Christmas Cookies

Jacob and M had a friend spend the night last night. Actually, we arrived home from vacation and picked her up about two hours later. We went to McDonald's for supper then visited Santa one last time at the mall. We spent this morning playing and wrapping Christmas gifts and then made cookies this afternoon. Grace left tonight right before dinner and the house already seems earily quiet. She was a lot of fun to have over. I forsee more sleepovers in the future.

A Weekend At The Cottage

After my recent posts regarding Jacob swimming, I thought it was time to take some pictures of him in the water. Our friends G and K rented a house on a lake in central Wisconsin. Jacob and I spent some time there this weekend. Jacob loved it and spent almost all of his free time in the water and sand.

G is one of Jacob's best friends. He loves playing with her and they both get excited to see each other. They play nicely together and seem t really enjoy each other's company. I am sure that G is just as tired as Jacob is.

Swimming, The County Fair and More

It has been a very busy and fun week. I decided that I was tired of wasting my late afternoons and evenings around the house. Summer is passing by just too quickly.

Jacob and I went swimming twice this week. As I mentioned in my last post, he is getting much better at it. It is one of our favorite activities so I decided we need to do it more often. We have a membership to the YMCA so there is no reason not to use the pool there more often. I also plan to try the city swimming pool either tonight or next week.

The county fair is in town this week. Jacob went with his daycare on Wednesday. He had so much fun that I took him back with a friend last night. Today his grandmother wanted to go, so we went again. He loves the animals. Today he was able to pet two rabbits, week old twin goats and a cow. He played a game at the midway and won a ball. We ate tons of food that is very bad for us and enjoyed playing at some of the indoor exhibits. Jacob loved the sandbox full of corn.

Jacob and I are meeting with other families with single moms tomorrow morning. We are leaving from there and going directly to our friend's house on the lake. She is another single-mother-by-choice with a daughter about Jacob's age. They are renting this house for the week. Jacob and I are returning home sometime on Sunday. Hopefully, we will be ready to start another work week on Monday. I guess we are making up for some of the Summer that slipped by us.

Reaching Out to Friends and Family

Jacob and I have had a great week. Not only have we passed the initial classes and home visit for foster care, but we also saw new and old friends tonight. Jacob and I attended a meet and greet with other families who have adopted from Ethiopia or are hoping to adopt from Ethiopia. We met two of the adoption social workers who either met Jacob or knew about him while he waited for a family. Jacob had a great time running around with the other children and playing with them. Everyone had a great time.

This weekend is another busy weekend. We are going to a friend's house to be with other families headed by single-mothers-by-choice. The girls I mentor are spending the night on Saturday and we are all going swimming with the church on Sunday. I don't remember a month that has been as busy as this past month has been for us. I always thought this time of year slowed down! I'm not complaining though. It has been great making new friends and seeing our old friends lately. I can't believe that one year ago I was dreaming of busy family weekends like this.

Friends are Fun

I recently started my home visits for foster care licensing. One of the questions the social worker, T, asked was about my support system. I have said before that being a single parent is wonderful but a support system is very important. I am blessed with many friends, including D shown above, who help us out. Jacob was very happy to show her his traditional Ethiopian shirt while she was over. He also had two friends help him go to a party last night to celebrate a friend's first "gotcha day." They had a great time and I was grateful that we had friends who were willing to take him while I worked. I may have missed the party but I heard about it from a very excited 2 year old boy at 2:30 this morning!