Monday, April 28, 2008

ten smile tuesday (a wee bit early!)

okay...i know its a bit early, but i'm sure you'll excuse that. i figure i'll take advantage of the chance to sit down and blog while i can. we are, of course, thoroughly enjoying our special time with grandmommy and poppy. so here's the smiles...

1. listening to elizabeth leave a voicemail for daddy...he was at a meeting, but she wanted to tell him about her day and what a great job she did eating ALL of her dinner. so precious to hear the "i love you daddy....night night!" at the end...and to think of the smile that will be spread across mike's face as soon as he hears it.

2. our swingset. mike and my dad spent saturday afternoon and sunday sawing, drilling, measuring, and constructing. elizabeth and kate woke up from sunday afternoon naps and were greeted by their brand new swingset. needless to say, they both love it...and i am thrilled about all the hours of swinging and sliding fun ahead of us this summer!






3. all of my wonderful friends who helped me to win the $25 kroger gift card in the contest at mommin' it up. you guys are the best! now if only i could win the $500 grand prize from kroger....

4. not only did i win the kroger contest, it was my week for winning...i mentioned winning the skeeda bag from pediascribe in the bloggy giveaway...well, in the comments of that post i was informed that i also won over at belle's world...a target giftcard and beaded bracelets.

5. an incredibly motivating and challenging sermon on sunday morning...the first sermon from our new pastor...he is starting a series in colossians, titled "The Core"....all about Jesus being the center of our lives. could this be any more approprite--considering leslie's challenge and the ensuing thoughts about "passion" that i shared. i am definitely looking forward to this series...

6. kate's dedication...sunday evening we took part in the parent dedication service at church...standing before God and our church family to verbalize our desire and commitment to raise kate in a biblical manner...to train and shepherd her as God has called us to. how special that the pastor who is over parent dedication at our church is the same pastor who dedicated elizabeth AND who married mike and i...

7. the fun of showing my mom the "ropes" of cvs-ing...and my other couponing adventures...it really is so fun!

8. a delightful playdate in the park with my MOPS group....and then filling my house with the moms and kiddos for lunch afterwards. so much fun!

9. our kater gator is getting more and more mobile...she's doing the whole scooching backwards when she tries to move forward thing...so cute! and though she has her share of fussiness with teething, she is so full of massive smiles the rest of the time...babbling, blowing raspberries, chewing on anything and everything...so precious!

10. grace, grace...God's grace...it hasn't been one particular thing, but this week i have been reminded afresh of God's grace...His grace that covers my iniequities, my insecurities, my flat out failures....His grace that calls me to strive for sanctification and obedience.
11. and who can resist this one...one sweet libbers with her poppy...watching the "choo-choo" from the yard...

10 comments:

Mommy Mechanics said...

Wow! They did a good job on that swing set! I bet your girls will love it for years to come. I love this time of year when the kids can finally get outside and get a little sunshine. Nice blog =)

Rebecca said...

nice job on the swingset! how fun! so sweet that elizabeth left daddy a special message. and how great to win some cool prizes! glad you are enjoying your time with your parents!

Wendi@EveryDayMiracles said...

Oh the fun of swing sets! My boys would live on theirs if I would let them. Underdogs, singing at the top of our lungs, big pushes, little pushes, it's all just a bundle of fun out side on those swings. :)
Congratulations on all of your great wins! Wow!
On a personal note, the comments you left on my blog Saturday meant so much to me Amanda! It's difficult to adequately express how your sweetness encouraged my heart.
What a sweet spirit you posses!

Anonymous said...

The swing set looks great...we are hoping to put something in our backyard for our LO...don't have room for a swing set but maybe a sand table!

Little Candle said...

What wonderful pictures! And I love hearing about your successes with CVS etc. Also many congratulations on winning the gift card from Kroger!!!
I am so enjoying hearing baout your girls and all of ya'll adventures! Hugs!

Sarah :)

Lisa said...

Smiles early - I think that is a first!!!
I hope you are having a great time at the lake, but I am sure your girls will be happy to get home to that fantastic new swing set, huh?!?!
And who doesn't like winning a prize, especially grocery $$$ - hopefully there will be more of that to come...

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a pretty busy week! The swing set looks amazing! Its so nice to be outside again:) Glad to hear you had such a lucky week. What a cute bag!
I finally tried my hand at the CVS thing. It was really kind of fun! Thanks for the encouragement to get me going. It is so fun to read about your great deals!

Amy's Blah, Blah, Blogging said...

What a fun swingset. I'm totally impressed that they put that together. Very cool!

Free stuff? Oh, totally my favorite price!

Don is such a wonderful pastor, that is neat that you got to have that moment with him!

Take care,
Amy

Renee said...

Amanda - I found you again! YAY! Looks like things are going well for you! I can't believe Kate is getting so big already! Our girls are growing up! Your swingset looks soo fun! We're hoping to set ours up tomorrow...if the weather cooperates!!

Rebecca said...

just wanted to stop by and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! hope it's fabulous!