April 9

After naps today, I sent the kids outside to play with bubbles so that I could get dinner started. I watched them out the kitchen window, and they were so sweet that I just had to come out and take pictures.

They were happy, happy, happy!

(Side note: we just got out all of Daisy's new summer/24 month/2T clothes that I've been amassing over the past year. I've scoured every clearance rack and garage sale I could find, and I've built an absurdly large collection. This shirt is a new one, featuring a fish with a big googly eye. She loves it, and spent the whole day pressing the fish's eye. She pretended it was a button, and made it "beep" over and over and over.)

Caleb is actually getting pretty good with the bubbles!

This picture just kills me!

Caleb had just blown that bubble, then caught it on his wand. Daisy thought it was the most amazing thing ever! Look at her little face!

This girl is getting pretty good with the bubbles, too.

However, she has a bad habit of (intentionally?) spilling brand-new bottles of bubbles, so I'll only trust her with the big jug of bubble juice. It's too heavy for her to lift and spill, though she can tip it pretty well.

Goodness. The expression of pure joy on his face melts my heart!

(Also, have I mentioned this shirt on the blog? It's his absolute favorite, not because it says "Cardinals" on it, but because it's a mesh muscle shirt. He loves it, and asks to wear it every.single.day. It was a garage sale find, and it's not in perfect condition. I keep looking for more mesh muscle shirts for him because I know they'd make him so very happy, but apparently I don't shop at the kind of places that sell mesh muscle shirts. I guess it has to be a certain kind of retail establishment. Maybe Walmart sells them? But then they'd probably be camouflaged mesh muscle shirts, and that's just more than I could handle.)

A bubble-blowing success! That blur next to Daisy's face is a bubble.

She was so happy!

I love this boy, most of the time. Yesterday morning I was ready to give him away. Today, I think I'll keep him.

Then I went back inside, to make dinner in earnest. These two continued to play happily. At one point, they switched bubble containers, and I could hear Caleb explaining to Daisy, "This one won't work if you blow hard. You have to blow gently to get bubbles!" It was a sweet moment of brotherly helpfulness that he didn't know anyone was observing, and it melted my heart.

Afternoons like this make me nostalgic for a moment that hasn't even passed yet. Caleb and Daisy are in the middle of a wonderful season right now; for the most part, they're independent little people who love each other dearly. I cherish the fact that they can entertain themselves for big chunks of time, and that each is the other's best friend. In three months, so much of our lives will change. My own newfound independence will be gone, and I'll be attached to a new little one. I know without a doubt that with the birth of Baby #3 we will gain so much more than we'll lose, but it is bittersweet to look ahead and think about how things will change. I suppose it forces me to enjoy moments like this just a little bit more!