Blessed by a break

Without fostering and work (I'm on break until the end of January), my life does not have its usual routine, and sometimes that can throw things off a bit.  But while there have been moments of blah, mostly I've happily bounced around making the most of this break.  I feel renewed, refreshed, and reconnected with my sons. 

Some of my blessings of being on a fostering and work break:

• I clearly have more time to blog.
• I got swept up in a great novel: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes  It's nice not to be too tired to read and read when I love a book.
• More sleep is nice.  
• Less chaotic bedtimes and mealtimes are also nice.
• I can meet friends pretty much any time of day since I'm not planning around visits and baby naps, as Rhinoceros's nap is not 100% necessary.  Usually we went to our local children's museum during one of the weekly visits for Pterodactyl, as it's in walking distance from the agency, but we'd only have 45 minutes to spend there.  Last week we hung out there for 2 hours.  The kids had a blast, I chatted with mom friends who keep it real, and left very happy.
• I've had time to clean and organize, and I definitely needed to clean and organized.  It's refreshing.
• Winter weather is so much easier to enjoy without a baby.  When it hasn't been -10, we've gone sledding, played in the backyard, and Dinosaur tried ice skating for the first time with B.

And drum roll please...

• Overnight getaway with B tomorrow!!!  Yes, we could manage this while we have a foster child as well, but we knew it wasn't wise to hope it would work out while waiting for a new foster kid or adjusting to a new foster kid (who may not be okay with us going away).  My sweet brother and sister-in-law are coming over for their first overnight with the boys.

I'm also happy to feel like we're in a good place to go back on the call list on Monday.  We had chosen this date awhile back but with the understanding that we could delay it further if we were having a hard time with Pterodactyl's goodbye or just needed more of a break.  While we've been greatly blessed by this break, B and I were in agreement that it's time to get back into it.  Buckle up!

Join in and share your own blessings.  You can link up at a great fostering blog, Our Good Life.  (I think that's what I'm supposed to end this with.  Blog interactions are still new to me.)