Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ten smile tuesday....

i'm finally getting around to posting my smiles now that the girls are in bed....since we spent the vast majority of the day outside soaking in the sunshine and warmth! (NOTE: i do have pictures to go with many of these smiles...but it isn't allowing me to add images at the moment...i'll come back later to try to add them...until then you'll just have to use your imagination!)

1. a date with my husband...yep, the kind where you actually get a baby-sitter, leave the kiddos and go. i feel like this was a milestone. we've been blessed with incredible friends and family who've been so kind to volunteer to baby-sit our girls for free, so actually "hiring" a sitter was a huge hurdle that we have now conquered. (and yes, we would hire her again...she was great!). mike and i just went for pizza at a new place in town (a quite unique and tasty experience...we had a carribean jerk pizza with a honey mustard base--yumm-o!) and then ran some errands (i know...i know...but really it was my hubby's idea to go to kohl's to find him a shirt and tie to match the dress i bought for his sister's wedding. but we actually ended up walking out with a different dress for me as well! (i returned the other one....) anyway...my hubby might never agree to go on a date with me again after the expense of this one, because we also found smile number 2....

2. a kitchen aid mixer on clearance (and then we were able to talk them down another $20!). mind you, this is something i've been looking for/wanting for quite awhile...and we really did get a great deal...over $100 off regular price! and i did promise my hubby i would start making homemade bread again, which brings me to smile 3!


3. homemade 100% whole wheat bread...we found a recipe that wasn't too dense or bitter tasty that used 100% whole wheat flour (as opposed to half white flour)...and i whipped up a couple loaves today. i'm going to keep experimenting with different recipes to find our favorite...and then i should be able to make two loaves a week and stop buying bread at the grocery!

4. the oh-so-many hours we've spent outside this week...libs riding her bike, kate in the swing, bubble blowing, grilling, taking walks...splendid!

5. celebrating the installation of our new pastor Sunday morning...how truly wonderful it is to look forward to this new season in our church's life...and also the wonderful prayer service Sunday evening. it was a wonderful time of family and community for our church family.

6. a lovely dinner and some catching up with our dear friends jill and nathan...who we haven't connected with in far too long. jill made some tasty soup and biscuits and mike made monster chocolate chip & m&m cookies (yep...my hubby did most all of the cookie-ing...i think it was mostly due to the excitement of the kitchen aid!)...seriously, these cookies were something to smile about...massive!

7. my monday shopping extravaganza...i hit walgreens, target, and meijer...spent right around $100...and saved (drumroll please.....) over $80 in coupons, store deals, etc! that include two of the huge boxes of diapers, ground beef, chicken, strip steak, yeast, whole wheat flour and TONS of other stuff...but just those few things would have almost come to $100! i'll try to come back and post my picture later...so you can be "wowed" with me....for some reason it isn't letting me add images right now?!

8. dinner with "the girls"...these are my four girlfriends i've been meeting with every wednesday evening for quite some time...they are wonderful! we had one last wednesday evening together, and now the season of meeting weekly is over...with three (soon to be four) babies in the group, husbands, etc. it is starting to take away from our family time...so for this next season we are going our separate ways when it comes to Bible study...but NOT when it comes to our friendships. anyway...wednesday was a fun time of food and chatting...as always!

9. MOPS...always a smile. i am so thankful for this group of moms to connect with, learn from, encourage, and simply "do mothering" with...such encouragements...

10. the possibility of some "prize winning" in the bloggy giveaways (you really should check it out!)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this week's list! A new mixer!! Wow for you!! :) I'd like one but need a MUCH bigger kitchen for it LOL
Mmmm I forgot chocolate chips at the store today and reading about your monster cookies makes me regret it all the more!
What a great week, I'm happy for you :)

Wendi@EveryDayMiracles said...

Your smiles are contagious! :) Thanks for sharing. I love to hear other peoples good news. :)
I would have a hard time functioning with out my Kitchenaid! I highly recomend it to any one looking for a mixer. Making bread is a fun task with it.
I love how it motivated your hubby to bake. Mine actually loves to bake, but whenever some 'kitchen power tool' is involved he is practicly kicking me out of the kitchen so he can use it. :)
Have a great Wednesday!

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

Oh yeah, the weather has definitely been incredible!

Love my Kitchen Aid, it is so my friend!! I think everyone should have one!

I was having problems uploading photos yesterday too, which is why I just posted my smiles today.

Have a great day enjoying the sunshine again!

Lisa said...

I have been wanting a Kitchen Aid for years! Maybe someday...
Sounds like you have gotten good use out of yours already!

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face once again....

Rebecca said...

great smiles! we are enjoying lots of outside time as well! how great to have a trusted babysitter for your girls to give you and your hubbs time together. awesome! so great about the mixer...i've been wanting one for a long time! glad you are already getting great use out of it. i have been toying with the idea of making our own bread. enjoy the rest of your week!