ten smile tuesday

usually ten smile tuesday is one of my favorite times...one of the easiest to post. but i must admit...this week i seem to be drawing a blank. i think, perhaps, it is that it is starting to seem winter (a bone-chillingly cold one at that) has been going on forever. now, i love the beauty of the snow...and honestly, i welcome the change of pace and the natural "down time" that seems to come with winter, but i think i'm just feeling kind of "ugh" about it by now. it seems our days look so much the same...inside, not doing much to leave the house per se, our first MOPS meeting of the year was cancelled due to the dangerously sub-zero temps...and on and on. my dear bloggity friend andrea posted the other day...about the "winter" of sorts in her heart...a lack of joy , etc...and the post resonated with me. i am simply praying that the Lord would let His Word wash over my heart and awaken a renewed joy in me...a joy that permeates even the "mundane" and exhausted days...a true joy that is not dependent on my circumstances. a joy that is a blessing to my husband, daughters and friends...

and yet...here it is. ten smile tuesday...and i suppose there is no better way to chip away at the "ugh-ness" than by counting my blessings (even those that seem a bit un-spectacular...and even those that are striving toward and looking forward to some fun upcoming times!). so here goes...ten smiles...photoless...because i must admit that my camera has been sitting up on the desk in the office...and hasn't even been turned on since last tuesday!

1. breakfast for dinner...and i don't mean omelets...i mean french toast or waffles or pancakes...this seems to be popping up on our menu at least once a week this winter. tasty, budget friendly, and quite frankly...loved by all!

2. thirty minutes last friday morning...the girls and i had just arrived home from a quick outing to the store, and i realized it was above 40 degrees (for the first time in AGES!)...and of course, 40 felt like 80 to my outdoor deprived self...and so, i plopped hats on the girls and let them have at it with sidewalk chalk, the tricycle, wagon, etc. while i cleaned out the van. how refreshing...and bonus that my van doesn't look nearly as trashed anymore!

3. a date with my hubby thursday evening. (see, this is why i do my smiles...until i started typing i had completely forgotten this blessing!). my dear friend geneva called wednesday looking for a last minute sitter that night, and when i said sure, she offered to watch our girls the next night. mike and i were able to enjoy a tasty dinner at ted's montana grill (bison burgers...YUM!) and then chatting over dessert and hot tea at panera. delightful!

4. peach cobbler. peaches were on sale for $.98 a pound this week...so i stocked up and then made peach cobbler for our flock group meeting saturday. it was scrumptious. and if my auntie phil gives me the green light i will most definitely share the recipe--just want to be sure to give credit where credit is due and find out where she found it first!

5. naps. seriously, i am so thankful that the girls are good nappers. (well, perhaps rester is the better term for elizabeth who has recently stopped sleeping during most naps). i love my girls, but i do so treasure that time in the afternoon. after a long week or so with elizabeth fighting "resting" i am so thankful that she is getting better at staying in her room and "reading" quietly or singing to her animals (or whatever it is she does quietly while resisting the lure of sleep for two hours!). i don't know what i would do without this time...but i know it wouldn't be pretty!

6. looking forward to some hang time with friends...a playdate with one tomorrow, some girl chatting and connecting time friday morning, and then hanging out with "neighbors" from church for the superbowl...

7. looking forward to the arrival of my sister and mom for some much needed and anticipated girl time early next week. i am so excited i can hardly contain myself.

8. fresh homemade french bread....its just tasty and so easy to make and smells so good...whats not to love!

9. a husband who has made it possible in the course of the past three or four weeks for me to do all of my major grocery shopping over the weekend. whether he has come along and made it a family affair (thus satisfying my restless need to just get out of the house) or staying home with the girls, it has been a huge blessing. honestly, i just don't have the motivation to do the car seat dance and wrangle both girls in and out of the car in the cold, cold weather!

10. the fact that at this very moment the aforementioned hubby should be nearly home! he left early to avoid rush hour with all the crazies on what a quickly becoming VERY snow covered streets. so i will be rousing the nappers, finishing the touches on our soup and bread dinner, and then snuggling down for a nice family evening.