Cancer Absolutely Stinks

We have truly lived and loved every moment of Summer 2014 thus far.  We have camped at church camp, boated and tubed on Claytor lake, cheered on our baseball boys, watched beautiful ballerina friends twirl and tap during summer dance, and spent many hours of sun and fun at our neighborhood pool. 

We have done lots of bible study and scripture study this summer.  This is our current family scripture to help our youngest work on their work ethic:)

We have spent lots of time with friends.  During the school year life is often too busy for spontaneous play dates and adventures, but the low key summer schedule allows lots of fun to catch up. 

Life feels almost perfect on Pop's boat on Claytor Lake especially when friends are with us. 

 

Summer dance has been a treat for this little tapper and her friends. 

 

Despite the joy of the summer and our sun tans suggesting that life is carefree, I woke up in an absolute panic last night due to a nightmare that David had relapsed.  The nightmare was so real and vivid that it has rattled me this morning.  I firmly believe in God's plan for our family and trust in Him completely, but the reality of childhood cancer sneaks back in like  wrecking ball and tries to destroy my peace and my joy.  It also doesn't help that he has a scan coming up on August 8th. 

 

So pardon my language, but childhood cancer you suck.  You and the devil are an evil team trying to rob this Mom from the joys of summer.  Go away relapse nightmares and go away stupid Satan we still have a vacation in Pennsylvannia to look forward to and my favorite week of the year-Vacation Bible School at church.  I am standing firm on the promises of God this morning from Isaiah.

 

But now, this is what the Lord says, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

 

Isaiah 43:1-3

 

Those  verses give me the chills because I love that strong statement "you are mine."  Oh that is so comforting to know that I am His!  It is also amazing to me that this verse tells us that bad and hard stuff is going to happen to us-he never promises an easy life, he just says that because of Him the hard stuff will not overtake us.  His word is more powerful than any nightmare I can ever have!

 

 

Fireworks and our Lil Firecracker

This weekend we have celebrated our lil firecracker's 10th birthday.  I think as parents it is always a little bittersweet when our kiddos hit that magic double digit number, but cancer has turned every birthday into a major miracle.  This kid is here, alive and well because of God and his unending grace.  We still have lots of scans ahead of us and trips to UVA, but this weekend, we celebrate the life of our red-headed firecracker. 

We celebrated with lots of fireworks in our yard-here are the boys throwing those pop-its in the driveway.  This cracks me up!

Our wild three! David looks all content in this picture after his birthday cake of his choice-a pan of brownies!

 

Raising David is a challenge due to his strong-will and stubborn streak.  On the other hand, not one day is boring with his silliness and joy.  Not many people make me belly laugh like David can.  He is hilarious!

 

David had a super hero themed birthday presents with lots of super hero socks, a new UA Thor shirt, and a batman headband. 

They were so excited for fireworks that they couldn't wait until dark to set off the little bottle rockets and such that we bought. 

We walked out on the golf course and saw lots of gorgeous firework all around us. 

On our hole on the course watching fireworks. 

 

Sparklers were a hit with this litte girl!

 

I will never forget ten years ago when the nurses placed this tiny, floppy baby in my arms for the first time after a quick and very rushed delivery.  He was gorgeous from the start and in those first few hours of his life, I had no idea that ride that was ahead of us as we would soon learn of his Down Syndrome and then of course his cancer even further down the road.  David is my own personal reminder that no matter what life hands you, we serve a mighty God who is mighty and willing to walk with us each and every step. 

 

Happy Birthday David!  You amaze us each and every day.  May you use your love of music and love of people to remind us all how much Jesus loves us.  God has big plans for you big guy and we are so honored that God chose us to parent you.  You keep us on our toes and on our knees in prayer, but you bring so much joy into our family.  Quoting Kyle from Disney last October "our family would be really boring without David."  Amen.

Boys of Summer

Today we reached the end of an era here in the Robinson household.  Today Kyle played his last little league game ever.  It truly just seems like yesterday that this precious little four year old was suiting up for the first time in his Marlins Tball uniform.  Obviously he has the opportunity to play travel ball again, Junior League next year, and of course high school ball down the road, but today as the game ended I will admit I had a little bit of a lump in my throat.  How has eight years flown by so quickly?!

His Daddy coached his first team eight years ago and his Daddy coached his last little league team this season.  Watching these two chat while a new pitcher warmed made my heart smile.  It is not easy to be the coach ever, it is not easy to be the coach's kid, and despite it all we have made some precious memories on that diamond. 

Kyle hitting a nice double!  The last two games of the tournament we did not play the best baseball, and it was a double elimination tournament.  They had a great season and made some great friends. 

This picture is kind of funny now, but last night we played Bristol and everything that could have gone wrong did.  It was just one of those nights.  Kyle closed out the game pitching and I tried hard to get some shots of him pitching under the lights.  As I was clicking away the announcer from the booth announced that "no flash photography is allowed."  Alrightly then, but I did get this one last picture before climbing down and turning my flash off:) 

For fun, we got to the game early last night and in the park beside the field we had a fun tailgate/team dinner.  The coaches grilled hot dogs, and the boys chatted and ate together.  Despite the fact that we were one game short of the championship, it was a great run with some great kids. 

Kyle, Colby, and Caleb.  This is such a  great group of boys!  Sports are a great arena to learn some valuable life lessons, and I am thankful for the memories, the fun, the laughs, and the great ball playing with these boys:) Never forget boys that your mommas are your biggest and loudest cheerleaders ever!!