{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.



If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by SouleMama .


Many blessings for a peaceful and happy weekend (can you believe already!! ) .


~Wendy

Wordless Wednesday . . .

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Boardwalk Memories . . .

We had such a wonderful vacation this year and the kids really loved the boardwalk. We go to one in Wildwood, NJ. There are so many photo ops!!! Next year, I hope to have my new camera lens so I can get some shots of the kids on the rides. Megan will be big enough for some of them and you'll get to see my biggest kid of all ~ my husband!! : )


Many blessings ~ Wendy

Monday Morning Meggie . . .

I took so many photos this summer and am just now getting around to editing them. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites of Megan this morning.

Daddy's girl all the way!!

My beach baby!! She absolutely loved the sand and the water!!

I loved this shot of her in the pool. Those are water drops, not tears. : ) She actually loved the pool. I swear I could bite those lips and I do!!!

This is probably my favorite shot of the summer. Megan is checking out her belly. I laughed so hard!! I found this bikini in Target at the beginning of the summer and couldn't resist!!

Movie star!!!

Love the hair blowing in the sea breeze.

Winning a prize on the boardwalk.


I have so many more photos to share and I'm having fun editing them. Finding the time to do it is another story. : )

Many blessings for a happy and peaceful week ~ Wendy

{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. As inspired by SouleMama.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.



Best of friends playing in the flood waters left by Hurricane Irene.


Many blessings for a safe and peaceful weekend. God bless America.


~ Wendy

{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. Inspired by SouleMama .

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.




We're preparing for Hurricane Irene, here, in New York but wanted to take some time out for some fun. Brendan and our beautiful Fresh Air Fund sponsee, Jakhai, have become instant best friends since Jakhai's arrival on Monday. On Wednesday nite, we met up with several other families who are sponsoring an inner-city child this summer and attended a minor league baseball game at the new stadium that was built in our area. I took lots of photos but this was definitely one of my faves!!

Tomorrow, we'll be making our final preparations for Irene as she should be arriving some time early Sunday. Thank you to my friends for their wonderful words and prayers for our safety. We are hoping for the best but are preparing for the worst. I will be back on the computer as soon as I can be to let everyone know how we fared. : )

Take care and God bless.

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Feeling a little anxiety about the unknown . . .

We returned from a wonderful vacation almost two weeks ago and I have been feeling sorta lazy since then. I think I'm ready for the summer to be over and the school year routines to begin again. I've made an effort to enjoy every day and try to stay in the moment this summer and I think I've done a pretty good job of it. I've taken lots of photos but haven't posted many of them. I still have my beach pics in the camera!! Right now, our focus is on preparing for this possible unwelcomed guest.


This is Hurricane Irene and we live right above the little dot where New York is. The news and weather channels are reporting that we could be experiencing weather unlike any other in an entire generation. We're starting to prepare for Irene today by taking down our backyard tents that we've had up all summer and bringing everything inside so it doesn't blow around. Our basement hasn't had any problems with water, thankfully, so we're hoping it will be okay and we'll be able to go down there if we have to. Our neighbors have decent sized trees in their yards but hopefully they are far enough away to not do extensive damage if they fell. My husband has already been called in to work on Sunday morning for a 6 am to 6 pm shift. He works for Con Ed which is the major electricity and gas supplier to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. We're hoping he can make it back home after his shift is over but it's not looking too promising. Everything is just a big question mark at this time . . .

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Sunday Sayings . . .

Many blessings ~ Wendy

Fun in the Sun . . .

I'll be back in a week!! We're off to Wildwood Crest, NJ!!


Many blessings ~ Wendy

Bitter and Sweet . . .

My son just pulled out of the driveway headed toward Hofstra University where he'll be attending his freshman orientation for the next three days. I feel like I'm in a dream and someone is going to be waking me up any minute and he's going to be the baby in the crib in our bedroom upstairs instead of my daughter. I don't think that anything can prepare a mother for how quickly the time goes from when you first hold your newborn baby to when you watch him drive off to the beginning of his adult life.

Roots have been pretty easy. It's the wings part that I seem to be having a little trouble with. : )


Many blessings ~ Wendy

I'm Sooo Ready for This . . .

We're in the midst of yet another heatwave here in New York. Hazy, hot and humid are three words that I could do without!! Although I'm definitely not ready for the kids to go back to school I am definitely ready for this . . .

and this . . .

and this . . .

and definitely this . . .


Ahhhhh. I'm feeling cooler already!! : )


Many blessings for a happy Saturday ~ Wendy


All photos from Tumblr.

{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.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Inspired by Soulemama.



Many blessings for a happy weekend ~ Wendy

Introducing the Newest Member of Our Family . . .

This is Mr. Bigglesworth. We adopted him from our local animal shelter. He is a year and a half old and was brought to the shelter by someone who kept him as a pet in his dorm room but was unable to keep him when college ended. He was at Hi -Tor (the name of the shelter) for three months before we adopted him.

I first fell in love with Biggles (he came with his name so we shortened it instead of changing it) when I took my cat Rollie to be neutered by the mobile spay and neuter clinic that had come to Hi -Tor. They go by the name of TARA and are an incredibly wonderful and loving group of people who travel around to help control the pet population. When I had gone into the office to write a check for their services and to make a donation there were several cages in there due to the over abundance of cats and kittens that are surrendered this time of the year. I had seen Biggles on Hi - Tor's Facebook page and couldn't wait to see him in person. He was laid back and took everything in as he watched people coming and going. When I bent over to write the check, Mr. Bigglesworth reached his paw thru his cage and touched my butt. LOL!!! Of course, I instantly fell in love with him and wanted to take him home then and there!!

Biggles meeting Rollie for the first time. They're still working on getting along but I know they'll be best of friends in no time.

It wasn't until a month later that I was able to see Biggles again. I kept track of him thru Facebook and saw that he hadn't yet been adopted. It was also during that time that my cat Rosie had passed away. We went back to Hi - Tor to make a donation of towels and pillow cases that they were in need of and there was Biggles still in his cage. I asked one of the shelter volunteers about him and she told me his background story. She also told me that they were starting to worry about him because he was going stir crazy being in the cage a lot. They took him outside on a leash to walk around but he was starting to lose his spunk. Needless to say, my heart hurt for him. My husband told me that he wasn't ready to have another cat again. The rest of the day all I could do was think about Biggles and literally cried when I thought about this beautiful creature being in a cage.

The next morning, my husband woke up and told me he was going to take my son and his friend to drive some golf balls at our local golf course. They were back in less than an hour. Unbeknownst to me, they went back up to the shelter and adopted Biggles and surprised me with him.

He is so loved and is living the high life here with us!! He has a fresh side to him but we're working on that. We call it his "cattitude." : ) He has found his forever home and is being spoiled rotten. Oh, how I wish every animal looking for a home could have a happy ending!! Please adopt a shelter animal and save a life!!


Many blessings ~ Wendy

Creatures Big and Small . . .

While riding bikes at the elementary school behind our house, Brendan and my niece, Annie, came across a baby bunny that couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks old.


He was hopping across the parking lot and the two of them were scared that one of the landscapers cutting the school's lawn would accidentally hurt him.

So they scooped him up and brought him home. They named him "Hope" and found a box in the garage to keep him in. They filled it with grass and rocks and carrots. I found an old hat that I thought would be perfect to use as his nest. I explained to them that he had to go back to the school when the landscapers were finished because he was a wild bunny and needed to be put back in the wild. Needless to say, they weren't exactly thrilled with the idea but understood that it was for the best.

After dinner, Brendan and Annie decided it was time to bring Hope back to where they found him. They decided it would be a good idea to bring him to the playground and wait until we saw another bunny so he wouldn't be alone. After a few minutes of going down the slide with Hope (that poor little thing!!), another rabbit appeared out of the woods. Annie put him down and he quickly hopped over toward the other rabbit and then under a bush where we knew he'd be safe.

During the time that we were on the playground, Brendan's friend Tyler showed up so they seized the moment and played on the swings and then kept a close eye on Hope from the jungle gym. By the way, yes, that is Annie wearing Hope's nest on her head. I warned her that there could be bunny pee in it but she didn't care. What a woman!!! : )

After a while, I told them it was time to go. They were a little upset about leaving Hope but were happy that he had gone into the woods with another rabbit. We got back into the car and took a drive around the lake across from where we live. I could hear them talking about how much they missed Hope.

And then we came across this guy who walked right over to the car looking for a handout and, suddenly, Hope became a distant memory.

Look at that face!!!!!!


Many blessings ~ Wendy

{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.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by Soulemama.


Many blessings for a peaceful and wonderful weekend.

~ Wendy

Watching the Parade Go By . . .

This year, Jim had to work on July 4th. Rather then sit home by ourselves, Brendan, Megan and I took a ride up to my sister's house to spend the day with her and my niece and nephew. My sister lives in a town called Cornwall-on-Hudson. It is the epitome of Smalltown, USA. At 5:00 we walked down the hill to see the parade that the town has every year. There were droves of people coming out of nowhere to see this parade and it gave me such a good feeling to see that patriotism is still very much alive.

Megan watching the parade go by. She loved the music and clapped when the bands came marching by. She hated the fire trucks when they blared their sirens and I had to hold her ears. The other kids were celebrating "Independence Day" by sitting on the other side of the road. : )

This is Grandma Doris. She and her family own Jones Farm which is the most wonderful place to visit if you're ever in Cornwall. There's a gift shop, a bakery filled with all of Grandma Doris' homemade goodies, apples and pumpkins in the fall and a barn with chickens, a miniature pony and donkey and a pig. We love to visit there whenever we can. FYI ~ her snickerdoodles are TO DIE FOR!!! Oh, and the carrot cake is the most sinfully delicious dessert you have ever tried. EVER!!!!

Megan wanting to share her lolli with the people watching the parade next to us.

A fun time was had by all but, by the end, Miss Meggie was ready for a nap. Pink eyes and her thumb in her mouth are a dead giveaway. I guess all that excitement wore her out!!

We look forward to next year's parade and I told my sister that I want to make it a new tradition. I love this country that we live in. Sometimes, I get discouraged and wonder how future generations are going to clean up this mess that our government has created. But then I spend a few hours in Smalltown, USA and know that there is still so much more good in this country than bad.

God bless America!!


Many blessings ~ Wendy