Random Updates

There is so much going on around here that I don't really know what to say. On the flip side, there isn't really anything exciting going on around here so I don't really know what to say. Such is our life I guess, to us it is full and busy, but to others it is probably just normal and boring. Anyway, here are some updates:

Adoption

We had our first home visit from the social worker yesterday. No problems. We should be approved by the first week of April. After that it is just a waiting game. I have been using this time to read a lot about attachment and adoption. I know that I can never be truly prepared, but I want to at least have some knowledge to draw on when the time of placement arrives. However, doing lots of reading also has the effect of scaring me out of my mind at times. When I start getting frightened I take deep breaths and pray. Sounds cliche, but it works. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent to family about our home visit yesterday:

The boys remain excited. Their little hearts have proven to be so generous and compassionate. Today the social worker was asking them questions about what they thought it would be like to have another brother or sister and their answers were so thoughtful and encouraging. Nathaniel was so sweet, the social worker was asking what he would not like about having another child and he kept insisting, "There is just nothing I won't like! I like having lots of kids around. I want another brother really badly!" He was very insistent on explaining to her in great detail just how many toys and books and games and beds we have. It was cute. Jeremiah just stated matter of factly, "I want another brother. And God tells us to take care of orphans and share with people who don't have as much as we do. So of course we want to adopt children who don't have anyone to take care of them!" The faith and obedience of a child is a beautiful thing. 

 

Home Schooling 

We have 9 weeks of our curriculum left and 4 weeks of Math. It will feel good to be done for the year and take a nice long break. I continue to be surprised at how much I enjoy schooling the boys and how well it works for us right now. We are already thinking through curriculum and choices for next year. We will be visiting a science class that Jeremiah may attend in the fall. Nathaniel has been begging me for reading lessons and we are using the book Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. He loves it! His letter recognition is getting better. Next year we will continue with reading and some basic math.

Baseball

Jeremiah begged us to play baseball this spring. And despite always saying that we would only be a 1 sport per year family we signed him up. His try-outs were last night. He has been assigned to a team and we start practice Thursday night. This all new territory for us. We arrived at tryouts last night with an old glove and no other gear to speak of. Most of the other kids were well provisioned with special bags to hold all their special gear. We shall see how it goes. Baseball tends to be pretty competitive around here and some of these kids have been playing since they were 3 years old. Jeremiah is excited though. He loves to practice throwing and hitting.  

Extra

We are planning on spending a few days in Philadelphia during Aaron's spring break. I am looking forward to the break and a change of scenery. 

Our time keeping our little 5 year old friend is coming to an end. Last week he didn't come to our house because his grandparents were in town and my boys missed him intensely. The 3 of them play very well together.

The weather here has been gorgeous. The boys have been spending hours and hours outside. I feel the need to spring clean and purge us of stuff. This always makes Aaron nervous.