My Little Ballerina Girl . . .

For the last couple of months, Megan has been taking a ballet class every Tuesday afternoon.  For an hour, she and the other little three old ballerinas get lost in the land of sparkly tutus and magic wands. 

Practicing ballet on the driveway before class in her sparkly new shoes. 

Oh how I love that belly!!!!  : )

Oh how I want to bite those thighs!!!!!!  : )

 Her teacher is Mrs. Cohen and, I'm proud to say, Mrs. Cohen was my ballet teacher as well back in the 1970's.  Crazy but true!!  : )  The little studio (that seemed so much bigger when I was a student there!!) has not changed one bit.  The same photos are on the walls and many of the same costumes are still being worn today.  Megan is not the only one that looks forward to visiting Mrs. Cohen on Tuesdays.  I swear I become seven years old again every time I walk thru that door!!  : )

Next week we finally get to watch when the girls have their little recital to celebrate the end of classes.  Mrs. Cohen told me that Meggie only wants to wear her costume for about five minutes and then she takes it off.  We're definitely going to have to work on that!! 


Many blessings for a beautiful Thursday ~ 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 ~ Wendy

'twas not to be on a mostly "Wordless Wednesday" . . .

This past Sunday morning, I got up bright and early (not too hard to do when you've just gained an hour thanks to "falling back"!!),  threw on my sweater and scarf over my jammies, grabbed my camera and drove down to Memorial Park in downtown Nyack to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse.  Unfortunately, there was too much cloud coverage for it to be seen but I was able to take a few other photos of the sights and sounds of the early morning.

 Memorial Park is nestled along the banks of the Hudson River.  It's a popular spot in the warmer weather but was very quiet at 6:30 on a blustery Sunday morning.  : )

The ever-present seagulls were waiting for their next meal and were disappointed to learn it wasn't going to come from me!!  : )  The beautiful foliage in the background is on the Westchester side of the river.  Even though it's past peak at this point, it's still so beautiful.

Some houses along the river. 

A blustery autumn sky.

These "luxury" townhouses were built in the early 1990's (if I remember correctly).  There were lots of unhappy people when they were first built.  Definitely didn't fit in with the small-town feel of the rest of the village of Nyack. 

 At the very end of the time frame for the eclipse, I did manage to catch a glimpse of the sun when the clouds broke just a little bit.  What a tease that Mother Nature can be sometimes!!!  Oh well . . .  maybe next time!!


Many blessings for a beautiful Wednesday ~ Wendy

Trick or Treating at Last . . .

 For the last two years, Halloween was basically a bust here in the northeast.  Two years ago we had a freak snowstorm and last year we had a little something called Hurricane Sandy.  CRAZY!!!  And three years ago, Megan slept thru Halloween.

Halloween 2010.

  This year, we were bound and determined to get out there and finally TRICK OR TREAT!!!

Megan and her friend, Sophie.

We met at Megan's daycare provider's house and all the little friends walked around together.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends that we've met thru daycare.  The kids all get along beautifully and so do the parents.  : )

Cybele and her beautiful Mama, Ophie.

The coolest costume of the night went to Louisa!!

Baby James trick or treating for the very first time!!

My pretty princess!!

Sophie (who we just found out on Halloween is going to be a BIG sister!!!).

A face in the window!!

The three amigas!!

Cybele digging into her loot!!

I just loved this house!!!!!!

I also chaired the middle school's Halloween Social this year.  We had more than 150 kids sign up and most of them actually wore costumes!!  : )  We raised just shy of $1000.00 for the PTA!!  It was a lot of work but so wonderful to see as it all came together. 

Brendan participating in the donut-eating contest which, needless to say, was a huge hit!!!

Brendan and his buddy, Liam, at the Halloween Social.  I love this photo!!

 Megan is already talking about what she wants to be next year.  I think she caught the Halloween bug that her Mama has!!!  So glad Mother Nature took a nap this year!!  : )


Many blessings for a beautiful Monday and a wonderful week ~ Wendy

A Season of Change . . .

This weekend we moved my mother into her new little cottage in the woods.  When I first saw where it was located, I felt a little nervous that she and her two dogs would be too isolated from other people compared to where she was moving from.   She does have neighbors but they're all spread out on a dirt road except for the ones that are across and down a little hill from her.  I made her promise that she'd carry her phone with her at all times in case she ever fell or had a medical emergency.  She's only in her 60's but has had several serious medical issues this last year.  She's fine now but you just never know.

 On Sunday, Megan, Brendan, Jakhai (our "adopted" Fresh Air Fund son who stayed the long weekend with us) and two of Brendan's friends all piled into the car and took a road trip with me back to Nana's new house.  While the kids explored the more than 30 acres that my mother's cottage is situated on, my sister and I helped her start to get some sense of organization out of the ton of stuff we had all moved the day before.  Just a little side note here . . .  please don't leave a legacy of clutter for your children to have to deal with when you are gone.  This really lit a fire under my butt to start to purge!!!  : )

 By the time we left late Sunday afternoon I, too, had fallen in love with her new home and everything about it.  The kids were able to take photos of a family of deer and even a video of a small coyote that was running around.  I didn't see a coyote in the wild until I was in my 30's!!!  : )  The thought of sitting in her living room on a snowy day, hunkering down with a fire in the fireplace makes me smile.  It's the perfect escape from all of the craziness in this world.  But I still made her promise to keep her phone with her at all times!!  : )

 Many blessings for a peaceful and beautiful Tuesday ~ Wendy




*All of the photos were taken during our recent pumpkin picking adventure in Warwick NY with the exception of the little scarecrow.  He's sitting happily on my mother's front porch in a mum plant!!  : )

Fun Down on the Farm . . .

 Last weekend, Megan and I and two of our favorite families took a ride to a pretty little town in upstate New York called Warwick and visited Wright's Farm for the day.  It's a magical little place for young and old alike that suits all of your basic autumnal needs.  : )

Hamming it up for the camera!!

Meg's BFF Cybele.

Sophie, Megan and Cybele.

 After feeding the barnyard animals, the kids each went on a pony ride.  Megan fell in love with horses this week.  Last week at the Shriner's Circus she wasn't so sure about staying on the horse and this week she cried because she didn't want to get off of the horse!!  : )

Cybele's turn!!

A hint of things to come!!!

Meggie's friend Frazier running thru the arch that must be gorgeous in the spring.

 After getting lost in the corn maze and taking a few shortcuts (wink, wink!!) we jumped on the tractor ride and drove to the pumpkin patch where the kids each got to pick out a pumpkin or two or three. 

 Lots of great memories were made and the kids are still talking about our wonderful day!!  I have lots more photos to share next time!!


 Many blessings for a beautiful Saturday and a wonderful weekend ~ Wendy