ten (or fourteen!) smile tuesday

err...maybe i should have titled this "lotsa picture tuesday"...either way, here are some smiles from the past week at our house! and you'll notice...i went a bit overboard and included not ten but fouteen smiles...

1. "sprinkles"....i busted out the sprinkler late wednesday afternoon...and, oh my, was elizabeth THRILLED! kate wasn't as sure about it (which surprised me, considering her "charge headfirst into ANYTHING" personality)...but, nonetheless, she too had fun and was drenched by the end.

is there anything more classic than the catching sprinkles on your tongue pose!

as for kate...she LOVED the nemo goggles that came with the sprinkler...

one day soon, we'll have to break out the slip-n-slide that came with the sprinkler and goggles!

2. a fabulous "finale" MOPS meeting for the year. i'll miss thursday morning meetings, but i'm also looking forward to a break from the prep and responsibilities i had as the "hospitality" person...next year i will be taking a break and simply sitting to enjoy meetings as i do some "stepping back" and slowing down with baby #3!

3. having our little buddy brennan hang with us all day friday...

4. ...not only was brennan with us friday, but we also had daddy home for the second straight friday in a row! mike typically only works half days on friday, but he took a few hours of time off so he could take advantage of the gorgeous weather and get the topsoil taken care of for our garden! and that, too, is a smile...the garden that we are in the process of planting...bring on the fresh veggies!

5. chocolate milk+coffee+ice=scrumptious! i mean seriously, some good quiet time, a tasty drink...what more could a mama ask for!? (as a side note...a great coupon, combined with a great sale scored us some "dean's over the moon" chocolate milk...and oh my, it is the best chocolate milk i've ever tasted!...i don't make a habit of buying chocolate milk...but it is helping me actually drink at least a bit of milk each day throughout this pregnancy since i'm totally not a milk drinker usually).

6. elizabeth's first ever "drop her off and leave her" birthday party...for her buddy aidan. she had a blast...and, quite frankly, so did i. mike insisted that i drop her off and then just go somewhere, by myself (but NOT running errands!) and simply relax and have some "me" time. how delightful! i dropped libs off and then headed to one of our favorite little mexican restaurants nearby...where i enjoyed chips and salsa, diet coke, and some good time in the Word. what better combo is there!?

7. my two sweet girls in their matching "cherry" swimsuits...what's not to love!

8. listening to libs giggles of delight and happiness...as she once again enjoyed some sprinkler time. she was so not into the sprinkler last year...so i am loving watching her discover the joy of the sprinkler...and hoping this perhaps means she will be a bit "braver" when it comes to the lake as well....(can't wait to make it up that way in less than two weeks!--build poppy, build...we're comin' soon!)

9. ...and this little lovey...who was quite overjoyed by her red popsicle...i mean, really, check out that grin!

10. our makeshift swimming "pool"....getting the pool out and inflating it seemed like a lot of trouble at the last minute...so we made a rubbermaid tub work for us! i filled it up, and the girls spend some good time emptying it out, cup by cup...dumping cupfuls over their heads...over each others heads....onto the trees....onto mugho....and, of course, onto mommy's feet (which felt fabulous in the humidity and heat!)

11. we also enjoyed having a few fabulous families/friends over for a cook-out yesterday evening....plentiful amounts of tasty food, great fellowship, and after a mostly gray day the sun even peeked out just in time for some swingset and bubble fun!

12. sometimes it's the little things...like discovering a new tasty little treat...chocolate covered sunflower seeds from trader joes.

13. moments of happy, laughter filled play between the girls...let's face it, this doesn't happen all the time...but since moving them into the same room a couple weeks back, i truly am starting to see more "love" between them. i think it is also partially due to kate getting old enough to really "play" with elizabeth. in the past couple of weeks kate has started to say elizabeth's name...well, it sounds more like "liii-beth"...and that, my friends, is a huge milestone since kate seems quite resistent to the whole talking thing in general!

14. hearing the belly laughter that often comes from their bedroom after we've tucked them into bed...there's typically not a lot of sleeping going on right away...but really, is there any better sound than my precious daughters giggling and enjoying each other!? i think not!