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Sunday we had a chance to get together with Brad’s mom and all of the cousins.  It was a super chance for everyone to reconnect & get to know each other’s exchange students.  (Brad’s sister is hosting a student from Germany)  After lunch, Molly took all of the girls to the mall for some serious shopping.  Both Eling and Margaret came home with big smiles and some cute new outfits.   They were practically dressed alike for school on Monday – I wish I had gotten a picture of that!

Cousins:

Girlfriends:

Don’t ask me to pose for a picture while I’m trying to play Leapster:

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My poor baby has had a hard week.  He’s so resilient and so good natured that I really didn’t think about how difficult it would be for him when I went back to work on Tuesday.  Sweet baby has taken a stand and decided not to nap at all while he is in child care.  And of course, he is so over-stimulated that he is not sleeping well at night either.  I’m thankful that when our regular preschool schedule starts, he will have one-on-one care with Miss Robin and her sweet little baby, Shiloh. 

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Margaret made Sam a little fort behind the big red chair.  He had so much fun hiding out, being all secretive.  Sam is always happy when he thinks he is getting away with something naughty.  He’s Brad’s kid (wink, wink).

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Here’s Sam’s version:

And this is Jack’s approach:

Mr. Jack came home from football and whipped up (with Dad’s help) some eggs & ham.  He liked the green plate so he could allude to the book.  Now if that isn’t a well-rounded kid, then what is?  Student athlete, budding chef, literary scholar, chick magnet . . . .

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It seems slow to us because we are so impatient to welcome Eling into our family, but bit by bit, she is bonding with her host siblings.  This weekend, she fed Sam cake off her plate.  She gave him her phone to play with & has been taking lots of pictures of him.   Today I coaxed the girls into a game of Connect 4, and from there Margaret taught Eling how to play Checkers.  After dinner we ran a few errands, then Eling, Margaret, and Will spent some time bonding on the trampoline.  Eling looked up wearily and moaned, “I’m dead”  So I guess they are wearing her out/down a bit!

Brad and I are somewhat overwhelmed at becoming instant parents to a teenager, but Eling has a good heart and is willing to listen and learn.  I hope she would say the same about us.

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