Oh The Funny Things Kids Will Say

When we first potty trained Samantha (which seems so long ago at this point) we told her to listen to her body if she needed to *ahem* go or not. From that point on, I felt that she had fewer and fewer accidents.

Samantha told me recently that she needed to go potty, and off she went. When she came back, she very seriously told me,

"Mommy! I just listened to my tummy and I knew to go to the potty. When I listened, it said to me (*and here is when Samantha makes this funny deep voice that I only wish I could describe in writing, but alas I cannot*) "Sammy, go potty!"

Oh The Funny Things Kids Will Say

Last weekend I had just finished getting the Halloween costumes on the girls, and we were getting ready to head out for trick or treating. Jeremy was putting on his coat and getting the camera ready when Samantha asked,

Samantha: "Daddy? What are you going to be for Halloween this year?"

Jeremy: "Just Daddy"

Samantha: "You mean, just regular Daddy?"

Rolling In the Deep

In the words of Adele:

The Madore-ables were rolling in the deep over the weekend.

In leaves that is.

The girls had never jumped in leaves before, but couldn't get enough of it. In fact, they were very upset when there weren't anymore leaves to rake. Don't worry Madore-ables, there will be plenty more leaves to rake before they are completely off the trees!

Halloween 2011 - Part 2

Halloween was originally postponed until this past Saturday due to the crazy snow storm that we had last weekend. The Madore-ables didn't seem to mind. They still looked very cute as Dora the Explorer and a brightly colored butterfly even if we were trick or treating in November.

There were many events that excited the girls: wearing silver sparkles on their face; glow stick bracelets and who got to ring the door bell?

There were also several funny things that were said that night as well:

Samantha: "Daddy! What are you going to be for Halloween?"

Jeremy: "I'm going to be Daddy this year Sam"

Samantha: "Oh. Just regular Daddy?"

Sarah kept calling all the homes we went to "Trick or Treats". So, she kept asking when we left one house, "Can we do more trick or treats? I'm not tired yet!"

For some reason, Sarah was fascinated by the number 3. After every house we left, Sarah kept asking us, "3 more houses? And of course, we'd get to the next house and she would ask again, "3 more houses?"

Samantha plays Farmville and has really taken a liking to planting a new crop each day. Samantha thought it would be festive to plant pumpkins. Well, unfortunately, Samantha's pumpkin crop died out, so Sam had to replant. When Sam found out her crop died, she said:

"Aww, my pumpkins died? Well, I will miss them!"

Dear Sarah (35 Month Update)

Dear Sarah,

You turn 35 months this month, which means you are just one month away from your 3rd Birthday. It's amazing at how much time flies when you're having fun, and just how much a year will make a difference.

You remind us every day to appreciate the little things. Nanny recently dug up a buried treasure from when I was Samantha's age. Pop beads. You (and Samantha too) have been making the most beautiful bracelets and necklaces I have ever seen! They can be difficult to pop inside of each other, but clearly you have no problems with any dexterity. Mommy loves to see yours and Samantha's faces when I say "yes" to your question of "Can you wear this necklace to work Mommy?".

You've been following Samantha's lead in writing letters and putting letters together to make words. You have the letters, "H", "I" and "A" mastered. You have several "HI's" all over the driveway. Clearly people can see we're a friendly family before they come over. You've also been asking A LOT on what time it is. Lately, you can look at a digital clock and say "It's (enter time of day here)"

You have really been enjoying puzzles lately. It's so nice to see the "wheels turning" in your head as you put the pieces together. Mommy finds that she's helping you less and less because you're actually solving the problem yourself more and more.

One of Mommy's favorite (and now you're favorite too) activities is picking up Samantha at school. Mommy sets an alarm clock on her phone to remind her when to leave the house. Whenever the alarm goes off, you yell out, "It's time to go pick up Sammy!". The sweet thing is you're truly excited. Even when we arrive at the school and we wait in line, you're yelling out "Hi Sammy! We're heeeeeeeere!". Mommy laughs every time.

You are doing so well these days, and it's hard to believe that you ever had some low muscle tone in your neck when you were an infant. You let nothing stop you these days and you do everything you can to keep up with Samantha. You're certainly giving her (and us) a run for our money! Just remember that we love you, and just because we don't get what you're looking for that second doesn't mean we won't get it for you. Just try to learn to be patient. Also, please stop hitting your sister and pulling her hair, that's very not-becoming on little girls.

We love you Sarah. Thank you for always being our little ray of sunshine.

Love you always,

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Here is a photo of you from one year ago in November 2010

And here is what you look like today in November 2011!

Five Things Friday

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

1. I love the Fall. Call me crazy, but I love this time of year. This weekend we're setting the clocks back which means...one hour of extra sleep! Woo hoo!


2. Due to the crazy snow storm we had last weekend, Halloween/trick or treating was postponed until tomorrow night. The Madore-ables were really upset, but when I told them both today that we're heading out tomorrow night in their costumes, they were SO excited. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll take plenty of pictures ; )


3. I have been at my night time job for 2 months now, and I really am loving it. The people I work with are truly a great group of people (and I'm not just saying that). They really work hard, and they're always willing to lend a helping hand just because. I've also had my hours extended, so not only does my paycheck look great as a result, but I can qualify for health benefits starting next month which means we can get off of our current health plan and start saving $400 a month. Time for our savings account to start growing again.


4. I found out Thursday night that our good friends Kerry & Jimmy welcomed their second child into the world. Congratulations to Jimmy & Kerry and big sister Shannon! Hooray for babies!


5. Jeremy announced last week that he is taking a business trip to Washington D.C for work next week for a few days. I was able to snag myself a free pass to Imajine That in Lawrence. I'm so excited to take the Madore-ables. And, yes...I'm sure photos will be taken ; )

Dear Samantha (52 Month Update)

Dear Samantha,

Today is the 3rd of November which means you are 52 months old. The Summer flew by as usual and here we are approaching an amazing time of year.

You've been enrolled in your preschool for 2 months now and are absolutely loving it. It's so nice to know you're excited to go to school. (Mommy and Daddy hope this continues!) So far, we've had two field trips (apple picking as well as pumpkin picking) and one Halloween party. Your school calendar has so many fun activities on it. This month, we have a Thanksgiving potluck lunch, and next month we're rolling into Christmas and maybe a Christmas play. I don't know who's more excited about this.

You've had no problem in making friends in your class, which makes Mommy and Daddy very happy to hear. Your best friends are: Kae, Bobby, Julia, Evan, Luke, and Chloe. You've actually gotten to the point where when Mommy drops you off at school in the morning, you hang your coat up with your backpack and tell me

You've really taken an interest lately in some Phonics games on our iPad. You've 100% learned all of your letters and can write them both in upper case and lower case. Now, you're actually putting letters together to make words and are sounding them out too. You've done an AMAZING job at spelling your full first name along with your last name...it's quite the number of letters to remember!

We are amazed in how your coloring has improved between this Summer and now. You're actually coloring inside the lines a lot of the time. Mommy has been saving your artwork and all of your projects from school and when school is all over for the year next June, it'll be nice to look at everything you've done.

You still continue to enjoy helping out not only in school, but also at home too. You seem to enjoy helping out more than you do playing with toys. You do a great job at being a big sister to Sarah, but you do need to learn to remember that Sarah also needs to learn things too. We know it's hard to remember sometimes, but we know your heart is always in the right place.

I know there are some days where you think Mommy and Daddy are just being mean because we didn't give you another movie to watch, or another scoop of ice cream. I know it's hard to want to listen, but we hope and pray that you learn soon too. You certainly test our patience and are learning your boundaries. Thankfully this is just a phase. Always know that we love you and we're always here for you.

Love you always,

Mommy & Daddy

Here are photos of what you looked like one year ago in November 2010

Here is what you look like today in November 2011

(Your preschool class dressed up as black cats for your Halloween party)