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!