitely most intrigued with the giant safe and the swipe card to get into certain doors. They also loved the machine that counted money! We were all tired, so we made it a quick trip - just to the bank, to get ice cream (and drinks/chips for the poor other 26 kids we left at home!), and we headed back. We did Spelling tests on the way, and when the kids heard we were going to miss Reading class, they begged me to take The Secret of the Indian and read them 2 chapters on the way back. And then...they all fell asleep for the rest of the bus ride home!

Hey there, Mr. Bus Driver!

Here we go (in our Macha 5K shirts!)

On the steps ready to go in!

Questions, questions, and more questions!

Seeing how the ATM machine works!

In other news, we received a new orphan this past week! (We waited to post as we were working out some details on his age!) Machu is a 6 year old sweetie whose mother died during childbirth. Another orphanage provided formula for him, so he grew well, but his father died a couple of years later. He was living with his grandmother, who died last Monday. The family (Stanley's uncle - he is Stanley's first cousin) brought him to us the next day, and we took him to Social Welfare. And now, 6 year old Machu is ours!

Unbelievable that we have 31 kids at New Day now! We have room for 3 more boys and 6 more girls!

Macha 5K - our first race!

Today we competed in our first ever 5K race! It was at Macha at Push the Rock Zambia, and we had a blast!

I run in the mornings about 1.5 miles, but Blu hasn't run (aside from soccer) in forever, so I made him stay with me the whole race!

On the bus - nervous! (Caedmon's face!!)

Me & my girlie ready to run!

Pinning on Caedmon's number - he was so nervous! His mama was too!

The "before" shot! (We took Grades 5-7, plus Staci, Debbie, Teacher Melvin, and Mama Yolantah's son Josh.)

Stretch....

Our 3 oldest girls (Sisi, Machila, & Cynthia) were ready!

Caed & Misheck at the starting line!

Ben & Muchoni ready to go!

Cambree & Laurie ready to (ahem) run!

Me & Staci ready to go!

Teacher Melvin stayed toward the front the entire race!

These two ran holding hands (for the 10 meters that they ran)!!

Lots of people at the starting line!

At one point, we came up on our big girls (and Ben) and hung with them most of the rest of the race!

Run girls run!

At one point, these two found a random guy and gave him money and asked him to go into a shop and buy them water and gum!! We finally found them at the end with the bicyclist who brings up the rear of the race!!

Finally at the finish line - it's a sprint!

But they obviously had a blast!!

That one time we had to wait for the cows to cross the road...

Is it ever going to end??!! I was tired!! There were hills, and LOTS of sand, and I am used to running at 5:30am in the dark and cool, so this was tough!

I can see the finish line!! Finished in 34:43 for my first 5k!

Kelitah was so proud to have beaten Teacher Darbi! (She ran the entire 3.2 miles in her socks...)

Deb at the finish line!

Go Staci go! She ran the entire thing without walking! #ididnot

After..I don't think Cambree broke a sweat!

Caedmon did great - ran it in around 27 minutes!

Door prize time, and Cambree wins!

She was SO excited!

Debbie won too but couldn't get up to accept it!

Laurie won a prize too!

And Staci!

The "after" shot - we did it!!

And in other random happenings this past week - the New Day kids did a ballet...pretty sure this is the last time Justin will be in tights and a tutu!!!

Caedmon built a BIG fire for our Sunday evening campfire with our team!

He spends a lot of his free time drawing!

These two having a lazy evening on their iPads!

I found this old picture of me when I was 8 and realized how much Caedmon does look like me!

Laston going for a spin!

Mama Loveness with her hands full!

Priscilla came to visit with Baby Buumi!

Our kids came in from the 5k and went to sleep at 7pm!! A Math Field trip tomorrow for Grades 5-7 to the bank in Choma to see how it works - fun fun!