Todd Moves On, and the Rest of June

Lots has happened in the last month, but I’m only catching my breath now because Todd, our foster son, was placed with a family member last Monday. In New Jersey, reunification with the child’s parents is the top priority, but placement with a family member or close family friend is the next goal, so when a family member expressed interest in Todd, the plan became to move him there. As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t want to share too many details, but I can say that it was honestly a relief to us and I think it will be a good home for Todd. Since his departure, we are adjusting back to our normal routine and just enjoying our usual summer activities.

We will need to take a break before deciding how we can foster again. I’m not willing to say, “Well, this was harder than expected so I don’t want to foster again.” I know that not every child will present the same challenges as Todd, but we definitely need to tweak our criteria for what types of children we can accept in order to hopefully avoid some of the problems we faced. Ultimately we may not be able to foster in the way I originally envisioned, but I’m glad we’ve given it a try, and we’ll see where it all leads.

We wrapped up our homeschool year, and Byron is officially a high school graduate! He begrudgingly allowed me to get official senior portraits taken and announcements made. Enjoy!

During the week the boys should’ve been at MDA camp, I took Fulton, Teddy and Addie to Lancaster for a quick overnight. We did the Turkey Hill Experience and the National Civil War Museum (which is actually in Harrisburg). I’ll definitely go back to the Turkey Hill Experience (all the ice cream and iced tea samples you can handle!) but NOT the Civil War museum. The boys love history, but the museum was like a dry textbook. I’d go to Gettysburg again instead.

We had our usual Nativity of St. John the Baptist party on the 25th and while it was on the small side (71 people), I was honestly relieved. Some years, when turnout is small, I take it personally, like, “Don’t people like me and my parties anymore????”. But I was grateful for the smaller crowd as it allowed to me to sit down and visit with more people, and the mess was less to deal with the next day. It was the first time since holding the party at our new house that it didn’t rain for at least some of the festivities. And while there was a light breeze, we were able to set up our tents on our new(er) patio and create a really great space to relax and eat.

We struggled with cold bugs throughout the month of June yet still managed to avoid COVID until one hour after Todd left our house when Edie tested positive. We had no idea as she’d had the same drippy nose and cough for weeks that we’d all struggled to get rid of, but when one of her coworkers tested positive she took a test and surprise! Thankfully, no one else in the house tested positive and her symptoms remained mild. Todd’s caseworker and family members were understanding and not concerned.

The day after Edie tested positive, Fulton turned FOURTEEN! and got his nose swabbed at the local Walgreen’s drive-thru. We delayed his extended family celebration a bit, but Addie still made him a cake, and he opened all his presents.

As the month wrapped up, I felt like I was actually catching up on my To-Do list (except for the cleaning and grading) and we celebrated the 4th of July by attending our local, small town parade, and visiting with my parents and a couple close friends. Yesterday, we finally, took a trip to the beach. It finally feels like summer is here and that we can enjoy it. I hope to get back into a weekly blogging routine (I even created a beautiful new spreadsheet to help me!).

I hope your summer is off and running and going well!