Sunday Snapshot: Never the same again

You may be wondering what I mean by today's title. 

I would be referring to Caleb's precious smile.

You see, last night this precious boy finally lost his first tooth!

Yes, at 7 years of age.  Finally.

If you look closely, you can see how loose that tooth is.

And the photos in this series are some of his last photos with all those precious, little baby teeth.

As you will see, the kids indulged me the other day and let me snap away.

Just a brother and sister,

hanging out and having fun.

Showing some love

Being cute

Watching the planes

Looking sweet

And often full of the giggles

Some time next year, God willing, this sibling group of two will become a group of three.

Yesterday we met with our social worker, Shay, for our first home study visit..  

She was really sweet, and the kids loved her and her spinning tops!

They were so cute answering her questions.

She hopes to have our home study finished by mid May.

These photos were taken with my Nikon D700, 85mm 1.4
Settings: f 1.6, ISO 200-400, shutter speed 1/8000.

Anyway, I think next up on my agenda is 

to capture some fun photos of my precious boy and his new smile!

To join in the Sunday Snapshot fun, head over to Stefanie's blog.

Favorite Photo Friday: The boys of summer

We live in Florida, and as such, we have the opportunity to watch our boys of summer play in the spring.

We try to attend at least one game each Spring Training.

Living on the East Coast with your favorite team (The Yankees) on the West Coast means a road trip.

We had decided last Christmas that we would purchase tickets to this year's game against the Minnesota Twins for our extended family, so we could all join in the fun.

These photos are a few weeks late, so please bare with me.

My nephew Joshua is such an easygoing baby.  He did awesome the entire game!

He was probably one of the youngest Twins fans in attendance.

Leah had a fun time playing with her cousins.

She watched the game, 

but I think her favorite part of the day was her tub of popcorn. lol.

Each year, Caleb watches more and more of the game,

as he learns more during his own play.

Unfortunately for the Twins fans of the family, the Yankees mounted a comeback.  

Down 4-1 in the 7th, they came back to win it 6-4.  

What happens after a Yankee win?

They play Mr. Blue Eyes singing New York, New York.

Apparently it was a bit loud.

Since Caleb had outgrown any Yankee gear he owned, Patrick picked him up some PJs

while the rest of us hung out.

Caleb and Leah thought a tickle fight was a good way to pass the time.

Since the game was on a Friday, we hung around the west coast and made a weekend of it.

It seems when we got back to the hotel that

Madeline wanted to get a better idea of the area.

As I said in a previous post, we spent the rest of the weekend at Busch Gardens and Clearwater Beach.
We had such a wonderful time.
Unfortunately, my in-laws (Patrick's family) live so far away.
So we can't get together as much as we'd like.
However, I'm grateful that my sister's in-laws live nearby, so we can enjoy each other's company more often.

On the adoption front, our social worker will be coming tomorrow to begin our home study.
We're super excited about that.

Next weekend, I will be joining my brother-in-law, Andy, and his father, Phil in a round of golf to benefit my sister's friend, Gina.  While I LOVE the game of golf, I am NOT looking forward to playing....simply for the reason the tournament is happening in the first place.  Gina is not doing well, friends.  It makes my head and stomach hurt.  Please pray for her and her family in the coming weeks.

For more favorite photos this Friday, check out Lisa's blog.

Sunday Snapshot: Just black and white

The other day we had to bring Patrick's car in to get it serviced, 

which meant he had to take my minivan to work.

That resulted in an empty garage.

What did the kids do?

Play in it.

Yep.  I sent them out to play and told them I would be out in a second.  Only when I headed outside,

I found them still in the garage.

It's not often the kids can play in the garage.

Here in Florida, it gets too hot.  But the weather was lovely, cool, and breezy.

I thought I'd snap a few photos.

It seems Madeline didn't get the memo.

She kept darting from the front of the garage to the back, which kept me on my toes.

Lighting in the back of the garage is way different, leaving me to constantly recheck my settings.

I guess you could say I was up for the challenge.

Madeline basically just wanted to play with her cat stuffed animal.

She loves to be the mommy and shower it with lots of kisses.

All the while, Caleb was busy on his scooter or playing basketball (the hoop is just off the garage.)

Then Madeline decided she wanted to play with the chalk.

That's when she finally decided to flash me her pretty little smile, hair in her face and all.

I thought I would go ahead and share what I shot with and my settings.  My camera is a Nikon D700, lens 85mm 1.4.Shot at f/1.6, ISO 400 (a few at 640), shutter speed between 1/320 and 1/2000.
I converted them all to black and white so that the "blahness" of my garage wouldn't detract from the images.
Before Stefanie changed up the rules for Sunday Snapshot, I had decided to improve my photography skills.  
Some things I've been working on: 1. Improving composition.2.Improving full sun shots. 
Now, the new rules have given me that extra motivation.  So, thanks, Stefanie!
I still have more photos to share, as well as how life is going.  I just thought I'd save that for another post.
Please stop by Stefanie's blog to learn more about the "new" Sunday Snapshot and see some incredible photos.

Backtracking to Disney

I didn't take too many photos the day we met the Crebbin Crew at Disney a few weeks back.  

We were too busy yapping and having fun.

Since Patrick volunteers in the children's ministry at church, we headed over after service.  We got there around 12:30pm.

As soon as we arrived, Caleb and Madeline declared they were hungry (despite eating in the car on the way over.)  So we got them some more lunch and rootbeer floats.

We spent a fair amount of time in Tomorrow Land.

Buzz Lightyear.

The Speedway.

The People Mover.

All big hits.

Disney is opening the new Fantasy Land in stages.  So we had the opportunity to ride the new Dumbo.

I snapped this photo of the four little ones right before, which was also toward the end of the day.

One of the games that all four of them loved to play was Rock, Paper, Scissors.  It helped to pass the time while waiting in line...

or just walking around.

Caleb and Kaia really hit it off...and I was just a tad late snapping a photo of them playing their game in this shot.  Shucks.

We all headed over to Epcot to have dinner at the Nine Dragons Restaurant in the China Pavilion.  Dinner was delicious, and we finished just in time to catch the IllumiNations show.  Poor Madeline couldn't handle the noise.  So I took her back toward the restaurant.  Still, I heard it was amazing.

Although I didn't get any photos of me with Toni or the whole gang, Toni did!
You can check them out on her blog!

We had so, so, so much fun.  Wait did I already say that?

Anyway, Toni, we can't wait until we met again!

A little Easter cheer

We had a very low key Easter celebration.  

No egg hunts or Easter bunnies here.

We simply headed to church, as we usually do...just earlier in case of the extra crowd.

Then we came home and I forced asked the kids if I could snap a few photos of them.

The obliged.  Kind of.

Apparently, despite the shade, they complained it was too bright.

And consequently got a little grumpy when I wanted "one last photo".

Before things started downhill, though, I managed a few fun shots.

Madeline practiced blowing kisses for her upcoming recital.

The kids gave me their "Victory over the grave" pose.  Can I get an AMEN?

A chuckle here and there.

A little bit of love.

And a few laughs...this because Daddy was pretending to eat Madeline's lollipop.

This was just before the lollipop.

And that was about all they could handle.

We skyped with Bammy, Auntie Michele and Lydia, which was so much fun.

The kids swam in the pool, while mommy and daddy relaxed.

And that was it.  Pretty low key.  Which is what we needed around here.

I'm still having a hard time excepting how Gina is doing.  But the one thing that gives me peace is that Jesus' victory over the grave gives her a wonderful resting place when He decides to call her home.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Sunday Snapshot: A little update...'cause a LOT is going on

Yep.  We have been hopping over here.  Busy.  Busy.  Busy.I always intend to update the blog regularly.  However, when life gets busy, there's just not enough time to talk about it!
So here goes the reader's digest version of the last few weeks.
For starters, I have some unfortunate news.  I have been trying to digest it myself for the last few days, delaying this post even more.
My sister's dear friend, Gina, continues to battle breast cancer.  And the latest news is not good.  The clinical trial she began in Houston has not been effective.  They are starting her on new chemotherapy drugs. This news stinks beyond stink.  I can't say much more besides that without sobbing.  So I'm moving on.
Back when we were celebrating Madeline's birthday at Disney with my sister, brother-in-law and niece, I had the chance to snap a few quick photos of my sister and nephew, Joshua.
 

Can you believe this precious munchkin is going to be 9 months old this month?
During the local school's spring break, we had a chance to head to Tampa to catch a Yankee Spring Training game against the Minnesota Twins.  My sister, Andy and kids, along with Andy's parents also made the trip.  We had a blast.  We also spent one day at Busch Gardens and another on Clearwater Beach.  A truly fantastic weekend.  I'll share those photos a little later.
Madeline continues to dance and prepare for her upcoming recital in June. 


We had a chance to observe last month.  She is regularly one step ahead of everyone.  It's quite funny to watch.





Last week, we had the opportunity to meet up with a fellow adoptive family visiting the Mouse for Spring Break. The Crebbins are an awesome crew. We had such a blast. Caleb and Kaia hit it off. Jaelyn and Madeline were unfazed that they were both missing parts of their left arms and just had fun. Now, we're just gonna have to plan a visit to the Pacific Northwest some time soon. Those photos will come later too. 
 Also last week in baseball, Caleb hit his first ever double! Not only that, he hit two of them! And I managed to get them on video. Here he is making his first double.
 
He was a bit under the weather this past week. However, he rested up all week so he would be ready to play baseball this weekend. And what did he do? He hit his first ever triple! We are so proud of him. All of his teammates played a great game today. They continue to improve each week. It's so fun to watch.
I've also been doing a little bit of sewing.  I made Madeline a cute little bubble top and shorts for Easter tomorrow and a simple little skirt.  Next up are some lounge pants for Caleb since he's outgrown the few I've already made him.  Then I plan on working through my big stash of fabrics so Madeline will have some fun, new clothes for this spring/summer.  I've had some of these fabrics sitting around for two years.  So it's about time I find the time to make some cute pieces for her.
A quick note about Havi's adoption.  We've been working on our dossier and home study documents and will finally begin our home study this month.  We'll probably be DTC some time late summer.
Well, that just about sums up the last month.  I do apologize that I have neglected the blog. I will come back some time this week with a few more photos to go along with all these fun times.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter.  
And please, please pray for dear Gina- for healing and peace.