And now....back to real life!

Rosie has been home for 3 1/2 months and it is starting to find a new normal.  For the first month everyone was on their very best behavior and you would think we were the newest Brady Bunch.  The kids all did everything together and got along (this is VERY not normal around here).  Everyone seemed to love the game UNO, which was one of the only non English games everyone could play together.  No one argued and everyone smiled.....ahhhhh I knew it was pretend but I liked to pretend it would last.  However this is actually a sign in our family that there is a nonfamily intruder among us :)  See when people come over we scatter to make our house look clean, we scrub and light candles and play music.  We get that week old chocolate milk stain off the wall, pick up that nasty sock in the corner no one wanted to touch, put that pile of papers in a drawer to deal with (or more likely forget about) later.  The counters mysterious crusty stuff is scraped off and then we make sure everyone has pants and has brushed teeth and then when guests arrive we all act..."normal"...  We all know the routine, I have been to your houses too!!  No way your pillows stay on the couch so neatly and there is no jelly in mysterious places and if that is truly how clean your house always is please never tell me!  So onward to life.  We were living that "normal" for a month or so. Then I noticed some kids squabbling, or other kids not wanting to play the same game again.  I saw the older kids drift back to candy crush and facebook and the youngers drift to Barbies and Hot Wheels.  I noticed the chores were forgotten and that sullen look that follows a new math lesson had returned. Slowly and quietly Rosie became one of us.  No longer a stranger staying with us, another one of us, telling on little brothers and sisters who are being a nuisance and trying to stay up a little later.  Now almost 4 months into our family of 10, we are pretty much totally back to normal.  She has seen all our morning hair, watched us be messy, admitted she hates green vegetables and loves donuts.  Apparently donuts are not a part of the Bulgarian cuisine. 

So while now the normal is back, we are back to our messy lives, it is a good sign that things are going really well.  As strange as it sounds..