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.