ten smile tuesday...

whew...i have to tell you how nice it feels to sit down at the computer...with an ice cold diet coke...and share what we've been up to. we've been working on implementing a bit more of a routine around our house. over the course of the past months i think i've shared a bit of my "ugh" and "blah" feelings, but perhaps not the extent of it. funny, i read a post over at jackie's (the one here) that i so related to....specifically the part where she says this....

"As I'm getting older, I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that I am a scheduled person. And I don't like change. For the longest time, I would try to convince myself otherwise. When taking a personality test, I would look at the question that said, "Are you spontaneous! and fun-loving! and adaptable!, or scheduled and a list-maker and orderly?" And I would think, Oh for sure, the first one. That sounds fun! I can be spontaneous. If I really WANT to be. The other choice just sounded too restrictive and boring, and who wants to be associated with that?"

seriously...i SO understand this. this past weekend mike and i came to the realization that we had great ideas and plans, but to be honest, they were just that...ideas and plans...not really coming to the implementation phase. no more! i'm embracing my need for a schedule and routine. i admit it, i've always thought those moms who had their day planned to the half hour...written down...posted on their fridge. well...here i am...that mom. granted, the "schedule" leaves lots of room for free play...but having those structured boundaries is already helping greatly...helping mike and i have meaningful, intentional time together in the morning before he leaves for work (who knew that was as simple as putting it on paper...somehow that seemed to seal the commitment for us), helping me spend more intentional time with elizabeth during kate's nap-time...in fact, we even started "school"--just a more intentional focus on letters and numbers and colors and shapes and craft-time (and she's LOVING it!), helping me fit in housework (and with a more intentional plan) and letting elizabeth help me. it is definitely working for me. but i digress...i suppose i could chalk that up as smile #1...but i have plenty of others, so i'll just leave that as an intr o.

1. whats not to smile about...i mean, really, this picture just makes me smile. it was taken just an hour ago...right before naptime. this girlie would make grandmommy proud...she has insisted on wearing this sweater (one grandmommy knit for her) ALL morning--even during our walk outside in the muggy, humid heat. then she found the slippers in her closet, so even as she naps, she is snuggled up in the warm sweater and slippers. i think i especially love the missing shorts in this picture...

2. kate's new skill....crawling up the steps. yesterday she suddenly decided to take off....no warning...no practice. nope, she did the entire flight of steps without looking back. i have a feeling this is a picture of what is coming for us.

3. birthday party fun. elizabeth was invited to a third birthday party for one of her little friends...such a fun saturday

morni ng. sprinklers, swingsets, lunch, presents, and cake. such a treat for elizabeth and i to have some special time out while kate and daddy had some special time at home.


4. walking to the local pizza place for a friday dinner out.

5. these cute little cards from carrie arrived in the mail the other day...

6. ....and this sweet birthday present for kate (from aunt shell and uncle richard--who found them here) showed up today. i'll be wrapping them up for i can't! sunday at church i saw one of the gals in our sunday school class who was super pregnant, and i had to pause as i realized that was me last year (ironically, shher party saturday. can you believe my baby turns one tomorrow!?e went into labor and delivered her twins yesterday...i too went into labor on sunday night and had kate monday).

7. rocking my sweet kate in the middle of the night. this so rarely ever happens...so when we heard her cry out loudly, mike and i rushed in to make sure she was okay. oh how delighted i was to simply snuggle her and rock her back to sleep...her head against my chest...cozy and comfy. i sat there reflecting on God's goodness to us...His incredible gifts...how blessed we truly are!

8. getting out of the house for a walk after lunch today. the van is in the shop, so kate, elizabeth, and i have been house-bound the past few days. when i woke up to storms this morning...and the rain continued ALL morning, we were starting to feel a bit stir crazy...so when it cleared up and libs asked to go jump in the puddles i was all for it. unfortunately, there weren't many puddles...but we did get to walk. i'm not sure which part of me thought taking the single stroller, a walking elizabeth AND the dog was a good idea...but we did survive. we even stopped to smell the flowers along the way. (i had to share two pictures of the whole "crew"...but i couldn't resist elizabeth's smile in the one and kate's in the other....elizabeth brought her pink rubber ducky on the walk with us, and he got to smell the flowers too!)

9. my new favorite cleaning tool...the action scrubber from scrubbing bubbles...just cleaned the shower and garden tub when the girls first laid down for nap time. seriously, i HATE cleaning showers and tubs...and this thingy was great!

10. scrapbooking time...i haven't had time to sit down and scrapbook for quite some time, so this was a great change of pace, but even better...finishing the book. i never imagined it was possible, but i finished a scrapbook of kate's first year...and with 24 hours to spare! (here's a small sampling of the first few spreads...perhaps i'll share more tomorrow in my special birthday post for kate!)