It’s hard to believe that school starts tomorrow... I seriously can’t wrap my mind around it and I hardly feel prepared, but we have full confidence that God’s got great things in store for the Rosslings and the rest of your kiddos this year. It’s certainly going to be different, maybe even uncomfortable and probably super frustrating at times, but we are praying we can see God’s hand in the details (a prayer He’s always faithful to answer). Here is an update on the Ross Family shenanigans....
*Andrew Update- He had 5-6 pretty rough days after his first round of treatment. He was SUPER nauseous around the clock, but I couldn’t be more proud of his attitude and character through it all. He’s dreading treatments 2-4 because of the nausea, but we are praying that with some additional nausea meds (one is an antipsychotic and the other is a steroid... who would have thought those would help with extreme nausea🤷♀️?!?!), it will be more to tolerable. Based on what the handful of adults have experienced with this treatment, Andrew should start losing his hair this week... just in time for school. Will you please pray for that situation? Please continue to pray that this new treatment is busy obliterating every single cancer cell in his body and that it stays gone... FOREVER (we continue to hang on to hope that God can and He will... until He says otherwise)!
*School- Many have asked what we are doing with our kiddos for school during the pandemic. It’s easy to judge the decisions others make, but I pray people will consider the fact that God calls each of us to seek His will (which could be, and likely is, different for different families) and be willing to say “yes, Lord” to what ever He calls us to... even if it’s scary, inconvenient, or even unpopular. We have prayed long and hard about what’s best for the Rosslings and consulted Grace’s cardiologist, Andrew’s Oncologist, and many other experts that we highly respect. We have come up with what we feel is a great plan A and plan B and we are beyond grateful that the kids' schools/administrators are beyond supportive in ensuring our kids are safe physically, yes, but mentally and emotionally too.
Andrew REALLY wants to experience Poly Ryon, the 6th grade campus that is literally famous because it’s the most AMAZING public school ever! Andrew yearns to feel “normal” and going to school in person (especially at Poly Ryon) is a great way to accomplish that. He will miss two weeks of school ever two months anyway for treatment, so in person school will hopefully be a blessing in between his treatments and time of isolation (when he's radioactive).
Grace will start virtual school initially and we will monitor the Covid rates. If the rates are reasonable in 3-4 weeks, we would LOVE for her to transition to in person school because GRACE LOVES, LOVES, LOVES SCHOOL and she thrives there in so many ways!!!! From her typical peers/precious friends to the incredibly kind, creative, and brilliant teachers who know the balance between setting the bar high for this kid because she's so smart and such a hard worker, but yet making sure to modify where necessary to help her learn concepts in a way that makes most sense for her style of learning... Grace really thrives at school, so we pray she can get back on campus sooner than later. Trusting God will make each step clear, just as He always has.
Since Grace will be learning virtually and Andrew will have treatment (Lord willing) every two months until February, David will not be going back to work at The Tenney School at this point (they have been SO supportive over the years... taking what ever time David can commit to based on our family's needs and circumstances).
Abby will be going to Logo’s again this year. It’s a Christian University model school, where she goes in person 3 days a week and works from home 2 days a week. This school has been a perfect fit for her in so many ways. They already had very small class sizes and this year they will be even smaller class sizes, due to covid, so we feel good about the precautions that have been put in place by both Abby's school and our public schools.
Mom and daughter, back to school mani and pedi. Both Abby and I's looked GREAT for a couple hours.... this is why we don't routinely get our toes and nails done, they can't handle soccer and the barn life 😂.
*Activities that are a little glimpse of normal...
Soccer scrimmages have started back up and league play is suppose to start Labor Day weekend for Abby! Man, it is SO nice to have a sense of normalcy... I knew we loved watching our girl on the pitch, but this rona thing has reminded us how precious some of the things are that we may have taken for granted. While Abby never really took a break from soccer, that kid is always at extra trainings, the fields with David, etc... we have missed real games!
Anyway, the second we are uncomfortable with in person school (for and any and all of the kids), our plan B is to have all the kids move to virtual learning.
*Andrew’s arm is healing SO SUPER slow (likely because of all the radiation his little body has seen), so he’s still in a removable cast. Therefore, he hasn’t been able to practice obstacles with Otto in preparation for the Obstacle Course challenge he competed in this past weekend. He really wanted to participate in the competition, even though he hasn’t been able to practice until this past week and he only has one arm to work with. I kept praying that God would help him feel successful (you know how a momma’s heart works... he’s experienced so much hardship and disappointment lately, I just didn’t want him to be let down AGAIN). I was so nervous for him, but by God’s grace... he and Otto went out there and crushed it. We couldn’t be more proud of him for his courage, willingness to take (calculated 😬) risks, and for reading his horse so well to help them be successful.
We celebrated with the cousins last weekend by playing Grace's favorite game EVER... America Ninja Warrior! In fact, if you ask Grace what she wants to be when she grows up, she would say "an American Ninja Warrior girl!"
If you haven't seen this book, please check it out... its precious!
This was her interview on how she prepared for the race!
Being announced... "in the turquoise bathing suit, we have GRAAACE ROSSS!"
We celebrated these Birthday Buddies with my parents today! Just because David was born on August 30th... 3 days away from Grace, he has the title of her "Birthday Buddy" and that trumps all other "Buddies" in the house! She is obsessed with her "Birthday Buddy" 🎂.
"Scar Buddy" (Andrew- they both have scars from major surgery... Grace from 6 open heart surgeries and Andrew on his belly from surgery to try to remove some tumors), "Sissy Buddy" (Abby- that's an obvious one), and "Earhole Buddy" (me- we both have what looks like a tiny hole in this random part of our ear) are always trying to knock David off the podium and be Grace's favorite "Buddy," but he's virtually impossible to dethrone, but we won't quit trying because "Rosses never give up!"... that's what Grace says anytime she does something scary or hard.😂
We appreciate every single one of you! Praying that you will see God's hand in the details of your week and that you would experience His perfect peace, hope that doesn't disappoint, and that you would know that you are deeply loved. #butGod #hopeon #fightlikeaRoss 💚
