Dear Jeremy

Dear Jeremy,

Today we celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. The last seven have flown by, I can only imagine what the next seven will bring.

You are an amazing husband and such a fantastic father. We've been through a lot. We have moved 4 times (never again). We have been blessed with two beautiful daughters. We were faced with some health issues with Sarah that corrected itself with just a little time and a little faith. We have survived one lay off from a job I really enjoyed and also very long commutes and the costs of daycare. We have also survived on one income and made it work. We've laughed and we've certainly cried. And through it all, we have learned so much. Our love and our faith have only grown.

You are my best friend and truly the love of my life. Thank you for all that you have done. Thank you for sacrificing leaving your home in Maine when I found a really great job down here in Massachusetts. Thank you for being my rock and my foundation. Thank you for reminding me to look for the good in everything when all I want to do is be mad. Thank you for providing for us so that I can stay home with Samantha and Sarah and give them the attention that they wouldn't receive in a daycare.

I cannot imagine going through any of this without you. You make me want to be a better person; a wife. A mother. A friend. You help me to realize that sometimes just the minimum is not good enough. You just have to raise the bar a little bit higher for a challenge. You have shown me what it means to be passionate about something and how important that is. Thank you for being who you are, and I thank God that we became friends on that day back in 1999.

Here's to another many more. I love you.

Love, Jenn

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Happened This Week That Made Me Smile

Do I need to mention just 5? It's been such an amazing week, I think I could get away with Fifteen Things Friday!

1. Last weekend, we moved out of our old apartment, and moved to my parents house (the house I grew up in). The girls are living in my old bedroom, which is a little deja vu'y.






2. Now that we have moved, there is a lot more room for the Madore-ables to play. We have a great fenced in back yard with a swimming pool. There's a very large driveway which is perfect to sidewalk chalk all over. There is a very nice long dead-end street for the girls to play and ride their bikes. I haven't even mentioned the endless supply of playgrounds.






3. Jeremy and I are also able to actually relax in the back yard and have our choices of entertainment: swim in the pool; relax on the "upper" deck; light a fire in the chiminea...






4. The gas milage on my car is totally noticeable even in just one week.






5. Sarah is now sleeping in a big girl bed! We've been wanting to move her from a crib to a big girl bed, and we've been waiting to move to make that transition. We had a little trouble the first night as Sarah thought it was more fun to jump out of bed and come running down the hall to show us that she could indeed "escape" from her bed. Since then, Sarah has fallen asleep before we're finished with our bedtime prayers and we've had no troubles since.






6. Samantha is now officially signed up for pre-school for this Fall. I cannot believe that I am the parent of a pre-schooler...when did I become old enough for this? Samantha is so excited to start school, and we're so excited for her. We took a tour of where she will be going, was able to meet her teacher and learned what Samantha will be doing after September. Samantha has been practicing writing her letters very diligently. She's mastered writing "S-a-m" especially on the pavement with sidewalk chalk. We're so proud of her.






7. Now that we've moved to a house with an actual lawn, Jeremy was able to mow the lawn for the first time ever in 7 years. We've rented ever since we've been married. We're still renting now, but there's just one difference: we're also taking care of the outside of the home.






8. Seeing there are so many choices of entertainment for the girls, they are so active during the day that they crash by the time bedtime comes. The last 3 nights in a row, Sarah has litterally fallen asleep before prayers have finished.






9. At our old apartment, we cancelled our cable and just signed up for basic cable to save on money. Now, we have Fios and of course have quite the amount of choice on what to watch. I'm so excited to watch Cake Boss and all those yummy cooking shows. And what is this new show, Extreme Couponing?






10. We are all sleeping a little more soundly at night now. I think it's the fresh air, and the amount of activity during the day. Or maybe the neighborhood is more quiet and cops aren't being called at 2am for disorderly neighbors. Love the peace and quiet.





11. Both Madore-ables are becoming more confident swimmers each time we go in the pool. Sarah discovered what "swimmies" are and of course loves the noodles. She's beginning to understand that when she kicks her legs, she moves around the pool. Who would have thought? Ha ha. Samantha is gaining more and more confidence by the day it seems. She just wears a life jacket type of thing and loves it.





12. It is now safe to say that all of Sarah's baby teeth are in...yay!




13. Samantha loves that she can ride her big girl bike on a daily basis on a very long street. We love the fact that she can ride her big girl bike on a daily basis and be able to to ride it on a safe street.




14. We've met the new neighbors across the street. Not only are they friendly, but they also have a 3 year old son who loves to play with my girls.



15. There is nothing better than hearing Samantha say throughout the week, "Mommy/Daddy? I'm really glad to be living here". Those are the moments that I live for.

Oh The Cute Things Kids Will Say

Samantha and my Mom were sitting on the couch recently. My Mom was reading a book and Samantha was observing the letters that were on the pages. Samantha pointed out that there was the letter "J" and started to say out loud what sound the letter "J" makes and proceeded to say words that began with the letter "J".

"Juh-juh-juh...jelly beans!"

"Juh-juh...Jeremy"

"Juh-juh...Jennifer!"

Then Samantha paused for a moment and smiled.

"Juh-juh...Jesus"

A Spa Day For the Divine Bovine

Meet Moo Cow.

Sarah's beloved fluffed and stuffed Bovine.

Moo Cow made a much needed appointment to go to the spa.

The stress of moving really did Moo Cow in.

Luckily, there was an open appointment just in time for Moo Cow.

So Sarah helped Nanny get Moo Cow all ready.

Sarah said her goodbyes and tossed Moo Cow into the washing machine err...the spa.

Moo Cow had 39 minutes of complete and clean bliss.

The staff at the spa was very good to Moo Cow.

They were so gentle with her.

After the spa was over, Moo Cow was transfered to the sauna/steam room.

40 minutes later, Sarah knew that Moo Cow would be ready to be picked up.

Sarah waited patiently as other laundry clients were in the sauna/steam room too.

Sarah finally met up with Moo Cow, and inspected to make sure that this was the right one.

Moo Cow enjoyed her day at the spa, but she was really happy to see Sarah.

And Sarah was happy to see Moo Cow too.

Filling Daddy's Shoes...Or Shirts

The Madore-ables were very silly one morning last week.

They decided they wanted to play dress up.

In midst of packing, and all of the boxes in our kitchen...the girls found the boxes with Jeremy's clean clothing in it...

Here's what happened:

Splash Pad 2011

Last week during New England's heatwave, and before our big move, the girls and I got together with Kerry and her daughter Shannon and Kerry's sister, Colleen and took the girls to Splash Pad in Derry, N.H. The girls had a great time and the Mommies and Aunt Colleen had a good time sneaking inside the water spray.

Samantha absolutely loved splashing in the puddles. She was too busy to pose for pictures for me though.

Sarah on the other hand was timid at first, but unlike Splash Pad 2010 and Splash Pad Part Dos, I think Sarah had a lot more fun now that she had practice splashing in puddles from the Spring time.

Dear House

Dear house,

We have lived here for 3 years and 6 months and 7 days. The day has come where we are saying goodbye. There are a lot of memories under this roof.

Samantha was just 6 months old when we moved here to #48. When we brought Sarah home from the hospital, we brought her home here. Both Madore-ables learned to crawl here. Both Madore-ables learned to walk here. Both Madore-ables learned to speak, eat solid foods. There are a lot of firsts for this place. We've held Birthday parties and opened up Christmas gifts. We've held plenty of playdates and had friends over for dinner. We have truly been blessed with the amount of memories from living here.

We won't miss the very loud neighbors who play their music late into the night. We won't miss our downstairs neighbor who likes to use *cough* recreational drugs. We won't miss the creaky floor boards. We will miss the big living room. We will miss the HUGE walk-in closets.


Dear house. You have been very good to us. You have provided a roof over our head. You have provided so much entertainment to talk about to family and friends. Now we are moving to a safer neighborhood not too far away. One with lots of green grass for our Madore-ables to play in. One with a nice long dead-end street or Samantha to ride her new bike on. One with a swimming pool to splash around in. Good bye #48. I hope the next tennant after us has as many good memories as we have.

Love Jenn (and Jeremy & the Madore-ables)

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Made Me Smile This Past Week:

1. Since we're moving out of our apartment tomorrow, I've been really concentrating on the moving and the packing and the preparing for the last couple weeks. Freecycle has been amazing, and I've been able to get rid of so much stuff thanks to it. The packing process has been going very smoothly. I just can't wait for it to be done. Right now, it looks like someone launched a cardboard box explosive device into our kitchen.


2. After a much needed "night off", I was able to schedule one last night with two of my friends from college last night with Sarah and Corinne. We went to Applebee's restaurant, and had a nice dinner full of talking with no interruptions, and "Mommy! Mommy!". It truly was awesome just to sit down, enjoy a meal and talk to two adults. Afterwards, we decided to go to Livington Park (Door's Pond) and walked 1 mile around the pond to walk our dinner off. So Mommy's, if you live in the Manchester, N.H area, I highly recommend bringing your kids there...not only is it a beautiful playground but the walking trail around Door's Pond is beautiful too. I highly recommend it also because it would make a really nice engagement or family photo shoot.


3. Sarah is showing big signs this past week of growing up, which both makes us happy and of course makes us sad at the same time. She's asking to say prayers, and she's saying them correctly. (Sometime I'll have to record her saying them. It's really cute).


4. New England has been experiencing some 90 degree, hot and sunny weather this past week. We've spent a lot of time at my mother's house for pool parties. Samantha has just discovered how cool a life vest is. She loves the fact that she can swim on her own. This past week, Nanny bought Sarah her own so I know she'll be excited to use it. Sarah really enjoys the pasta and the noodles though, so it's going to be a toss up. Today, I'm taking the Madore-ables to Don Ball Park (a.k.a "Splash Pad") in Derry, N.H. It's going to be another hot day!


5. Sarah's potty training is going really well this past week. She only had one accident and she's now aware of when she needs to run to the potty. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

A Pasta Pool Party

Sarah loves swimming in the pool.

She loves it when there is plenty of pasta.

(say what?)

I said. Sarah loves it when there's lots of noodles.

See?

Sarah actually calls the pool noodles "pasta"

Oh The Cute Things Kids Will Say

Recently, Jeremy was talking to Samantha about a "knock-knock" joke. Of course, Samantha is still too young to understand the full concept of the joke, but still laughs at them.

So, Jeremy started to say "knock knock"

Sarah who was in the other room then proceeds to go to our actual door and yells out, "Who's therrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre?"

You Have A WHAT In the House?

Sarah has been showing a wild imagination lately. She announced to me recently that there is a chinchilla in the house.



I had to laugh for 2 reasons: (1) The fact that she even knew the word chinchilla and (2) She said it so seriously, that if it didn't come from a 2 1/2 year old I may have just believed her. (Well, only for a second maybe).

So here is Sarah's new pet:

(It's a Popple toy from when I was a kid)

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Happened This Past Week That Made Me Smile:

1. This past week (with the exception of yesterday), I decided that it was time to try to start potty training Sarah. Monday we had quite the amount of piddle puddles, but by Wednesday, Sarah was smiling and piddling where she should be: the potty! She didn't seem to be excited about stickers as a reward. No, instead we've decided to fill her piggy with coins, which Sarah absolutely loves.


2. Now that we're moving in a couple weeks, I've been concentrating on getting us packed. Of course, where there's packing, there's also weeding out the things that we won't need. So, I've been Freecycling a whole lot of things online. It's nice to know that people are helping me clean my house.


3. Sarah gave me the best greeting this morning. Not only did I get a "good morning Mommy" and "I love you" but I got a very serious "Mommy, I love your face". What a great way to begin my day.


4. Is glad to have some relief in the weather today. Today seems like the perfect picnic weather.


5. We have a vacation coming up the weekend after Labor Day, so I was researching this past week on things to do while we are away. It's sad that the girls are growing up, but it's also nice at the same time that they are now old enough to get excited about fun trips.

Wee Wee Wee All the Way Home

Toilet Paper

$1.00

Half a Container of Bleach Wipes

$1.50



Seeing the big smile on your child's face when she's realized that she's made it to the potty in time?



P R I C E L E S S



There are some things that money can't buy.



For everything else, there's potty training.

Samantha's New Wheels

Samantha turned 4 this year, so Jeremy and I thought she could use some new wheels.

Not these kind

But this kind

And this kind

I think Samantha was very surprised and very happy about her Birthday gift...don't you?

Samantha adapted pretty quickly to pedaling

And Sarah was right behind Samantha the entire time cheering her on!

Our Mini-Vacation in Rangely, Maine

This was one of the views that we were "forced" to see last weekend.

Want to see another one?

Yeah. We had these views outside every window inside the cabin. It's a rough life, but someone's got to live it. Fortunately, we were able to live that last weekend.

Last Sunday right after Samantha's Birthday party, the Madore-ables, Jeremy and I drove 4 hours north to Rangely, Maine to spend the weekend with Jeremy's family who was also on vacation. Sure, we arrived super late, but isn't that part of the whole vacation experience? The girls did AMAZING on the trip up. We sang every verse of Old MacDonald Had a Farm and made up new silly versions of other songs. The girls stayed awake until about just 30 minutes before we arrived. I was able to run inside make up the girls beds real quick, and just transfered them from the car right to bed.

We stayed from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon. Jeremy's family took turns coming and staying over night, so we were able to see most of the family which was very nice. The Madore-ables loved playing with their cousins.

We played outside to our hearts content with 0 raindrops. We toasted marshmallows. Jeremy's oldest brother, Ethan brought his motor boat up and we were able to have a ride around Rangely Lake. The girls LOVED it!

The only thing we weren't prepared for:

THE BUGS!!!


We were prepared however to:


Relax in the hammock


Play the guitar a little with Uncle Andre


Go hiking to Angel Falls

Celebrate more of Samantha's birthday!

(Special thank you's to Auntie Jessica who made Samantha's cake.)

Sarah was prepared to learn new things:

She found out what a squirt gun is!

Sarah was prepared to play outside all day in the yard and the beach to make sand castles.

My Madore-ables loved playing with their cousins. It's not often that we get together, so when we do, we make sure we go all out and have a BLAST.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Last weekend, we kicked off our 4th of July weekend with Samantha's birthday. She turned 4 years old this year, so of course we celebrated the best way we know how: with our friends and family. And cake too. (Can't forget the cake).

It really was a fantastic day. The weather was perfect. We got to relax and visit with everyone.

Samantha was so happy that all of her friends and family were there for her big day. When she woke up the morning of her birthday, she announced as we were getting ready for church that "She was excited that she could go to church, go to Nanny's house and see everybody all in one day!"

We didn't even bring up opening presents with Samantha, but I think she was very excited and happy with everything that all of her thoughtful friends brought for her. What do you think?