the boy in the bubble

I had to share these fun photos. Nick was playing with our huge bubble wand and decided to see if he could get his head inside a bubble...

He's so creative. The other day he was making a kick stand for a toy motorcycle...I swear, he's a little genius. I looked at him and said, "You must get your smarts from your mommy." Gabby patted her head and said "Nooooooo...we get them from our brains!"

fence me in...

Chad spent much of last weekend working on the new fence. We're fencing in the 'parking spaces' we had behind our yard, off the alley. This area is a couple steps higher than the rest of our yard...so now our yard will be bigger and have more interest! Chad's been digging holes and setting fence posts,

which can be loads of 'fun' in our rock infested soil...

and by rocks, I mean small boulders.
Nick and Gabby have been helping him out and are having a fabulous time doing it.

Nick installing his 'own' fence post.

"Mom, now is not the time for photos..."

Gabby helps by hosing off the patio

(hosing off the bubble solution she and Nick dumped there)

Lions and Tigers and Bears...oh my!

I took the kids to Cat Tales Thursday...it's a zoo/rescue for all sorts of wild cats (and a couple bears too!) They have a great little tour where they tell you a little bit about each animal..where they came from, special facts about the species, their personalities, names, ages, etc. The kids really enjoyed it. Their favorite was the white tiger. They also got to pet a snake! There is a little petting zoo too, where they can pet chickens, goats, bunnies and geese. It was a fun way to spend a couple hours of our day.

tulips for mother's day

The kids each picked out a lovely bunch of tulips to present me on Mother's Day. I meant to capture them on the camera that day...but forgot. So here they are a few days later...a little weary, but still beautiful. Nick and Gabby also gave me a bundle of drawings and ushered me from bed into the dining room for a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and iced chai tea...yum. Chad gave me a sweet little home made card and money for a life jacket

(I need a new one for the canoe!)

sprinkler fun

It's that time of year again...time for a little run through a refreshing fountain of sprinkling water. We haven't yet found all the parts and pieces of their swimwear yet this year...but the kids have been having a bit of sprinkler fun anyhow. Yesterday, Nick and Gabby had quite the time frolicking in the water...I can't, however, show you ALL the photos...Nick, at one point, decided he would like to feel the sprinkle of water on his rear. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled with his exhibition. Luckily, I was right there and his pants were returned to their appropriate position in a right hurry.

a little break after the sprinkler...

The hat.

I've passed my love for garage sales and estate sales on to the kids and they've become fun little rummaging companions. Last Friday, we stopped at a few sales on the way home from our play date in the park. We found one estate sale filled with lots of boxes of stuff to dig through...what we estate sale people call 'a real digger'. The kids found lots of tiny treasures...little plastic swans, tiny deer figurines, keys for nick, a fold up fan, etc etc...and I found a wonderful flower covered hat for photos. Gabby obliged mostly willingly to a photo session later that day...

mud, bubbles, and puppies

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted...and it's not from lack of things to write about. We've been keeping busy. The kids are loving the wonderful, warm weather we've been having lately and have been spending a lot of time outside. They are finally old enough to play in the back yard without constant supervision. I leave the backdoor and windows open so I can hear their chatter and peek out at them every once in a while. The peeking out at them is a must...if I hadn't checked on them the other day, who knows how long Nick might have run around our back yard naked, covered in mud.

And a few more MUD photos from a couple weeks ago...

I bought the kids one of those huge bubble wands the other day and we've been experimenting with different bubble solutions and recipes. It's been fun...and has given me some great photo opportunities!

Perhaps our biggest news is the future arrival of two new family members...no, I'm NOT having twins again. We are getting two Beagle puppies. Henry, our big huge gigantic and very energetic yellow lab has a new home...with lots of acreage and a black lab buddy for companionship. We love having a dog, but needed something smaller. Henry was too large for the kids and had some nipping issues. After doing some research we started looking into Beagles...and found someone with a mommy and daddy beagle who were expecting pups! The puppies were born on Chad's birthday and we've been to see them twice. Gabby is naming her favorite one 'Bingo'...and Nick is calling the one he chose 'Harley'...for now anyway, Nick changes his mind on a daily basis. They each chose one. Gabby immediately zoned in on the one she wanted and is always able to pick him out of the little pile of puppies. The first one Nick chose was already taken...and from there he chose 4 or 5, always looking for the 'softest' one.

Here are the only photos we have so far...