My Red-Headed Lifeguard . . .

Trevor has had a whirlwind of activity in his life these last couple of weeks.  He's had his Senior Prom, followed by a few days at the beach with a house full of his friends (32 of them to be exact!!) and has been taking a Lifeguard Certification course in between.

This past Saturday, we drove to Bear Mountain State Park at 7:30 in the morning for him to take his state exam that would've enabled him to lifeguard at one of our state parks.  This was definitely poor planning on our part.  The second half of his lifeguard certification class where he learned CPR wasn't until Sunday (the day after the state test) which meant he wasn't schooled in CPR yet.  When I signed Trevor up for the test I had mentioned this to them and they said it was okay if he just knew the basics.  We went over it with him and he had a good basic knowledge of what he needed to do but it just wasn't enough to pass the test.  That, coupled with the fact that he had very little sleep the three days prior to the test just didn't make a good combination for passing the swimming part of the test. 

There were kids there that looked to be in top physical shape that didn't even finish the swimming part of the exam because of how difficult it was.  I told Trevor how proud of him I was for completing the swimming (he failed the time requirement to swim 7 lengths of the pool by ten seconds) and that next year, if he chooses to take the exam again, he'll know what to expect and how to prepare for it. 

The lifeguard chair reflected in the pool.

It was an absolutely beautiful day although it was only 62 degrees and the pool water was freezing!!

This turkey vulture watched over the pool as the exam took place.  Trevor told me the kids were joking around saying it was waiting to see who didn't know how to swim!!  : )

On Sunday, Trevor completed his lifeguard certification course and I'm proud to say he passed everything with flying colors!!!  He's now trained in CPR, basic first aid and water rescue.  Best of all, he had an interview with a local summer day camp yesterday and they called him last night to tell him he got the job!!!!  WOOHOO!!!  So much to be grateful for!!  Next stop . . .  GRADUATION!!!!  : )


Many blessings for a very happy Tuesday ~ 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 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.

{this moment} On Follow Me Friday . . .

{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.

Thank you, SouleMama, for this wonderful idea. Please go visit her incredible blog to catch a glimpse of the Soule family's newest addition. She is so beautiful and you'll fall in love at first sight.

Many blessings ~ Wendy

A Wonderful Mothers' Day in Pictures . . .

We had a wonderful Mothers' Day around here. It was filled with lots of food, family and fun and my mother was thrilled she got to spend it with all eight of her grandchildren!!





My mother and Megan in the Sailor outfit she bought for her.





Jim trying to keep my niece, Annie, from eating her fourth brownie.







Brendan and Annie relaxing on Nana's patio.





Trevor playing wall ball in Nana's house. Don't tell her!!




The best carrot cake you ever tasted!! I'm not kidding!!!!




First cantaloupe of the season and it was dee-lish!!!!!




Megan practicing her yoga poses.




Jim and my nephew, Tristan.




A rare photo of my son, Connor. I have to sneek pics of him and then I take a rash of you-know-what for taking them!! : )



My niece, Taylor, and nephew, Danny hanging on Nana's patio.

Girl power!!!

Daddy got his baby girl dressed so Mommy could put on some much needed make-up. We were up late the nite before on a date nite in Manhattan to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. I'll tell you about that next time. It was phenomenal!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers' Day!!

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Bundling up for Fall Ball . . .

Trevor is our baseball player. He's been playing since he was five and never lost his love for it. He's currently playing Fall Ball. Fall Ball starts in September and runs thru the end of October. You start off going to the games in shorts and t-shirts but soon have to start bundling up for the nite games.



Here are Brendan and Meggie all bundled up for a game.



The cold doesn't seem to bother Brendan.



And Meggie is content anywhere as long as she's in her Daddy's arms.

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Random Summer Photos . . .

It's so hard to believe that summer vacation is almost over around here!! Nine more days and it's back to school for the boys. Connor is going to be a senior, Trevor is going to be a freshman and Brendan will be a big third grader. Soon it will be just Megan and Mommy on the days that her Daddy is working. We had lots of visitors this summer to see Meggie and lots of sleepovers with the cousins. I took a lot of pictures so I thought I'd share some this week.

My niece Annie and Brendan are a month apart and looked like twins when they were babies. Both with big brown eyes!! They are pictured above.

Below are the four cousins after a sleepover.

Tristan is my nephew. He and Megan have a mutual love for each other. It's the sweetest thing!!

Cousin Andre and Aunt Michelle

Cousin Jason with a "mohawk" compliments of Trev. I wish this pic was clearer!!
Jason is Aunt Michelle's other little man. He'll be a year old in a couple of weeks. So hard to believe!!

Trevor's friends spent a lot of time here this summer swimming in the pool, hanging out with Meggie and making me laugh. The picture above is of Trev, Dylan and Joe after we sang "Happy Birthday" to Trevor. These guys are fun to be around and are a great group of kids. They all start high school next week. I can't believe it!!!!!


Can you tell this was taken very early in the morning?!!? I call these my husband's "sleep sexy eyes." Is that TMI?!!?


Tomorrow I think I'll share some beach photos. Have a wonderful and peaceful day!!





Many blessings ~ Wendy

A Whirlwind of Activity and Lazy Days Too . . .

It's so hard to believe that it's been a month since I posted last. I'm turning into one of those bloggers that I don't like very much. I have certain blogs that I love to read and, when they don't post or God forbid go more than a week without a new post, I lose interest or become obsessed with when they're finally going to be back. Obsessed might be a bit too strong of a word but you know what I mean. :)

Here are a few pics of what we've been up to since the last couple of weeks of school.

Brendan was a praying mantis in an adorable play that was written and performed by his class. His friend, Tristan, played an army ant. All of the costumes were made by parents of the students. Lots of creative people!!

The end of flag football season. It was Brendan's first year playing and he did a great job. He's like his mother and doesn't do well in the heat but he hung in there like a trooper!!

I could never understand why sports jerseys come in black for summer sports. I'm sure if women were in charge of this they would come in lighter, less sun-absorbent colors. Don't you agree?

We had a graduation from middle school to high school. It was a tough year for Trevor so we're very happy it's over. :)

Trevor and his very proud Pap.

Now two out of three grandsons are taller than their Pap!!

Trevor and his very proud parents!!

We look a little worse for wear due to being in an auditorium without air conditioning (except for the bathrooms!!) and it was 90 degrees and humid the day of graduation. My poor husband came straight from work and wasn't able to change so he was drenched by the time the ceremony was over. UGGHH!!

Our oldest son graduated from Fire Training School and is now officially a firefighter. He didn't attend his graduation from the class so I don't have any pics to show but he did get his name in the local newspaper so we have that as a memento. He is also now a senior in high school. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I remember his first day of pre-school and now he's going to be graduating next year. The day of our baby shower for Megan was the day that Connor left to fly to North Carolina to look at colleges. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!!

Which brings me to a couple more pictures . . .

Miss Meggie is now almost 8 weeks old!!! She is smiling and starting to coo and is such a sweet baby. She makes the sweetest sounds when she's sleeping on her Mommy and Daddy's shoulder. I feel like I'm constantly holding her but I can't help myself!!

This is one of my favorite pictures of her.

I have to admit that I'm really enjoying dressing a little girl!!

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Megan at Three Weeks . . .

It's hard to believe that Megan is three weeks old already yet it's hard to remember life without her after JUST three weeks. We've taken lots of pictures but they all seemed to be of her sleeping!! :)










She's even been sleeping four to five hours at a time at nite. Being older this time around I am certainly welcoming those precious hours of sleep. My husband has also been helping out in the morning getting the boys up and out for school when he can. This has been a tremendous help in keeping my fatigue to a minimum.


I am one of those people that doesn't function well on little sleep and I have found that to be the hardest part of having a new baby. So far, so good. : )

We've all been adjusting well to the new member of the family and everyone has been pitching in to help take care of her.







Megan with Trevor and big cousin Andre.







We even got Trevor to change a diaper!!




I can honestly say that I never thought I'd have a daughter. I want to save the story of how Megan came to be for a future blog post. It truly is a gift from God for her to be here and I fall in love with her more and more each day.




Many blessings ~ Wendy