ten smile tuesday

i think it has been at least a month since i actually wrote a ten smile tuesday post on a tuesday. i kind of want to go take a nap right now instead of blogging....but i won't...because my camera and brain are full of memories i'd like to blog about before they slip into "prego-brain oblivion".

so...here goes...in no particular order (except, perhaps, the order of photo uploads!) and most definitely from the past few weeks!

1. we decided to spend labor day weekend at home...an odd thing for us, as it is a "summer holiday"...and thus, traditionally, a lake holiday. however, with projects at our house (and my parents' projects of their own at the lake), we felt like we hadn't had a lot of time together and life had been a bit nutso, so we stayed home...kind of! friday afternoon we took a road-trip to cincy to hit up ikea for a few misc. project supplies. in spite of an hour detour both ways since the interstate was closed due to an accident, we had a fabulous time. also, in spite of very little time spent napping by jilly (or kate, for that matter) we had no major melt-downs! the girls were quite excited to bring home a few new family members...so, without further ado...introducing.....

"donuts"...cleverly named by her "mama" elizabeth. and seriously, donuts goes everywhere with elizabeth these days...elizabeth "feeds" her, tucks her in, snuggles her, and on and on...this is one loved pet

...and "curly" (also nam ed by her "mama" kate)

2. the girls had their very first full day of "preschool" yesterday. they are doing a program at a co-op-ish homeschool group that meets at our church (not truly a co-op since i don't have to teach) on mondays...and so far (we're only 2 days in) they are LOVING it. they came home yesterday with crafts and stories and smiles (and exhaustion). my heart is blessed to see kate smiling and talking all about school and about her teacher and her new friends...as the sweet girl has had a rough time with being separated from me in any way shape or form lately. and, honestly, i am blessed to have one day a week (8:30-3ish) to spend with just my jilly girl...who still naps twice a day, meaning i can also accomplish something around the house! yesterday i was reminded of why my house looks like a tornado tore through it all the time...perhaps it is the three little girls who occupy the space. when daddy arrived home with the girls in the afternoon elizabeth's first words were, "mommy, the house is so clean...did you do this?!"--spoken in complete awe....it made mike and me laugh! :)

my little "scholars" all ready to head out...oh my, when did they get so big?!

3. gorgeous, incredible, amazing weather...seriously, i am so appreciating the cooler air...many, many days with windows open and a autumn-ish breeze blowing through the house...warm coffee in the morning...a new season of clothing (and the few weeks i can savor those items before busting out the maternity clothes officially).

4. seeds family worship...discovered these cds awhile back, but finally had the chance to purchase them through our church at a steep discount. we are loving them...the girls and my current favorite is definitely "seeds of praise"....you really must check them out if you haven't already.

5. a trip to the orchard...okay, i'm so out of order...this was way back on labor day. it was a gorgeously cool morning...jeans and sweatshirts! we stopped at our local bakery for donut holes and headed to the orchard to pick some apples and raspberries. what a blast! :)

daddy and his girlies

raspberry time :)

6. incidentally, we've been enjoying loads of apples at our house...raw, baked, skillet apples, apple bread, apple crisp, apple cinnamon oven french toast...apples, apples everywhere! :)

7. this little love....who is growing before our eyes. yesterday she had the privilege of going to my OB check-up with me after we dropped the big girls at preschool. after finding the baby's heartbeat my OB said, "do you hear? BABY!"...and jilly grinned from ear to ear. i know she doesn't really get it...but the moment was beyond precious...and i cried, of course, since, you know, i do that a lot lately...watching my baby grin and hearing the incredibly precious sound of my other baby's heartbeat. i don't have any fabulous pics of her lately, because, well, she is on the go...seriously...the child never stops moving. last night she was crying after i put her in bed, which is completely atypical, so i went to check on her and rock her a bit, and the sweet little munchkin snuggled against me, then looked up with an adoring gaze, smiled, and laid her head back against my shoulder....and i held her and rocked her and thought to myself, "my oh my, where in the world did that first year go!?"

8. i am just starting to feel the baby's movements (and at week 16 i am also feeling MUCH better...i can make it through the day without a nap being essential...although i am still wiped out and opt to nap many days!...and i'm able to eat again!). i have an ultrasound in 3 weeks...which means i am almost to the mid-point...what!?!? how did that happen!? and for all you curious friends out there, no, we are not going to find out gender....i know, i know...it might drive you all crazy, but we really do cherish hearing those words in the delivery room.

9. "school" with the girls is going well. we are working on getting more and more structured...but not overly so. it is my opinion that the big structure can wait...right now we are doing LOTS and LOTS of reading (we checked out 20 books last wednesday and then immediately came home, popped popcorn, snuggled up and read like crazy!), working on phonics and reading (elizabeth amazes me...but she is still four, and some days she is thrilled and could work on it for hours...others, not so much, so we stop...but she is proficiently reading 3 and 4 letter phonetically "normal" words and simple books and readers!), writing, tracing and cutting practice, and lots of crafting, play-doh, baking, mess making, Bible time and memory verse, and otherwise learning through our daily routine. the preschool theme this week was "A", so we carried that into today's craft and Bible lesson...the fruit of the spirit, and painted apple trees (with real apples!) with nine apples a tree (one for each of the "fruits" of the spirit).

10. the start of a new MOPS year. we had our first meeting last thursday...so fun to meet new moms and to continue relationships with those i already know. we also had a steering, dgl, mentor cookout saturday, which was lots of fun.

**and i leave you with a bonus "smile"...perhaps chuckle is a better descriptor. see this sweet girl (picture taken yesterday around 6 in the evening...the girls were so wiped out from their day at preschool that as soon as dinner was over we showered, pj-ed, etc., and kate didn't have energy for anything other than laying on the couch. (incidentally, she was in bed by 7:20 and asleep by 7:40...this from the child who has stamina most nights to be awake (and noisy) in her bedroom until after 9...even though she is tucked in every night by 8...so you know the pumpkin was tired...but i digress)....anyway...note the cow jammies...some of her favorite. mind you, i thought she was a little girl...though in these pjs she often dreams of being a cow and walks around "moo-ing"...but apparently this morning at 6:30 she must have mistaken both the little girl and the cow identity...because the sweet child was laying in her bed "cock-a-doodle-doo-ing" like a mad woman, loudly and repeatedly. what in the world?! apparently that is what happens when she falls asleep before 8!