Patiently waiting

I started sponsoring my 1st two kids on August 7, my 3rd child on August 12, and my 4th on August 22, so I am aware that I have a long wait ahead of me until I receive their first letters.  I've read that it can take anywhere from 2-6 months to receive your first letter from your sponsored child.  Still, I am practicing the patient wait--well practiced from our years of foster care and adoption.
It seems that sponsorship, just like foster care and adoption, is a gigantic exercise in patience :-)

Luckily, I have 3 very busy children who have kept me very busy all summer long.  However, school starts soon, and while my kids are still each only in half day programs, it ends up leaving me with more free time than I'm used to, as this is the first year that they will each be in school 5 days/week.  My youngest will be attending a different preschool that meets 5 days/week for half days, and my 2 older children (who are actually in the same grade due to when their birthdays fall), will be in our local elementary school's pre-k classroom every morning, 5 days each week.
This should leave me with plenty of letter writing time during the week, haha.
Actually, this Fall will be the first time I will be at home every morning by myself, without any foster babies.  And, this is also the oldest that our youngest has been without having another baby in the house.  Wow, did that statement even make sense?  I guess another way to say it is "We've had someone 2 or under in this house for the past 5 years".  But now that our youngest is about to turn 3 this week, it's like a whole new realm of parenting.
There are no cribs set up, no sippy cups, no bottles, no baby board books, and a lot of "big kid" toys.
For me, fostering is very much like sponsoring with Compassion-- I feel as though I can always help "just 1 more", but for now, we are taking a short break from foster care after fostering for 7 years without a break at all.