swimming with friends

obviously my boys love the water.  it is a genetic part of a labrador to love to swim and with their webbed feet, they are very talented swimmers. my kids had never been in a swimming pool before, but figured it out quickly. they had a blast!

howie is so stinkin adorable!  he is just the best.  i adore this little guy.

howie sitting on the steps of the pool, checking things out.

i can't get enough of how cute he is.

jack is my swimmer. he absolutely loves to swim. plus he found a ball. you pair playing fetch with swimming, you have one happy pooch.

my handsome kids

jack going for the ball

macy and howie

jack in action

howie didn't quite get the whole swimming in the pool concept. he kept doggy paddling. his bum would sink to the bottom. i thought he was going to drown.

brothers swimming to the stairs

looking for the ball

mama, throw the ball

there it is!!

i'm going to get the ball

i'm going to get the ball without going in.

one more time

foster brother leo thought he would stay cool in the shade with moose.

almost got it

so close

i'm going in

howie cuddling with macy

howie jumping to macy. he didn't quite get the whole swim thing. he would only jump to the humans in the pool.

moose and howie trying to have macy carry them.  meanwhile, jack is still swimming. 

jack says, 'i think i'll just swim around you guys'

howie says this swimming thing is exhausting.

swimming and playing fetch. jack's favorite things. i'm in love with this action shot of his paw under water. it is cool to see how his feet are involved.

more paddling

come to me ball

i'm just going to lean for it

lean way over for the ball

ugh.  i'll wait right here.

maybe not. come to me

oh yay!  macy is going to help!!

moose and howie playing with macy

we're all playing

i'm just going to sit right here. it's safer that way.

fun times at bear lake day 1

we got to bear lake today and set up camp. it looks like a storm is blowing in. 

jack is having a blast playing with a rock in the field by the lake

i had to trick jack and howie into sitting for a pic

jack is running to me full speed ahead.

my cute nephew jake having the time of his life playing in the outdoors.

howie is chasing his brother jack. my boys know how to have fun!

howie and jack playing in the field.  getting all muddy and gross.  but hey are happy so what else matters?

handsome jack posing for his mama

bedtime.  jack loves to snuggle.

jack and howie snuggling in the tent with me. what a great first day at bear lake

House remodel: we're starting with paint.

i bought this house last fall, and desperately needed to upgrade paint, among other things.  we are going to start with paint though.  it is easy, and honestly my house looks like its worth $10,000 more just by painting alone.  it gave my house a quick and easy face-lift.  the original front door has no color.  just a 1959 wood door. the garage door is this hideous brownish orange. now, orange is my favorite color. however, it needs to be a decent color of orange...

image source: google maps

my cute house.  this image comes from google maps.  thanks to them, i have a before pic of the outside of my house. i know i took some pics of my new house way back when i bought it.  for the life of me i cannot find them anywhere.  thank heavens for google maps

this is my living room before pic.  the paint looked horrible!!  i cannot emphasize enough how bad of a paint job the people i bought the house from had done. they had tried to cover up mistakes with different sheen's of paint.  there was glossy on eggshell on satin.  it was horrible!

getting the paint up on the wall.  this is flashpoint from kwal howells paint.  my absolute favorite color. #orange 

this is the before on the opposite wall.  they had hung molding around the windows but never stained the wood. serious help was needed.

this is the after of the window wall.  we painted the front door and all the moldings white, the walls in a color called sandstone cove, and all the other doors in the house we also painted white.

the boys are relaxing in their new living room.  i had to block the room from them for one week. they are excited to be back!

one more pic of the final product without my 4-legged models. still needs some decor on the walls and a lamp, but i am very happy with it!

final product.  we painted the garage chocolate brownie and the front door the same orange as the wall in the house (flashpoint). it seriously changed the entire look of the outside of the house.  i absolutely love it.  so happy with how it turned out. now to work on my garden.