ten smile tuesday

i suppose i am smiling today simply because i actually have the chance to sit down for a moment and post these smiles. seriously, the past week has been a whirlwind...between packing everything up, heading out of town, keeping up with the girls while not at home for 4 days, unpacking and being buried in the piles of laundry and "stuff", and, of course...sock monkeys...some serious monkeying around....as in 21 monkeys, stuffed, sewn, packed in a box and on their way to north carolina. and here i am...breaking to blog now that the downstairs is vacuumed and the kitchen counters cleared...nevermind the mounds of laundry waiting to be folded! :) anyway...here are our smiles!

1. some time to hang out and catch up with family!

the girls with uncle dennis and kaitlyn...this picture cracks me up! though they LOVE their uncle dennis, the girls were clearly NOT in the mood for a picture...which definitely makes it one for the albums!

uncle dave and aunt kim with the girls...again, while the girls love their aunt and uncle, they just weren't feeling particularly cooperative!

kate had lots of love for aunt kim!

2. elizabeth all suited up to take a walk with grandma....mike's parents live out in the country...and in november in indiana, that means deer hunting season...and that means lots of orange. you've gotta love elizabeth decked out in grandpa's old shirt with an orange scarf tied on; the idea of the orange hat freaked her out for some reason.

3. reindeer fun. (they're all pretty darned cute...but daddy is definitely one hot reindeer!)

4. crafty goodness for elizabeth. grandma had TONS of crafty miscellany laying around, so elizabeth quite the ball creating masterpieces! and grandma even sent home two boxes of crafting and learning supplies...which made mommy quite excited. we've been doing lots of singing and dancing to the hap palmer and ella jenkins...marching around the alphabet and on and on...fun times! aunt kim bought the girls crayola art toys for Christmas, and they have already had TONS of fun with those!

5. bubble wrap. what does elizabeth want for Christmas?! bubble wrap. this was leftover from present opening friday morning, but then at wal-mart yesterday i picked some up for a package i needed to ship, and elizabeth exclaimed (loudly and excitedly), "MOMMY! is that for ME for Christmas!?"

6. mugho, the present opening wonder dog. seriously, he had his package open in 2 seconds flat...

7. matching girls. grandma and grandpa bought the girls these adorable dresses for Christmas (by now you have surely realized we had an early Christmas with Mike's family)....they didn't feel like sitting still for the picture, but you get the idea! (okay...i couldn't resist libs facial expression in the second picture....PRICELESS!)

8. game time. i love games. love them. and we don't get a chance to play nearly enough...so, of course, i was thrilled by the chance to not only play some fun games this weekend but also receive some new ones for Christmas. mike's brother introduced us to Run For Your Life, Candyman-a funny twist on Candyland where you "take out" the other candymen. then dennis and kaitlyn bought Ticket to Ride and Memoir 44 for us for Christmas. i'm looking quite forward to planning a game night soon!

9. q-tip painting with elizabeth and miranda. elizabeth was SO into this. in fact, today she has been begging to do more...so perhaps we'll be busting out the paint after nap time. i love the way she laid right down and the floor, getting oh-so-close, and concentrating to get her picture "just right". by the way, in case you are curious...her picture is of a purple rhinoceros, some red roses, and some water...

10. conversations in the car. saturday evening after arriving back home elizabeth and i ran to cvs and to pick up pizza. she was thrilled to see all the Christmas decor that had popped up while we were up of town. she says to me, "look mommy. all those people are having Christmas. they are having Christmas at that house. those people aren't having Christmas....." and on and on. so i reminded her that Christmas wasn't about having lights in front of your house or even a Christmas tree...and it wasn't even about having a big inflatable cartoon character dressed like santa either...but that Christmas was about Jesus's birthday. she said, "oh!"....i wasn't really sure she really "got" it. but then today as we were driving down the street she said to me, "mama...look at those snowmen in their yard. those snowmen are saying 'happy birthday Jesus!'" be still my heart...she listened and remembered!

11. snow...i have to remember to smile about this one. i really don't love the idea of mike driving to work on the icy roads....but oh it just takes seeing it through the eyes of a 15 month old and a three year old to relive the wonder of the fluffy white flakes. mind you, there was just enough to dust the yard...but exciting nonetheless!

12. 21 monkeys packed in a box. while i did enjoy putting these monkeys together...i must say i am smiling a massive grin to know they are done and safely on their way to my sister....hopefully to find new homes and bring smiles to little ones this Christmas. maybe i will get michelle to take a picture before selling them at the show, as in our haste to get them shipped i didn't take even one picture of the bunch. the Christmas ones turned out so cute...with little knitted stocking caps atop their heads...

13. looking forward to my MOPS craft night tonight. we'll be making coasters and post-it holders...easy projects, but fun to hang out and chat with other moms.