Did you know that a square can be a rectangle, but a rectangle can't be a square?

Wow, again with the fun week! I have to say that our time was more relaxing this week than with Give Kids the World. We had nothing to accomplish and nothing planned to do, so that made for just good down time. The kids wanted to swim as much as possible, so holding in account the weather, we were in the pool as much as we could be.

It’s going to be terribly hard this next week or two, getting the kids into the swing of school. It’ll be about getting them back on a sleep schedule, up every morning, and the work they’ll have to be doing. I’m not sure which I dread worse, the load I know Nathaniel’s taking on in the 4th grade this year or the actual work Rachael will be required to do compared to the easy go of it in kindergarten. My hopes are that we will transition smoothly back into school mode and I’m confident that the kids will rise to the challenges ahead of them. Please just add a little prayer for all the kids that are heading back, that they will find friends, that they will be receptive to the teaching, and that they will appreciate the gift that they have to be healthy and able to attend. Yeah, that’s asking a lot. Perhaps I should modify that…..please pray that my kids don’t lose their gym clothes, they don’t have to be moved to a desk in the hallway and that we make it through at least the first week without a “red light”.

Why is it whenever I warn the teachers that Rachael’s a “talker”, the teachers always sort of laugh and roll their eyes at me? I think my mom would know the answer to that one!

We only managed to get to the beach ONE day of our entire condo stay. The pool was 10 steps away outside our door and it was just too easy and convenient to jump in the water….I don’t know about the rest of the world, but to me it’s a LOT of work to bundle everything up for 3 kids to go hang on the beach. Penny Hawkins, Nikki’s mom, her friend Cindy and their collective 5 kids came down to spend the day with us and we did finally make our beach trek. It was awesome, the kids had friends to play with, I had friends to talk to, the kids LOVE the water and sand and it was just a celebration of what it means to live by the ocean.

I took a moment to think about the fact that the last time I was on a beach was just days before Peyton’s diagnosis…days when she had cancer in her body and we had no idea. I had to go back and look at the pictures and remember that the last time Peyton played in the sand, she had a full head of hear (full for her, anyways). We were such a different family then, my time with them was so different….it gives me the chance to reflect on the ways that cancer has been GOOD in our lives.

The mom’s weekend retreat started with just one mom, Carmen, coming down on Friday. We went out for a bite to eat after Pete and the kids left, we bounced around the beach and went to bed too late….I guess the grown up version of a fun sleepover, the only thing we didn’t do was call up boys and hang up on them. Then 7 more moms showed up on Saturday and we had a full house. Kay Bertoch, my future co-mother-in-law, as I like to think of her (since I do have a mental arranged marriage between her son Cody and Peyton) and Dana came over with bags and boxes of the most incredible Italian food for us for dinner. THANK YOU, Bertoch family! We tried and tried to get them to stay to eat with us, but they just dropped the food off, spent a few moments chatting and then hit the road to watch the Buc’s game.

And we chowed.

We chowed hard.

It was good stuff.

We just spent the rest of the night talking….sometimes about cancer-related stuff, a lot just about our lives. We played a fun game….where we learned that “a square can be a rectangle but a rectangle cannot be a square”…I kid you not that we finally had to get out the computer and google whether or not that statement was true. It’s true, but I know some are still doubtful.

It was truly just a magnificent time to spend together in getting to know each other better, we had two of the newer moms come, and it was awesome to get them involved and give them a chance to see that we’re not depressing and how important that get-away time is to just recharging your spirit. We missed a lot of our friends who weren’t able to make it, but we had a full house anyways.

We’re already planning our next get-together, game nights and grill outs…MaryAnn from the Children’s Cancer Center made the comment that in 15 years she hasn’t seen a group that is as tight as ours is. We are not just a support group anymore, these are friends. I think that taking the time to get together outside of the CCC is so important to building those relationships. I truly hope it’s a habit that all the moms stick with, the ones who are in treatment, and especially the ones who are new and need to understand their never alone in what they’re going through.

Some moms left, but there were 5 of us to sleepover and they were so awesome to get up (I was the last lazy bones up and moving) and helping me get cleaned up so that we could leave today. I’m sad to see the week over, we have enjoyed our time to much, but I’m looking forward to getting home and back into my routine.

Monday is the jump day for school, I know the kids are excited to get back with their friends and to get involved in all the stuff….sports, dance, chess…it’s crazy. After we drop off brother and sister to school, Peyton and I have to boogie up to the clinic to check counts.

Back to a schedule!

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
—Anissa

ps….for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to see the videos I made a while back, “The Face of Childhood Cancer” or the “Mayhew family video”, I finally figured out how to embed them on the side…they’re under the “Videos and other jazz” link…aptly name, don’t you think?

p.s.s. I also updated the photo gallery with lots of pictures of our day at the beach with the Hawkins family.