What We Did This Week...

What a fun and busy week! 

Monday

Sunday night, a friend that I haven't seen for awhile called in the middle of the night and said she was having extreme abdominal pain. She asked if I could drive her to the hospital and take her 3-year old son back to our house until she figured out what was going on. Everything turned out fine, and she is feeling much better, but I left the house at 2:30 AM to go get her and didn't get back home until 5:00 AM, so I was a little droopy on Monday morning. Luckily, Mel was home in the afternoon to go with me to take the girls to the pediatrician's. 

The girls are strong and healthy - Bella is 40 inches tall and weighs 40 pounds; Evelyn is 29 inches long, but I forget how much she weighs. Usually they write everything down for me on a "keepsake" paper, but since both the girls were getting checked out together, it was a little more chaotic. I was especially nervous this time, because I knew Bella would be getting shots for the first time when she would really know what was going on. Evelyn got 3 in her legs and Bella got 4 shots in her arms...I had to hold her down on my lap with my arms in a bear hug around her waist while two nurses held her arms and did 2 shots at the same time (such a great idea, by the way!). Bella definitely cried longer and one of her arms has stayed sore, but everything else went very smoothly. 

Sometimes Bella likes to "suddenly" be shy as a way to get attention, but she was a dream for the doctor! She was so proud to be able to answer the questions and have her little body checked out. She's been trying to listen to my heart all week with her veterinary set that she got for her birthday!

Tuesday

I've been wanting to invite some moms over to my house during the summer for a Bible study. After talking to Trey and Whitney (and Steve!), we thought about sending a flier home in the bag of each child who attends our church's preschool. That was a little nerve-wracking, but I knew I needed to follow this step of obedience, so on Tuesday, I finally got everything printed off and sent out. I've already gotten 6 responses, and I am very thankful that God seems to be calling women to this study! I am praying that there will be at least one "unchurched" mom who may be seeking after God for the first time. Pray for wisdom as I move forward with this study!

Tuesday night, we had a girlfriend from our church over for dinner with her 3 kids. Their family is going through a stressful time and the kids needed a good ol' fashioned break from any drama. We had a great dinner and played on the swing set! It was fun to see this family get to interact in a more relaxed setting.

Wednesday

Today we got our furnace and air conditioning unit completely replaced! Our heater has been in desperate need of an overhaul for awhile now, but we had to put it off until the budget allowed. Our AC was technically working, but we knew it was going to need to be replaced soon, as well, so we decided to just do them both at the same time. The 6 men were here all day long and they were the nicest group of men! I bought them all McDonald's drinks in the afternoon, but I wish I could have bought them lunch! (Seriously, they didn't stop to eat lunch at all!)

The woman that I had helped out on Sunday night called today and asked if she could come over and talk; she revealed that she was leaving her husband and taking their son to a safe location - all without the husband knowing. There are a whole lot of details that I don't know if they're half-true, all true, or just crazy - this is not a woman I know very well, but she needed someone to listen to her, so that's what I did. I tried to strongly recommend that she call a hotline for abused women, but she didn't seem to like that idea. I'm praying for her in a big way, that she and her son can find a safe, stable, and healthy environment. This woman claims to be a Christian, so all I could do was remind her of God's truths (and remind her over and over that I was not an expert in any of this!)

Thursday

This was Bella's last day of preschool! School lasts another two weeks, but we'll be in Florida, so our involvement is done. Today was a little bittersweet for me...Ms. Cheryl and Ms. Ernestine have been so kind and patient with Bella, and have taught her some wonderful "school" skills, but I'm also excited to be free from the long drive and focus on the joy that I pray homeschooling brings us. Bella brought home a super-cute Mother's Day tote for me that she had painted and Ms. Cheryl will drop off her Alphabet Book whenever we get home from Florida. Today snuck up on me a little, so I didn't do gifts for her teachers or anything! I am really praying that I remember when I get home, so I'm able to show my appreciation for all of the amazing things they have done this year!

We had dinner with our wonderful friends, Matt and Caroline (and Baby Jude), and a new couple came over for dessert - Kris and Rebecca Hodges are in CRU, which used to be Campus Crusade. We got connected through a friend, and they stopped by to share about their ministry and how we could support them. It was a blessing to be able to meet this new couple and see how God is using them on our local campuses!

Friday

Packing for Florida! I promise our weeks (especially our evenings) are rarely this packed! I think because we're going to be gone for two weeks, I felt like I had to fit everything in before we left! The girls and I took a break and met Steve downtown for lunch today, which was a wonderful joy!

If you're actually still reading this, thanks for letting me detox! It feels to good to write everything out sometimes, as a way of letting it go.

Tomorrow, we leave for Florida, to stay with my parents while Steve is in Tampa for a bank examination. Looking forward to some time on the beach and a few date nights snuck in there, too! Since we'll be at  Papa and Mimi's house, I may even get to go to the beach alone! Woo hoo!