school, sports and fun

It has been a very busy week around our house. There has been a lot of activity besides Jacob's family day celebration last weekend.

Friday was the last day of a silent auction at the YMCA. I am a strong supporter of the YMCA. They give scholarships to low income families so that all people can enjoy the programs. The programs and swimming lessons are fairly low cost and give a healthy and safe place for people of all ages to gather and have fun.

I took Jacob, M and our friend P to a carnival at the Y and made our final bids on the baskets. Jacob and P both had their faces painted before playing some games and winning some prizes. They ended the evening by jumping on the inflatables in the gym.

I bid on 4 baskets hoping to win 1. I ended up winning 3 and spending a lot more than I had planned. We ended up getting a new nap pillow, decorations for Jacob and M's room, 3 children DVDs, candy, gift cards for a local restaurant, a free blizzard from Dairy Queen, swimming lessons, a beach towel, a swim bag, goggles and dive toys. To say the kids were excited is an understatement. The nice thing is that we will be able to enjoy all of the items as a family.

On Tuesday, I received confirmation that Jacob will be able to soccer this spring on a local school district team. He will be on a 3v3 league with other 3 and 4 year olds. I found a good deal on cleats, shin guards, socks and a soccer ball Tuesday evening. Jacob really enjoyed getting his first set of soccer equipment and is looking forward to his first game in just over a month.

I registered for softball again this summer. I may not be great at it but I do enjoy it. I hope to spend a lot of time at the batting cages over the next few weeks and try to get ready. I really think the practice will help me get more hits this year.

I also received my grant application in the mail yesterday. I spent a lot of time last night and yesterday afternoon filling it out. I ended up typing over 5 pages to answer their questions. It was a little nerve wracking answering questions that could be worth over $20,000. I think this is my best chance at a scholarship since the university will be handing out a few of them to social work graduate students. I did the best I could and now I just need to wait and see what happens. I should get an answer by the end of April.

Jacob had another dermatology appointment yesterday. His birth mark has faded a lot. It sounds as though we will continue a few more times and then take a break for awhile. The dermatologist doesn't think the mark will ever disappear completely but that we can get it to lighten up a little more. Apparently it is more difficut to get the birth mark to fade on darker skin. Since I think he is beautiful with or without the mark, it isn't a problem. The biggest benefit is that it seems to be putting less pressure on his eye as it has faded. I am hoping that will lower his risk of developing glaucoma in that eye in the future. The average age for glaucoma to form is 4 so the next couple of years should tell us what will happen.