Friday Already . . .

It's been a whirlwind of a week around here for sure!!  We bought our Christmas tree last weekend but have been too busy to do more then just set it up in its stand.  I did, however, find time to decorate the mantel this week and we had our first fire in our new house.

Tonight is a quiet night of staying in and decorating the tree and dining on some of the many leftovers in the refrigerator.  Tomorrow night we're going out to dinner to celebrate our son Brendan's birthday.  He will officially be 14 at 10:29 tonight.  So hard to believe.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  My water broke while attending our middle son's winter concert at his school.  Without going into great detail, I had a heck of a bag of water.  Lol!!!

Brendan is my third born son.  He is my old soul.  He is my voracious reader.  He makes me laugh constantly.  He is a loyal friend and a wonderful brother and I am so very proud to be his mom.  : )

Brendan, age 3.

Tomorrow I'll be volunteering my photography skills for our local animal shelter.  I've taken photos for them in the past and this year they've asked me to be their photographer for their "Santa Paws is Coming to Town" fundraiser.  I get to take photos of people's pets sitting on Santa's lap!!!  I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be doing this!!!  I'll let you know how it goes.  : )



Many blessings for a happy and peaceful weekend ~ Wendy

"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.

. . . . . . . . . .

Many blessings for a beautiful weekend.  We're expecting a snow storm here in New York tomorrow.  Now that we finally have our tree, I'm looking forward to decorating it while there's snow falling outside!!  : )


~ Wendy

Our Weekend . . .

 This weekend we spent lots of time with family and friends.  On Saturday night, after Brendan's basketball game, we visited with our friends Dave and Cathy.  We met them a couple of years ago when we became a host family for the Fresh Air Fund.  Dave is the coordinator for the families in the county we live in.  He and Cathy are two of the warmest, most wonderful people you could meet and we feel so blessed to have them in our lives.
 

Dave and Cathy with Megan. 

Their Christmas tree looks like it belongs in a department store window!!

Cathy has lots of adorable little Christmas touches all throughout the house including the stocking above with the three little handmade mice.

Brendan keeping the bench warm with two of his team mates that were injured from last week's game. 

I also started my 7th (can't believe I'm even typing that!!) month of a Photo-a-day Challenge that I found on Fatmumslim's blog back in June.  If you love to take photos and to look at the photos of others this is the perfect challenge for you!!  There are amateurs right on up to professionals that participate and it really has been so much fun.  I've never stuck with a challenge this long before so you know it must be a good one!!  : )  If you'd like to check out any of my photos, you can find them on Flickr.  My user name is wendy0112. 

I used this photo of Buddha in my garden for December 2nd's photo.

 And to top off our weekend, we had two of our neighborhood girls knock on our door to sing Christmas carols for us.  They were so brave to do this and they did a wonderful job, too!!!  : )
 

And very stylish too, I might add!!!!!  : )

Many blessings for a happy day ~ Wendy

{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.




Many blessings for a beautiful and peaceful Christmas ~ Wendy

Searching for the Perfect Christmas Tree . . .

On Thursday nite we were faced with a dilemma. Do we get a tree first so Brendan could be a part of our search but then he'd miss going out to dinner afterwards due to basketball practice or do we eat first and then drop him off at practice and then go for a tree without him. OR . . . do we go out to dinner, drop him off at b'ball and wait until after school the next day to go for a tree?? We left it up to him. He chose to go to dinner and let us decide on the tree. I was a little sad that tradition was being broken but he was adamant that it was okay with him. I wanted to tell you that little story so you would know why he's not in any of the pics. : )



I really wanted one of those trees that looks like a giant Charlie Brown tree with the thinned out branches but we couldn't find anyone that sells them. My Grandmother had one every year and I absolutely loved it. We're bound and determined to cut our own tree next year so I'll have to do some research into who has them.


These two have a very special bond. It makes me smile. : )



Some beautiful handmade wreaths.





This looks like it could be the one!!



Unfortunately, the vintage Santa wasn't for sale. : (



Thank you for the snowman, Mr. Christmas Tree Man!!




I had to get a shot of the 1969 trailer that the tree salesmen used to bring some of their goods from Canada to New York. All it needs is a woman's touch and it would be perfect!!



Many blessings for a happy Tuesday ~ Wendy

Finally . . .

Finally, we brought home this year's Christmas tree. We were supposed to go a week ago but my man got held up at work and then hit lots of traffic coming home from the city. Then, we were supposed to go one day this past week and the weather didn't cooperate. Right now, it's leaned up against the garage door until we're ready to place it in its stand. Hopefully, tomorrow or Wednesday. We've rearranged the living room since last year so we're going to put it in a different spot but I think it will look nice when it's up and decorated.




Every year, we purchase our tree from a local volunteer fire company. My grandfather was a member there, my father was a member there, my first husband was a member there and now son number one is a member there. They receive a huge shipment of trees the day after Thanksgiving every year and, each year, they are gorgeous. One year, we even found a bird nest in our tree. We didn't notice it was there until after we got it home and in the stand and the branches started to drop. What a wonderful surprise that was!! : )








This year, my father in law came with us for his tree. He wasn't going to put one up this year because it's been a very difficult time for him with my mother in law in a nursing home. I talked to him a little bit about it and suggested he just get a small one so that my brother in law will see it when he comes home from his group home for the holidays.








I'm not sure if I have mentioned it before but my first husband's only sibling is his brother, Thomas. Tom will be 39 in May and is mentally retarded due to a seizure disorder that began when he was very young. Since he was placed in the group home about four years ago he has flourished. He is only a mile from us and three miles from my father in law which is wonderful.


This picture of Tom was taken on Thanksgiving.


My mother in law collects angels and every year she would decorate their tree with over 100 angel ornaments. I know it's going to be difficult for my father in law but he and I both think it's best if he keeps things as close to normal as possible for Tom this Christmas. I'm glad he decided to get a tree. Son number one is helping him stand it in their house as I type this. That was something that my first husband did for them every year. Now, Connor carries on the tradition. That just brought tears to my eyes as I typed it. We will always have our old memories but it's the new ones that so many people need to focus on this time of the year. Otherwise, it becomes just too overwhelming.


































Many blessings ~ Wendy