Hurricane Irene...We Survived

This past weekend, New England felt the effects from Tropical Storm Irene. It was a very long 48 hours from Saturday into Sunday seeing that it was pouring rain out with high winds so we couldn't exactly go out to play. I never realized how much I appreciate the fresh air.

Sunday we spent the entire day indoors. Jeremy made a yummy breakfast for everyone. (We knew we would need our energy for the day) Then there was a day full of reading stories, making Jell-O (because everyone needs Jell-O in their fridge during a hurricane, right?), playing with toys and the occasional Dora the Explorer/Diego video.

Samantha let us know what she thought Mother Nature should look like. We determined that Mother Nature has short curly hair and wears a long pink and purple dress.

After we finished dinner, the wind and rain were still howling around outside. So we decided that maybe it was time for a snuggle in and watch a movie...we decided that Happy Feet was very appropriate. The girls absolutely loved it and watched it all. We had popcorn and had blankets and just had a lot of fun. There was lots of yawning, and from the girls too. Ha ha. We figured once the girls were down we would have a game of Scrabble and maybe a glass of wine to toast to for "surviving" Tropical Storm Irene.

Nature had other plans...that's when we lost power. For about 12 hours to be exact.

We can't complain though. We've seen the footage of our friends up in Vermont and the destruction that the storm left behind. Some houses and state highways were completely washed away. We just had a few large branches down in the yard. Clean up was pretty easy, especially when the Madore-ables want to clean up and help Nanny.

So goodbye Irene. Please don't stop by anytime soon...or anywhere for that matter.

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Really Made Me Smile This Past Week

1. Samantha has not only been excited and very motivated to write letters with pen, colored pencil, sidewalk chalk...you name it, and she'll write with it. Sam is constantly finding ways to write letters on paper: grocery lists, lists on things "to do", all of our names. Looks like my years of writing lists for everything has paid off.




2. Samantha's newest challenge is crossword puzzles. Obviously Samantha does the word search kind where you find the word and circle it. Can you imagine a four year old doing a crossword puzzle? I can just see it now. "Mommy? Can you give me a 10 letter word beginning with "P" for "a stationary domain that contains elements of fun with slides and swings"? "Hmmm...how about the word playground Sam?" "Thanks Mommy!"




3. Preschool is just around the corner. Samantha received her official letter of being welcomed into the "Red" family at her preschool that she will be starting after Labor Day. We've been invited to an orientation to go meet Samantha's teachers and see her room and where her special cubby will be. Sam also received a special piece of mail today from the mailman...it was a letter from her teachers. She was SO excited to have her own piece of mail.




4. I've been very good with putting sunblock on the Madore-ables, but it appears that a few freckles have snuck through onto Sarah's nose.



5. Sarah's new thing lately is asking me with a very serious face, "Mommy? Are you happy?" This morning, I told her "Yes Sarah, I'm very happy. Do you know why? Because I love you". Sarah looked at me with the sweetest face and said, "Mommy! I love you too!" And followed up with a big bear hug.

Our Little Daredevils

Since we've moved to our current house, I've had a lot of time to remember some good childhood memories while I'm out playing with the girls. You see, the house where we're living is my childhood home. I'm very familiar with the street, and all the driveways that are included.

When I was the Madore-ables age, I used to rack up the miles and ride up and down this same street on my bike. The neighborhood was full of kids who were around my age, so there were plenty of kids to play with. I also would use my brother's skateboard to ride down the hill that you'll be seeing the girls riding their bikes in the following video in a minute.

Years ago, our neighbor was a different home owner. He has since passed away, but his memory lives on now that my girls are using his old driveway for playtime. He was a great neighbor, and he was very gracious to allow all the children who were living on the street to use his driveway. All of the neighbors and I would ride our bikes up and down the street, and up and down his driveway. He never seemed to mind though. In fact, I really think he enjoyed it. In fact, he had a unicycle with a red glitter seat that was always hanging up on the wall of his garage. He made it known quite often that if anyone climbed atop the unicycle and rode it from the top of the hill to the bottom of the driveway then he would buy a banana split. Needless to say, the unicycle has never been touched and is probably still hanging on the wall of the garage to this day.

Looking back, I'm amazed at the fact that when you're a child, you're fearless and don't think about crazy things like jumping on a skateboard and going down a steep hill. Now I look at a skateboard and would fall off of it. Looks like my Madore-ables are following in Mommy and Daddy's footsteps. Mommy had a few "boo-boo's" on her knees from falling off of bikes. Daddy had one pretty bad fall and ended up breaking his wrist as a result.

Hopefully no bumps and scrapes will be added to their current collection. They seem to be having fun, so I'm letting them do that...and praying for no injuries. The smiles on their faces are totally worth it!

(I apologize for the quality of the video)

Summertime [Black and] Blues

This Summer, there has been lots of outdoor time.

Lots of playground time.

Lots of sidewalk chalk time.

Lots of bike riding time.

Lots of pool time.

Unfortunately, this also involves lots of bumps, scrapes, bruises and boo-boos. The Madore-able's have quite the plethora of these on their knees.

The Sleep Entourage

My Madore-ables sleep on beds...

Correction.

They co-sleep with their own entourage's.

Do your children also have their own entourage?

Smolak Farms

Last week the Madore-ables and I had a fun playdate at Smolak Farms with our friend Kerry and her daughter Shannon. Smolak's recently rennovated their petting zoo and children's play area and it looks great fabulous fun and amazing.

Plenty of parking. Free admission. It is truly the best place to go to if you're looking for a few hours to kill some time with the children. Or it's the perfect place to grab some Treadwell's ice cream and Smolak's famous cider donuts. Just be sure to remember to bring your quarters so the kids can feed the animals. Did I mention the yummy cider donuts and the Treadwell's icecream? Fun and yummy all in one place...can you really beat that?

My Madore-ables loved it and have asked me already if we can go back soon.

Sarah checking out the pirate ship

The girls feeding the Zebu (Smolak's also has goats and llamas)

Along with a life size pirate ship, there is also a tractor

Seriously brilliant. Old water pumps hooked up to a large trough full of water for the kids to pump water with. Who would have thought this could be so fascinating?

Sarah loved putting the ping pong balls in the "gulleys" and pumping the water to push the balls to her friend Shannon. They made a great team!

After all that hard work of feeding the animals their lunch and a picnic lunch, we decided a sweet frozen dairy product treat was in order.

Five Things Friday

Five Things That Made Me Smile This Past Week

1. Since we've moved, the girls have their own playroom. It's wonderful. One room full of their toys. We no longer have the "toynado" in our living room. Now, when the storm hits the toyroom, we know that it's time to put some toys away to make some room for others. This past week, the girls have been playing and really showing their imaginations. It's cute to listen to them just outside the door and watch them play with their Little People or their kitchen set.



2. I walked everyday this past week. It feels great to be out starting my training for my walk next May.


3. Sarah absolutely loves her little tricycle we bought for her last week. It seriously has to be the best purchase we've made in awhile.


4. I found out yesterday that I am officially employed (outside of the home that is) again. Not sure when my exact start date is, but I'm happy to know that I can have a steady paycheck come in. Not sure of my hours exactly, but it's going to be somewhere around 2 or 3p to 9p or 10p. I can have time to have a playdate or run errands in the morning and drop Samantha off and pick her up at school and still have time to work. I've been so blessed and so fortunte to stay home and be a part of witnessing my girls grow and see them accomplish their milestones. Now, I'll be able to get out of the house for a little bit and help Jeremy contribute financially. We won't have to deal with daycare either which is a HUGE bonus for me. My Mom can watch the girls for a few hours each day and Jeremy is also able to switch his hours so he goes in early to get out early. It truly is just awesome. YAY!


5. Jeremy bought a bottle of my absolute favorite wine last night...Moscato. Mmmm...yum.