ten (err...twelve) smile tuesday...

here are some of our smiles from the past week...well, at least the ones i didn't already share in my "snippets" post the other day. i think most of these actually go through the week backwards since that is how the pics uploaded into the post.

1. my Easter present....a newly mounted over the range microwave. mike gifted me with the microwave a few months back, but we had to tear out a cabinet and do some new wiring to actually hang it, so it was just hanging out on the counter. well, thanks to mike and our friend chris, it took its place above the stove after our Easter lunch! i'm SOOO excited about my extra counter space (although i randomly go to microwave something...say the heating pad for my achin' back...and momentarily think, "wait, who stole the mircowave!"...yep, pregnancy and the girls have completely sucked my brain away!)

2. old cabinet=new toy...is there anything more exciting for a three and a half year old and one and a half year old!?

3. a tasty Easter lunch and great fellowship with friends. we ended up having our friends chris and chrisy (and their sweet almost 1 year old daughter) over for Easter lunch. mike grilled lamb, chrisy brought potatoes and green bean casserole, and we even managed to save/make room for dessert...strawberry pretzel jell-o salad. yumm-o!

4. Jesus is ALIVE! what a blessing to go to church Sunday morning and worship with brothers and sisters in Christ. and oh what a blessing to hear elizabeth's little voice starting to "get" and repeat "He is risen INDEED!".

5. the girls in their matching Easter dresses.

a smile from elizabeth....and then one from kate (not sure what is with libs expression in the second one..but i love the pic anyway!)

they are doing ring-around-the rosy here...gotta love the candid smiles! i need to look back on these on days/minutes when they aren't playing so happily together!

6. egg hunting...they officially did some egg hunting inside Saturday morning (since it was chilly!), but in the afternoon we tossed the eggs across the yard and had at it again. kate was the egg hunter extraordinare...she ran around like crazy shouting "ball!", plucking up eggs and plopping them into her bunny basket (my grandpa and ethel sent the baskets as a gift...so cute...a monkey for libs and a bunny for kate)....and to think, i wasn't sure kate was going to "get it".

7. it is never too chilly for a green ice pop. aunt kim brought the girls one of those make-your-own popsicle thingies...and elizabeth was thrilled to make popsicles...green, of course. and the poor girl was beside herself waiting for them to freeze all the way! nevermind that it was cold enough outside for jackets saturday afternoon, she savored that ice pop just like it was a mid-summer afternoon!

8. a visit from aunt kim and grandma and grandpa (mike's sister and parents). kim had Good Friday off and was able to come to town, and we enjoyed a fun visit saturday morning...brunch at our house and then lunch at one of our local favorites.

9. this was the first year we did Easter baskets...but when grandpa and ethel gave us the cutie baskets i couldn't resist filling them with some odds and ends. kate was quite thrilled by the mrs. potato head in hers!

10. monkey bread...elizabeth helped me shake the biscuits in the sugar and cinnamon...and then was delighted, of course (as were we all), to partake in the ooey-gooey goodness saturday morning at brunch!

11. a "date" with elizabeth. mike wasn't feeling well at all friday afternoon, so he decided to stay home with kate while i took elizabeth to the Good Friday evening service at church. it was a nice chance to spend some one on one time with elizabeth...not to mention, enjoy a fabulous church service, remember Christ's suffering and sacrifice for us. and, any "date" needs to end with yummy dessert (at least as far as a 3 year old is concerned...so we hit wendy's for a frosty on the way home!).

12. and finally...i'm just lovin' how much elizabeth LOVES to help around the house...doing ANYTHING i ask her to, as if it is the most interesting and spectacular thing EVER. i was mopping friday and gave her a pack of cleaner wipes. she scrubbed around all the baseboards and under the edge of the cabinets and then proceeded to clean the front of the oven, dishwasher, and the "mugho level" of the patio door. gotta love my helper!