Getting up early (easier with the time change) to bake two loaves of apple/raisin/cinnamon bread. Strategically greeting kids with warm slices of bread with giant pats of butter melting in the middle before showing them today's chore list. Success! A giant cleaning list that the kids pitched in to without complaint--amazingly done by 1pm! Grocery order for pickup put in last night so I could swing in and out parking lot this morning in minutes. Super yummy squash soup that's far healthier than it tastes. Two-thirds of the way through getting all the kids' bedding washed and put back on. And now, husband returning from the butcher with seven birds for the freezer and the blessed quiet of a flock with far fewer adolescent males competitively crowing each morning to impress the ladies. Now I can crochet the rest of the day away without guilt!

Butternut squash, acorn squash, white potatoes, carrots, onions cooked in chicken broth then pureed with sour cream. So good and creamy!

Or, more likely, finish up the photo book I make each year to send to birth family of our adoptive girls so that they can stay somewhat connected even though they aren't allowed to have direct contact. It's a tough thing to put together. Trying to share a lot--but not too much. Is showing the vacation pictures interesting--or does it seem too braggy? Do the girls look happy in each picture--can someone misinterpret a squint in the sun for a frown? Have I inadvertently, though background images, revealed too much about where we live and frequently hang out? The third year of doing this I feel pretty good at it; fairly reconciled that there will always be lingering doubts. But it isn't easy.