ten smile tuesday

i spent the entire past week a bit exhausted and completely lacking energy...taken down by an icky summer cold....and, of course, it was the end of pregnancy, everything feels a bit worse than it would if i wasn't pregnant, type of cold. fortunately (hopefully!) i am on the backside of it, getting a bit more sleep, and finally accomplishing some much needed "before baby arrives" tasks. but, we're still smiling....

1. Grace...all it takes is a week like this past one to remind me ever so much more clearly of how thankful i am for God's grace toward me (well...toward us all!). grace in the midst of bumbling parenting, grace in the midst of those days i feel like all the girls (and i) did was sit in front of the TV, grace as a wife, grace...grace...grace!

2. our first fresh from the farmer's stand watermelon...

3. BLTs (with some fresh, juicy indiana tomatoes) and sweet corn (that dearest hubby picked up from the farmer on the way home!) for dinner...followed by the perfect refreshing summer dessert...lemon bars! and, just for the record, i'm of the opinion (after being warped by my mom for years!) that a BLT just isn't a BLT unless you slather the bacon side of the sandwich with peanut butter and the lettuce and tomato side with mayo! mike and the girls just think i'm weird!

4. a lovely evening with our monthly prayer group...prayer followed by a tasty cook-out and some hanging out time...these pics of the girls were taken by a friend and passed along...love them! :)

5. the girls' new bunk beds

6. a victory in the "keeping kate in a big girl bed" battle. yesterday afternoon she took an almost 3 hour nap in her big girl bottom bunk. we haven't even attempted switching her from the crib completely...and most likely won't until after the baby arrives and things settle down a bit (HA!)...but a successful naptime was HUGE! :)

7. some quality time with girlfriends (and the kiddos)....yummy blueberry muffins and great conversation...good times! and i couldn't resist snapping a pic of the girls all geared up to head to "aunt" lora's house that morning...yep...looks like maybe we're heading for a summer day at the pool...but, nope...in fact it was a gray and rainy 63 degrees in july when we headed out, but miss elizabeth insisted that she needed sunglasses to keep the rain out of her eyes...and, well, these days kate follows suit in just about anything big sister does! (and for the record...we weren't moving yet...i might need LOTS of grace lately but i do make sure libs is strapped in before actually moving the car!)

8. 35 weeks...and another chance to hear that wonderful, beautiful, magical beating away of the baby's heart at my appointment this morning. and the happy fact that the baby dropping has alleviated some of my horrible middle of the night acid reflux and heartburn bouts....of course, while relieving some of the heartburn issues it has brought other joys that come with the baby being super low!

9. project progress...we finished repainting the dresser and rocking chair for the nursery, so hopefully i can start arranging and getting everything ready in the nursery later this week (and share some pictures!). i'm slowly but surely getting the square of the baby blanket i knit whipstitched together. AND yesterday the "cleaning" side of nesting finally hit...i was able to tackle the wiping down and magic erasing of cabinets, baseboards and doors in the kitchen and 1/2 bath....now lest you be too impressed, i think this might be the only housework related item i've accomplished in an entire week...well, other than the day to day "must-dos"....laundry--the washing...not the folding, dishes, etc. :)

10. the fabulous reality that i haven't had to venture to the grocery store by myself with the girls for over a month. seriously...this is really more related to smiling about how wonderfully gracious my hubby is....he has happily made grocerying and errand running a "family outing" on the weekends...stopped for random items on his way home from work (like the syrup for our pancakes tonight or the corn for our dinner last night...because really, i just can't get it together enough to get everything in one trip lately!)...and spent quality daddy time with the girls while mommy had some alone grocery time....its the little things in life, but oh what a FABULOUSLY huge little thing this in lately!