ten smile tuesday

the past few weeks have so many things i could share with you. i could tell you about how proud i am of elizabeth who is reading all by herself (as long as we're talking phonetically normal 3 and 4 letter words!--but we do have several books and readers she can do!). i could tell you about the 1/4 cow we now have in our freezer or the crazy 3 hour+ , detour through the country roadtrip i made with the girls to pick it up from the meat processor. i could tell you about the great all day MOPS steering team retreat last saturday or our fun evening at the zoo with mike's family. i could tell you about the emotional ups and downs and highs and lows of the past two weeks of being a stay-at-home-mommy to my three girls (and there are highs and lows, for sure). i could tell you about the almost date night mike and i enjoyed at the indian's game or all the fun we've had swimming at pools with friends in the past weeks. but, instead, i am just going to pick up with what is fresh and recent...our fourth of july weekend at the lake. and, as you can see, there are more than 10 smiles to go around!

1. perfect weather upon our arrival....perfect for porch sitting, ice cream eating, toe in the water dipping smiley fun. i mean, seriously, mid-70s and no humidity is almost unheard of on july 1 in indiana!


2. i did it! i ran the Loon Lake 5.5K (approx. 3.4 miles)...and finished...and i wasn't the last one! :) i think i mentioned it, but i started running again in the middle of may, and on memorial day weekend i decided running the race would be motivating....and it was! it feels great to be running and getting more active again....even if i did manage to take a spill wednesday morning, resulting in some seriously scraped up legs and arms...and i do mean, nasty scrapes. i am so thankful i was still able to run the race....but i am guessing the scrapes are going to take quite awhile to heal!

3. breakfast on the boat. we enjoyed the annual boat-in pancake breakfast. :)

poppy's co-pilot....and jilly and grandmommy while we wait in line for our pancakes

jilly's first boat-in breakfast experience

libbers and kate enjoy their pancakes and sausage

4. slip-n-sliding....forget about the fact that there is a whole lake just yards away, the girls were perfectly content with the slip-n-slide for awhile...but they did get brave (with the help of "uncle" matt), and they went out to the buoy with us to watch the boat parade in the afternoon.

5. roasting s'mores with daddy


6. ....and eating them. this was GG's first ever s'more!


7. getting to see both of their great grandmothers...what a gift and blessing!

8. MASSIVE strides in the swimming department. my girls love the "idea" of the water...and last year they were huge fans of the sand, but they both have struggled with some amount of fear when it comes to actually getting in and swimming. they did a fabulous job this weekend. elizabeth even did some kicking and floating around on her own (well...with her floatie vest and kickboard...but still, if you'd have seen this girl a month ago you would know that is nothing short of a-ma-zing!). they both particularly liked poppy and grandmommy's spring floats.

"i think i can, i think i can"....she actually never made it into the water with this ensemble...but it is pretty cute!

family swim time...

"i'm doing it!" thanks poppy!

9. lots of hanging out and giggling and playing.


10. an evening boat cruise....in PJs... :)


10. this delectable salad from pioneer woman (i first had it at my MOPS retreat last weekend, and it was so good i couldn't resist making it for the weekend at the lake!). you MUST try it!

11. a little jilly who seems to be growing in leaps and bounds each day. in the past week she has gained two more teeth (with another two "right" there!), figured out how to stand up all by herself in the middle of the room (or a towel!), and push things around the room. where did my baby go?! another month and a half and we'll be celebrating her first birthday!