before i hit the pillow...

yes...a nice long nap is just what i have in store for the afternoon (while the girls are also enjoying a nice long nap as well, of course!)...but first, i thought i would stop in and leave a little post on my bloggity-blog. how is it that i haven't been by since wednesday...and can it really be that this is the tail end of june! my sister and i were on the phone last night, and she mentioned remembering when my great grandma (GG) used to tell her, "just wait until your old. time moves so quickly." well, apparently both my sister and i have gotten "old"...because i'm definitely feeling the warp-speed of time!

anyway...so here are some "snippets" from the past couple of days!

-a nice visit and walk with my dear friend jill and wee little baby brennan...oh so wonderful to hear her share all of the new joys becoming a mommy has brought into her life. those of you who are mommies completely understand....things like, "well, i am surprised he doesn't sleep all the time...i thought newborns slept a lot more." and "wow...i spend my entire day on the couch nursing!"...oh the joys!

-actually, we've been doing lots of walking and catching up with friends lately. an old co-worker from my pre-mama, teaching days came over with her little guy and we walked and chatted thursday morning.

-meeting my dear friend lora for lunch at "the noodle house" (as elizabeth called it!)...and having the chance to catch up. she just returned from a vision trip (our church's short term mission trips) to kenya, so it was awesome to hear how God is working there...and in her heart as well!

-meeting with our flock group from church

-a loverly time getting to know another fam from our church...they invited us for a cook-out at their house...we ate and then chatted while the kiddos ran around in the backyard-swinging, sandboxing, "playing house" with the baby dolls...and before we knew it it was 9:30 at night and we still had to make the half hour drive home. quite a late night, but so worth it for the wonderful fellowship and the chance to get to know this delightful family!

-elizabeth's first reaction to the sound of fireworks (well...the first she could adequately relate to us with words!)...of course, she was a just slightly exhausted when we arrived home after 10 pm last night (just two hours after her typical bedtime!)...her room was pitch black and the neighbors were doing some early july fourth celebrating. the boom of the fireworks was just a wee bit overwhelming to her tired little ears...and she kept saying, "mommy...my ears make noise!" even this morning when she woke up, she kept saying, "mommy...my ears make noise last night!"

i think that is it for now. after our late night last night i am tuckered out and ready for a nice sunday afternoon nap! hope your days have been lovely!

ten smile tuesday...belated...

so i know...it's wednesday...and, of course, my smiles are a little late. we have been enjoying our special time with my mom...and even the treat of my grandma (GG) spending the day with us. grandmommy and GG took off just a bit ago to head back to the lake...but lucky for us we won't have to say goodbye for long since next week is the fourth of july, so our fam will be headed to the lake to join them.

anyway...here are a few simple smiles.

1. ice cream...what better summer treat than a walk to dq! especially when lib's cone was free because of the summer reading program at the library

2. free books...compliments of the half price book summer reading program. this week we scored "the belly button book" (sandra boynton) for kate...and both "i'll love you forever" and "the runaway bunny" for elizabeth...all for the great price of FREE!

3. enjoying some backyard pool fun yesterday afternoon...gotta love that elizabeth was digging the little pool (which i, of course, intended for kate)...while kate was all about the big pool!

see...even mom and i joined in the pool fun!

4. grillin' out...a big ol' batch of bbq chicken (a la chef mom!) and some marinaded chicken for a chicken salad for lunch today...lots-o-meat!

5. garage sale steals and deals...including our new video cam...some great books...clothes for the girlies (by the way...i am done with garage saling...the girls now have full wardrobes for next season!)...and even an alligator lounge chair for libs (you'll see pictures of that after we go to the lake next weekend)...and best of all...a super cute alligator onesie for our kater gator!

6. receiving some super great rebate checks in the mail..seriously...gotta love being surprised by big amounts of fundage!...plus a check from half price books for books that were cluttering up our office...and that cash from selling the little plastic swingset!

7. some "canasta-ing" with my mom...and i have to mention that i schnaukered her!

8. an awesome prayer and worship sunday evening service at church...more to come on that one tomorrow.

9. de-cluttering a bit...

10. a quick ice cream date with my hub monday night...nice to run out and enjoy a few minutes on weeknight! thanks mom!

they're coming...

i know...its ten smile tuesday. and they will be here later...its just that right now we are having too much fun doing the smiling to break for blogging. but...i promise they'll be up later...in fact, my mom might make a visit as a "guest poster" to share some of the highlights in her eyes!

mission accomplished

for those who have been to our house and walked into our "office" (ahem...miscellaneous stuff (much of which just might have been junk...some of which was "stuff" that just didn't fit this phase of life...like the massive drafting/hobby desk the hubster bought me for scrapbooking, etc...it just wasn't going to be used enough to justify taking up that much space)...but i digress)....anyway...if you happen to be one of the people who have seen the "office"...you know just how miraculous it truly is that we've succeeded in clearly a space big enough for a full sized bed (which will be arriving with my mom monday morning when she comes to visit!)! yes...yes...you can applaud us now! the aforementioned desk is disassembled and just waiting to be picked up tomorrow by its new owner (thanks craigslist!)...two or three massive garbage bags have made their way to the curb....our poor shredder has almost been worn out doing its job....two old (well..one old and one ancient) computers and a really old laptop have safely made their way to the computer hauler-awayers (can you tell that i don't know the true term for this!) minus their hard drives, which have been destroyed...and alas, we are ready for you to visit, mom! thanks for being the impetus to really tackle the room!

it was quite the day at the "yak" household...not only did we get rid of the desk and computers...we also sold our little plastic playset from the backyard...since we now have our big swingset! and we made one quite exciting garage sale purchase from some neighbors...our very first camcorder...something we have wanted for quite awhile but just couldn't justify expending the funds for. but some neighbors were getting rid of their gently used camcorder since they were movin' on up to the new technology...their old one will do just fine for the little family moments we want to capture (i say little...but really, these everyday moments are huge! and i can't wait to share them/have them to look back on one day!).

all that and we also enjoyed a nice picnic in the park...followed, of course, by some playing on the playground...sliding, swinging, running, simply enjoying the evening. and then, well, we stopped by elizabeth's favorite store in the world...lowe's...yep, she LOVES lowe's...and i have a sneaky feeling kate is falling slightly in love with it as well...mostly due to the swell race car carts our lowe's has. these are your average grocery store "car cart"....nope, they are racecars...which elizabeth finds absolutely fabulous. kate has just recently gotten big enough to ride along in the car part...and she is quite the driver...i simply love watching the girls sit next to each other and interact. i took some pictures will my cell phone, so perhaps i'll have to get around to figuring out how to download them to my computer so i can add them to this post...i'm just sure you will think they are as cute as i do!

anyway...hope your saturday was equally lovely!

a "sneak peek"

i promised a post with tales of our "going ons" and pictures...and then proceeded to post cvs stuff...so here's a teaser of our days...and now, i'm off to hang with the hub...

cvsin'

this week at cvs...to see more cvs "steals" visit cvs superstars at the centsible sawyer...

(mia...one olay complete face moisturizer and one oral-b power toothbrush and one oil free eye make-up remover--already in use!)

the "loot":

2 oral-b power toothbrushes

2x2 packs oral-b replacement heads

2 dove energy body wash

2 almay mascara

1 peanut m&m (filler)

3 olay complete daily moisturizers (one is headed your way mama!)

2 alavert

1 oral-b cross-action 2 pack

1 oil-free eye make-up remover

(i did this in 4 transactions...using 4x $4/$20 coupons)--i'm one of the "lucky" ones who has a coupon printer in store....so i still have a bounty of $4/$20 at this point!

TOTAL OOP: $4.48 and $44 ECBs

EARNED $42ish ECBs...i only "lost" 2 ECBs and scored some great face lotion, allergy medicine, mascara and more...my hubs was glad to see the "power" toothbrushes...

i do have things to type and share...and i do promise to do that very soon. just trying to actually finish some projects...not to mention enjoying time with my hub and the girls. we even had an extra little girl tonight...she's just two weeks older than kate. fun, fun! there should be some new pictures and tales up by this time tomorrow!

hope you are all have a fabulous weekend!

ice cream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

do any of you remember when i won that big ol' ice cream party last summer compliments of edy's? well, let me share a conversation the hubster and i had less than an hour ago.

hub: "oh yeah..i forgot to mention the homeowner board (of which he is a member) set a date to do another ice cream social." (sidenote: apparently the ice cream "block party" i won last year was one of the most successful neighborhood gatherings in recent years)

me: "sounds fun. so they're actually springing for the party this year."

hub: "i guess so. i'm assuming you didn't win this year since we haven't heard anything."

me: "i guess not."

fast forward 45 minutes. hubster is gathering the trash upstairs...i'm in the office doing one last e-mail check.

i open my e-mail account...and lo and behold...there it is..."congratulations!" yep...that's right...i won a whole boatload of ice cream for a second year in a row. are you kidding me?! a big thanks to the folk at edy's for the slow churned neighborhood salute contest. if the ice cream doesn't arrive in time for the official neighborhood shin-dig, our fam will just have to host our very own ice cream party of sorts with a not-so-small number of our best ice-cream lovin' friends and family. seriously friends...you really should check this contest out next year...perhaps i'll actually remember to blog about it then to remind you!

incidentally...edy's slow-churned is my favorite ice cream...smooth and creamy...not too sweet but no "lite" aftertaste....the perfect end to a summer's evening. (and they didn't even pay me to say that!)

ten smile tuesday

as if these two faces aren't reason enough to smile...here's ten more!

1. a loverly little game of hide and seek with elizabeth and miranda. so funny that everytime i finished counting and called, "ready or not! here i come!" elizabeth would run out from hiding and come screeching toward me. then, together, the two of us would seek miranda and greet her with big tickles!

2. discovering the half price book summer reading program. if you read to your kiddos at least 15 minutes a day (which we most definitely do...and MORE!) at least five days a week (try seven!) you fill out the form, take it into HPB and receive a $3 gift card per child...per week...and you can do it all summer! thats a whole lotta $3 gift cards and a whole lotta free books! if you have a half price bookstore near you, you really might want to check it out. my store told me i could even bring the forms in every two or three weeks instead of once a week (and still receive one $3 gift card per form!)...thus saving some gas money if HPB isn't right around the corner from you. fortunately, there is one near our church, so we can make it a family outing after church on sundays.

3. a delightful trip to the zoo yesterday (check out yesterday's post...the pics are finally all included)

4. the birth of our dear friends jill and nathan's baby boy...brennan...oh so sweet. and, of course, getting my hands on the sweet little guy for some snuggling. i love that elizabeth couldn't quite grasp that he had a "real" name as opposed to what we were calling him in utero...and that she said quite seriously, "aunt jill had a boy sister"...you see, any baby is a sister in her opinion!

5. a nice walk to the nearby short-order type breakfast place saturday morning. it was an early father's day celebration for mike...who has wanted to try it out for three years...since we first moved to our house!

6. a Sunday sermon that brought both comfort and conviction. i did start a post sharing some thoughts, and perhaps will work to finish that up and get it posted here soon. for now, suffice to say, this has been a season of much "refining" from the Lord...teaching me that He is sufficient and that He is in control...that I cannot live out the Christian life on my own. I cannot overcome sin on my own. I cannot be the wife or mom or friend God is calling me to be on my own. rather...i need to get over myself...because Jesus can! we have been in colossians 1:15-20 for the past three weeks, and as i hear our pastor's message and marinate on the Scripture as i work to memorize it...the Word is piercing my heart and soul. what a gracious Father to give us a living and active Word...

7. moving forward in our quest to de-clutter and reorganize the office...seriously, we are almost there! we have four boxes (and i mean big ol' full boxes) of books waiting to make the trip to half price books, old computers waiting to be safely disposed of, but it feels so good to make progress....

8. splish-splashin' fun in our backyard wading pool....

9. a comfy cozy movie night with my hub..."the bucket list" for free, compliments of good ol' redbox...the best part wasn't really the movie...but simply the chance to curl up with the hubster and relax a bit!

10. some fun hangin' time with my friend melissa and her three little ones...catching up after a crazy past few months. i have so appreciated the chance to hang out with her this past week and simply be real...to share what we are learning and struggling with...where we are excited about life...the joy of our children...and so much more. of course, we did partake in a good old lunch at the china buffet...gotta love it when the kids eat free and you feel comfortable having 5 kiddos and 2 adults without ruining any other diner's meals!

a zooin' we did go...

yep...today was finally a bit cooler (mid-70's as opposed to 90's!), so we took a trip to the zoo with some friends. just look at how much fun we had!

four little friends...kate just wished she could get out and run with them!

a picture perfect moment...gotta love the hand holding...(imagine a sweet photo of the backside of three sweet little kiddos holding hands and walking through the zoo)...

...then garrett, the cutey pie in the middle, decided his two year old legs wanted to run....BUT he didn't want to let go of elizabeth or cassandra's hands...resulting in a pile of kiddos on the ground...and one big, fat lip for elizabeth. as she says, "i go to the zoo and go BONK!". there was a bit of blood...a few tears...and a fairly quick "recovery"....nothing serious, but really, it wouldn't be a day with five kiddos if there wasn't some kind of "incident"! (imagine the aforementioned photo...only with three kiddos suddenly beginning to take off running)

see this guy...(imagine a photo of an up-close and personal giraffe!)

elizabeth got to feed him. yep, she walked right up, holding onto her sweet potato slice and mr. giraffe stuck his big ol' bumpy tongue out to snatch it up. fun fun! (imagine elizabeth holding up a tasty morsel of sweet potato for mr. giraffe)

in other news...we enjoyed some early father's day celebrations saturday...walking to the yummy breakfast place in town, a new wardrobe for mike (compliments of dockers and sears...they had this awesome offer...buy $100 of dockers mens clothing, receive a $75 gas card...and you could do it once per adult in a household...so mike got 5 or 6 shirts, 4 pairs of pants, and some socks for just $50 after the gas cards (which we will, of course, use!)....a nice meeting of our flock group from church....some relaxing...a lovely church service sunday morning and even the arrival of our honorary nephew (our dear friends jill and nathan's little boy)--born on father's day, no less!--brennan...and, of course, visiting the sweet little family...and holding the precious little bundle. how can it be that kate was that tiny just ten months ago!

cvs..you are so good to me!

so i thought i'd only be making one trip to cvs this week...just two little transactions. however, on that trip i hit the motherload of crt coupons...most of the corresponding perfectly to some weekly deals...not to mention benefiber randomly mailing me a coupon for a FREE product. so, here's what i scored at cvs this week!

2 dove shampoos

1 revlon eyeshadow

3 nivea shaving creams

paid $.65 oop after 4 ECBs and coupons

EARNED 8 ECBs

1 dove deoderant

2 dove energy body washes

2 garnier scrubs

paid $1.17 oop after 8.99 ECBs and coupons

EARNED 13 ECBs

1 dove deoderant

1 dove cream oil lotion

2 garnier scrubs

paid $.54 oop after $11.99 ECBs and coupons

EARNED 13 ECBs

4 diet coke 12 packs

1 listerine smart rinse

peanut m&ms

paid nothing oop after $11.99 ECBs and coupons

EARNED $6.49 ECBs

'

2 nivea men shaving gels

1 nivea men cooling balm

1 listerine smart rinse

1 cvs band-aid

1 benefiber

PAID $1.05 oop after $5.85 ECBs and coupons

EARNED 11.48 ECBs (double the ECBs i spent!)

2 duracell (one rechargeable 4 pack, 1 AA 8 pack)

1 dove deoderant

paid $.99 oop after $13.00 ECBs and coupons (I should have paid less, but the cashier accidently rang two 8 packs and i didn't notice until later...BUT it wasn't worth the gas for the return trip to fix it...besides, CVS is soooo good to me...i think i can let a mistake go this once!)

EARNED 10 ECBs (and worked toward another 3 from the dove deal!)

NOTE: some of this is going to head straight out the door to our church for donation to the flood relief effort in southern central indiana....so good to be able to help others who are in need!

a peek into kate's closet...

umm...yeah...i think we're set on diapers for a bit! this is a glimpse of what we've "bought" for mostly free (most of them ended up being free--after ECBs, rebate rewards, etc., but at most i paid $1 a bag) recently (mostly from CVS and a few from walgreens and target). 11 bags of huggies and pampers (i found one more after the picture!), 1 box each of pampers and huggies, 3 packages of little swimmers, and 11 containers of wipes (8 playskool brand, 2 pampers, and 1 huggies (which are my fav). the wipes will last quite some time since we actually make our own to use around the house and usually just take containers for the diaper bag or traveling. on top of that i have 6 travel packs of wipes i got at wal-mart for free plus overage using $1 off huggies coupons. this is a huge blessing to our budget! and i have to admit...though i used to be a pampers fan i think huggies has won me over...then again, that probably doesn't matter since i'll just keep "buying" whatever they'll give me for free!

happiness is....

just ask elizabeth, miranda, and kate and they'll tell you that happiness is an inflatable pool, a sprinkler, and a slide. ahh...the delights of childhood. but really, i had just as much fun savoring the outdoor fun this morning as they did! wanna peek into the fun?! (i just knew you'd say yes...so here you go!) (mind you...this is our pool from last year...and apparently the top ring has a hole in it...but that didn't spoil the fun one bit. in fact, the girls didn't even realize the pool was slightly more shallow and "floppy" than it should be! hopefully later this week we'll be busting out the new pool--and that one is big enough that perhaps i'll be able to hop in and cool off as well!)

splish splash...in my opinion the water was frigid...but these two silly girls didn't mind one bit. if you zoom in you can tell they are giggling their little heads off as they splash one another!

elizabeth couldn't wait until kate woke up from her morning nap and joined in the swimming fun

one happy girl! she wasn't the least bit bothered by the cold water either...in fact, i think she would have stayed out in the pool ALL day!

miranda and elizabeth were thrilled to help kate hone her splashing skills. i think kate was simply thrilled that they were doing the same thing she was!

HOORAY for water!

miranda was first to "brave" a run through the chilly sprinkler

and elizabeth quickly (though a wee bit timidly) followed! oh how i wish i could bottle their laughter...or at least videotape it...

libs was quite excited by the extra speed on the slide with her wet buns

...and we finally dragged the little slide over to the pool...and, of course, the girls thought this was unbelievably exciting!

just had to share a pic of the oh-so-curly hair...the warmer and more humid it gets the more these sweet curl spring into action! i couldn't get a good back view, but it is just ringlet curls!

look what miss kate can do...yep...pull up all by herself...and if you look closely you can see that she isn't actually holding on at this particular moment....she's a brave one!

this face spells trouble...in the cutest way possible, of course!

buddies!

ten smile tuesday!

can it really be tuesday!? and can the first full week of june really have already come and gone?! seriously...time seems to be flying by. hard to believe that in the past week mike and i celebrated our four year anniversary and kate turned 10 months old...which means my baby just keeps growing....just two short months and she will be a whole year old! i do hope to be back and do more blog posting soon...and to be honest, i'm not sure where i've been....but perhaps my ten smiles will tell some of what we've been up to!

1. a lovely tuesday afternoon stroll to the library...to sign libs up for the summer reading program. we already love reading stories, so why not partake in some rootin' tootin' cowgirl fun with the local cowboy themed summer program. (we just returned from this trip...and i'm also smiling to know both girls are tucked away in bed and i have some time to cool off--it is seriously HOT outside...especially considering its only the second week in june...BUT....

2. ....the rain decided to take a break! seriously, so nice to have a dry and sunny afternoon. and i am so thankful that we were spared from all of the flooding and tornados that have happened nearby...it has been one crazy week of storms (and though it didn't happen right away...on the third or forth day of storming elizabeth decided she was terrified of the thunder....and last night she actually woke up in the middle of the night completely freaked out by the thunder and lightning...fortunately the storm didn't last long and we were all able to get some sleep).

3. i should admit that i was that upset by elizabeth waking up to the storm last night. it isn't that often that i get to crawl into her bed in the middle of the night and stroke her forehead and sing sweet songs to her. my baby is growing up so quickly...and secretly i actually cherished those moments of snuggling with her...that knowledge that she needed me was a balm to my soul that gets a bit weary of the "i do it myself!" mentality that often pervades the day. (and as i type this the Lord is nudging at my heart...saying, "uh huh...amanda...see what you are thinking about your daughter...i feel that about you! stop trying to do it yourself...surrender...depend on me...trust me...cling to me."--thank you Lord for the lessons of motherhood!)

4. a date with the hub to celebrate our anniversary. our dear friends lora and keith ("wah-wah" and "keif" as elizabeth likes to call them) came to baby-sit so mike and i could enjoy some time off...which was much needed and enjoyed...especially after all of mike's overtime at the office (and as you all well know...overtime for daddy means overtime for mommy!).

5. listening to elizabeth sing the ABCs...not sure why this one moment sticks out more than other times...it isn't her first recitation of the alphabet. but for some reason as she stood in front of mike and i and beautifully sang her way through the ABC song and then stopped at the end and flashed a massive grin my heart was simply flooded with joy...joy and gratitude. how amazed i am with this sweet little girl...the sweet little girl that God entrusted to Mike and me...a little girl who is growing and changing and learning so quickly i can barely keep up...for some reason that moment just captured it all...i love you sweet libbers!

6. an impromptu dinner with mike's parents and brother (and his brother's girlfriend)....nice to have some time to connect and enjoy one another...and some yummy Greek food (and those who have been around my blog through my pregnancy might remember my fondness for gyros--a craving during my pregnancy with elizabeth that has turned into one of my all-time favs).

7. kate is pulling herself up and just starting to figure out the whole "cruising" thing...baby steps right now...but she's getting it!

8. scrapbooking! i really do enjoy scrapbooking (though lately i have been little more than a "collector of scrapping supplies")...but yesterday i finally busted out the goodies i'd purchased especially for kate's "first year" scrapbook (which, of course, i purchased four or five months ago and promptly piled on my desk and didn't touch again until yesterday!) and got started! i actually finished eight or nine spreads...and if all goes well it seems kate just might have a scrapbook to share at her one year birthday party! (and perhaps she won't go through life saying, "gee...look at the MASSIVE (yes...it is HUGE!) book mom made elizabeth...sure wish she would have made one for me!")

9. sitting in bed with a bowl of popcorn and watching "hitch" with my hubby. we can't typically do this since we don't have a tv in our room, but we were able to pop it in the laptop we are currently "storing" for my brother-in-law (thanks richard!). so relaxing. and i must say, though we have seen "hitch" so many times...we were definitely laughing out loud repeatedly. it was just what we needed...a night to relax, laugh, and simply be together in the midst of so much going on!

10. finishing a good book..."twenty wishes" by debbie macomber (the fourth "blossom street" book for those who are familiar with macomber)....so good...now, i realize i am making a liar of myself by posting this smile. just a few weeks back i mentioned finishing a different book and that it would be quite sometime before my next book (since i have for the most part stopped reading fiction for this stage in life)...but this one was so good! and i am finding that i am doing a better job of prioritizing and not letting the book suck me into the "vacuum of fiction-land" i so often enter when in the midst of a good book.

Four Years!

Yesterday marked four years of marriage for the hubster and me...and I can hardly believe it! We've definitely had our share of both the ups and the downs...the joys and the struggles...but I am so thankful to God for the husband He gifted me with in Michael. Just a few pics to look back to the wedding day!

ten smile tues...errr...wednesday!

a bit belated...but, nonetheless, here they are!

1. my twirling "cindarina"...lately elizabeth loves to twirl and dance like a princess/ballerina and declare to anyone who will listen..."look...i like cindarina!" when she gets dizzy and falls down, "OOPS! i fall down like cindarinda!"--this is clearly her combination of cinderella and angelina ballerina! in other cute "elizabeth-isms"...we were eating peaches for dessert monday night, and elizabeth said, "i eating a rocking chair"...because the peaches were rocking back and forth--she's a smart one (and creative!)...and everywhere we go she looks in the sky for "alligator clouds"...or "BIG HUGE clouds"..."like in the airplane"!

2. thinking the $1 bargain on this play table was for this little one...

....but finding it is really loved and enjoyed by all the girls! (well...and seeing them play together!)

3. the surprise of hearing the garage door open 2 1/2 hours early on monday...and seeing my dearest hubby walk through the door...finally finished with the project that had been keeping him at the office for so many long hours! bonus that he arrived home during nap-time, so the two of us actually had some time together...

4. evenings (and mornings and afternoons....) spent outside swinging...i think elizabeth could swing ALL day long! though we enjoy all of our backyard fun, its just a bit more "smile-worthy" when daddy is home to enjoy it with us! and would you believe it...mugho can play soccer! silly pug dog...loves to chase elizabeth's big green rubber ball around the yard...plowing into it to "kick" it!

5. an impromptu lunch outing with my dear friend jill...how exciting to think there will be so many of those to come as she joins the stay-at-home mommy club! even more exciting to know her precious little babe will be making his/her appearance oh-so-very-soon....come on out baby...i can't wait to meet you! (and can i just say, i LOVE the suspense...trying to guess if you will be a boy or girl!)

6. the daily "ticket" of God's grace...with so much going on in the past week or so, i have found God renewing my mind and heart and steadying me on the truth that His grace is sufficient...that His mercies are new every morning...that His faithfulness is great.

7. remembering and praising. i have mentioned it, but it bears mentioning again...i am SO thankful for the time we had with my grandpa before he died...the giggle, smiles, and memories captured in photograph and engraved in my mind. bapa will surely be missed, but how precious it has been to think back and remember the 29 years of memories...

8. allergy medicine...this might seem frivolous...especially after smile #7...but seriously friends, allergy medicine makes the list. even better...allergy medicine i got for free at cvs!

9. this little "monkey"...hard to believe that just shy of two weeks ago our kate was basically immobile. these days she can (and does) get just about anywhere...including slithering under the table and chairs (and trying to pull herself up to crawl over the rungs as well!), creeping around her play-table, army-crawling at lightning speed for anything that belongs to her big sister, lunging off the couch and into my waiting arms (though i am one hundred percent certain she would lunge even without me there!). it will be interesting to see how long it takes her to figure out walking is an even more efficient method...watch out world, here comes kate!

10. the chance to enjoy some catching up time with my friend lora (bonus that it was over some tasty morsels at our fav mexican restaurant). so nice to have some time like this, especially in the midst of mike's long work hours...have i mentioned that i LOVE how much my friends love my girls...and vice versa!

the many faces....and i've been tagged

as promised...here are some pics from yesterday afternoon. the girls and i had some photo-time...the semi-matching dresses were gifts from big bapa and GG a few month ago. i'm just glad it is finally warm enough to bust them out! you've gotta love kate's little hat...and elizabeth loved peek-a-boo-ing with kate with the hat...and trying it on herself and mom!

my two girls!

kate simply didn't want to sit still...she was crawling off the couch to escape...seriously...she would crawl to the edge and then lunge into my arms!

PEEK-A-BOO KATE! libs thought this was a riot! so cute!

some great faces...

and...i was tagged by kendra at "handprints on the wall"...so here goes!

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What were you doing ten years ago?

Wow...ten years ago I had just finished my freshman year at Taylor University. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to "do" with my life (career-wise)...and I can remember my mom asking what I really wanted to do...and I replied, "I really want to be a wife and mom...to do the laundry...cook dinners..." I suppose at that time it seemed SO remote and hard to imagine...but here I am...ten years later! Isn't God faithful! (I must admit, though, the job is much harder than I thought it would be ten years ago...and incredibly more rewarding too!)

2. What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list today?

1-Run and play in the backyard with Libs...and push her on the swing

2-Do some knitting on a Christmas stocking I'm making for a friend (only 6 months left to finish three of them!--you'd think that was plenty of time...but who knows the way time goes these days!)

3-Finish up my Bible study for tomorrow

4-Spend some quality time relaxing with the hub...who should be done with the project and home on time this evening...HOORAY!

5-Figure out the blue-tooth thing-y for my new phone (I am SO technologically challenged!)

3. Five snacks I enjoy

-peanut M&Ms

-celery with peanut butter

-ice cream...vanilla base with chocolate-ish add-ins

-cheese-its--this one comes straight from watching my mom when i was little!

-anything that is both sweet and salty...honey-nut chex mix, sweet and salty granola bars!

4. Five things I'd do if I were a billionaire

Hmm...if I were a billionaire....I have a hard time even grasping the idea of that much money. First and foremost I would give a lot of it away...to my church...to support the many friends we have doing mission work overseas. While I also know I would save some for things like retirement, college funds, etc...I would definitely do some "frivolous" things...shopping for myself, my hub, the girls, my fam and friends. As I think about it...I would also make it possible for the hub to go back to school if he wanted...and we'd do some serious traveling...most definitely back to New Zealand, and oh so many places I'd love to see. And I suppose there would still be more to give away!

5. Places I've lived

Indiana...oh Indiana....yep...my whole life....

well...except a summer in Colorado, a summer in New Zealand, and a summer on an island in Ohio...if those count (and yes, there really are islands in Ohio)

6. Jobs I've had

-baby-sitter

-lifeguard

-swim lesson instructor (classes and private lessons)

-desk clerk in my college dorm

-a brief stint on staff with Campus Crusade (well, just the support raising part...never got to the staff part!)

-a bread store in town...worked the front counter

-teacher

-wife and mom!...and all the prior jobs were definitely "training" for these roles!

I tag...

Rebecca

Shanna

Wendi

Lisa

Shanna

Leslie
....and all of my other blogging friends who would like to participate!