Five Things Friday

Five Things That Made Me Smile This Past Week

1. With my new work schedule, we recently discovered that it would be impossible for me to go to the gym. The hours that the local gym is open doesn't work with my schedule unfortunately. So, my ever-so-amazing husband did the next best thing. He took a portion of the basement in our house and made room for the treadmill. Now, I have the convenience of a home gym and can even look out the window while I'm using it too!



2. Due to my new work schedule, I am fortunate to still stay at home with the Madore-ables during the day time, but that means that I don't get to say goodnight to them when they go to bed at night. After my shift is done and I go home, I make sure I go in and check on the girls before I go to bed. Samantha has woken up the last few nights. Even though she's sleepy and rubbing her eyes, she still has a BIG smile on her face. We talk about what she did after I left for work. I especially love the fact that as tired as she is, she still manages to give me the biggest of hugs.



3. I'm really excited about Samantha's first field trip today! Today, we're going apple picking with her pre-school class. I don't know who's more excited about it, Sam or Mommy! I just want to know one thing: when did I become old enough to chaperone my daughter's class?



4. I'm really enjoying this Fall weather that we've been having. Although, as a true New Englander, I know not to put my Summer clothes away just yet...maybe December or January. Right now, the chance for 80 degree sunny days in September and October could still happen.


5. Samantha continues to write her letters and challenge herself. At the same time, Sarah has taken a huge interest in "reading" books. It's cute to listen to her read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" in her room.

It's A What-Burger?

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Oh The Funny Things Kids Will Say

We have been fortunate to find a church that we really enjoy, so it makes it easier for us to go each Sunday morning. So as we're walking to the cross walk to go inside, and as we're walking, Sarah blurts out, "There's the mitten!"

Of course, I'm thinking "What?" It's humid even at 8:45 a.m. The thought of wearing a mitten just makes me sweat even more. Maybe she saw a glove or something on the ground? I didn't see anything that resembled a glove or anything on the ground. Jeremy bursts out laughing and points to what Sarah is referring to:

The mitten is actually the "Don't Walk" sign.

Sarah Reading

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Happened This Past Week That Made Me Smile

1. Next week, Samantha has her first field trip with her school: we're going apple picking! Samantha's teacher asked us parents to pick up a sweatshirt so the students can all be wearing the same thing next week. I thought of going out to one of the local major stores, but I thought I would take a chance by going to the local consignment shop. So, needless to say I found one and for $4.00 too! SO excited!




2. Samantha has a small notebook that she loves to write letters inside of. While we're driving in the car, or just relaxing at home, Sam will write down words just by sounding them out. Samantha is now writing her full name, from left to write with no hesitation.




3. I started my new job last week, but started my actual hours this past week. It's so nice to be doing something different. Plus, even though I know I have contributed heavily in the Madore-ables upbringing, it's nice to also feel that I am contributing financially as well.






4. Autumn is officially here! We started celebrating last week by making home made mac n' cheese and apple crisp. Not only is Autumn here, but "Comfort Food" season is here too! Next on the menu: home made soup!






5. Jeremy and I have been extremely busy, and will be busy for the next month with planning high school senior portraits along with family portraits. We're so excited! We are so fortunate to have a job and be creative and have fun with it. If you know of any high school seniors who are looking for their high school senior yearbook photographs, or any photographing needs at all, feel free to visit our website! Captured in Moments. Find us on Twitter and Facebook too!

Mommy Magic

As a mother, I find it amazing how one band-aid and one kiss can make everything feel all better.

I find it amazing that a simple blanket or "Moo Cow" stuffed animal could make the girls feel more comfortable.

I find it amazing that announcing we're going for ice cream after dinner could bring so many happy screams from such a small child.

And yet...

I find it amazing that underneath the craziness that is known as being Mommy, there are little blessings that are the big hugs, and kisses. The little things that the Madore-ables give in return without them realizing it is amazing.

I find it amazing the little things that make them happy: waving from the window when we leave to go to work. Seeing those little hands waving feverishly back and forth is just beyond adoarable.

I find it amazing just how nice it is to wake up to a very whispered, "good morning Mommy" followed by a hug and a kiss. If I wake up a few seconds before the girls come down, I "hide" under the blankets and it always makes them giggle.

Of course, there is just one thing that cannot be duplicated, and never gets old,

"Mommy? I love you"

Oh The Cute Things Kids Will Say

Sarah and I were watching television one very early morning last week, and there were some children on the show talking about bugs and insects.

So of course they have to pick the biggest and most disgusting bugs to show the audience, and decided to show a centipede.

Without missing a beat, Sarah says,

"Hey Mommy, look! It's a really really big spider with menny [a.k.a many] legs!"

So of course, I couldn't let it stop there and asked Sarah how many sneakers does a centipede wear?

Sarah's response? [after a slight pause, and counting her toes] "I don't know Mommy, but that's a lot of piggies!!"

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Happened This Past Week That Made Me Smile

1. Samantha started school this past Monday, and has really enjoyed it. She goes three days a week. The first thing she asks when she wakes up in the morning is "Is today a school day?". If it's not, then she's disappointed for just a minute but knows that she can go tomorrow. Samantha's teacher has told me that she's doing excellent and really loves to help out in the classroom. As of this past Wednesday, Sam's best friend is "Kay".





2. Our photography business has been extremely busy and very productive this past year. Jeremy and I are so fortunate to do something together that we both love. Now that Fall is coming, we're already booking up our weekends with high school senior portraits as well as family portraits. Fall and foliage is so beautiful this time of the year. If you live in New England and would like to schedule a portrait session with Jeremy and I, feel free to click on the blue link up above :)



3. I started my new "out of the house" full time job last last week, and put in some training hours this past week. Both of my shifts were very busy, and therefore passed by very quickly. I love the people who I have been working with.



4. The weekend before Labor Day, we had several yards of loam delivered to the house. Between Jeremy, my brother and I, (and of course Samantha and Sarah) we spread the entire back yard, and some parts in the front. Jeremy spread some grass seed, and the grass is growing like crazy! In this case, the grass is greener on the other side!



5. When we moved, I cancelled my gym subscription only because I didn't want to drive for 15 minutes when there's one just down the street from me. We received a post card in the mail for this gym that's down the street for $15.00 for a month. As soon as my paychecks start coming in for my "outside" job, then I'm heading on down. It's been over 2 months since I've had a good workout and I know that I always feel better right after a good workout at the gym.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 3

We finished up our weekend in North Conway, New Hampshire by taking a ride on the Conway Sceneic Railway train.

We visited Zeb's General Store right before we boarded the train, so the girls happily looked out the windows and munched on kettle corn.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 2

While we were in North Conway over the weekend, we stopped by Story Land and litterally spent the entire day. The Madore-ables had a FANTASTIC time, not too mention they slept very well that night.


Let me tell you, the timing of going on this trip was absolutely perfect. It was after Labor Day, there weren't too many crowds. The weather was absolutely perfect!

Getting silly and dizzy in the Alice & Wonderland Tea Cups!

The girls were SO excited to meet Cinderella. Samantha told her all about starting school, and Sarah was proud to tell Cinderella that she was 2 and potty trained.

The Madore-ables love the "Round and Round" (a.k.a - Merry Go Round)

The Class Of 2025!

Yesterday marked another milestone for Samantha: she is now officially a student and enrolled in her pre-school class.

Sam had a wonderful first day of school. She was so excited Monday morning and asked us several times when could we leave to go to school. She started asking as at 7:30 a.m and school didn't start until 9:00 a.m. Oh boy.

During breakfast, Samantha announced that she didn't want to eat much because she didn't want to get anything on her school outfit. Samantha also asked Jeremy if she could someday drive a car. To which Jeremy replied, "yes". Samantha then asked if she could drive Mommy or Daddy's car. To which Jeremy replied, "yes".

Four going on fourteen. Yikes. Let's conquer one milestone at a time Sam. ; )

Congratulations Samantha!

You are now part of the class of 2025.

Walking inside...

Writing her name...

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 1

This past weekend was the most fun we've had in quite a long time. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, my mother gave us a really cool and a great idea for a Christmas present this past year: a family 4-pack to the Hilton Hotel in North Conway, New Hampshire.

We stayed at the Hilton in North Conway, which has an indoor water park. We were very impressed with what was offered. When they say "free continental breakfast" they really should advertise schmoregesbord. The water park was the perfect size for children.

The Madore-ables Just Found Out They Were Going To The Water Park

Yeah, this is the indoor water park. Plenty of room for everyone...and FREE too!

Samantha was timid of the water slides at first, but soon figured out they weren't so bad.







Sarah thought the frog slide was the perfect size...

Then Sarah realized how cooler it would be to go down with Daddy.

Denial...It's Not Just A River

I've decided that I'm going to put my foot down.

Maybe even open my own vineyard with some of the leftover whine.

I'm in a little bit of denial you see.

I'm going to pout.

But, I'm not going to shout (I have to be the adult most of the time now)

Labor Day has come and gone.

Samantha will be starting pre-school on Monday morning.

Summertime is not over.

So this weekend, Jeremy, the Madore-ables and I are enjoying one last Summer vacation thanks to a Christmas present from my Mom last year.

We're visiting Story Land and having one last Summer time fling.

Not ready to give up Summertime just yet.

Here are some photos of the girls doing our favorite Summer past time...

Roasting marshmallows.

Sarah was worried that she would get sticky on her hands...

So she happily accepted the outer shell from Nanny's marshmallow.

Nah...she preferred having Nanny feed her the mallow from the stick instead.

(By the way hunny, you have something on your face...)

A little blurry of Sam, but it was the only one I had of her sitting still, ha ha.

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Made Me Smile This Past Week:

1. Jeremy surprised me Sunday. He told me that he and I were having a date night and going out to eat without the Madore-ables. What he meant to say is, "Baby, I have two tickets to a Lady Antebellum concert". Completely had NO IDEA. I was under the impression that the tickets were taken already. What I didn't know was that they were taken by Jeremy. Absolutely love the band and was so excited to hear and see them perform these amazing songs. Thank you Jere :) (And thank you to Mom for watching the girls too).



2. For the last 2 1/2 years, I've had the most fullfilling full-time job ever: being a full time stay at home Mommy. As of this past Tuesday, I started training for my out of the house full time job. I'm only on day 3, but already I see amazing changes, and plenty of potential. So excited. I'm still able to stay at home with the girls during the morning/daytime hours. Jeremy was able to get his hours adjusted at work so he can come home early, which means my Mom only has to watch the Madore-ables for an hour or so. So, again, no daycare. WOOT!!



3. Last Christmas, my Mom announced that she booked a reservation for us up in North Conway, NH and was sending us away for a family vacation. It's hard to believe that the weekend has finally arrived! So, this weekend, the four of us are heading North for 2 days. We're so excited and of course, lots of pictures will be taken, and I'll blog about it sometime next week.



4. Fall is arriving, and that means that my AWBC walking team, Charlie's Angels is gearing up for another year of fundraising for our big walk next May 19-20, 2012. I'm unable to attend a lot of the fundraisers that are put on, so I take care of the publicity and advertising for most, if not all the events. I just found out this past week that my press releases that I wrote for some events coming up made it into the right hands, and we're going to gain some exposure with some radio waves in Nashua, N.H and on WBZ radio in Boston.



5. Samantha is just 3 days away from her first day of pre-school! Today, Jeremy, Samantha and I will be heading down to her pre-school to meet her teachers, and to see her class room all set up. Sam is SO excited. She's been practicing very hard all Summer with her letters and numbers and now it's time to start putting them to use outside of the house. I still can't believe that my now 4 year old is old enough to start school. Just seems like yesterday we found out that we were pregnant with her.

Oh The Cute Things Kids Will Say

Recently Jeremy and Sarah were being silly together outside.

Sarah was waving her arms around while giggling and pointed out to Jeremy that her arms looked like branches.

Immediately afterwards, Sarah started to spread her fingers apart on her hands and moved her fingers around.

Jeremy asked Sarah if the hands were her leaves.


Sarah's response?


"No Daddy! These are my hands, not leaves!"

It's Whole Lot Of Hot Air If You Ask Me

Potty training has its ups and downs.

It's awesome, because the added expense of diapers has been completely down next to nothing.

It's pretty stinky (pardon the pun) because that means Sarah loves to use public bathrooms...no matter if she has to 'go' or not.

This grosses Mommy out very much.

It took me a few times to figure it out, but I have discovered why Sarah enjoys the public bathrooms so much. It's not the going potty part she likes...it's the washing hands part.

And with washing hands comes this...

Oh The Funny Things Kids Will Say

Jeremy and I were putting the girls to bed recently, and Samantha randomly said "Nee hao" which is Chineese for "Hello" or "How are you?" as I walked into the room.




I was pleasantly surprised when Sam said this because I didn't realize that she knew that word, much less when to use it appropriately. So, I asked her where did she learn that word. To which Samantha replied "Kai-Lan" (which is a show on Nikelodeon). Jeremy and I were pretty impressed.



Right after Sam said this, Jeremy looked at me as if to say, "What language is that?" By accident, I said Japanese and a split second later, I realized that I was wrong and should have said Chinese. So before I could say anything and correct myself, Samantha was already doing it for me.









"Mommy! Actually, it's Chinese don't you know."







At this rate, our children will be bilingual before long!

Dear Sarah (32 Month Update)

Dear Sarah,

Today you are 32 months old. You seem to be growing by the day it seems. You're doing such an amazing job at keeping up with Samantha. Just remember, you have a lot more growing to do so it's ok if you're not tall enough to ride Samantha's bike. It's also ok if you can't write the alphabet with chalk in the driveway. I do have to say though, you write a very good capital "A" with a pen or some sidewalk chalk. You're going to be writing the letter "a" for the rest of your life, so that's a good letter to practice on.

Since moving to Nanny's house last month, Daddy and I have noticed that you've been sleeping very well. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you are up early every morning and are playing outside in all this clean, fresh air. Maybe it has something to do with the fact there's so much entertainment outside these days that you just plum tucker yourself out by the time dinner time comes. Either way, once you hit that pillow, you sleep straight through the night. Even last week, you saw your first hurricane you slept through the power outtage. Hooray for fresh air! When you're all done sleeping, you come downstairs very quietly and give Mommy big kisses and say, "Mommy! I'm awaaake!". Although, Mommy really does think it's funny, but thank you for giving us the news each morning.

You're doing a great job at riding your new bike that Daddy and I bought for you last month. You've really adapted well to the whole pedaling thing. It makes Mommy so happy to know that is the first thing you think of when you get out of bed in the morning. You can ride your bike, as long as you finish your meal. :)

Now that your big sister is working with her letters, you've also decided that letters are now your "thing" lately too. You make up all sorts of words on the fridge with those magnetic letters, and you really love to help Daddy move the letters to make a word when he's playing "Words With Friends" on his iPad.

Thank you for making us laugh and smile. Your "I'm getting into something right now and you may not like it" laugh cracks us up everytime. You're pretending a lot more and having so much fun with your playroom toys. Even at 2 1/2 years old, you have a great imagination.

We love you Sarah. Always know that. Even if we say "no" to you when it comes to playing with Play-Doh inside the bathtub, you may seem it as a great idea, but trust Mommy and Daddy...it's not. Don't be too mad at us. We really do love you.

Love always,

Mommy & Daddy

Here is what you looked like one year ago in September 2010

Here is what you look like today in September 2011

Dear Samantha (50 Month Update)

Dear Samantha,

Today you are exactly 50 months old. Summer is almost coming to a close, and yet so many opportunities are opening up and you're just accomplishing so much. Already, you're such a go-getter and you waste no time in what to do next. You certainly keep us busy!


Last month, we moved from our old apartment to Nanny's house. You have transitioned well. Daddy and I hope you understand someday just how amazing these opportunities are. Thanks to Nanny & Bapa, we're able to live in a safe neighboorhood full of playgrounds and a dead end street to ride your new bicycle on. You have a very large yard to play in, and not only are the neighbors really nice and look out for one another and their houses, but there's also someone who lives across the street who's a little bit younger than you, but you still play with him and have lots of fun when we get together.


Speaking of bicycles, you surprised Mommy and Daddy the other day when you announced only after riding your bike for 2 months that you would like us to remove your training wheels. The fact that you're asking is so surprising, but because you have that 'Madore-able' gene in you, you'll stop at nothing to accomplish your goal. So, if you want to try to remove the training wheels, let's try it. (Note: Mommy will be sure to let everyone know your non-training wheel progress).


Your letter writing continues to amaze us. Not only are your really writing your letters with sidewalk chalk, and with pen in birthday cards, but you're also helping Mommy and Nanny write out grocery lists! We are definitely excited that you're excited to learn and feed your mind with this amazing knowledge. We are just so proud of you.


In 9 days, you will be starting an entirely new chapter, and a brand new milestone in your life: you'll be starting pre-school. You've been talking about it since we moved to Nanny's house in July, but we're officially just a little over a week away. Next week, Daddy and I will take you to see your classroom, and meet all of your teachers. You'll get to see where you'll hang your new backpack in the morning and you'll also get to show your teachers how well you've been practicing your letters.



Daddy and I are so very excited that you're excited about all these amazing and happy things that are happening to us. Your eagerness and excitement is very contagious. We hope you always are this happy and are this eager to learn. If you ever have any questions on anything, always know you can come to Mommy and Daddy. You may not always want to hold our hand, but we're always on standby when you need us.



Good luck sunshine. You make us proud already.


Love Mommy and Daddy

Here is what you looked like one year ago in September 2010

And here is what you look like today in September 2011

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Happened This Week That Made Me Smile

1. So as you may or may not know/remember, Samantha received a bicycle for her birthday which was back in July. Samantha announced to Jeremy and I this past week that she would like us to remove the training wheels from her bike. Umm, wow.


2. Samantha is truly going crazy (in a good way) with writing her grocery lists. She's actually spelling things out like "m-i-l-k" and "b-r-e-d" (yes, she forgets the "a" but it's still a great start). She's going completely nuts with the magnetic letters and spelling her name on the refridgerator. Love that she's challenging herself and not even realizing it. Sam keeps telling me that she cannot wait to tell her preschool teacher next week.


3. Jeremy and I are really brainstorming with our photography business and have come up with some great ideas. We're really excited and will be happy to show everyone soon enough. If you're in the Merrimack Valley / Massachusetts area and would like to schedule a family photo shoot for the Fall (the foliage makes a great backdrop). Also, if you're engaged and planning your wedding, we also offer engagement sessions as well as photographing your wedding. Check out our website and contact us for any questions!


4. Since moving last month, I haven't had to drive too much, which means my gas tank hasn't had to be filled often. It's a great relief for our bank account too!


5. As much as I'm sad to see the Summer go, I've really been enjoying this cool weather. Soon enough we'll have to wear long sleeves. Yikes!