April and May are typically very stressful and busy months in our household. Mike usually has tons of school obligations which keep him out many evenings a week, I am working hard at preschool, and our kids are super busy with their school work and activities. Anytime my calendar is full and I am tempted to whine, I think of all those days at UVA where I would have loved to have done something besides sit and watch my boys vital signs. Perspective....
One of the joys of this crazy season for our family is Challenger baseball. I am in charge, but I rely heavily on my two guys-Mike and Kyle to keep the game running. I can organize volunteers, set schedules, etc. but I have no skills to teach! Ha! Challenger baseball is one of the joys of our lives. We all love it and love these kids so much.
With Mike's crazy schedule, Kyle has stepped up big time with Challenger this year. Middle school years are so challenging, but I see glimmers of the Godly man that Kyle will be and it gives me such hope. Here he is with his buddy player. It brings me such joy to see Kyle on the field sharing his love of baseball.
Each game day all five of us are out on the field and we love it! Hope helps wherever she is needed and she loves helping the little ones run the bases. Mike is my umpire and he helps David with all his equipment. I love watching David play Challenger and give it his all. God has blessed us with awesome volunteers that show up faithfully to help these kids have a great game day experience.
This little love is super busy these days prepping for her piano recital and also a dance recital. We did dance pictures this week and what an experience that was!
Kyle has been working hard on his basketball in the off-season.
It is also SOL test season for our boys. Hope is not old enough to take any yet, but the boys are working hard. Dave has yet to pass one SOL but bless him, he works so hard preparing. Today our Dave brought home a certificate for the A/B honor roll. To see how excited and proud he was over that certificate made me want to weep. I know that he has had lots of accommodations to make that happen in his regular education classroom, but kudos to his teacher and special ed teacher for working hard to meet his needs in the classroom and making him feel so smart. My heart overflows thinking of what our public educators do on a regular basis for kids. They are superheroes. Here is Kyle helping David study for an SOL.
We have also had a little time for some fun hiking with friends. We have been so thankful for these gorgeous days and time with friends.
I am so thankful that when life is full throttle and I am tempted to pout I remember that there were many days during treatment that my day was wide open except for watching David and worrying. I will take a full schedule over lonely hospital days anytime!
Recently I was blessed to be able to speak at a Women of Valor conference. It continues to blow my mind to see how God has worked in our life and how I am now being given opportunities to tell others how God showed up during the hardest days of our lives. I never take those opportunities lightly and I am always blessed by these conferences. I never want to stop bragging on how God has blessed our family. Some may look at us with a special needs child who also got stage IV cancer and feel pity for us, but I feel so amazed that we got to witness so many amazing acts of God. When he was all we had, he showed up in ways we could not have imagined.
Sorry it has been a while since I have posted. I promise I will do better! May God bless you!
