13 Smile Wednesday

1.  my cousin david & rachel's wedding.  i love weddings.  a time of publicly declaring your love and commitment to the one God has blessed you with...such a beautiful time.  and of course seeing lots of family i haven't seen in a long time is a definite smile!  oh, and we can't forget the dancing...liberty and daniel were loving that part!

2.  leila's nap.  the other day i had to take liberty to the doctor and i took nadia with me.  leila stayed home with daddy.  jonathan was doing some schoolwork on the computer and leila was playing quietly on the porch (it's enclosed).  jonathan noticed it had gotten quiet so he went to check on leila and found her sleeping in bed with her taggy and blanket.  apparently she was tired and decided to put herself down for a nap.  cute, eh?

3.  God's provision...and really, this should be posted first.  we are so very thankful for God's hand in a situation that came up this last week.  we were feeling pretty stressed about it and not sure what we were going to do, but as always, God provided an answer and we breathed a sigh of relief.

4.  a family picnic.  jonathan had to work 7 days in a row last week, so on his first day off we decided to take a picnic lunch to the park and have a little family fun time.  as it turned out, it was a cooler day, so it make it that much more enjoyable!

 

5.  blueberry apple pie.  yum!

6.  greek chicken filled pitas.  something about food this week, lol!  i tried this recipe for dinner this week and it was oh so yummy.  i'll be sure to post the recipe when i get the chance. 

7.  the other day we saw a butterfly outside of our house.  it was so pretty i just had to take a picture.

8.  nadia is starting to crawl AND pull herself up on furniture.  she is growing way too fast, that's for certain. 

 

9.  baby lilah.  we made dinner for my cousin joe & laura and liberty was just itching to go see their new baby.  she was so excited to hold her.  and so was i.  there's just something about a brand new baby.  God's intricate work on display.

10.  learning more and more about all the natural things around us that help with the little and big things of life.  for instance, did you know that sunflower seeds can help with allergy symptoms?  by eating 2 ounces a day you are getting a whole's days serving of vitamin E, which turns off the parts of your immune system that trigger allergy symptoms/hay fever.  isn't that amazing?  i find it fascinating to learn about all these things that God has created to naturally take care of different things in our lives.

11.  corn.  we were given some fresh-from-the-garden corn this week from some friends.  let me tell you, this has got to be some of the BEST corn i have ever eaten...seriously! 

12.  and last, i am certainly smiling about the arrival of amanda's sweet new baby girl.  congratulations amanda & family!!

A long overdue post

i'm so sorry for the lack of posts.  i just can't seem to keep up with hubby, kids, unpacking, laundry, and cleaning house, let alone blogging!  the days just seem to run together.  i've taken a ton of photos, but will try to share just a few for now.  we're in our own place again and that is so nice.  it seems like the unpacking is never-ending despite the fact we really do not own much (we fit all of our belongings in a 5x9 uhaul trailer, the car trunk, and the back of a jimmy when moving back to michigan).  we've been beyond blessed by family, friends and strangers alike.  they've given us support, housewarming gifts, furniture and lots of love.  it's amazing, really. 

jonathan is keeping very busy.  he's working now for a kroger fuel center and looking for something part-time as well.  he is also still taking classes online toward his bachelor's degree and taking some real estate courses toward his real estate license.  plus being a husband, father and doing a lot around our place.  i'm so proud of him and all his hard work!

the girls are busy busy busy.  enjoying having a room they don't have to share with daddy and mama.  leila is now sleeping in a big girl bed (read: twin bed).  she seems to be doing well with that.  haven't really gotten bedtime down quite right yet.  it seems to take libbs and leila close to an hour to finally lay quietly in bed until they go to sleep (they are jumping on the beds, getting out of bed, playing with the curtains, etc...).  any tips are welcome!  nadia is 6 months old now...i can hardly believe it!  oh there are so many things i could say about the girls...but for now i'll share some pictures.

my three little cuties (this photo is from TODAY!)

fun with play-doh (yes, leila did try to eat it!)

lilah rose, born august 12, to my cousin joe & wife laura

 

my new doo, which i LOVE!  even better is that a friend i grew up with cut my hair and we were able to catch up a bit :)

 

more pictures of my girlies...oh how i love them!

 

seeing dear friends at a baby shower

delicious veggies straight from my bff's parent's garden!

matching pink cloth diapers (and of course libbs wanted in the pics, too!)

ok, if you made it this far...thanks!  i know there are so many pictures, but it's hard to pick a few when it's been so long since i've posted.  from top to bottom, thise pictures go from most recent to from the time i last posted.  i hope to try to squeeze in a little time to post more often :).