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.