ten smile tuesday

just sat down to share my smiles...and realized my little camera has been sitting here, next to the computer, since i uploaded pics for smiles last week....meaning, no pictures to share...but we still have smiles. it actually was quite the long week...long hours for mike at work...which, of course, means long hours at home! :)

1. donut muffins...i stumbled across the link to this recipe on dearest sarah's blog, and i knew i simply had to test them out for our MOPS table playdate the next morning. they are DELISH! :)

2. our playdate morning. it ended up just being the girls and i and the hostess and her three boys. but everyone still had a great time, and it was nice to be able to have some adult conversation while the kiddos played (and we watched a great julie barnhill video and got to chat about that). it was a nice break from the long hours without daddy home.

3. a family chick-fil-a date friday night...dinner, time in the play-land for the girls, and we finished it out with a swing through the sonic drive-thru for ice cream to share at home. best of all, we had daddy with us! :)

4. another playdate saturday morning while the daddy's of both fams worked weekend hours. this time the girls and i popped by the local donut bakery and grabbed donut holes to share....yum! (i feel like it was a "donut" themed week...which is odd since we really don't do donuts often...but they sure tasted good!).

5. glimmers of sunshine in a rainy week....and the glorious chance to get outside and run around!

6. sitting on the couch with my hubby and simply vegging out saturday evening...a nice breath of fresh air after missing him all week!

7. a cookout and some hang time with our flock group (small group from church). and getting to make some baked mac-n-cheese to take along, thus satisfying my craving! :)

8. being blessed by lots and lots of birthday wishes....and my hubby's second birthday surprise (which brings me to the realization that i neglected to mention the first surprise on my blog...just shared it on FB). anyway...the first surprise came a bit early, a webcam for our computer AND one for my sister so we can chat in person...and, of course, so the girls can as well. as if that wasn't sweet and thoughtful enough...but then he surprised me with a special date night for this upcoming friday night (it is actually also for our anniversary, which is in a month, and his b-day too, as that is just another week away). he arranged for some dear friends to watch the girlies overnight and booked a hotel room for just the two of us (well...three, but i suppose the baby doesn't really know...right!?) downtown. oh how i am looking forward to enjoying a nice evening with my hubby! i'm also looking forward to a nice dinnner out...especially since yesterday got quite crazy with a last minute trip to the peditrician when elizabeth woke up from her nap with a fever of over 103 degrees! (no worries, she is okay...nothing else wrong but the fever, which is still coming and going...but mostly going and not nearly as high now)....resulting in leftover grilled hotdogs and homemade mac-n-cheese for dinner (not that i minded since i'd been seriously craving that baked mac-n-cheese!).

9. a STUFFED freezer. i spent my birthday morning with two sweet friends cooking away. we ended up with lots-o-food. another friend was kind enough to watch most of our kiddos while we cooked...making it quite the relaxing morning (well...if you call major cooking operations relaxing!). i ended up with 5 meals of chicken enchilada casserole, 5 meals of creamy chicken casserole, 4 meals of baked pasta, 4 meals of breaded ranch chicken, 20 chicken chimichangas (2-3 make a meal for us), and 8 meals worth of marinaded chicken and pork! quite the haul for 3 hours of cooking! :) (i am working on a blog-post for those who want more info...it will probably come in the next few days...hopefully!).

10. hearing the baby's heartbeat this morning. gotta love this one! and i love the way the girls are so quiet and intent while we listen...so in awe of hearing signs of the baby in my tummy. elizabeth is still quite convinced that it will be a baby brother...but only time will tell...4 more months until the big reveal--which is CRAZY...only 4 more months...where have the first 5 months of this pregnancy flown off to! as a sidenote, this baby never stops moving...not sure if i'm just more aware this time around or if he/she really is that much more of a mover, but oh my, it is amazingly wonderful and reassuring to feel the baby constantly flipping and kicking and hiccuping....and that mike is finally starting to be able to feel the movement as well. can't wait until elizabeth feels a kick...oh how i long to see her face during that amazing moment! :)