We're in!

Big news #1: 

We have our LID for Havi- Nov 9th!  

Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!

Big news #2:

We moved!!!

I was supposed to finish this post up before we turned off our computers earlier this week, but that, obviously, didn't happen. These photos were taken at our old place.  Remember, I wanted to capture the kids just hanging out and enjoying themselves?  Well, here they are pretending to be ferocious lions.  They love to play "animals" all the time.

I loved photographing them at play in our living room because it had the absolute best light in the entire house. (Yes, technically it should probably be called the family room.  But I grew up with only one room for the family, and we called it the living room.  So that's what always stuck with me.)  

I still have other photos I've taken this past month at our old home that I still want to share.  No fear, though, I will try to put up some photos of the dumplings in our new home.  Believe it or not, I still haven't taken a shot of the front of our house.  For real.  lol.  Anyway, I think I better start downloading all those iPhone photos I've taken.  I can't believe how much light this house has!!  I haven't even bothered shooting with my big girl camera too much these last few days because I have found the photos I've taken with my iPhone to be bright enough.  Gasp!

We're still in the processing of moving everything in and helping things find their rightful place.  But the reality is, though our old house was small, we really built in some great storage. Our new house has much more space, but storage just isn't the best...not yet anyway.  It will come, if I have my way. lol

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  We will be enjoying ours in our new place!  Oh, and I can't forget to say a huge thank you to our dear friend Shail and his friend Carlo, who are men of steel with hearts of gold and have graciously given up their time these past two days to help us.  And according to them, they're not done!  Say what?  Their hearts are so huge.  They have richly blessed us as they have been the hands and feet of God.  We are so grateful and are deeply humbled by their service.  A million thanks!

Last days, moving, and Thanksgiving Day-ish

Well, my absence from the blog this time means only one thing....we closed on our house last week!  We have spent all week packing things up.  Remember how I said I wanted to capture some images inside our home, one last time before we moved?  Well, I managed to take a few.  The series I'm sharing this time is when the kidlets decided to play Candyland one afternoon.  

They had a lot of fun, and their time together almost always means tickle fights, squishing each other, and giggles.

This room no longer looks like this.  The rug, console table, arm chair and ottoman, and end tables are gone.  I did snap a few more of the kids enjoying the house before the chaos ensued.  So I will post those soon too.  And I have  also taken a handful of photos with my big girl camera and iPhone in my attempt to capture our moving process. But I still need to download those and then find the time to put them together to make a coherent blog post.  Hmm...that might take time.

Anyway, I do think our slow transition will help the kids adjust a bit better. They have been playing at the new house a lot while we unpack over there.  So it won't feel so strange to them when we're finally all moved over.  Now don't get me wrong and think that I'm thinking this will be easy as pie; I don't.  I just think it will be a wee bit easier.  That's all.

We've already met most of our neighbors on our cul-de-sac.  I'm happy to report that two families are big Florida Gator fans, just like yours truly. So we know a few more people who are celebrating the Gator victory this weekend.  (I think big Gator block parties are in our future. he he.)

On the adoption front, still no word on our LID.  I'm a little disappointed that we haven't heard about it yet.  I had hoped that we would hear by the end of this month.  And, although we haven't yet, I'm still hopeful because November still has a few more days before it's over.  So there's still a chance.  And if not, it won't be the end of me.  I have really given complete control of this adoption to the Lord.  I'm at total peace. So it is what it is.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We did indeed eat turkey prepared by my better half.  Then we spent a good part of the day moving things.  Still, turkey made it feel like Thanksgiving.  My sister, Deb, and BIL Andy came on Friday with their kidlets.  Andy helped Patrick move a few things, and my sister offered her opinion on her top choices for wall colors from the sample boards I painted.  Isn't that what sisters are so good for?  I love her!  Caleb and Madeline loved playing with Leah, and the feeling was mutual.  Now if only Joshua could morph into a 3yo who talks and listens, then life would be swell.  In the meantime, we'll continue to chase him down to keep him out of trouble and smother him with kisses.

Lately...

We're just plain busy.

Tomorrow Caleb wraps up his baseball season.  We are so proud of our little player.  Each season he continues to improve.  He hits the ball well and has been making outs on the field.  His favorite positions to play are catcher and first base.  Patrick continues to help out with coaching.  So it's been a special time together for the boys.  And we just love watching him play.

Madeline continues to enjoy dance.  She has a Holiday performance coming up next month, for which she's very excited about.  She's also been begging me to do more school with her.  Although I have different programs I use to teach her, we barely do school together.  She does a great job of keeping herself busy while I work with Caleb.  However, she's asking me to teach her more.  So I'm carving out more time in the day to do that.

Still no word on our LID for Havi's adoption.  We're hoping to hear any day now.

With the cooler temps, the kids have been playing more in the front yard.  Although I don't like it getting dark so early, we do love this time of year.  It allows us to get outside any time of day, without having to load up on sunscreen and water. lol

Caleb asks me to play catch with him...daily.  It's precious.  So while we're doing that, Madeline is either riding her bike or her brother's scooter...or bringing her stuffed animals outside for storytime.

This afternoon, well, we're hoping to close on our new house.  And while we have LOVED this extra wide sidewalk in front of our house for the kids to play on (we live on a busy street), we are looking forward to living at the end of a cul-de-sac.

The reality of this impending move has really started to sink in.  There are lots of things about this house that I'm going to miss.  And I've decided that I want to do my best to capture it all one last time.  These images above really speak to how we spend our fall and winter afternoons.  I love hanging out in the front yard with the dumplings. And I LOVE hearing their squeals when Baba's car pulls into the driveway at the end of the day.  Gonna miss ya, little yellow house.

A day in Mystic {Part 3}..and some big news

We started off our third day in Connecticut by heading over to Mystic.  Yes, the same Mystic as in Mystic Pizza, the movie starring Julia Roberts (though most of the movie was not filmed there.)  Anyway, we first hit the aquarium.  This is what I saw as I stepped out of the car in the parking lot.

We were all looking forward to seeing the Beluga whales, as we had never seen them before.  Then we enjoyed the sea lion show.  I don't think any of us will ever mistake a sea lion for a seal and vice versa after that show. lol  After a bite to eat, we made our way to the sting rays.  The tank was a little deep. So it made touching the rays a little hard.

Thankfully, there was a step up for the little ones.

And, of course, the day wouldn't be complete if Madeline passed a hand sanitizing station by without helping herself.

We also got to see some sharks, sea horses, eels, lots of crustaceans, tons of jelly fish, and the list goes on.  We had such a fun, educational morning.  Gotta love those kinds of hands on learning field trips as a homeschooler.

After the aquarium, we headed over to the Mystic Seaport Museum, where you can catch a glimpse of what New England life was like in the 19th century.

We stopped by the Visitor Center before heading over to the Sabino for a steamboat ride down the Mystic River.

Lots of other boats are also docked there.

One of the best parts of the boat cruise was getting to check out the engine.  Those are some pretty hot coals you see.

After our boat cruise, we strolled around the Village Green and Seafaring Village.

The kids enjoyed playing in the fall leaves.

And we enjoyed watching them have so much fun.

Well, as I promised, I do have big news to share.  As much as I'd love to share that we have accepted a referral for our precious daughter, that is not the big news....though one day soon, I'm sure.  Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping for that.  Believe me, we are itching to know just who she is!

The big news is that, last week, on our 10th wedding anniversary, we made an offer on a house.  Earlier this week, the seller countered and we accepted!  Yesterday, we had the home inspection.  And while the seller knew that there were a few things that needed to be repaired, the repairs are going to cost more than he anticipated, we're sure.  So...we're hoping he's willing to make them because we really like this house.  It's just a few miles up the road (and actually quite close to friends of ours.)

I could really write a whole separate post about what the Lord has taught me about house hunting, but suffice it to say that this house meets all our needs.  And while it wasn't a "need" "but more of a "want", I was really hoping for a house with more natural light.  And this house has it!  Now, it's not as bright at the hotel we stayed at in Miami, but I couldn't believe how low I could set my ISO and take photos indoors .("Hello low ISO indoors.  Nice to meet you. Stay as long as you like.")

So the bottom line is that we are really hoping the seller will make all the repairs.  There are four biggies.  The inspector didn't even talk about the small ones.  If all goes well and we move forward, we could be moving as soon as the middle of November.  Patrick jokingly wrote in my anniversary card, "If someone asks you what your husband got you for your 10th wedding anniversary, you can tell them a house!"  I sure hope that's true. lol

And on a completely different note, the kids and I will be walking with the rest of Team Gina at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this weekend.  These last few weeks have been so tough for me, I'm not gonna lie.  I miss Gina.  And walking without her just plain stinks.  But that's a whole 'nother post. Sigh.

That's enough rambling for now. Be sure to stop by Lisa's blog for some fabulous photos.  And be sure to wish her an early Happy Birthday!  

Some randomness

So this post will contain a bunch of randomness as I try to catch up on the last few weeks.  The photos I am sharing below have nothing to do with the post and everything to do with some shots I took around town during my second photography class I took this summer.  I really wanted to look past the usual scenes and see the details around me.  I'll share about the photos as I get to them.

On to the latest.  We'll start with our adoption.  We had a minor issue with three of our documents expiring and had to redo them.  No big deal.  I quickly gathered them and sent them off to their respective state secretaries,  Yep, all three had to go to different states.  Nice.  Um, not so much.  

(The bathrooms at our favorite soft serve.)

Then after finally getting them back, we sent them back to the courier in DC.  After a week of no word and assuming they would be on their way back to us, I finally touched base with the courier and discovered that there was, in fact, a problem at the Embassy.  Fortunately, they resolved it for us.  But I was not really thrilled that I paid for rush processing for the Embassy's mistake and subsequent delay.

(Local coffee shop.)

So, now that we have all our documents authenticated, we have one last reference letter to obtain.  We should hopefully be DTC by next Friday.

(Cool mural.)

The other big piece of news is that we have decided to take our house off the market.  We are having a hard time finding the right house, in the right location, and at the right price.  In the meantime, the boxes that we packed up have been moved into storage to give us that extra elbow room we really need.  It's certainly not ideal.  We definitely need a larger school room to accommodate our growing brood.  And I really need my own space for all my sewing and photography gear.  But the bottom line is that we have made more room for Havi to come home.  And that's the most important thing.

(Train track over the creek.)

Speaking of school, Caleb is really enjoying some of the books we're reading this year from our Ambleside Online schedule.  Not surprising, he loves Thorton Burgess's Animal Book.  He also sits on the edge of his seat for Understood Betsy and begs me to keep reading.  Nope.  One chapter a week.  That's it.  There are so many lessons to learn from this book, one must read it slowly.  But I can't blame him.  When I pre-read it last spring, I read it in two days; I couldn't put it down!  

(Abandoned building downtown.)

He's also really enjoying Pilgrim's Progress.  He has been narrating from Helen Taylor's book "Little Pilgrim's Progress."  However, we have also added to that Dangerous Journey.  The language is richer and closer to the original, though still adapted.  After we read so many pages, we'll then watch the Answers in Genesis "Dangerous Journey" videos.  Even Madeline was excited to watch them, and Caleb wanted to keep on going, but we only watch the videos for what we have read to that point.  I'm thrilled that he gets so excited about it.

(Railroad tracks downtown.)

We've also put Singapore 4 aside right now for some Beast Academy 3.  It's the new Elementary Math program created by the geniuses at the Art of Problem Solving.  Caleb thoroughly enjoys the comic book style "text" or guide.  That's where all the teaching is.  Charlotte Mason would definitely approve.  It's like a living math book!  I have overheard Caleb quoting the guide before bed several times.  Even Madeline likes to follow along and color the coloring pages.  I know she doesn't understand the math, but she's at least seeing that learning can be fun.  

And if you're wondering why we're going from 4th grade math to 3rd grade math, it's not because Caleb can't handle it.  In fact, it has done really well with it and needs to be challenged.  Beast Academy is hard!  The 3rd grade geometry is way harder than the 4th grade geometry in Singapore.  Beast Academy really challenges student to problem solve and apply what they're learning.  There is no spoon feeding at all.  And their 3rd grade books are the only ones they have published since they introduced their Elementary Math curriculum this spring.  I still review with him from time to time the stuff he's learned in Singapore.  But for right now, Beast Academy is our primary math program, and we're supplementing with Singapore.

(Storefronts downtown.)

Madeline is really enjoying her dance class, and Caleb sure loves his baseball...when it doesn't get rained out.  Poor guy.  He's had more practices and games rained out than haven't been.  It stinks.  He really enjoys playing catcher, and it's been fun to see him improve at the position as he matures.  He's hustling to foul balls and almost got a batter out at first on a soft hit.  We're so proud of him.

Well, I think that just about covers the main stuff that has been keeping us busy.  And I'm glad I finally got around to sharing these photos.  I had fun with this assignment.  I'm really bummed that I'm not taking Lisa's next class.  And I'm going to miss "sitting" next to Nancy. *sniff sniff*  But I'm going to continue to push myself with my photography and set some monthly goals.  Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by today's randomness.

Fun in the sun

Are you tired yet of all the photos at the park from this summer?

I just can't help myself when the sun is shining near sunset.  Believe me, we had plenty of sunsets covered in clouds.  So when it's shining, I can't help but capture some sun flare.  I love the feeling of being drenched in the sun.  

We are still enjoying our afternoons and evenings at the park by the river, when we're not running to dance or baseball.  It truly has become our most favorite-y favorite place to be second to home.

The kids love to race each other through the field as we make our way from the playground to the river.

Then they can't help trying to skip throwing rocks into the water.

We love this place!!!!

I'm linking up with my friend, Kim.  Be sure to stop by her blog for more little things.