life lately

I will apologize now for not having blogged for a week, I have been so busy!! This past week has not had nearly enough days in it to get everything done! I swear I need a few extra days, just occasionally! I spent part of the week working the day shift, and part working the evening shift, I have been very confused as to which shift I am doing per day, YIPES! Also this week I have been busy making things with the huge grape crop I have this summer, I have made juice, conserve, and other yummy goodness, and canning them for the winter. I feel very Holly Homemaker, but in a good way, and am impressed with how much I got done, it feels nice to see jars and bags of grapey goodness filling the counters.
We just went apple picking this morning after church, so now we have a 1/2 peck of apples to make into sauce and chutney, YUM! Julianna and I will spend part of the next week cocooned in the aroma of apples and cinnamon, and be well fed into the bargain.
On the kiddo front, Julianna has been doing really well with her swim lessons, she is getting really good and can keep her face out of the water and paddle at the same time!! She has lost of her fear of getting her face wet, and will even put her ears into the water, HUGE stride for Julianna! She is also loving her ballet and tap classes, and is great friends with the little girls in her class, a few might even come over for a dress playdate, and show of course!! She is doing great in homeschooling, adding and subtracting pretty well, and writing most of her letters legibly, if huge and all over the page, not usually on any line, Oh well:) She also has evening church classes on Friday, and is doing great with understanding the Bible, the other night she tells me "Mommy, I dance and it makes Jesus happy!" so I told her that I was sure that Jesus loved her dancing, and singing, and if her heart was filled with love and joy when she danced then it was kind of like praying with motion. She said she knew that and, that was why she loved to dance, it was fun praying! Too funny, Julianna is so very articulate and mature in the things she says, you just never know what she might come out with, except when I have just stated that she is so smart, then she can only meow or growl, just what I get for showing off!
On the adoption front, the courts will reopen on October 4(we think), they have been closed for the rainy season and the Millennium celebration. Hopefully there will be quite a few referrals given shortly thereafter, Jon and I are number 7 on the list for sibling referral, but only 1-2 in front of us are requesting a child over 3, so this may move us along, we hope. Recently we started distributing invitations to a fundraiser dinner that we are doing in October. We have some great raffle prizes and good food, plus some Ethiopian foods to try. A few people in our church are planning to come for sure, and many would like to donate supplies and money to purchase necessities for us to donate in the orphanages. This is great and we are blessed with the church's willingness to support us and let us use the Community Hall.
Well I have to go, I need to get a few things done here and figure out our attack plan for baking/making/preserving, come by and smell the goodness!!
Love to all, Jamie