This Moment . . .

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Brendan playing King Triton in his middle school play, The Little Mermaid.

Many blessings for a beautiful day and a happy weekend ahead ~ Wendy

A Star is Born . . .

This past weekend, we saw many months of rehearsals and late night scenery making all come together in the form of The Little Mermaid, Jr.  It was presented by the Nyack Middle School and what a wonderful job they did!!! 

Brendan played the role of King Triton who is the father of the little mermaid, Arielle.  He did such a fantastic job and I was one proud Mama seeing him up there on that stage!!!  I have goose bumps just typing this!!!! 

The "Mer Sisters."

The young lady that played Ursula The Sea Witch was phenomenal and so was her costume!!!

Sebastian the Crab was the hit of the show with her one liners and beautiful singing voice.  Brendan told me that she has been in plays on Broadway.  We are so blessed to live in such a talented community!!

King Triton and Arielle.

Final bow.

Megan was completely mesmerized by the show.  When it was over, she told us she wanted to meet Arielle.  Her wish came true!!  She was a little nervous and completely star struck.  When we got home, she immediately went upstairs and changed into her prettiest costume while singing bits and pieces of songs she remembered from the play.  She's still talking about it!!  : )

We have a lot going on in the next couple of days.  Jim's parents are coming from Tennessee for a few days for a visit and for my father in law to help Jim with some of the things on our "To Do" list for getting the house ready to go on the market.  Our goal is to have it ready for sale some time this spring.  It's mostly cosmetic stuff like painting and finishing little jobs here and there that were started but never finished.  We have lots of those!!  LOL!!!  We've been looking at a couple of homes in Cornwall-on-Hudson that I've fallen in love with but I'm doing a pretty good job of not getting my hopes up right now since we can't do anything about buying a new home until we sell our current one.  I honestly can feel that the wheels are already starting to be set in motion for this big change in our life and it makes me smile.  Magic truly happens if you believe in it.  : )


Many blessings for a beautiful Thursday ~ Wendy

A Day in the Snow . . .

This past weekend, the northeast was hit with a big snowstorm and everyone couldn't wait to go out and play when it was over.  I, on the other hand, chose to seize the opportunity to take photos.  I guess you could consider that play because I had lots of fun doing it.  : ) 

This was Meg's first snowstorm and her first time sledding since last winter was a bomb as far as snow went.  Other then the freak storm right before Halloween, we got nothin'. To say she loved it is an understatement!!  The first time going down the little hill she was a little nervous but soon couldn't get enough of it. 

Lots of happy, snowy faces!!

Digging a snow tunnel.

God bless my husband!!  He must've brought her up that hill at least 20 times!!!  Anything for his baby girl.  : )

The vintage Radio Flyer in our front yard.

In our garden.

One of our hydrangea bushes covered with snow.

Icicles on my neighbor's gutters.

"But Daddy . . .  I don't want to go home yet!!"

This is how winter is supposed to be!!  : )


Many blessings for a wonderful weekend ~ Wendy

More Snapshots of Chinatown . . .

The "shopportunities" in Chinatown are endless!!  If you're in the mood for food there are fresh seafood markets,  produce markets, bakeries and more EVERYWHERE.

 

I came home with two lbs. of cherries, a bunch of Chinese pears, some delicious mangos and, of course, a bag full of Chinese pastries that my family devoured within a day and a half.  FYI ~ Chinese spongecake is the spongiest cake I've EVER eaten!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

The group of boys I chaperoned are my son, Brendan, Isaac, Tyreke and Nick.  Too cute!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After taking in a few more sights, we all went to lunch and then said goodbye to the kids as they headed for the bus. 

 

Retail therapy time for the moms!!  I bought the pink one!!

 
 

These gorgeous antique teapots make me wish I was a tea drinker!!

Thanks so much for sharing my fun time in Chinatown with me.  I'm looking forward to going back again real soon.  This time without 45 children in tow!!  : )

 Many blessings for a happy Thursday ~ Wendy

B'ball on a Wordless Wednesday . . .

Many blessings for a happy Wednesday ~ Wendy

To Wear or Not to Wear - that is the Question . . .

Remember this from "A Christmas Story" ??? : )


This morning, I dropped Megan off at daycare for a much needed few hours to myself. Jim has been working nights and Meg's schedule has been a little off. She's been taking later naps and, therefore, wanting to stay up later. She's also been getting up in the middle of the night pretty much every night for the last couple of weeks. I feel like I have had zero time to myself to recharge my parental batteries. For me, time to myself equals having more to give of myself to others. Just a couple of hours and I'm good as new.

I ventured to our local mall to find winter coats for Meg and my youngest son, Brendan. I've looked in several stores for a coat for Meg but wasn't able to find anything that wasn't too girly or loaded with patterns and colors. I wasn't concerned about her lack of a coat until a couple of days ago. It's been unseasonably warm here in New York so I've been able to get away with layers under a heavier hooded sweater. Realistically, we go from the warm house to the car to our destination which is usually warm and back again. No biggie. And with Brendan, he doesn't get cold EVER. He'd be perfectly content wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a hat and gloves if it gets REALLY cold. I don't fight him on it. He's always been very healthy and my older boys were (and still are) the same way. I have to admit though, when he came home from school the other day and told me a teacher had asked him if he had a warm coat I kinda sorta got worried that people must think I'm a bad mother because my kid isn't bundled up on the first cold day. I told my friend about this and she told me a story about how one of her friend's sons was the same way with the not wanting to wear a coat thing. She said that a passerby saw her friend's son walking without a coat and assumed that his family couldn't afford one so she went home and grabbed an old coat out of her closet and drove back to look for the boy. She found him and handed the coat to him. On one hand, that is a wonderful story of a random act of kindness. On the other hand, the mother was mortified when her son came home with an old coat given to him by a stranger when he had a new one hanging in the closet collecting dust!!! LOL!!! I thought that was a great story on so many levels!!!

By the way, I did find a coat for both of my kids. A plain pink quilted one for Meggie and a thin but warm one for Brendan. Now I pray that they fit!!


Many blessings for a happy Monday ~ Wendy

Autumn Delights . . .

On a beautiful fall day, a couple of weeks ago, my sister and I and our kids met and took a ride upstate to find a new place to get our pumpkins. We were pressed for time so we settled on a roadside farm stand that met all of our autumnal (I love that word!!) needs.

These beautiful chairs were for sale but, short of tying them to the top of my car, there was no way I was getting them home. Between pumpkins, apples and kids we were packed to the rafters!! : )

They had a cute little area filled with chickens, ducks, roosters and a big ol' Tom Turkey. They are just amazing creatures to look at. Not the prettiest but amazing nonetheless!!

Megan checking out the chickens.

This guy kept getting very close to the highway and made me a nervous wreck!! LOL!!

My niece, Annie.

The cousins made me take a picture of them by the stream that ran alongside the parking lot. I almost broke my neck trying to get up to the top of the hill with clogs on!!

We had a wonderful day, filled with lots of great food and memories. These autumn days go way too fast!! : (


Many blessings for a happy Wednesday ~ Wendy