Spring Break

This year it was laid back.  Nothing special or eventful.  But that's not bad, just life.

See, this year Amy and I had Spring Break on differing weeks.  She was last week and the kids and I were this week.  Bummer.  This meant that we could not plan any trips or excursions.  Such is life though.  

So we stayed at home.  Monday and Tuesday were spent lounging around the house.  I did a lot of laundry, finished grading and report cards (they go out next week), mowed the front and back yards, and watched all of Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars (thank you Netflix).  So, nothing too crazy, but it was nice to stop and relax for a bit.

Amy took Wednesday off so we could all have at least one day together.  So we went out for lunch (a real treat as we rarely eat out anymore) and took the kids to see the new Cinderella movie.  Granted Braeden, in all his pre-pre-teen 8-year-old angst was not as thrilled as the rest of us, but he still managed to enjoy himself.  It didn't hurt that we sweetened the deal with a chocolate chip cookie shake for him to enjoy during the movie.  Jackson is always up for a movie, regardless of what it is.  Stella, ever the princess of the family, is now insisting on a pair of glass slippers and seeing the movie again!    Alamo Drafthouse was giving free admission to teachers for this Spring Break week so we took advantage of that!  Score!  Hopefully that will be something they do in the future and we can plan this to be a regular occurrence.  

Then yesterday and today it was back to binge watching TV shows via Netflix/Amazon/Hulu and relaxing around the house.  I am currently switching between The Slap and Bates Motel.  Equally awesome.  

Hopefully this will be the only year (fingers crossed) that we spend Spring Break apart.  the calendars for our schools are set for next year and we will once again share Spring Break!  We are already beginning to plan a trip to make up for this year's missed fun.  We're thinking Disney World again!  We have been wanting to return since we left last summer so if all goes well in the planning and budgeting departments we will be able to visit Mickey and friends again!

Well, that's it here.  Sounds even less impressive when you write it down but all is well.  It did force us to stop and relax a bit though, the kids have enjoyed the break.  Next week we are all back to normal though so we will see how easily we slip back into routine.  But, until then we will enjoy the last few days/hours of Spring Break.  Depends on if you include the weekend or not?  I do, I think.  May as well make it as long as possible!

All is well, on break, in Drosche Land.

Ring Ring Ring

That's the sound we are waiting for now.  A phone to ring.

Yesterday we had our first Matching meeting at DePelchin.  We met with both our Straight Adoption worker and our Foster Care worker.  It was a good meeting, productive in the sense that we got to meet them face-to-face and vice versa.  Productive in the sense that we were able to clarify our needs and wants, what we are looking for and what we are capable of.  So that was good.  However, that was about all the meeting provided.  No more answers or forward movement, not that we were expecting it.

It is likely that we will end up going the Foster Care route even though we are Dual Tracking.  But that is ok.  Amy and I have talked and prayed extensively about this and we feel that He has a plan for us and we are doing our best to listen and wait.  Wait.  Ugh.

So basically we are on-call 24/7 now.  Our phones are always on, never silenced, and we took off the Do Not Disturb function for night.  Just in case.  Every time the phone rings I jump.  Usually I do not answer my phone if I don't recognize the number.  That has changed as well now.  While we wait.

That's the only adoption update I have.  Nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering, just another small step forward.  And more waiting.  Of course.

In other Drosche Land news Disney was amazing!  I want to write about it all and share pictures but this week is VBS at school and we have been busy with that.  We also had some fun news on Monday so I will have to get to that soon as well.  But those are posts for another time.  For now I'll go and check my phone for the 1,000th time; even though it is sitting right here next to me.  :)

All is well, awaiting a call, in Drosche Land.   

Home Study - Part 1

So Saturday was the day. Finally.  After two reschedulings we completed our first Home Study visit this past Saturday!

There was a lot of vacuuming, mowing, and tidying that went on that morning prior to the arrival of our caseworker but we got it all finished. All in all it went very well, not really worth all of the worry and anxiety we'd worked ourselves into.  She was here for about 4 hours total. In that time she observed us giving the kids lunch, talked us through the process, administered the individual interviews to Amy and myself, and took a tour of the house. 

We've been prepping for so long that there weren't really many suggestions for things that we needed to do before the next visit. Since we are straight adoption and not foster or foster-to-adopt there are some questions concerning procedures but she will be finding out the answers to those and then we can work on them if needed after our next visit. 

The kids were very good too while she was here. Stella was her usual self and our caseworker even commented on how much personality she has!  Ha!  No kidding. The boys pretty much stayed upstairs, as usual, occupying themselves with TV  and toys. I was even able to get Stella down for her nap so that was great. 

After the visit was finished we were left with a huge stack of paperwork to go through, fill out, and sign before our next visit. Being ourselsves though, we finished it last night. We are currently awaiting a response to see when our next visit will be. Either this Sunday afternoon or next. The sooner, then better so I hope it is this weekend even though we are super busy with taking the camper out for her inaugural run. 

The next visit should just be more talking. The boys will have their individual interviews and I am sure Amy and I will hear more about the process and what to expect next as well. But we shall see. One more Home Study visit and then we wait some more. Wait for the writing of our caseworker's report. Waiting for the approval of our Home Study. Waiting to be sent into matching and begin that process. We all know how well I do with waiting so I hope I find a measure of patience in the next few weeks and am able to stay calm. Until then we just pray and wait, wait and pray. You know, the usual. 

All is well, one step closer, in Drosche Land.