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...