Everything was pretty much going according to plan until I was hugging Ingram and he said "But Mommy, you never leave me. I'm going to miss you!" and so I started to cry as Miss Laurie pulled away in my car. Luckily we took several pictures before I had to turn my head so they wouldn't see me crying. Talk about killing me, I still was having second thoughts and was actually contemplating getting a taxi to take me home instead of heading to the plane. The kids were having a great time with Laurie and she was navigating homework, dinner, and a soccer game for Madison with no problems while I flew down to meet Craig. Oh, did I mention that when we (me and Mrs. Laurie) picked Ingram up from school before heading to the airport, he gave Mrs. Laurie the first hug?? I had to ask for my hug and his teachers were laughing because he hugged Mrs. Laurie, grabbed her hand, and started walking out of the building without so much as acknowledging me!! When we talked to them that night before bed, they were all so excited about having Mrs. Laurie at the house and they were very proud of me for actually getting on the plane and leaving. I guess that tells you how nervous I was about leaving!
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| My Girl Madison Got My Suitcase Out Of The Car And Started Rolling It Towards The Check-In Counter At The Airport! |
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| My Sweet Little Man! |
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| Too Late Now...Mrs. Laurie's Driving Off In My Car! |
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| Our View Driving From The Airport To The Hotel In Between Rainstorms! Pretty Amazing!! |
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| Watching Dolphins While We Craig And I Ran Across The Bridge! |
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| Mrs. Laurie Getting The Kids Out To School. Her Morning Started at 6am!! |
The next day, Mrs. Laurie got all three of the kids off to school and then picked up G-Mommy from the airport for the trade-off. G-Mommy was now in charge for the next couple of days until we got back in town. She managed homework, three different school dismissal times, one lacrosse practice, one soccer practice, and one soccer game; in between all that she managed dinner, showers, and homework! Friday was the best day of all because once the girls were off to school, it was playtime for G-mommy and Ingram with nothing else to do. Uncle Butch and Grandmother came down from Jackson for the afternoon and they were so excited to get to see the kids for a while too. G-Mommy got to take Ingram to his second soccer practice/game on Saturday and then Ingram even went to get ice cream with one of his friends after the game.
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| Just A Little Playtime Before School Friday Morning! |
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| Running Routes In His Pajamas! |
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| Oh Yeah...This Should Help With Relaxing! |
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| Madison Got To Run The Freedom Trail In Boston. Lindsey Got To Learn To Surf In Miami. I Got To Kayak In Longboat Key!!! |
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| The Whole Crew Kayaking And Riding The Yolo Boards! |
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| Facetiming With The Kids...Well At Least 2/3's Of Them! Ingram Was Too Busy Swimming To Come To The Phone! |
We had lots of fun trying to Facetime with the kids and of course texted and called many many times. While we were gone, we had plenty of time to just sit around and relax; we even got to hang out with a few great friends that were also on the business trip! The gals hung out at the pool while the guys were in meetings and once they were done, everyone just hung out at the pool. We even all got in the ocean amidst stingrays and "sharks" and had fun on yolo boards and kayaks. Saturday morning, I attempted my long run for the week and could not have done it without Craig! He ran the first part with me, then headed back to the hotel; he surprised me coming back on a bike with a bucket of ice with wash clothes and fresh water bottles and rode with me while I finished my 10 mile run. Saturday morning Ingram had some fun out on the soccer fields too with all of his new Happy Feet friends. He scored a goal and went out for ice cream after his game. We finally made it to the airport in Tampa and flew through Atlanta to Memphis; we were so excited about getting back home, but had to stop and take our St. Jude picture on the way out of the airport.
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| I Think They Switched Over To Aviation Instead Of Soccer! |
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| Ingram Heading Off To Score His Goal! |
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| I Love Getting Back To The Memphis Airport And Seeing This Sign! |
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| But, This Sign Is Even Better That The Kids Made And Taped To Our Garage Door! |
While we were out of town, things were great here at the house with the kids. We were even having fun and realized that we had made the right decision for me to get away for a couple days. I even had one of my "cancer" books that I read on the plane and at the pool because honestly cancer is all I think about; how to help Ingram's body keep healing, how to keep him healthy, and how to do our best to try and "prevent" any more cancer. Seriously, it's all we think about even if we're not talking about it. On our second day as I was sitting at the pool with some of the girls waiting on Craig to get finished with his conference, Cancer struck again, broke my heart, and brought me to tears. One of our friends that we went through radiation with, who is Lindsey's age, just found out he relapsed with Neuroblastoma. He fought so hard last time with his initial diagnosis and treatment and now they just found out they have to do it all over again. Cancer just really stinks. It's not fair. He doesn't deserve to have to go through it again. His family doesn't deserve to go through it again. Please say a prayer for the Powers family and everyone that has relapsed; we often hear how much more difficult it is to find out you've relapsed merely because you've already been down the road and know how bad treatment really is. Be thankful for healthy children.
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| Normally We Give Our Kids A Gift From An Out Of Town Trip, But This Time, Lindsey Created A Gift For Us. She Used All Of Her Oil Pastels And A 16x20. I Guess We're Not The Only Ones That Think About Cancer 24/7. It's Now Hanging On Our Kitchen Wall For Everyone To See. |
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