Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Kiddie Park (and pictures of the kiddies)

When my friend Stephanie called to ask if we wanted to go to Bartlesville to visit the Kiddie Park last week, I wasn't sure. After a rough week at home, I was a little nervous about taking the kids out to an amusement park and risking having to deal with any public meltdowns or how hyper Rosie might become, but I also craved the chance to just go and do something fun as a family, so we said yes and had a great evening!

Bartlesville Kiddie Park is a great place! Okay, the hour's drive is long for an evening's entertainment, but the kids had so much fun and it was amazingly inexpensive. Rides for 25 cents, hotdogs and sno cones for a dollar-the whole family had a night out for under $20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the evening. Rosie is missing from the early ones, because unfortunately she was carsick partway there, so Mommy and Rosie spent the first hour at Wal-Mart getting a new outfit and buying cleaning products to deal with the horribleness in the van. But, having got it out of her system she felt much better and was able to enjoy the rest of the evening.








The partners in crime waiting to catch the train: Noah, Nate, Rosie, Brooke, and Rachel holding Mandy.


Rosie adores Mandy! She calls her "Rosie's baby".


Here is Rosie with Brooke. They show signs of being BFF.


Look at that tongue-the boys loved having their first sno cones!


Noah and Rachel enjoying their sno cones:


We are so excited to see the growing friendship between our kids and I am so grateful for the chance I have had over the past month to get to know Stephanie better and to enjoy a deepening friendship. Now, we're just praying that her husband, Rob (who was laid off last month) can find work here in Tulsa so that they don't have to move.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Quick Update to Love is a Choice

I can't even begin to tell you how encouraged I have been by friends who have e-mailed, left blog comments, called or came to find me at church this week-end.
Just to know that you are not alone is such a help. I spent some time on my yahoo group with fellow adoptive Moms, and it was so good to find that I am not the only one going through this with our recently adopted little one, nor am I the only one who is struggling. Not that it is good that they are struggling, but it is good to hear that I have not lost my sanity and to hear from Moms who have already walked this path that things do get better. Thanks to all of you!

I also wanted to let you know that we had a FANTASTIC week-end. Let there be no doubt that prayer works. As friends have prayed, we had a week-end without any major meltdowns, no tantrums, no lying, no sharing issues, no big competition issues, no need to use the "thinking stool" and best of all, NO VOMITING because she didn't want to eat.

On Friday night when she was done eating, she said, "Mommy, Tummy full. I no more want this". I actually cried. What a big sentence and how nice to not end my evening cleaning vomit from all over the kitchen! Indeed, we have had no vomit since Thursday now-well, not on purpose. There was an amazing episode of carsickness on Friday night, but that was very obviously not on purpose and proved to be a good thing in the end, as I took care of her and cleaned her up and then comforted her, which seemed to make a big impact on her-she was so loving and grateful afterwards.

I'm sure that there will still be challenging days ahead, but I am grateful for signs of progress which give me hope for the future. I was able to crawl out of bed this morning without dreading the day to come.

We have some good pics from an outing with friends and lots of fun little stories about what we did this week-end, but for now I am off to make the most of the time while the boys are at Music Camp for the week.

Oh, and just to let you know how well things are going, I am typing this while Rosie is awake and playing- happily entertaining herself.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Love is a Choice

If you look at most of my blog, you will see the sweet, funny, happy side of adoption. Today, I'm going to give you a glimpse of the other side. I have really wrestled with some of these issues over the past couple of weeks, and have resisted "putting them out there" for everyone to see, but I do not want to be guilty of giving a false impression of what it is like as we adjust to life as a family with a recently adopted child.

The last couple of weeks have been rough. Scratch that-the last couple of weeks have been almost unbearable. In the middle of life as Mom to the Many Mini Munchkins (ages 5,4 and 3), I have found myself in the midst of some of the most lonely, frustrating, heart-breaking circumstances of my life to date. I'll get to that in a minute.

But first, I should just get this said: I love my daughter. I do not for a minute regret the choice we made to bring her home or question whether or not this is God's plan for our life and for hers. Rosie is still unbearably cute, very funny and shows many positive signs of attaching and bonding well with all of the members of our family. She is very affectionate, and over the last 3 months we have made progress in lots of areas. Overall, she is happy and capable of bringing great joy to life.

But, there is also a difficult side to life right now. We are learning that Rosie has a will of STEEL. She is very often determined to have her way, and Gareth and I find ourselves turning to each other over the last two weeks and saying, "We're in for a challenging ride". Here's what we've been dealing with the last two weeks:

1. Lying-Rosie has learned how to lie. Last week she came to find me to show me a small scratch on her arm. When I asked her what happened, she told me the dog bit her. Absolutely impossible-the dog doesn't ever come in, and Rosie hadn't been out. When Daddy got home she showed it to Daddy. He asked her what happened, and she told him that Mommy did it as she mimed me grabbing her by the arm, pinching her skin and twisting it. (Boy, that one really got to me!) This week, Rosie is taking a new tact. She comes to find me and makes up lies about what the boys are doing or what they are saying. If she doesn't want to take a turn, she comes to complain to me about the boys' behavior and when I give instructions to go play nicely and take turns she returns to the boys and tells them that "Mommy said, Nathan be nice. Mommy said, Noah share".

2. Vomiting at will-Yep. Rosie has learned how to gag herself, and if she decides she doesn't want something, doesn't want to finish her meal, doesn't want to wait for the rest of the family to finish, wants something other than what she has at the minute, she gags herself and throws up all over the table.

3. Self-centered. Rosie can't stand to not be the center of attention. If someone else has it, she wants it and isn't prepared to wait for a turn. If I am giving one of the boys some attention, she will attempt to physically wedge herself between us or just interrupt me non-stop, even if I just finished giving her affection and attention. If I am serving a meal, she can't stand to not be served first and demands exactly what everyone else has, even if experience has shown that she doesn't like what they're having. If she is in a room and we have guests, she more often than not shows off, determined to be the center of attention. She refuses to share unless Mommy is directly supervising. If she doesn't get what she wants from her brothers, she whines and wails and pouts. If she doesn't get what she demands from me, she glares like I would have never thought possible from a child.

I have tried for 2 weeks to write lesson plans,and failed completely. I simply cannot with her in the house. Even if I have provided her with activities and put her close to me, she will not give me peace to pay attention to anything else. (To post on my blog these days, requires her to be asleep or in the potty!)

So, where does that leave us? On a purely practical level, it means making some changes to our schooling plans. Rosie will be attending pre-school 3 mornings a week this year to give Noah and I the undivided attention needed to work on 1st grade. Nathan will also be attending pre-school this year, as having a sister without full English language skills means that his excellent vocabulary and language skills have been exchanged for very limited, broken sentences like Rosie uses. And, the inability of Rosie to be still or to concentrate have rubbed off, so that he is no longer ready to take on Kindergarten. Thankfully, he wasn't actually old enough to have to start kindergarten, so we aren't actually going to be behind! It means lots of hard work-holding Rosie responsible to learn appropriate behaviors and attempting to model them consistently for her. It means taking the deliberate action to ensure that each of my children has my undivided attention for at least a small portion of time every day, to be assured of my love for them as unique individuals. It means reconciling myself to the fact that 3 weeks in we still haven't finished re-decorating our bedroom and the master suite hasn't been cleaned for over a week now!

On a personal level, it leaves me at the end of myself. On my knees. Learning to be more dependent on the God who has blessed me with this child, begging Him for the wisdom to deal appropriately with challenging behavior, asking Him for the energy to face another day and making the choice to trust that this period of time is for my good, Rosie's good and for His glory. It means making the choice to love Rosie, even when I don't like her behavior. It means recognizing that so much of this is hard because I am selfish. The phrase "My life is not my own" has become my motto. On the particularly difficult days, I have found myself returning over and over to this phrase, forcing myself to acknowledge that I am not here to please myself, but to serve the God who saved me and to share His love. Right now, specifically, to share that love with Rosie and the boys.

If you are reading this because you have adopted or are interested in adoption, then I hope I have helped you think realistically about the job you are taking on. We adopt children, not angels. Just because your child is adopted and given a new chance at life does not make them automatically grateful, obedient, well-behaved or kind. They can be just as naughty as the rest of your children, maybe more so depending on their temperament. If you add in to this the huge adjustments they have to make, the need to deal with past loss and hurt and the difficulties of language barriers, you have a perfect scenario for challenging times. But, the fact that adoption can sometimes be difficult does not mean that it is not the right thing to do. God rarely calls us to things that are easy or painless. But, He does promise strength for the journey and to hear our cry. He promises not to give us more than we can handle. God's command to care for the widow and the orphan doesn't come with an exemption clause because doing so means you might find yourself fighting hard battles at times. And, if you are adopting, I can assure you that there are lots of good times as well. (Just look back at the last 3 months of posts)

If you are someone who cares for a family that has chosen to adopt, can I encourage you to support them. You can pray for them, let them know you're praying for them, offer to babysit, bring them a meal, just be available to be a sounding board(and yes, I can assure you that they already know that their current difficulties are a result of their choice to adopt-I can also assure you that it is NOT helpful to insinuate that any difficulties their other children are having are the parents fault for paying so much attention to the newly adopted child), take an interest in their newly adopted child and love them as they are-imperfections and all, take an interest in their other children and help provide a break for them from the chaos,and finally, speak encouraging words that build up parents who may be struggling and questioning whether they are good parents or not.

Adoption is beautiful-imperfections and all. It reminds me of the love of my Heavenly Father who chooses to love me, despite my flaws and imperfections and selfishness. It gives me the opportunity to choose to love and in doing so to be stretched out of my comfort zone-growing me up and maturing me into the person God wants me to be.

Favorite Food Fridays

Okay, this recipe isn't one of my super quick and easy ones, but at the end of a HARD week as a Mommy, it just screams comfort food. This is one of my favorite cakes, a recipe I found during my years in England. I haven't made one this week, as given the level of stress, I might just sit and eat the whole thing myself. If you decide to make it, maybe you could just bring me 1 piece! Don't be put off by the dates. They don't really add flavor as much as they do moisture and richness.

Sticky Date and Toffee Cake

For the cake:
5 oz. chopped dates
1 tsp. baking soda
8 oz. strong coffee
5 oz. flour
2 oz. butter, chilled and cubed
2 oz. choppped walnuts
7 oz. golden caster (superfine) sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8x12 baking pan. Put the chopped dates in a bowl, add the baking soda and pour in the hot coffee. Put the flour in another bowl, tip in the cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Chop the nuts finely and add to the flour with the sugar, baking powder and 1/2 tsp. of salt. In another bowl, beat the egg with the vanilla extract and add to the date mixture, then tip the date mixture into the dry ingredients and beat well. Pour into the greased baking pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes or until well risen and firm to the touch.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes while you make the topping.

Cake topping:
2 oz. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. golden caster (superfine) sugar
1 oz. butter
4 level Tbsp. light brown sugar
4 Tbsp. whipping cream

Chop the nuts finely then heat them in a pan with the caster sugar, shaking them occasionally until they are lightly toasted. Combine the butter, brown sugar and cream in a small saucepan. Heat over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a boil. Pour evenly over the cake, smoothing over the icing with a spatula, then scatter the toasted nuts on top. When the cake is completely cool, cut it into squares and serve.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Motherhood-It's Not For Sissies

'Nuff said.

Conflicted

They came today. Pictures of Rosie's first Mother. I've been wanting them ever since I heard that they existed and believed that they could be an important link for Rosie someday.

I don't think I was quite prepared for their impact, though. I can't even begin to adequately describe the emotions they bring out. The best I can say is that they HIT me and leave me feeling so conflicted. I am so grateful to have them to share with Rosie (although Gareth and I have yet to decide when the perfect time to do that is), so relieved that our adoption agency hadn't lost them, so happy to find that the pictures are actually of her and Rosie together and so sad that I didn't get the opportunity to meet her birth mother. But more than anything, they leave me longing for heaven.

Prior to adopting Rosie and my trip to Ethiopia I loved life and honestly couldn't understand hearing people say that they longed for heaven. Not that I didn't want to go there someday, I just wasn't in any hurry to get there. But, an encounter with children starving on the streets, and other children who are starving for the love of a family can change all of that. And so now, I find myself conflicted-celebrating the addition of another piece of the puzzle to share with Rosie, mourning the state of a fallen world where my precious girl's first Mother would have to make the choice to give up her child knowing that she would not live to raise her, loving the joy that Rosie brings to our life, and longing for heaven where the sorrow and stains of this life will be no more.

He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears. Isaiah 25:8

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

(Not So) Little Buddies

While I was busy cooking all of the garden produce, the boys were busy having fun with their new friend, Andrew. Some knights may come in shining armor on horseback. My knights are much cooler, though. They arrive via 4-wheeler.

Hurrah for little buddies! Especially when they're are sweet as these ones!

What I Did Today

From the garden this morning:

From the kitchen this afternoon:

About 10 jars today. Mexican food, anyone?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Hard Days' Night


A full day at the pool and then playing outside in the evening makes for VERY tired boys. I just couldn't resist snapping this picture. I really should have taken video of it, though, to give you an idea of just how loud Nathan snores when he is very tired.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Revelation Song

This is my new favorite worship song. I heard it at church this last week, done by one of the girls from our choir. Powerful stuff. Now, I'm not a big fan of "performance worship", and I had a hard time finding a version of this that I was willing to post on my blog. This one will have to do, but personally, I'd ignore the video and just listen to the words. Make sure you scroll down and pause my playlist before pressing play.

So Proud of Him

Topping the list of exciting things at our house, is the fact that Gareth has a new job. Not a new company, but a new role. It's been over a year since Gareth first started thinking about a return to technical work and making a job change that would eventually give him more earning potential as our family continues to grow. But as the economy took a major nose-dive, and lay-offs began to hit far too close to home for comfort, it seemed that he wouldn't have the opportunity.

Then, in June Gareth's current employer announced a training and retention program aimed at assisting some of their brightest and best employees to become project engineers. Gareth was one of 5 applicants, interviewed with 4 different people and was chosen unanimously to be the 1st person to go through this training process. So, beginning in August Gareth will be a project engineer in training. He'll be in training for 18 months, but then should be ready to take on the role of a project engineer.I am so proud of him-his hard work, commitment to quality and going above and beyond are reaping rewards.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

We're Back

What a week! But, I am happy to say that I feel much closer to being ready for school to start. Room to room, drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf, cleaned and organized, hopefully helping to streamline the day-to-day housework in anticipation of the beginning of school in 4 weeks. The master suite isn't finished being redecorated yet, but Gareth is working diligently on it, and hopefully we'll be all done by next week-end.

Life is really crazy right now, so all of the time at home cleaning and organizing was helpful as it gave me plenty of time for thinking and praying and trying to sort out my thoughts while I was sorting out the house. Writing it down seem to help, so over the next week I'll try to share some of what has been going on in the Moffatt house.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Favorite Food Fridays



This is one of Gareth and I's favorite summer dinners. I received the original recipe from my good friend, Linda, and then tweaked it slightly to suit our tastes. This truly is a must try!

Oriental Chicken Salad
Dressing:
In a blender, mix the following items together and blend well:
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetbale oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 T. sesame seeds
2 drops toasted sesame seed oil (very potent-I do mean drops!)


Salad:
1 large bowl of romaine lettuce, finely torn
1 bunch of green onions, finely chopped (I only use the green part)
1 small head of broccoli, finely chopped
1 handful slivered almonds
1 handful dried cranberries
1 can of mandarin orange segments, well-drained
1 package of ramen noodles
4 grilled chicken breasts

Place the slivered almonds in a frying pan and toast over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned.
Crush the package of ramen noodles. DO NOT use the seasoning packet.
Dice the grilled chicken into bite-sized pieces.

This salad can be put together into one bowl and then add the ramen noodles and the salad dressing right before serving, or you can set out everything in individual bowls and allow everyone to make their own. Once you have added the dressing and ramen noodles, this recipe will NOT keep as the noodles go soggy.

Enjoy!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Pardon Our Progress

The Many Mini Munchkins and I will be taking a blogging break for most of this week. School is right around the corner and has been moved up several weeks as Gareth and I have made the decision to put the youngest 2 in pre-school part-time (more about that later), so Noah and I will start 1st grade a little earlier than had been the original plan in order to take full advantage of the undisturbed learning time we'll have without the 2 liveliest munchkins around.

So, I have a fun day out planned for us tomorrow, but then we will spend the rest of the week finishing what I have started today-deep cleaning, organizing closets and cabinets, making a list of fall and winter clothing needs, repairing any chipped paint in the house, and just in general making sure that life is as well-organized as possible to give us the best start to the school year and hopefully make keeping up with the housework in the midst of all of the school-term chaos easier. Back soon. Love, Sarah and the M.M.M.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Favorite Food Fridays



I've been in a bit of a slump in the food department lately. Tired of cooking after a full day of chasing Mommy's Many Mini Munchkins around, tired of the same old things, and in need of inspiration. So last week I got out my cookbooks and spent a happy evening looking through old favorites I had forgotten about and some new recipes that I thought I might enjoy. I've had lots of fun this week trying some new foods out on the family and planning on re-visiting some old favorites we haven't had in a while.

Recognizing that I must not be the only one who needs re-inspiring in the kitchen from time to time, I thought I'd start using Fridays to share recipes that are family favorites (some old and some new, all of them family favorites).

Now, I will provide a disclaimer that I very rarely measure for most of my cooking, so if you are an experienced cook, feel free to eye-ball it and experiment, but I am working on measuring while I cook currently, so as to provide accurate quantities for those of my friends who prefer to have exact quantities and directions.

To start with, an old stand-by and a super-easy meal, but one that always gets the boys excited and makes Gareth happy:

Baked Tilapia (or, according to Noah and Nathan-Tilapia From the Sea)

6 tilapia fillets
2/3 tube of Ritz crackers, crushed
olive oil
dried basil
fresh ground salt and black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Thaw tilapia fillets. Remove from packaging and use a paper towel to pat dry. Place on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 425.
Sprinkle each fillet with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Divide crushed Ritz crackers over the top of the fillets. Sprinkle a pinch of dried basil over each and then drizzle with olive oil (approximately 1 tsp. per fillet). Bake at 425for 15 minutes.

I usually serve this fish with boiled and buttered baby potatoes and baby peas (frozen, not canned!) and a wedge of lemon for garnish.

Enjoy!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

TEA


Please scroll down to the bottom of the screen and pause my playlist before trying to play this video.

On a personal note, I did send an envelope to the White House, but instead of sending an actual tea bag (which was likely to be confiscated in case it contained biological weapons), I simply sent the envelope it came in. Will it make a difference? Well, probably not, UNLESS the majority of people who are tired of politics as usual and the bankrupting and hijacking of America decide to actually get involved and do something more than just complaining.

My Favorite Summer Salad

As promised yesterday, here's the recipe for the summer salad we enjoyed for our 4th of July celebration:


Sarahs Favorite Summer Salad

1 large tub of baby romaine leaves
1 can of mandarin oranges, well-drained
1 cup of fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup of fresh blueberries, rinsed and well-drained
1 cup of fresh pineapple, sliced into bite-size chunks
1/3 cup of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
2 tsp. of butter
3/4 cup of roughly chopped pecans
bottle of Briannas Homestyle PoppySeed Dressing
Melt butter in a frying pan. Over medium heat, toast pecans in the butter, stirring lightly every minute, until pecans are coated in butter and are lightly toasted (4-5 minutes). Set aside to cool. Combine romaine leaves and fruits. Sprinkle in roasted pumpkin seeds and toasted pecans. Serve immediately with poppyseed dressing.

Now, I have to admit that I NEVER measure ingredients for this salad, but I included approximate quantities for my culinary-challenged friends. Feel free to use whatever combination of quantities you like.

At our house, we love to grill chicken tenders and serve them with this salad for a quick, healthy meal. Add a loaf of artisan bread and you've got a great summer-time meal. But, this salad also makes a delicious side dish, too.

Enjoy!

Just because I love this picture

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Happy Birthday America

One of my goals for this year was to make ALL of the holidays we celebrate really special for the kids. I really struck out on Valentines Day as I had bronchitis and was resting per Dr.s instructions, which doesn't make a very promising start to a year of special holiday celebrations. So, the kids and I decided to make up for lost time and really have fun celebrating Rosie's 1st Independence Day. We invited a couple of our favorite families over and then started planning.

The kids helped me plan the menu, and we went to Target and Wal-Mart to see how we could decorate without spending very much money. Here are the results:

Decorating our table


When Nathan asked what he thought he would like to decorate with, he said "jellybeans", so we went with it!


Dinner-a fabulous summer salad! Recipe to follow tomorrow


Our patriotic jell-o


After dinner, we headed out to do a few little fireworks and to enjoy all of the other fireworks. As we are outside city limits, there isn't any regulation over fireworks and our neighbors and their visiting friends take full advantage of this!!!!! It's a great evening, as everybody comes out in their front yards, kids run around and play together, and it's a good time to get to know your neighbors.

Nathan and the rocket balloons (Thanks Aunti Keri-the balloons were a huge hit!)


Rosie and the rocket balloon


The kids' little buddy, Spencer


Watching the neighborhood fireworks


Rosie's first sparkler

A Birthday at Silver Dollar City

We love Silver Dollar City! So, when my parents asked if we would meet them there for my birthday on Friday, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Given that we needed to be home on Saturday so would need to drive there and back in one day, perhaps we should have given it more thought, but oh well, we'll know that next time.

Silver Dollar City is in the middle of kids' fest, so it was a great time to take the kids. In addition to all of the usual kids rides and play areas, they had special shows geared to kids and lots of little tents set up with tables for sand play, giant tic tac toe, checkers and lego construction. We played our way around half of the city and through the cave and had so much fun that we didn't even make it around the whole park.

Here are some pictures of our fun:
The kids-desperate for Mom to snap the picture so that they can play!


Playing in the sand


Mommy and Daddy playing in the sand


Mommy and Nate riding the flying elephants!


Riding the pirate ship-note Nathan's face-eyes screwed tight shut, hanging on for dear life. I asked him afterwards if he liked it, and he grinned and said he loved it and wished he could be a pirate. We called him "Captain Fuzzbeard" for the rest of the day.


Grandpa and Nathan riding the frogs


Daddy and Noah riding the frogs


Noah and Nathan riding their first ride all by themselves!


Grandma and Rosie flying in a butterfly


Daddy and Rosie using the airgun to shoot foam balls


What I don't have any pictures of was the best part of the day-riding the Lost River Ride as a whole family! Rosie just made the minimum clearance to ride the adult water rides, but as Noah had been so upset when I took him on the Lost River last time, I didn't even suggest it this trip. But, to my surprise, as we were passing it he begged to ride. I reminded him about how upset he had been the previous trip, and he assured me that he wasn't afraid anymore, so we gave it a try. It was great. We had all three kids with us, and as there wasn't a line, the attendants let us ride through 3 times without stopping. After the 3rd trip through we were all thoroughly soaked. The boys wanted to keep riding, and the attendants would have let us, but Rosie's teeth were starting to chatter, so we got off, dried out and grabbed some supper before the 4 hour drive home. If you don't count the drive home, it was a most excellent way to celebrate my 31st birthday!

Catching Up

My apologies for the long absence. Gareth used some vacation time so that we could have a 5-day vacation for my birthday and the 4th of July. The original idea had been to use the time to paint our bedroom (my birthday present), but in the end we played instead!

On Thursday we did the lawnwork and then spent the afternoon having a picnic and playing at the pool. Friday was spent at Silver Dollar City, and on Saturday we celebrated the 4th with friends and fireworks. Sunday was church and recovering from Friday and Saturday, and Monday was a gentle day just enjoying spending time together, pottering around the house and finishing up paperwork in preparation for our 3-month post placement report for Rosie's adoption (Can it really be that Rosie has been home for almost 3 months?)

Pictures of Friday and Saturday to follow.