A low-key birthday

By the time Madeline's actual birthday rolled around this year, she had already been to Disney and had a party.  So we decided on the actual day, we would keep things a bit low-key.  While Patrick ran some errands in the morning, I snapped a few photos of the dumplings together.  Madeline is sporting a new top I made her.  My sister picked up this gorgeous Amy Butler and Sandi Henderson fabric for me *cough cough* a long time ago.  Thankfully the pattern I wanted to use it for called for the same yardage for the next size up.  I adore this pattern, as does Madeline...for its twirl power.

Once Patrick returned home, it was time to head out to lunch at one of his favorite-y favorite spots on the beach.  Being the homeschooling mama that I am, I try to get the kids to read in the car whenever possible.  Since we were going on two straight days of no school (the kids were sick the day before), I had Madeline read to me while we drove to the restaurant.  I think she preferred playing with her gum.

We ended up getting to the restaurant later than we wanted to. Our timing couldn't have been better though, as a table opened up by the window.  I know you can't see it in the images below because I was exposing the images for Madeline and not the background.  However, the ocean was right outside the window.  Although it was rainy, the view was still hard to beat.

Once we wrapped up lunch, we headed over to my favorite cupcake shop.  The dumplings picked out some candy while Patrick picked out a bunch of cupcakes.  I had wanted to make Madeline some cupcakes and a mini cake for her birthday, but I was also feeling under the weather the day before.  So I had to scratch that idea.

After finally making it home for some downtime and dinner, we regrouped and headed back out to the one place Madeline had been asking for all.day.  Chuck-E-Cheese.  The two of them couldn't stop smiling.  They had a fabulous time.  I didn't drag my big girl camera with me, though I did snap a few shots with my iPhone that I will have to share if I ever get around to doing an iPhone post.

Anyway, I just can't believe our girl is 5 years old.  It's hard to believe that three years ago, we were experiencing quite the adoption paperwork rollercoaster.  Wow.  I don't ever want to go through that again, thankyouverymuch!

Happy 5th birthday, for the umpteenth time Mei Mei Mooster!
We love you like crazycakes!

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.

Weekend Getaway: The final day

Our last day in South Florida was fairly short.  We started off each morning by enjoying breakfast by the pool.  It's amazing the difference a day makes because on our final morning, it was much hotter than the day before....making it hard to drink that much needed cup of coffee.  Yeesh.  The kids kept busy with iPhones and coloring while we waited for our food.

I thought I'd get a shot of my new purse/everyday camera bag.  I bought the Kelly Moore 2 Sues, and I love it!  Just perfect for every day use, though not quite big enough for a weekend getaway; mental note made.

After using the facilities following breakfast, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of me and my girl in the ladies room.

And then I HAD to get a family photo..not quite the kind you send to China for your dossier.  However, I had been admiring the lovely mirrors near the elevators and was determined to snap a photo of the four of us.  One member of the group wasn't particularly thrilled with this idea, but she didn't have a say in the matter.

So after packing up our bags, and before heading out, we snapped a few more photos around "The Grove". I loved these gigantic green doors, but my model didn't.

One last shot of Dinner Key Marina from the other side.

Palm trees galore.  Love me some sunflare.

One of the shots I was hoping to get, if time permitted, was that of the Miami skyline.  My wonderful hubby indulged me as we headed back home.  We managed to find a little tucked away spot off the Rickenbacker Causeway.

I couldn't resist snapping this shot of some graffiti out the window of the car minivan on I-95, though my camera wasn't quite ready for it.  So there's some motion blur.

Our last stop before keeping on the highway and really heading home was at the cremation garden where my mother's and gramma's ashes are kept.

It's kind of hard to see their names when we're hiding them.  Oops.  (They're right behind the kids.)

What was special about visiting that day is that the day before marked eight years since my mother had passed away.  Eight years.  It's hard to believe.  I have had the chance to bring Caleb here before during visits to the orthopedic surgeon in Miami Beach (who performed his muscle tendon transfer surgery for his brachial plexus injury.)  But this was Madeline's first visit.  And since she's named in honor of my mother, Susan Madeline, I thought it was quite fitting we had an opportunity to visit that day.  As each year passes, I can look back and see how God is healing me. I sure do miss my mom terribly, but I'm learning to live.

Well, before our final adios to South Florida, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the local McDonalds.  And in Davie, aka horse country, this is how they do the golden arches.

Although I didn't get in as many photos as I would've liked for this mini vacation, I'm still glad that I have proof I was there.  I'm a work in progress for sure.  And Patrick is getting the hang of things when I hand off my big girl camera to him.

Our next little getaway is planned for October, when we will be heading up to Connecticut to help our niece, Lydia, celebrate her 6th birthday.  Caleb is really looking forward to that day...because then most of the little cousins will be in chronological order...7, 6, 5, 4, and then Josh at 1.  He's pretty funny like that.