ten smile tuesday

finally...some smilin' on this ol' bloggity blog...not sure where the past couple of weeks have gone. in fact, sometimes i wonder where the whole month of october got off to...or september for that matter. i can hardly believe it is almost Thanksgiving...and then Christmas...whoa!

1. all things "A"...i decided to start some structured crafting and alphabet time with kate...starting with, of course, the letter "A"...A is for alligator and ambulance and anchor and ANTS...we had lots of fun with "ants"...ant sandwiches (PB&raisin/cranberry)...making our own paper ants. kate had a blast tracing the circles for the body and helping me glue the parts...she really, REALLY like glue...did i mention that she is two...seriously, what is it with two year olds and glue? i only have a picture of elizabeth making an ant though...and she insisted on coloring her ant white....whats that? did i hear you asking why? well...because she was so delighted to find a use for the white crayon that she wanted to throw in the trash last week because it "didn't work" on her coloring book. what a funny girl!

2. chubby little hands...that stay chubby for far too short a time! (these are kate's little marker lovin' hands, by the way...it kind of cracks me up that she automatically grips crayons and markers correctly...something we are still working on with elizabeth...she is definitely our fine and gross motor skills girl while libs is all about the verbal development!)

3. an impromptu and sweet lesson from Jonah. background story: in the mornings i have been trying to spend time during breakfast telling the girls what God is teaching me/talking to me about during my quiet time before they get up. yesterday we had just sat down and i was opening the Bible to tell them what i was learning when kate started repeatedly asking me to read Jonah..."Jonah, mommy...read JO-nah!" so i did...and then we whipped out the gigantor sized sheets of paper daddy brings home from work, i drew some a "big fish" with jonah in his belly...and we colored while talking about Jonah 2:9, "Salvation belongs to God"...such a sweet moment. (and lest you think it was all sweet and perfect theology, i was trying to emphasize that only God saves, and then asked elizabeth various questions, like "does money save us? she would say "no", and i would say, "You're right, salvation belongs to..." and we would all together say God. that worked until i offered the question, "Does candy save us?" elizabeth thought for a moment and responded, "yep mommy...i think candy does save..." so much for that! :)

kate wished she could color too...but instead, she and her elephant watched from the bouncy seat!

4. did i mention that right in the midst of reading Jonah at the breakfast table daddy showed up with donuts (on a monday morning, no less!). yep...we had daddy home ALL day yesterday for an extra special day off. he took the morning off initially to get something fixed on the van, and praise the Lord, it took just an hour for him to drive to the mechanic, get the problem fixed, and get home! even better...the mechanic fixed it for FREE...so the whole morning cost just $6...the price of the donuts he picked up on the way home! then he ended up taking the rest of the day off just because!

5. incredibly tasty homemade artisan bread...our creative activity at MOPS this past week. SO good...and SO incredibly easy. the dough stays in your fridge and you simply pull off a hunk, shape it into a ball with a gluten cloak, let it sit on your counter for a bit, and then bake it in a steam oven...and voila...bread in just minutes! the recipe came from the book, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day"...which is definitely being added to my Christmas list!

6. hand-me-down Crocs for the girls...sometimes it is the little things. but seriously, they are loving their matching purple "monster" Crocs (they came with silly monster figures stuck in the holes)

7. time alone with the big girls. i've had chances a few times in the past week or so to take just elizabeth or just kate out for an outing or some errands...what precious time to be able to spend alone with each girl.

8. tasty salads for dinner. i will admit it...if mike won't be home, i really don't usually cook...this past week he worked several evenings tying up loose ends on a project, so i bought a rotisserie chicken at costco and (okay...i'll confess) one of their prepackaged spinach salads, and voila...healthy tasty dinner for me. true confessions...the girls just might have eaten PB&J or yogurt each of those nights (and whichever they didn't have for dinner they probably had for lunch). good thing mike is home for dinner most nights to encourage me to cook! and i really do enjoy cooking...but mostly when someone else at the table will truly appreciate and enjoy it (and honestly, kate is in a phase where it is a constant battle to get a healthy dinner down...a battle that is a big overly wearying and not worth it to fight on my own when i've already been home alone with them all day!)

9. jillian is in a fabulous routine...good sleeping, good eating, great growth! we had her two month check-up friday...she is 12 lbs. 10 oz. and 24 1/4 inches long now...90 percentile weight and 95 percentile length...definitely a happy and healthy baby girl! i am loving all the coos and grins and interaction. go here for some pictures and video of our sweet girlie!

10. crafting...crafting. i discovered this site...and have thoroughly enjoyed browsing through it, feeding my creativity...adding far too many projects and ideas to my already limited time! i did, however, find the time to do a bit of sewing one evening after the girls were in bed...some embellished burp rags for a friend's new baby girl...and a taggie elephant for jillian's Christmas stocking. i'm hoping to get some more fabric cut and projects ready for sewing, as tomorrow morning a friend is coming over with her new (first ever) sewing machine, and i am planning to teach her a few things (which is laughable considering i don't know all that much!...but like i tell her...you really don't need to know much to do some really cool things!)...and hopefully crank out a couple more stocking stuffer projects!

and i could go on...but i won't because in just a few minutes a sweet little girl will be waking up, ready to eat and cuddle and snuggle. and besides that...i really need to do some packing since the girls and i head out for a quick trip to the lake tomorrow as soon as our sewing morning is finished...must pack and finish some cleaning around the house!

i give....

okay...i am going to concede to the reality that there just won't be an official "ten smiles" for this week. BUT, i will share a few pics of our little monkey and cow...and perhaps some snippets from last week.

*as i mentioned before, H1N1 struck, taking me down...we think both of the girls had it as well, but thankfully their symptoms were very mild. mike became the main caregiver for jillian, and thankfully both of them avoided the sickies! actually, getting sick was good for our family...it gave mike some much needed time off at home...a chance to unwind and relax and bit...and best of all, a chance to bond with jillian in an incredible way! and, as for me, i had a chance to rest...

*while the really cold weather throughout october, mike's big project at work, and then the sickies interfered with our plans to do a pumpkin patch or the ZooBoo...we did carve pumpkins on halloween morning, and the girls and i made pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting. YUM!

*my mind is FULL to the brim and overflowing with crafty projects for Christmas stocking stuffers for the girls (good thing i have SO much time for crafting...HA!). i made the "mistake" of perusing etsy one evening, and oh my, my mind was filled with ideas for each of the girls...crayon wallets, baby doll slings, an elephant shaped lovey and elephant taggy animal for jillian, bibs...and on and on! i did find some time last night to do a bit of crafting...some burp cloths for a friend who just had a sweet baby girl a few days ago (hooray for another girlie buddy for jillian!) and another baby girl who was born a month ago.

*jillian sleeping through the night! right as i came down with the flu, jillian decided to begin sleeping through the night...what a considerate little girl! she is now consistently going 10 hour or more stretches at night and settling into an awesome routine during the day. she is SUCH a contented and joyful baby...what a blessing!

{family love}

like i said in my last post, i am way behind in this world of blogging. with the flu consuming the end of last week and weekend...and then a week that has simply been full--Bible study, watching extra kiddos, MOPS, etc...a house that doesn't stop accumulating dust and clutter when things like the flu and busyness strike...well, it just leaves me with little time to blog. i suppose i could, in theory, post little tidbits here and there, but i keep thinking i will find a big chunk of time to post my (now very belated) smiles from the last week (fat chance!). anyway...for now i will simply show you the photos we selected from our family photo shoot a few weeks back. i am SO thrilled with the results. we originally intended to get more shots of jillian, but after viewing the results of the photo shoot simply couldn't resist the fact that our photography captured elizabeth and kate to a T...and, really, jillian wasn't at the smiling stage yet, and we weren't as thrilled by her pictures (it was a cool evening...which didn't make for the best conditions for baby photos). so we selected more pics of the bigger girls and decided we can capture jillian on our own for extra photos. anyway...here they are!

jillian claire

katherine christine

elizabeth irene

sisters

family

p.s. our photograher was a friend from church. if you live nearby and are looking to do some family photos, we would highly recommend her....contact me for info. also, let me know if you want the online link to see all our our photos from the session. these were just the ten we selected for our CD.

just jillian

i am way belated in posting anything to my blog...including "ten smile tuesday"....i know, i know...it is coming eventually. but i just want to share some jillian love...here it is! a video...some pics from the last two or three days. i'll tell you...i am loving this stage--the smiles, the coos, the snuggliness, the sleeping through the night...jillian, mama LOVES you!

and the video proof of the coos and smiles and sweetness...

10 weeks...

can you believe it!? i can't!

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!

ten-ish smile tuesday!

smiling...smiling. not a lot of pictures this week....but lots of smiles in the little things, and there are a few pictures toward the end of the post!

1. the gorgeous changing of the leaves...i have been purposefully taking "the back way" more often so i can soak in the beauty of autumn in indiana...brilliant reds, vibrant oranges, seasonal browns, mellow yellows, and the lingering greens splashed in. what a time to savor the magnificence of creation!

2. an extremely encouraging MOPS meeting...see my thoughts on it here. thanks for your lovely thoughts ladies!

3. some girl time with my MOPS table ladies. we had a "my life in a bag" getting to know you evening at our table mentor's house...tasty chocolate mousse for dessert, fabulous conversation with delightful ladies...it was great. i am so looking forward to diving more deeply into relationships with the ladies at my table.

4. two chock-full freezers...i inventoried and organized both the garage and inside freezer yesterday, and wow, we have a lot (i mean LOT) of food in our freezer. what a blessing!

5. sleep, glorious sleep...jillian is doing 7 hour stretches fairly consistently at night (and doing 12 hours total at night!)...i feel like a new woman!

6. my hubby bought me the wii active for our wii on sunday...i've done two workouts, and oh my, it is kicking my bootie (but in a good way!). i'm so excited to have something to motivate me to get moving on getting into shape....especially something i can easily do in the comfort of my own living room...because realistically this is not a phase in life where getting to the gym is a reasonable/feasible option!

7. watching jillian smile at her daddy...i mentioned her very first smile in last weeks "smiles"...and really, the only thing greater than catching my first glimpse of her smile was watching her gorgeous blue eyes look at her daddy and then seeing that mouth open in a massive, toothlesss grin AND hearing her let out a little squeal-y giggle. precious! she is starting to "talk" to us much more as well...oh how i love hearing that little cooing...

8. a freshly bathed baby...lightly lavender scented...smooth and silky skin...snuggly warm. she is also starting to love the bathing process. but really...what could be more smile-worthy than her itty-bitty mohawk. jillian seems to be losing hair in a ring around the middle of her head...however, she still has a healthy tuft of fairly long hair on the top...and it just so happens to naturally curl into a little mohawk at the top. LOVE it!


9. miss elizabeth and i had some special "beauty shop" time saturday evening. jillian was in bed and libs and i were waiting for daddy and kate to come home from a quick visit to a friend's house, so elizabeth decided to take a bath without kate. she lounged in the "spa" (a.k.a. bathtub), soaking, floating, enjoying...and then, after she was sufficiently "pruny", she hopped out, snuggled into some fleecy warm PJs (since it felt like january here!), and we went to the salon (a.k.a. mommy's bathroom) where i blow-dried and styled her hair (nothing more than a pony-tail, but she was thrilled)...and then she insisted on a pony for church sunday morning. she wasn't feeling real photogenic, but here she is with her pony-tail...and though she isn't "smiling" per se i really do think these pics are beautiful...i think the ponytail makes her look even older than she is already looking....


10. and, of course, i would be remiss to include photos of jillian and elizabeth and not include kate...so here she is, for your viewing pleasure. no really, this girl is a card...she is getting more and more verbal every day...and with the words comes humor...seriously, this girl is hilarious...and charming. where elizabeth is quite clever and tries to use that to her advantage (ie....tries to manipulate at times...this girl has fabulously reasoned arguments for why we should allow her to do whatever it is she thinks she should)...we are realizing quickly that kate is going to be the one who uses charm to her advantage....busting out that big grin and giggle...and, Lord help us, mommy and daddy find it quite hard to resist. shot number one makes me see the resemblance in she and elizabeth quite clearly (i now see what others see when they ask us if they are twins...and we get asked that a lot, which sometimes surprises me, as i don't really think of them as looking that alike...perhaps since i know so closely the stark difference in personality)...shot number two is her running around the kitchen with her squeaky shoes screaming "squeak" at the top of her lungs...and shot number three...she loves to stand right on top of you and say, "picture" while you are trying to take a picture...oh how i love this fireball!


11. a pink bundled baby. and can i just ask...just putting it out there...upon seeing this child in this carseat with the pink hat, pink blanket, pink paci, pink elephant toy....pink, pink, pink...would there be any doubt in your mind on gender?! just curious...because at least 4 times on this outing i was either asked, "oh, is it a boy or a girl?" or heard, "oh, HE is adorable...how old is HE?"...that aside, really love the look of her all bundled up with just her eyes peeking out...and i'm so happy that her little pink hat fits...hand-knit by grandmommy and worn by all three of the girls now...i love little things like that!


12. double chocolate mint cookies...YUM!

13. a date with my hubby last night...to the Gideon's pastor appreciation banquet...a delicious dinner and a nice break from the norm. jillian did a fabulous job throughout the banquet, thanks to the moby wrap...seriously, i've mentioned it the past three weeks...but seriously...it is fabulous since she enjoys being snuggled close!

14.....and finally, the anticipation of knowing my mom is coming to stay with us for a few days starting tomorrow. HOORAY!