ten smile tuesday

so, so, so many blessings and smiles in the past week or so. i've been attempting to blog a bit more often...because, honestly, while i love "ten smile tuesday", some days the thought of finding time to put it together and post it is just too much. maybe if i post more often with "little" moments it will be a bit less intimidating, because i truly treasure reading back through these "smiles" weeks and months later.

1. pandora...streaming from our (now downstairs) computer pretty much all day long...the girls like to dance to it...and it just brightens the atmosphere. plus i love discovering new artists...and not having to pay for it!

2. a special mother's day weekend with my treasures...saturday we enjoyed lunch out at red robin (with a free burger compliments of my birthday earlier in the week) and a trip to costco...and then sunday morning a great time of worship, an afternoon of relaxing (for me, at least), and then an evening of enjoying the glorious weather...walking to a little pizza place "downtown" (if you can call it that in our little "burg"), popping in dairy queen on the walk home, and then lots of swinging, garden watering, and giggling in the backyard (including tickle tackling daddy on the ground and races around the yard). i am so blessed to be michael's wife and elizabeth, kate, and jillian's mama....so, so blessed!

3. the gorgeous necklace i received from aforementioned hubby and girlies (with super sweet cards). i should post a picture, but seriously, if i leave the computer to take a pic i will never finish this post...seriously...it is one of the sterling silver necklaces with three engraved charms...each one has one of the girls' initials on it. he got it from initial reaction...and i love it!

4. some sewing....the matching dresses were inspired by jilly's upcoming dedication at church next sunday. i found the heidi grace "we are family" fabric and just felt it was screaming to be paired with red and white polka dots...then i found the itty bitty dress pattern at made by rae...resized it (by enlarging and shrinking on the copier)...and voila. i also made some bloomers for under jilly's...and some soft soled shoes...because, well, just because....i love the final products! i will post pics of the girls IN the dresses after the dedication! then i just whipped up two of the green flowered ones yesterday...they were so quick since they were the smocked top material. kate is too tall for all of libber's hand-me-downs...so making something was the cheapest route to summer church dresses.

5. growth...in our garden, that is...look at our little green beans popping up. since i took this picture on sunday our sugar snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, and spinach have also sprouted. our zukes, broccoli, squash, green peppers, tomatoes, leeks and squash went in as plants...and they are growing bigger each day. i can't wait for our first taste of fresh from the backyard veggies. elizabeth and kate are getting such a kick out of watering and watching it grow...elizabeth sat next to the garden yesterday "watching" the beans grow. love that girlie!

6. friends. just feeling thankful to be blessed with Godly, encouraging, challenging friends...especially after our MOPS meeting on friendship last week. there have definitely been so many seasons of friendship...and friendships during the "little kiddo" phase of life can be tricky...so i am thankful to be surrounded by genuine ladies...AND have them love my kiddos and my kiddos love them!

7. and an extention of #6...we are so blessed by our date-swap. this past week was our turn to watch the kiddos...8 total. we spent almost the whole night in the backyard...having a blast...and we made these cute butterfly crafts (well, the big kids did!) from leftovers from our MOPS craft (thanks jamie!). i'm already looking forward to my date with my hubby this thursday night.

8. my girlies giggles and imaginative play. elizabeth and kate have been having a blast together lately (don't get me wrong...they have their fair share of squabbles in the midst of that!)...i feel like their imaginations are sprouting more and more...such a delight to hear! i absolutely cherish seeing them play together and genuinely enjoy one another...what a treasure to have a sister (well, two sisters, actually!) (and speaking of sisters, i should get to see mine in less than a month...HOORAY!). and jilly...well, she follows them everywhere...and kate, especially, loves to play with jillian...

9. tofu...okay, we are on a quest to eat less meat around our house (and to be healthier, in general, when it comes to eating)...we've added LOTS more veggies lately...but we've also been trying to find new sources of protein, etc. and last night we ventured into the world of tofu...i added it in place of the chicken to a fried rice recipe we enjoy...and everyone cleaned their plates! even jillian enjoyed eating little pieces (tofu and black beans...she was digging it!)! i know some of you out there are already well on the track of eating locally and healthily...so i would love any ideas, recipes, etc....pretty please! (keep in mind that we are also trying to operate on a budget....)

10. crazy love....just finished the book...still thinking on it. it coincided perfectly with our sermon last Sunday on the parable of the sowers (matthew 13). i'm being stretched and challenged...lots of thinking.