Family Updates: Dog Days and Birthdays

Our spring tradition of picking strawberries and eating them all in record time. I still remember Figgy letting me skip school one day every May so we could pick them!

My babes took me to my favorite Chinese restaurant for Mother's Day dinner!

Yummy!

Working so hard to make the glider go all by himself.

The first of many days at the pool! Hannah only needed the vest for a week or two, and now she and Care are swimming around like little minnows. This has been SO much fun, I hope we can join every year.

We got a new fur baby in May! After looking online at various shelters for over a year, I was feeling more rushed since Bogey's health was declining so quickly. We found this golden retriever pup for an amazing price, talked it over, all jumped in the car (the puppies were going fast and we wanted the last male), and drove to Fredericksburg to pick him up. Then we went to the pet store to buy all of his supplies and finished off the night with some Wendy's on the way home. It was such a fun family memory. My sweet hubs tried to have the kids vote on the puppy's name: "One vote for Shadow, one vote for Gideon, one vote for Brownie, one vote for Edward Robinson..." Finally we made the executive decision to name him Cub since he looked like a fuzzy little teddy bear.

Sweet fuzzy boy

Our good loyal Bogey was in bad shape, blind & disoriented, kidneys failing, abdomen swelling, etc... he just wasn't happy being a dog anymore. It was hard to take him to put him down, but it worked out well because we were in Harrisonburg. The kids were able to stay with family and Mike and I took him in together. He was the sweetest, most gentle dog. Our first "baby"! We miss him so much!

Okay, this is a canine-heavy post, but we've been doing two things lately: pool, dog, pool, dog.

Needless to say, with someone stealing the pencils, we haven't gotten much math done.

This guy is an absolute rascal every morning for about 2 hours, then he takes a good long nap.

THIS GIRL! Her ears poke out from her goggle straps, she has NO fear at all, and she has to stay right next to me because she sinks straight down into the water. When I pull her up, she has a big, goggly, drippy grin all over her face every time. With her float on she can swim all over the place by herself, and she loves the independence.

He's almost too big for the kids to hold now.

"This is my puppy."

Hard to believe he's filled our backyard with holes, bitten 3 pairs of my jammie pants, torn our plants apart... but it's worth it! He's learning to be a good boy.

Picnic time with Pop!

Who, me?

Dance parties with Fig

We had a birthday party for Uncle Steve, complete with karaoke time and a dance party in the garage!

Saying goodbye

Uncle Ben had his first babysitting stint while I had to make some phone calls. He is a good babysitter! I think he went home for a nap after this. ;)

That dimple

We own the pool if we get there early enough!

Just so cute with the goggles.

Someone fell asleep in Daddy's spot

Learning to go for walks again

Thirsty

Walks

Pretty lady

That girl needs some makeup

Get a drink, Cub!

Hopscotch

Another pretty lady

BIRTHDAY GIRL turned SIX! Yikes!

Rascally boy.

Getting lanky & awkward

Happy birthday to Hannie!

My girl Hannah, you are so special! Creative, unique, artistic, & feminine... you add beauty to our lives! This is the girl who sits at her desk trying to draw pictures to match the ideas in her head, crumpling up paper after paper trying to get it just right, the girl who abandons the lego directions and creates her own awesome ideas (while I reach for the directions like, uh... honey... it's not supposed...nevermind...) We're just beginning to catch a glimpse of the awesome visual way she thinks, and all the possibilities the Lord might have for her. We love you tons, Hannie!