Five Things Friday

Five Things That Really Made Me Smile This Past Week

1. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer has come and gone. What an amazing experience. 2,300 participants all in one place. This might seem a little overwhelming and crazy to some people, but honestly, we're all in it for the same reason: to raise money for breast cancer research and to help those who can't afford treatment. The weather was perfect on Saturday, and was pretty Sunday up until just before we crossed the finish line. I raised $3,300 this year and as of last night, I've registered for the 2012 walk! (For those of you who are interested, I'm still accepting donations for the 2011 walk: www.avonwalk.org/goto/jennifer.madore).



2. After coming home from walking 39.3 miles, I came home to Jeremy and my Madore-ables to a very unexpected surprise. Jeremy called it a "Micro-surprise party": a party for 4 and it involved balloons and cake. What more could I ask for? I blogged about it on Monday, but if you missed it, click here.



3. I had a moment yesterday morning where I actually stopped and thought for a moment how I love to be excited in the small things. Samantha has really become interested in letters, and their pronounciation. She's especially become interested in writing her letters down, including her name. I was getting ready for work, and Samantha was using crayons to write her name down on a piece of paper. When she yelled out, "MOMMY! I WROTE MY NAME!" she sounded so excited that I just had to go and see for myself what she wrote. Sure enough, she wrote the perfect "S", "A", and "M". The excitement in Sam's voice matched the big smile on her face. I was not only proud of Sam, but I was also excited that she was proud and excited of what she had just accomplished. I seriously wish I could have captured that smile on camera. If you had asked me 10 years ago, I probably wouldn't be as excited. It warmed my heart beyond words can say.



4. Sarah is speaking so well these days. She's saying crazy sentences like "Hmmm, that's delicious!", "Mommy, let's make Jell-o...purple Jell-o maybe?" and "Mommy, I'm tired". She gives out the most amazing bear hugs and "I love you's" too.



5. Yesterday after work, I went grocery shopping. When I came home, I think my girls were more excited to help me want put the groceries away then they were to actually see me home from work. Of course, they were excited at the fact that I picked up applesauce, and waffles, but again, anybody think it was Christmas when they saw that I bought some new boxes of Jell-o.