Sunday 31 May 2009

May

- Still awaiting a phone call / paperwork about three groups of siblings: S+2, a group from 'N' and a group from 'L'.
- Decided to take S+2 off our radar, due to a lack of response from their social workers.
- Also expresses our interest in three other groups of siblings: from 'Nr', 'H' and 'Le'.

Monday 25 May 2009

19-May to 25-May

Family-finding:
- Sibling group of 3 from 'N': we have read the basic profiles on these children and are still awaiting the full paperwork and outcome of a sibling assessment to identify if they should remain together or be split up. This will take several weeks.
- Sibling group of 3 from 'L': we have read their basic profiles and full paperwork. They are definitely of interest to us. We are waiting for the social worker to return from holiday (after 21st May) to start family-finding. Let's hope we are included in their plans.
- We have also expressed our interest with our social worker in three other sibling groups and are awaiting contact from their social workers:
  • Two from 'Nr'
  • Three from 'H'
  • Two from 'Le'
Home and garden:
- Mary had an issue with the cleaner :( She has complained to the company and is hoping things will improve over the next couple of weeks
- Cupboard safety catches for kitchen; to be attached when we are matched and before introductions.

Car:
- We will be looking to purchase a nearly new car when we are matched with children. Mungo's car is to stay with us, as we can put car seats in the back when we take the children out separately.

Studying:
- Mary: Childcare, Learning and Development, NVQ Level 3 - Received a B in her 4th assignment, has nearly completed her 5th (of 10)
- Mungo: T175 (Networked Living) - 4th assignment submitted
- Mungo: M255 (Java Programming) - first assignment submitted, score was 79%.

Monday 18 May 2009

12-May to 18-May

Family-finding:
- S+2: we have decided not to keep these on our radar :( it has been two months since we expressed our interest and we have heard very little in the last few weeks.
- Sibling group of 3 from 'N': we have read the basic profiles on these children and are still awaiting the outcome of a sibling assessment to identify if they should remain together or be split up. This will take several weeks.
- Sibling group of 3 from 'L': we have read their basic profiles and are waiting the social worker to return from holiday (after 21st May) to start family-finding and send us the paperwork.
- We have also expressed our interest with our social worker in three other sibling groups and are awaiting contact from their social workers:
  • Two from 'Nr'
  • Three from 'H'
  • Two from 'Le'
Home and garden:
- Mary is still happy with the cleaner - yay!
- Cupboard safety catches for kitchen; to be done when we are matched and before introductions. They are now purchased and sitting in a drawer awaiting attachment.

Car:
- We will be looking to purchase a nearly new car when we are matched with children. This car is not that much different to what Mary has right now! It is big enough to fit in all the car seats we might need AND there is ample storage space for all their gubbins :) What tops it all is the 'slidy doors'! This will make getting in and out so much easier.
- We will put Mary's cherished number plate on retention as soon as we are matched. Mungo will then get it advertised and sold privately, because we are likely to get at least 3k more than trade
- Mungo's car is to stay with us, as we can put car seats in the back when we take the children out separately.

Studying:
- Mary: Childcare, Learning and Development, NVQ Level 3 - Received a B in her 4th assignment, has started the 5th (of 10)
- Mungo: T175 (Networked Living) - 4th assignment submitted
- Mungo: M255 (Java Programming) - first assignment submitted, score was 79%.

Monday 11 May 2009

5-May to 11-May

Family-finding:
- We have expressed our interest in three sibling groups:
- S+2: we have had full paperwork on these and are awaiting a call back from the social workers to advise whether we will be linked. Our social worker says that she thinks they are already family-finding. vWe have been waiting to hear since mid-March, so if we have heard nothing by this week then we shall take them off our list.
- Sibling group of 3 from 'N': we have read the basic profiles on these children and are awaiting the outcome of a sibling assessment to identify if they should remain together or be split up. This will take several weeks.
- Sibling group of 3 from 'L': we have read their basic profiles and are awaiting the social workers to start family-finding. Thursday: we received an update from our social worker: their social worker is on holiday until 21st May (grrrr...) and if the paperwork is updated whilst she is away she will arrange for it to be sent over.
- Saturday: The latest literature of children who are waiting to be adopted was delivered this morning. We have seen some groups that we would like information and and have emailed our social worker with the details.

Home and garden:
- Mary has taken on the cleaner :)
- Cupboard safety catches for kitchen; to be done when we are matched and before introductions. They are now purchased and sitting in a drawer awaiting attachment.

Car:
- We will put Mary's cherished number plate on retention as soon as we are matched. Mungo will then get it advertised and sold privately.
- Mungo's car is to stay with us, as we can put car seats in the back when we take the children out separately.

Studying:
- Mary: Childcare, Learning and Development, NVQ Level 3 - Received a B in her 4th assignment, has started the 5th (of 10)
- Mungo: T175 (Networked Living) - 4th assignment submitted
- Mungo: M255 (Java Programming) - first assignment submitted, score was 79%

Monday 4 May 2009

28-Apr to 4-May

This week's update:
- We are still awaiting a phone call about three sibling groups that our social worker is working on. Might call her for an update on Friday morning if we haven't heard anything by then.
- Wednesday: Our social worker gave us some further info on the two sets of children from 'N' and 'L'. They both sound like children we would be prepared to adopt - given the brief information we have. Mary said that we would need to see the paperwork and a photo before we agreed to anything further. Both sets of siblings are complicated in that there are time delays due to legal or assessment issues; so a long road ahead of us, if we decide on either of them.
- We have still heard nothing from the social workers for S+2 . Our social worker mentioned that there was a possibility that they may be looking at other couples first. We agreed that we would give it another week and then drop them off our radar - so to speak! It does not stop them contacting us in the future and if we are still looking then we would be very interested.
- Saturday: We received a copy of the profiles of the children from 'N' and 'L', one of which has photos. The profiles are like A4-sized adverts; they are bright, colourful and full of meaningless phrases like "the foster carers say they are a delight to care for." But is does give you a bit of an insight to what they are like - and photos are a must. The paperwork which gives you all the details (and I mean ALL) is called the CPR. We haven't had those for either set of children yet.

Home and garden update:
- Mary is awaiting Friday when the new cleaner comes and does their first clean - assuming they don't cancel beforehand!
- Friday: The cleaner has arrived! She arrived early! She seems very nice and right on my level :) She did a good clean and we are taking her on permanently - yay!

Car update:
- It's decided! The car that is for us! A second-hand of the type we want is about the same cost as Mary's car so we won't need to put anything towards it - which is a billy-bonus!
- We have also decided to get Mary's cherished number plate put on retention as soon as we are matched, as it's just a car journey to get it done immediately. Otherwise it is weeks of paperwork and the timings might get messed up. Mungo will then get it advertised and sold privately.
- We are spending as much time as possible making the most of Mary's car; Mungo's car is to stay with us.

To do list:
- Cupboard safety catches for kitchen; to be done when we are matched and before introductions. They are now purchased and sitting in a drawer awaiting attachment.
- The blinds are up! Yay, well done Mungo :)

Studying update:
- Mary: has sent in her 4th assignment and has started the 5th (of 10), on the course Childcare, Learning and Development, NVQ Level 3.
- Mungo: T175 (Networked Living). 4th assignment submitted, 1 left to go then the course is done (end-May) ... and M255 (Java Programming) first assignment submitted, no result yet, course finishes October.