Mark and Brooke take a nap together. Of course the dogs are right there, also.
Olivia's class had "Community Helper Day" and the kids got to dress up as their favorite community helper (vet, nurse, doctor, etc.). Out of the blue, Olivia chooses to go as a... Gardener. Gardener? She has never had the slightest interest in plants! But we threw this outfit together. She makes me think of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Also, she has a new boyfriend. He is a classmate and his name is Jack. Jack doesn't agree with this, since he likes a different little girl (who likes a different little boy), but that makes no difference to Olivia. She's happy as a clam anyway.
Grandma Sally and Grandpa Howard came over for chili one cold night. Brooke insisted on combing grandpa's hair. Grandpa was good enough to cooperate.
Here they are on the sofa. Of course, there are dogs wedged in between them.
On a different night, we hooked up the little camera/kareoke machine and Grandma Sally, Brooke, Daddy and Olivia had their own private dance party.
One event of note was the "6-month" visit by the adoption agency. China requires a 6-month and 12-month update on all the kids. It was very easy and they decided to let us keep her for now. Ha! All our adoption paperwork is complete, except for the 12-month visit next summer!! Brooke's new U.S.-issued birth certificate came in the mail last week and we are DONE with all the forms, petitions, fees, endless copying, and everything else required to get that little child from there to here. Yeah!
Here's our social worker, Chaunda, with Brooke. She is the same lady who reviewed and accepted our original application to adopt, so she's been with us from Day One.
Santa brought Brooke a nail polish kit for Christmas. It has turned out to be alot of fun. Brooke has very little patience for sitting, so we do simple designs with her. Here, she has hot pink nails with black and white polka dots. We do the polka dots with the tip of a toothpick. Mommy has to take her glasses off (or take out her contacts) so she can get close enough to do the detail work. Ugh. Mommy is getting old.
Olivia has more patience to sit still (not a whole lot more...). So we can do more detailed designs on her nails. This time we tried white cats on hot pink nails. The eyes, mouth and whiskers were done with the tip of a pin. I am proud to say they have lasted almost a whole week.
The other morning we took Olivia to school. When we got back to the house, here's what Brooke and I found in the laundry room. Oswald was having a catnip orgy on the floor! It was all over the kitchen floor, too. The cats love it. Jinx just slowly rolled her fat body all over in it. They were VERY disappointed when I cleaned it up.
Like I said, nothing terribly exciting. My brother turned half a century old. Wow!!! I better not make too much fun of him because he is my dentist and, therefore, has the ability to make me pay by way of a dental drill. We had a nice little Chinese New Year celebration at China Tree school last Saturday. Everyone brought a dish and we had a pot-luck lunch after class. The kids got to do some crafts. Of course, I forgot my camera. Better luck next year...
Santa brought Brooke a nail polish kit for Christmas. It has turned out to be alot of fun. Brooke has very little patience for sitting, so we do simple designs with her. Here, she has hot pink nails with black and white polka dots. We do the polka dots with the tip of a toothpick. Mommy has to take her glasses off (or take out her contacts) so she can get close enough to do the detail work. Ugh. Mommy is getting old.
Olivia has more patience to sit still (not a whole lot more...). So we can do more detailed designs on her nails. This time we tried white cats on hot pink nails. The eyes, mouth and whiskers were done with the tip of a pin. I am proud to say they have lasted almost a whole week.
The other morning we took Olivia to school. When we got back to the house, here's what Brooke and I found in the laundry room. Oswald was having a catnip orgy on the floor! It was all over the kitchen floor, too. The cats love it. Jinx just slowly rolled her fat body all over in it. They were VERY disappointed when I cleaned it up.
Like I said, nothing terribly exciting. My brother turned half a century old. Wow!!! I better not make too much fun of him because he is my dentist and, therefore, has the ability to make me pay by way of a dental drill. We had a nice little Chinese New Year celebration at China Tree school last Saturday. Everyone brought a dish and we had a pot-luck lunch after class. The kids got to do some crafts. Of course, I forgot my camera. Better luck next year...
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