Quick 5-- Happy Friday!

Hi Friends.  What a gorgeous week.  Thanks to my friend Tori's dedication to her "Quick Five"-- I am inspired.  So here are five things that have been keeping us busy this week.

1.  Monday I took a trip to Lincoln while the kids were at daycare.  My mom and I had a great day together shopping and having lunch.  I do love South Pointe mall!  It was a nice distraction and a great time.  This was their last day of daycare for quite awhile.  I can't risk Tucker getting sick, and I love having them home.  I didn't realize how much I would love the "summers off" part of my job!

2.  We had Tucker's pre-op appointment Wednesday.  We saw his pediatrician for a little physical-- to make sure he's not sick or doesn't need any medicine before surgery.  She gave him the "thumbs up."  Then she held him for awhile and turned to us and said, "It's going to be hard."  I prefer my denial so we just smiled and nodded.  Thursday we went to Children's Specialty Clinic for a pre-op blood "draw".  It ended up being a finger poke, and took twice as long to drive there, park, and check in than it did to actually have his finger poked but I am not going to complain about incredible medical services down the street.  Dave came with and we had fun playing with Dekker and making jokes with each other.  I married one funny man, who can seriously make any situation better with his humor.  Here are a few pics from our adventure:

All this for a little finger poke!

That's a real tear!  So sad!

He melts my heart! He was really a trooper.

3.  Thursday morning Tucker got up super early.  He was UP from his morning nap by 9AM, so we headed to  Natasha's Clubhouse at the church.  It was great!  The kids learned about the Rainbow House, then we had a Bible story, made a snack and made a craft.  Dekker is on the young end of the crowd, so he required some help (like reading a recipe and measuring ingredients!) and little man was needing some attention, so a few sympathetic Mom's with wonderful older kids helped Dekker bake.  I met one mom who was really nice and just loved on Tucker all morning.  I hope I get to go again this summer to see her!  We also exchanged our library books Thursday, and had a front yard picnic.  Both boys napped all afternoon.  It was a great, busy day.  (P.S. Check out the Stonebridge 5K coming up this weekend!  You can still register, but probably won't get a shirt.)

I love the way these two interact!

4.  I recently read, in one day, a book about packing your house for survival in the event of a disaster (natural, terrorism, or other).  It was incredible.  I got turned on to this author thanks to this blog post-- another great read about how to pack a little bag in your car to help you get home in the event that you are at work or away from home when a disaster hits.  The book was a little anxiety producing, and I seriously prayed all the way through it that God would help me keep perspective and remember that He will be with me no matter what happens in this life. Call me crazy, but I'm just saying that it's not a bad idea to be intentional about keeping some water, a poncho and a good pair of shoes in your car, or a weather radio/water/extra formula/meal replacement bars in your house.  This author suggests that you pack your goods in a backpack at home, so if you have to leave quickly everything is in one place.  We would abandon home in a very worst case scenario, so I am going to start with a tote at home and car bag and go from there.  I already found some good stuff he suggests second-hand on Craigslist in the camping section.  And now you think I really am crazy :)

5.   We had "Memory Verse Monday".  I have been thinking about this more and more, especially because Dekker can all but recite a book by memory after we read it to him three times.  His little mind is such a sponge.  So I bought a little 2 & 3 year old Memory Verse book at Parables last week and am trying to keep it simple.  Am I the only Mom who avoids this stuff because I think it has to be an all morning amazing event?  Instead, we did a little lesson, seriously 30 seconds, and finger painted a coloring sheet I copied out of the book, and learned the verse.  This week it was Genesis 1:1.  We keep a copy of it on a note-card by his books for before nap and before bed, and another copy of it on the fridge-- and randomly all day we practice it.  It is adorable to hear him recite it, which he is very proud of.  Here's to being more intentional about memorizing scripture-- it will be great for Dekker and Mom!  Any other mom's of preschoolers out there want to join us??  Click here to see the book we are using.

Next week is obviously a big week for us.  We appreciate your prayers so very much.  Surgery is scheduled for 2PM on Wednesday, June 27th.  We check-in at noon.  Big thanks to our family and small group and friends who are taking great care of us-- and making sure we feel supported and encouraged and well fed and that Dekker is taken care of and having fun!

On the journey,
Stefanie