Tuesday, December 2, 2008

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.

12 comments:

Jacy said...

I love all the pictures of your girls! We got a little snow last night, but not enough to amount to anything lol and I am with you on playing games! I love it when we get to do it and this year I'd love to play the new family cranium lol don't know much about it, but it looks so much fun!
HOpe you have lots more to smile about this week!

Wendi@EveryDayMiracles said...

Wow, this is a busy time of year isn't it? Sounds like life has been quite fast paced for you guys lately. - I mean more than usual. :)
Those games sound so fun! I too love playing games. I can just imagine all of the fun you all will have playing.
Great pictures! Looked like a great early Christmas with family. :)

Amy's Blah, Blah, Blogging said...

Lots of smiles and fun for everyone! I particularly love the picture of elizabeth in the old shirt...too cute!

How fun that you guys got new games to play. I feel so out of the loop as I had never heard of any of them. The candyland one sounds particularly fun.

Whew, you sure were busy with those sock monkeys! Holy cow. I'd probably be dreaming about them at this point!

Hope your days are filled with hot chocolate and candy canes this week!

Trace said...

Such adorable pics!
And games?? LOVE LOVE LOVE em!! I want to build my collection to include ones that Luke can play with us... :)
Love your 10 Smile posts...

Hugs
Trace

Anonymous said...

I shared your site with some of my close friends and co-workers. They were very impressed! The loved the commentary, pictures and recipies.

Love you!
Aunt Kim

Rebecca said...

such wonderful smiles! so glad you enjoyed your time with mike's family. love all the pictures. i love love love the bubble wrap story...too funny! love the matching dresses for the girls...and libs' face...precious. i have a funny-faced libbs this week, too. and those games sound great..i'm going to check them out. we love to play games as well. too bad cali and indy are closer...

Nancy M. said...

Awesome pictures! You have been quite the busy bee! Glad y'all had a great time with your family.

Jessica Jean said...

lots of fammily fun looks like all the pictures are great hope all is going well!

Little Candle said...

Amanda,
Thank you so much for your nice comments. Yes, to get together in real life would be ever so much fun. I am hosting a cookie exchange next week and I wish you could come...oh well. :) I love your "Smiles." And I look forward to seeing a picture of all of those monkies.

Sarah :)

kt said...

once again another week of beautiful and fun smiles.

Thanks for your comment about my monkey.. I had not made one before and so he took me quite awhile to finish (that and I am so picky that everything must be perfect) I can't believe you just made 21 of the little guys. WOW you inspire me lady!

And very cute matching outfits :)

Lisa said...

Christmas eary? How fun and I love the matchig dresses!!!

Jackie said...

What great things to smile about! When we were in Indiana last week it snowed a little tiny bit and I was THRILLED - but I do understand that it's not so mcuh fun to drive in.

I wanted to tell you...I was able to get my hair cut at the Aveda Institute - oh my word - it was worth it just for the massage and shampoo. Heavenly! THanks so much for telling me about it!