The first week of school isn’t over yet and we’ve had :
1. One lost spelling book
2. One lost pair of socks
3. One scheduling mishap
4. 3 meetings, 1 clinic trip, 1 chess champion and a partridge in a pear tree
The lost spelling book was found pretty quickly, the socks are gone for good, I’m sure, and the scheduling mishap was resolved pretty easily.
The kids are getting into the groove of their classes, they are enjoying a fairly easy week of adjustment. I won’t even candy coat this one…Peyton is LOVING it that the kids are back in school…. loving it! She’s been so happy with just having me around, we’ve bopped each morning to a meeting of some sort, then we come home for a snuggly nap (which we’re both enjoying) and then we feel up to picking up the kids so that they can rowdy things up again.
I went to pick up the kids from after school care and Rachael came right out, but no Nathaniel. We waited…still no Nathaniel…interesting. I finally found him in the gym, with a veritable mob of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, trying out for volleyball. I had no idea he was going to do that, in fact, I had no idea there were tryouts. He did really well and I’m sure if it was just a team of 4th graders he would be a shoe-in, but there’s a big size and strength difference between 4th and 6th grade, so I’m trying to ease him mentally into the idea that he might not make the team this year…just based on his body mass index. He told me he’d be upset, but understood…especially because “those 6th graders hit that ball like a rocket!” We talked about remembering to be thankful for all we do have, that he’s healthy enough to try out, that he has two legs to stand and play on, and that he is able to go to school and exercise his brain. That reminder helped ground him on it a little bit…. he is still 9, after all.
He’ll be finding out if he made the team tomorrow before lunch. Pray that he makes the team, and if he doesn’t, pray that he is able to take it in stride and be thankful for the opportunity to try again next year.
Rachael is just a bundle of giggling energy at school. People always say the same thing to me about her, “She has the best laugh”, and she really does. When she laughs, she just sparkles. She and Nathaniel went to chess class after a quick dinner and we had to RUN to make it on time…. just to find out that it had been set back a half hour so the kids were way early. Nathaniel was on the winning team, he’s serious and intent and focused, and just thrives on the competition. Rachael is busy gabbing with her classmate Brianna from school who is also in the chess class and they are playing this leisurely no-pressure game. I hear her saying “That was a good move, Brianna, and your hair looks really pretty today.” She just cracks me up with her kind little spirit. Nathaniel got a ribbon because his team one first place today and Rachael didn’t get one, but she told me that she was going to keep practicing because she wanted lots of ribbons…”enough ribbons that I can fill a purse with them.” We all have our own motivation, I guess.
They are both eagerly looking forward to their first tournament that is offered in October. Coach T let me know that everyone who participates gets a ginormous trophy, so that’ll be worth it!
After all that fuss about being bald and looking like a boy, Peyton’s got a permanent 5 o’clock shadow on her head! It’s very faint, and you have to look REALLY hard, but I can see the little hairs that are working to grow. This is so exciting and it feels like the barest peach fuzz on her scalp. This should be THE hair…the hair that she gets to keep forever!!!! I’m still crossing my fingers on the curly hair because it’ll be adorable, but any hair at all will be great. I’m hoping that it comes in nice and fast over the next year so that when she starts K4 next year she’ll have it long enough to wear some “hair pretties” in it.
Ahhh, it’s good to make plans!
Please don’t forget to keep the Cure Kids Cancer Challenge, benefiting the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, on September 29th in your prayers for a successful day and that the Lord will bless us with kind hearts, good weather and just an overall celebration of the lives of all these kids.
Please keep Sydney Sims in your prayers. She has been battling Neuroblastoma for 3 years and when she relapsed in the summer, it was devastating. Over the summer she has undergone a surgery, multiple rounds of chemo, lost another heedful of beautiful hair and just been through so much. Her latest round of scans in NY proved to be disheartening, I don’t fully understand all the “lingo” for Neuroblastoma, but it appears that the cancer could be spreading again or it could just be post-operative trauma to her body. I am praying that it is the latter, but if it is not, we NEED to keep the prayers going for this wonderfully spirited young lady and her family.
And we want to give the Lord HUGE thanks for Allie Duckworth. Jacob Duckworth was a boy in our area who passed away from cancer and his amazing family just adopted a little girl from Guatemala. They flew down this week to bring her home, to add a little pink to a family that has only known 4 sons. For a family who has suffered so much and been through such a time of tremendous loss, it is just awesome to see the joy that they are experiencing with their new little girl. We pray for a safe trip home, and a smooth adjustment period for Allie in her new home.
f.r.o.G.
—Anissa
