ten smile tuesday...on wednesday

a few hours past tuesday...but here are some of our smiles from the past week.

1. had to share a pic of jillian smiling...she gets more and more smiley every day. AND this incredibly thoughtful little girl decided to sleep for 10 straight hours last night...and her mommy is extremely grateful, especially since i seem to be coming down with some kind of icky-ness. anyway...i know her eye seems to be doing some kind of strange squinting in the second pic, but the smile says it all--priceless! savor and take her in, the rest of the pics are of the big girls.

2. scooter fun. way back on her birthday elizabeth received a princess scooter (or "shooter"....or "motorcycle" as she likes to call it) from her great grandpa and great grandma ethel. well, the weather finally took a turn for the warmer, so we assembled it and showed her the ropes. and, of course, kate had a go at it as well.

step one: finish her snack

step two: "is this the right way?"

step three: she has it figured out

step four: take a break and give kate a turn!

3. FREE pumpkins! thanks ed! my aunt janeen messaged me saturday morning that my uncle ed's office was having "the great pumpkin giveaway"...so we quickly got ourselves dressed (since we were all spending the overcast, chilly morning lounging in our PJs) and headed over to pick up pumpkins and balloons and enjoy some cider and donuts. hooray! we are looking forward to carving our pumpkins on saturday...we figured we would wait until the last minute this year since our carved pumpkins got a bit rotten by halloween last year!

kate loves her pumpkins...really, she does...but the 1st pic is proof that it isn't all smiles all the time around here. and, call me cruel, but really, sometimes the teary pictures are the cutest!

4. a fabulously fun visit from grandmommy...and between playing with the girlies and loving on jillian, we did manage to squeeze in some rounds of canasta, as many of you suggested we would! most of the rest of the smiles can show what a great time we had....and oh my, to hear miss kate strutting around all week talking about "dah-ma"....it was "dah-ma" this, "dah-ma" that. she woke up from her naps asking, "dah-ma here?" but we did definitely miss poppy and GG...hopefully we can get up that way to see them soon!

5. my dinner helper. grandmommy captured a better shot of this, but seriously, kate loves to help me cook. anytime i am at the kitchen counter, she pulls a chair over to help me. this time she was using her plastic alligator knife (and calling this a knife is definitely using the term loosely, since it barely cuts through bread) to chop celery for pasta fagioli soup.

6. speaking of pasta fagioli soup...it definitely makes the cut. this was my first time trying out the recipe (thanks for being the guinea pigs, jake and carrie), but it will definitely be entering the recipe rotation at our house!

7. a game night with friends. you all know i love me a good game night, and it had been a LONG time...but we had a blast playing ticket to ride and enjoying some good fellowship with friends. jillian was thrilled to hang out with her little buddy maureen...okay, so maybe she didn't quite get it yet, but really, they will get it some day!

8. i digress from my "with grandmommy" smiles though...but here i am, back on track. we made these scrumptious cookie bars...oats, fudge, deliciousness...thanks for the recipe jackie!

9. oh my, too many smiles...i must condense...snuggling under elmo quilts to watch a movie, rocking rag dolls in the cradle ethel sent, our little picasso-kate....and so many more little moments!

10. another delightful date with my hubby....this seems to be a regularly occuring smile, which is a huge blessing! this was our first date without any kiddos along since jillian was born. grandmommy stayed with jillian, and the big girls went to our normal date swap baby-sitting. mike and i enjoyed a tasty, tasty dinner at buca di beppo, and afterward my husband treated me to a surprise some new perfume, while we strolled through the mall. i love my girls....i really do...but oh how i love getting to spend time alone with my hubby....it most definitely does a marriage good!

11. well...ten smiles just won't cut it this week...we also enjoyed a nice visit with mike's parents on sunday. lunch, hanging out, even a bit of halloween cake!