Gold Star for Rabbit

We are officially registered for "school" and start next Monday.  Squirrel says that I get a gold star.  This morning after our breakfast the girls and I packed up and took our forms to the school and we will start bright and early Monday morning.  Tomorrow morning we will be going in and spending some time before our potential family visit.  At that visit I will be sure to take the diaper bag as our quick visit today resulted in poop in underwear (which is the first time Sissy pooped in her underwear).  

Right now we are spending the funds for day care out of our pocket.  We need to get our payment approved by DHS (Department of Human Services), but neither one of us wishes to continue burning our vacation time right now as we may need it throughout the year.  We also picked a facility that DHS only pays about half the cost.  There are facilities that are full pay, but the parents that need those facilities need them more than we do.  Financially we also know that we will be fine.  Our first payment from the state has come in so we know we are in the system.  When we started the process we also checked with our accountant on how this affects our taxes, and we are able to claim the duo if they live with us for more than 6 months of the year.  This and the child care deduction will help us offset the cost a bit more.  

In the fall Sissy's care will be almost entirely free as we hope to get her enrolled in a PreK program for at risk children and the only cost will be the early drop off.

Having day care will also give us a break.  We have had to be constantly with the duo for the past 3 weeks.  There has not been a minute that one of us are not with them.  Unlike most families we can't have just anyone stay with the kids for us to get a moment away.  We are also working on our separation anxiety.  Potentially after a few weeks at school we may be able to have the girls spend some time with one of the 3 approved caregivers that we have.  This week we have started hanging out with the neighbors a bit more (now that the little bug issue is handled) and that makes us feel more normal.  

Another hope with school is that the girls are a bit more "worn out" in the evening and we are able to tuck them in earlier without the fear that they will get up earlier.  Lately they have been up with us until around 10 PM, but then we are able to try to keep them in bed until 8 AM.  At school they won't get their 2 hour nap so maybe we can shift that to 8 PM - 7AM.

I am also looking forward to school feeding them.  Is that terrible of me?  I feel like I am constantly feeding and cleaning with the 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.  We have cut back a little on portions, but the food insecurity will be a hard battle.    

After our visit at school today for registration we stopped at the park... Bug is not having a great day and she just wanted to sit with me rather than play.  We napped immediately after lunch and now we only wish to be held again.  One handed typing sucks!  

In other news, I have shown them that Olive (the cat) loves to be brushed.  

Check out the cool Hello Kitty duds!

Oh my, as I was posting that we had a major head whack to the coffee table (by Sissy). We now have both learned what the cat feather toys are (had to pull them out to stop the screaming).

After yesterday's blog I had some questions about Birthdays and Gift Cards.  If you wanted to share you are welcome to, but you are by no means obligated.  Sissy's birthday is first week of October and Bug is last week of March.  Our favorite stores are Target, JC Penny (with their sweet coupons that we get nearly free stuff) and Amazon (I know, shop local, but you can find great things and have them magically show up at your door).  You can also make an impact with your local foster agencies.  This week we are getting new backpacks from our agency who got them from a local church.  

Is it Monday yet?  I am looking forward to the break that school will provide.