Five Things Friday

Things have been very busy here at Camp Madore-able.  So busy in fact that it's been hard to sit down and post blog posts on the daily comings and goings of the Madore-ables.  So, here is a recap of what's going on with the 4 of us.

1. Jeremy is now self-employed.  He has resigned from his Marketing Manager position that he's held for almost 5 years now and will be going full tilt with our Captured in Moments Photography business.  Already, 2013 is looking mighty busy for weddings, so we're really excited!  Jeremy begins his first day as a full time photographer today and already he's busy busy with Networking meetings and setting up photoshoots.  So, if you are in need of a photographer, whether it be for weddings, engagement portraits, head shots for marketing material for your business, maternity and family portraits, give us a call!
2. As a result of Jeremy's new schedule, I will no longer be just a sales associate at Panera Bread, and instead have been offered the Catering Coordinator position just for my store.  I'm really excited about the opportunity, and this allows me several advantages:  (1)  I don't have to work nights anymore (2) I can work just mornings and be home by 2pm.  (3)  I can actually have a hot dinner with my family.  (4)  I can put the Madore-ables to bed.  I'm nervous with the new position, but really excited about the timing and everything going on now.
3. We just came back from a roadtrip to visit Jeremy's brother and his wife out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The Madore-ables did an EXCELLENT job during the cumulative 24 hour trip.  Seriously, God has certainly blessed us.  I've heard nightmare stories, but great music, and games and ideas from Pinterest really saved us.
4. Jeremy and I started our Christmas shopping early this year.  Even though we bought just a few things for some people, I feel that much ahead of the game.  Usually we wait until last minute, but I do have to say that our planning has gotten much better over the last few years.
5. I'm just blown away by Samantha's knowledge with things. For example, lately, she's been observing addition and subtraction. She told me the other day "Mommy, 1 plus 1 is the same as 2 minus 1". Sam just sat there looking at me and said this without hesitation, and her voice full of confidence.
6. Sarah is equally the same way as her big sister: especially with music and prayers from church. I'm amazed at how she memorizes songs and lyrics. It's really cute to hear Sarah in the back seat of the car singing John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels" or even reciting the Nicene Creed from church. (I kid you not).
7. Jeremy entered himself into a video contest, and we found out today that we won first place!  Completely unexpected, and very excited!  Here is the video that won us our 1st place trophy:

Thanksgiving 2012

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to take a little drive for some turkey.  We took a drive to Pittsburgh to visit Jeremy's brother and his wife and family.  We left last Tuesday night at 10:30pm and drove all night.  We stopped for breakfast about 6am on Wedesday morning and arrived at our destination at about lunch time on Wednesday.

I've heard horror stories of parents who road trip with their young children and their response is, "Never again will I do that".  Jeremy and I were so fortunate and had a long drive, but it was overall a very pleasant drive.  I found lots of fun things on Pinterest.  I had an extra packed iPod full of good tunes.  We had a plethora of entertainment, and didn't even have to invest in a portable DVD player.  Seriously, we would totally do another road trip.

Sarah being silly as we were packing and getting ready to leave Massachusetts.

Jeremy printed off an 11 X 14 poster of the route of our trip to prevent any "Are we there yet?"   We could show the girls exactly where we were at that moment.

Lamar, Pennsylvania - About 8 hours into the trip.

While waiting for the red light, Samantha shrieked from the backseat, "Daddy!  Look!"

Samantha, Sarah and their cousins being giggly and having a good time.

Tots and Chicken Nuggets 2012

Yesterday, Sarah's preschool class celebrated their "Potlatch Meal".  Each of the children were asked to bring something to contribute.  Sarah contributed a loaf of corn bread.  Others brought tons of yummy things too.

Sarah feasting with her classmates.



No matter what angle, her smile is just beautiful and lights up a room.

Sarah and her classmates let the Mommies and the Daddies know what they are grateful for.

And we are just as grateful for you sweetheart.

A Lot Of Baking, and A Lot Of Pinterest

I haven't been doing a whole lot of blogging lately.  Life and the Madore-ables have been keeping me busy!  Things are going very well.  The girls LOVE school.  They're just little sponges soaking up a wealth of knowledge and information.

Speaking of soaking up.  As you may or may not know, I actually have 3 loves of my life:  (1)  Jeremy and the girls  (2)  Target,  and finally (3)  Pinterest.  I find so many great ideas on Pinterest.  Whenever it's a rainy day, or the girls are bored with playing in their playroom, I always have a Pinterest plan. 

So recently, we had a day of cooking and baking.  For Sarah's Halloween party at school, I decided to make Monster Pudding cups.  Best idea ever!  Sarah had a great time crushing the Oreo cookies for the Monster tops.

Then I thought I would make something for dessert with Samantha.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found a quick and easy Peach Cobbler type of recipe, and we had the ingredients in house.

Needless to say, our house smelled very yummy, and it was very cute to hear the girls giggling over my little monster faces that I drew on the cups.

Thank You Veterans

This past week we celebrated Veteran's Day.  We tried to explain the best we could to our Madore-ables what exactly Veteran's Day is.  Jeremy and I also explained that they sacrificed quite a lot so that we could walk the streets safely, and that we could go to a playground and play whenever we chose to.

Samantha also had a homework assignment that was due last week.  Sam had to write a veteran's name down, and explain how they were related to her.  I didn't even have to ask Samantha, she remembered my Grandfather right away.


Thank you to all the veterans, those old and young.  Those living and those who have died.  Those who have served a lifetime and those who served one or two terms.

Hurricane Sandy...We Survived!

We had some excitement earlier this week.  On Monday Hurricane Sandy, decided she wanted to make a dramatic entrance and when she was done throwing her temper tantrum she blew away.  I cannot tell you how many times I had to explain to the Madore-ables why we couldn't go to the playground, or why we couldn't play in the front yard and ride bikes.  "It's too windy" I told them.  So, I put on one of the news channels here in Boston, and explained to the girls what that circular spinning thing was on the weather map.  Once I showed them that, and explained to them that the weather maps were taken with big huge cameras (bigger than Mommy and Daddy's) and that is what the wind looks like on those special cameras, it just seemed to "click" (pun intended).  We just needed to wait until the "big circle" blew over us and out to the ocean.

So while we were waiting for the big circle to blow over, we had quite the productive day.  I managed to write 3 blogs and update our family calendar.   The Madore-ables were able to play in their toy room; do homework (yes, Samantha actually receives homework once a week); write letters; color; laundry; and read lots of books from the library.

We lost power for about 1 hour first thing in the morning, and it came back with a few flickers throughout the day.

Tuesday was an entirely different story.

We ventured our way outside to survey the damage.

Sunny skies.  This can't be bad, right?

First hope of optimism...even if it is just a weed.

The Madore-ables were devastated that the pumpkin head was on the ground and "dirty"

from dirt and leaves.

The pumpkin head rolled no more than 10 feet away.

This was the extent of the branches in our yard.  We were so fortunate!

Sarah was so relieved that her pumpkins were OK.

Then we ventured over to our neighbor's house and found this:

I thought that I would use this as a lesson for the girls.  I first showed them just how strong the winds could be, that the wind just completely bent the flag pole over.  I also tried to explain to them that if a flag is laying down, or on the ground, or just not "upright" we need to find a way to get it so it stands nice and tall.  We always need to respect our flag.  It's more than a piece of cloth.  So while we tried to get the pole out of the flag stand, the girls started to sing "You're a Grand 'Ol Flag" (I didn't have to prompt them at all) and once my Mom got the flag upright, Sarah showed respect to the flag the best way a 3-1/2 year old knows how to:

A kiss and a hug.