ten smile tuesday...

tuesday is here...meaning, time for ten smiles! let's get started....

1. a new look...for the blog, that is. i'm sure you already noticed! my blog was "stylized" by nikki, after i saw the work she did over at 4tunate (which, by the way, is a wonderful little blog...the journey of some friends of ours and their one year old quadruplet boys...you really should pop in and check them out!). anyway...we decided to stylize our blog after reading about the humanitarian efforts nikki's proceeds go to...check her out if your blog needs a new look!

2. monkeying around...yep...i added a few monkeys to the collection this week, but they didn't stick around for long. the twin pink monkeys and the navy (boy-ish) monkey headed off to their new home friday...presents for my friend's twin daughters two year birthday (and a bonus "just because" present for their big brother.

3. purchasing tickets for our upcoming trip to florida! yep...the yak family is going on vacation. we're heading to florida to visit my grandparents...and as a special bonus grandmommy and poppy are coming along! needless to say, i'm quite excited about seeing my grandparents...introducing them to kate and giving elizabeth a chance to get to know big bapa and g.g. a bit more in person...though, i must admit, she loves talking about them and looking at pictures even now!

4. a delightful lunch with our church flock group after sunday's church service.

5. saving money...i know, i already shared my cvs "smiles", but a friend also introduced me to a site called the grocery game...and i am doing a trial membership ($1 for 4 weeks). you pick a store (meijer, kroger (or its other chains), walgreens, cvs, etc.), and you get access to a list of all the bargains, what coupons to use (and where to find those coupons), and a rating of whether the sale is actually a good deal or not (saves a lot of legwork and a lot of money!). last night kate and i headed to meijer and saved over $40 (over 50% off my price before coupons, store savings, etc.). if you decide to check it out, would you be so kind as to enter my e-mail (theyakmom at yahoo.com) in the referral box!?

6. kater gator's newfound love for cheerios, puffs, and just about anything else she can pick up by herself. she is also finally starting to scoot and inchworm a bit (you can tell she is finally realizing that she wants to be able to move by herself!), hold the bottle on her own, and just plain growing up so stinkin' fast. her new favorite pastime is blowing raspberries....so cute!

7. our lovely morning of bouncing...and, of course, the chance to catch up with a friend i haven't seen in awhile while our kiddos were bouncing.

8. potential baby-sitters...okay, this one is huge for me...and probably for the hub too! with my parents (who were so generous in taking the girls while we enjoyed a night out) no longer in town and mike and i feeling the need for some "us" time more and more each day, i have struggled with the prospect of leaving the girls with a sitter. this was exacerbated by the fact that i didn't have a clue where to even start looking for a trustworthy sitter i felt comfortable with...the one place i thought of as a good starting place...church...also happens to be a half an hour from our house...alas, sunday i was sharing my frustrated and looking for input from a friend she passed on the names of two families from our church who live super close to me and have teenage daughters. i am familiar with both families and would feel so comfortable with either...anyway...long story, and no, i haven't called either family (they are most likely of spring-breaking), but trust me, i will be calling...and soon!

9. banana blondies and lots of the other wonderful recipes at shanna's new recipe blog...thanks shanna! (our family has also tried and approved of the crock-pot pork, fajitas (with leftover pork), beef-n-broccoli...and we will be trying the crock-pot italian herb chicken thursday!)--and, i must say, i love that these recipes are not only tasty but cost-effective and healthy!

10. our elizabeth photo shoot this morning. okay, i'll shamelessly admit that since we didn't have a great picture of elizabeth in her easter dress that matched kate's...and i really wanted to use those for the blog header...i did dress her up in it this morning...and "tortured" her with a photo shoot (okay, so let's be honest...she was hamming it up with her super cheesy grin!). i took over 50 pictures to get just the right one (don't you LOVE digital!). but i thought i'd go ahead and share some of those that didn't quite make the cut...sometimes i wonder if she will ever lose the cheesy "smirk" and just smile like she does when the camera isn't present...oh well, i'll admit that i LOVE the smirks...