Exciting times....

First things first...

We got LOA!!!!!!

If you can believe it, we actually heard about it Friday afternoon, shortly after my last post.  It took less than a month...and that was with Chinese New Year thrown into the mix.  I'm stunned, in a good way.  Now we really need to get that home study update completed.  And although our update will hold up our I-800 application, the good news is that I have already spoken with our new social worker and have scheduled her visit for this Wednesday!  How's that for being on the ball?  Woot!  Oh, and now that we have LOA, we can send Havi a care package.  That makes my heart swell.

On to news #2....this weekend was Opening Day for Spring baseball in our little neck of the woods.  I've blogged about it in the past.   It's a big "to do" here. All the teams meet up at a local church to walk in a parade, which takes them down the main street in town (past our old house) and straight to the ball fields.

This year the Fire Department escorted the teams.

All teams are announced...tee ball, coach pitch, player pitch, etc.  And then Doug Flutie gave a pep talk.  He lives here in town.  In fact, the fields are named after him.  Admittedly, I didn't listen to his talk this year because I was watching Madeline and a friend of hers playing in the bounce houses.

Once Doug's talk was over, the rest of the kids hit the bounce houses and dunk tank.  The guy in the tank was actually Caleb's coach, and Caleb was the first to sink him!

Caleb played some basketball too.

There were some friendly competitions by age groups- fastest throw and fastest base running.  Caleb didn't win, but he had fun trying.

We had actually sneaked back home for a quick lunch before Caleb's competition, and good thing too, because it was hot and the day went longer than we thought.  I missed the announcement during Doug's talk that he might come back later with his Heisman Trophy and to sign autographs, but Patrick heard it and asked me to hang around a little longer, for the kids' sake.  So the kids bounced and bounced until Doug returned.

I had nothing for them to give him to sign.  No balls.  No caps.  No gloves.  Nuthin'.  Well, since Doug had signed practically every kid's shirt and cap, he had no problem signing Caleb's brand-new-for-this-season team shirt.  I sure hope his coach doesn't get mad.  If he does, I told Caleb to blame me.  I mean, how do you say "no" when a big shot like Doug wants to give you his autograph?  I think not.  Sign away please! lol

Madeline got her shirt signed too.

It's not often one gets to meet a Heisman Trophy winner and see that humongous trophy in person.  This football lovin' mama was happy for her kiddies.  Now to meet Tim Tebow one day....a girl can dream, right? lol

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.

Weekend getaway: Day 1

Let me start by saying we had a fabulous time.  This little getaway was a long time a-coming....like 6 months or so.  Caleb's first ever baseball game was a Dodger spring training game at the tender age of 3. So when Patrick had the idea to check out the new Marlin's stadium, we thought it fitting to catch a game against the Dodgers.

Caleb developed a severe ear infection about a week before we were supposed to leave.  Fortunately antibiotics worked, and the ENT didn't need to insert a drain.  Yeesh.  So we headed out as planned and were so glad we did.

We had a bit of rain on the drive down.  And I was secretly hoping it was also raining in Miami so the roof would be closed for the game.  Thankfully it was!

We decided to stay at the Sonesta in Coconut Grove for the weekend.  We had a spectular view of Biscayne Bay from our room.  That building is part of the hotel and to the right of it is Dinner Key Marina.

One of the first things Madeline does when we are staying at a hotel is find the stationery and the phone.  

She is such a hoot.

The photographer in me was totally digging all the light spilling into our room even though it was overcast.  Hello ISO at 200 indoors on a cloudy day.  It's nice to meet you!  Can you stay?
Madeline, however, was less than thrilled to pose for me on the bed in all my indoors at ISO 200 glory.

Unfortunately we had left a little later than we wanted.  So we didn't have much time at all to hang out before heading over to the stadium, which is pretty stinkin' cool, by the way.

Once inside, Patrick went in search of food. The kids wanted nothing to do with my camera.  Boo.  I'm known to take a bazillion photos of the players during the game but not the peeps I came with.  So I made it a point to reverse that trend, despite their eagerness to participate in my quest.

In addition to dinner chow, we had fresh lemonade.  Yum.

and peanuts.

I was trying very hard to not have lens envy....really hard.

As if lemonade and peanuts weren't enough, Madeline was determined to get her hands on some cotton candy.  Oh, she stood on Patrick's lap a long time looking for the cotton candy man.

Eventually, Patrick took the kids and went looking for him.

So I managed to snap a few photos of some of the players.  Here's Mark Buehrle pitching for the Marlins...

..and Shane Victorino at bat for the Dodgers.

And when a Marlins player hits a home run, this sculpture spews water and lights up in left center field.  As you can see, that's just what they did.

And in case you were wondering whether Madeline successfully tracked down the cotton candy man or not, rest assured she did.

And here's proof I was at the game too.  Thanks, honey, for helping me to embrace the camera.  You rock.

This shot just cracks me up!  Madeline decided to sit on Caleb's lap while he was sitting on Patrick's.  She is totally smushing him and is completely unfazed.

There was one point in the game when one of the Marlin's players was called safe on an infield play at second. That sent Dodger's Manager Don Mattingly into a tizzy.  I was surprised he wasn't thrown out of the game. lol

Here's a shot of Victorino trotting off the field after a HUGE catch in the bottom of the 6th.  Miami had runners on first and second, and a hit by Giancarlo Stanton sent Victorino to the warning track in left field.  Well, you know how players will toss game balls to fans in the stands when an inning is over?  That had happened a couple times already.  But as soon as I saw Victorino making his way in after that catch, I stood up waving my left arm like a lunatic (we were sitting behind the Dodger dugout) while my right arm held my camera snapping a few shots of him.  Then next thing I know, he's tossing the ball in my direction, though it looks like it's going over my head.

But wait... it took a bounce and came forward, and a second bounce...and camera barely hanging on in the grasp of my right hand...and somebody standing right over me waiting for me to miss... I managed to snag that ball!  And here's a shot of the proud new owner to prove it.

It even says "Marlins Park Inaugural Season".  How cool is that?

Well after that, we decided to head back to the hotel.  I mean, what can top a game ball, right?  Just kidding.  Really, before the game even started Madeline started asking if it was over yet.  So we knew it would be an abbreviated night.

The kids managed to bring back to the hotel what little cotton candy they had left and enjoyed such a healthy bedtime snack.

Then they thoroughly enjoyed sharing the pullout sofa, each with a touch of home.  Are they cute or what?

Well, that takes us to the end of Day 1.  Stay tuned for Days 2 and 3.