Thursday, March 18, 2010

ten smiles tues(er....thurs)day...

1. hello backyard...we've missed you...so good to be enjoying you once again. the weather has been GORGEOUS the past few days...allowing for LOTS of running around outside. hooray! the picture below is one of elizabeth's first photographic endeavors...and look, we're all centered and everything...good job libbers!


2. the joy of these two girlies...who are delighted to feel the fresh spring air on their cheeks!

who needs rollercoasters, when you have a slide..."look mom, no hands"...oh if only i could bottle up the joyful squeals of delight (and maybe even the shrieky ones when they encounter a ladybug...some serious fear of ladybugs...and all bugs, really, but apparently we have a lot of ladybugs around). is it terrible that is absolutely cracks me up that they are that terrified of ladybugs...spiders maybe...but ladybugs...ha!

3. flip-flops...in march! my toesies are lovin' it!

4. quinoa and pomegranates...yum! one of the many delightful tastes of our seabrook weekend...and i have been making misha's lovely quinoa, spinach salad (with pomegranates, apples, lentils and some balsamic dressing) pretty much everyday for lunch. i've also started weight watchers to get down a better path of eating (and hopefully in the process shed some of the pregnancy weight from not just jillian but what also accumulated and didn't go away with libs and kate too!). so far i'm enjoying weight watchers and learning to enjoy food in a whole new, much healthier way...and especially savored my MOPS brunch this morning...hello weekly "bonus" points!

5. little girls who "help" by picking out their own clothes. so precious! elizabeth and kate decided to pick out their clothes and dress themselves tuesday morning. elizabeth came downstairs with a long sleeve shirt, a zip up sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, and a pair of undies. kate had four pairs of undies...that's it...just undies. oh how i love those girlies! when i pointed out that elizabeth forgot pants she looked at me, giggled, and said, "silly me!"

6. "mom and loving it"...our church had a special event the other night called just that. it was so encouraging...not necessarily revolutionary information...just a reminder of perspective, some creative new ideas for reaching the hearts of my girls, and good time catching up and chatting with girlfriends. i was most reminded that my time needs to be spent reaching their hearts...because, truly, that is what matters to us...academics are great, social skills good, but their heart is the ultimate. i'm eager to put some fun new things into practice....i'll share more on those later.

7. a wee bit of sewing time. the girls and i hit jo-anns on monday after our aldi run, and i found a springy pink fabric for Easter dresses...i decided to make pillowcase dresses...simple and inexpensive. here is kate's...i still need to work on elizabeth and jillian's....good thing i have a couple more weeks because finding an hour here or there to so is no simple endeavor! we also worked on a super secret project for a certain soon to be birthday girl...


8. tax returns....and a husband who spends his "free" time working on things like taxes and oil changes and all those "fun" things. thanks michael...i love you! (oh, and i did get to go on a date with my hubby on thursday evening...mcalisters, good honest conversation, a trip to target for a new hairdryer (and, yes, that is true romance...a husband who will take time out of date night to browse the hair dryer aisle since yours is completely dead...)

9. catching my sis at just the right time for a brief phone conversation...and anticipating getting to see her in flesh and blood in june! i know, that might seem little...but, really, coordinating between her work schedule and me actually having time to talk uninterrupted is nearly impossible!

10. bean bag sisters...and smiles. the first shot is blurry but can you see just how thrilled jillian is to be sitting in the beanbag by kate...seriously grinning and giggling! (and i'm smiling that the laundry in the baskets behind them is all folded)



11. jilly's belly laugh when you zerbert her tummy or make funny noises. it is the BEST! i so need to capture it on video!

8 comments:

Leslie said...

so so many reasons to smile..

I just read the book mom and loving it by those ladies.. and totally agree not revolutionary but all good good points.. I really enjoyed it.

and seriously the bean bag pictures.. oh gosh Amanda they are jewels.

~beautyandjoy~ said...

I am with Leslie - so many reasons to smile! I was thinking about you today, too, when I made quinoa with artichoke hearts, olives, cukes, tomatos, spinach, green onions and a balsamic dressing. You could add feta and it would be even more divine! :)

Love your joys!

Anonymous said...

OK, I know learning is #1 around there, but we need a lesson on which shoe goes on which foot. HA! Libbers obviously does not feel the difference! It does look like lots of fun on the swing set and I loved the clearness of Lib's first photo.

Nikki said...

What a sweet list! Definitely more than ten smiles...the joy on the girls' faces as they played outside, Jillian's wordless glee at sitting in the beanbag, and your crafty projects! So glad to have this glimpse into your life. I'm totally jealous of the pomegranate/quinoa salad. I've hit every grocery store around here and they all say poms aren't in season now. :-( So I made up my own feta/tomato version and eat it daily.

Amanda said...

nikki...i've gotten pomegranate at costco (in the cold section, pomegranate arils) and frozen at trader joes...don't know if either of those are close to you! now i just need misha's super secret homemade heavenly brew recipe!

and girls, yes...so many reasons to smile! misha...thanks for a variation on the quinoa idea! :) i've done "southwestern"...but now that summer and farm fresh local veggie season is getting closer and closer there will be sooo many more options!

Dawna said...

Sweet, sweet, sweet. Thanks for sharing your smiles, sweet lady. Miss you!

Aminta said...

Hello lady friend!
How has it been? Oh..... I don't need to ask that, now do I? You have written what your days are like..... and digestion, goes great with weight watchers! weight watchers totally works, it helped me, but as soon as I went off and didn't pay attention it came right back on. My suggestion is to look up the foods that will speed up the metabolism. That way when you do stop it, it won't come back!
I am going to see a natural nutritionist today! So I will be praying for you and you pray for me
?
I love all of the pictures..... and all of your smiles. lovely days.
Miss you!

Rebecca said...

oh so many great reasons for smiling! such cute pictures. love the bean bag ones...adorable! that salad you mentioned sounds delicious! we are trying to eat better here, too. so glad you're enjoying the nice weather. i'm hoping to get caught up on my blog in the near future...you know, after unpacking and all that fun stuff ;) oh...love the dress you made...so pretty!