Oh Christmas Tree....

When we were first married, Norm & I would always buy a real Christmas tree...that's what Norm grew up with & so that's what we began doing. But at some point when our kids were small we made the shift to the "dreaded" artificial tree. I know, I know...for you die hard "real trees only" people, this is a cardinal sin. But for a busy mom who had enough of real trees that fell over or lost needles too soon, not to mention the needles we were STILL finding stuck in the rug in July, we made the big leap to the artificial. Plus, the cost for the real ones just got plain ridiculous! Many people thought our tree was real it was so well made. So, what is the goal anyway? When you buy a really nice real tree people say "its so perfect it looks artificial", and if you buy a really nice artificial one, they'll say, "it looks so real"! You can't win...or lose!! And honestly, how long does the pine scent last anyway (and personally I've never really been a fan. I've never even used Pine Sol baby). When we lived in our house on Eastbrooke Place, our family room ceiling was so high that buying a decent real tree big enough would have used our Christmas budget! After moving to our new apartment, that first Christmas brought the reality that our beautiful artificial tree was just not going to fit. So, we've made the leap back. And, a few years ago we thought it would be fun, since now our kids were a little older, to cut down our tree ourselves. The cost is not too bad & it really has been a fun experience. As you can see by the look on my family's faces here.... Hahaha....

Anyway, its become our yearly tradition now that on Thanksgiving weekend, before the craziness of Christmas is upon us, to go as a family & cut down our tree. It was awesome this year to have Alex join us. I just HAD to take some pictures so he could show his Florida friends what crazy northerners do on a Saturday afternoon in 30 degree weather!

So, the tree is up, the house is decorated. Yeah, we only have about 5 Christmas gifts bought, but oh well...it'll all get done eventually. The gifts, the wrapping, the baking, the egg nog...yeah, I said it! The tree is always the beginning...so bring it on! Let the games begin!

Let me share a few more shots of our adventure in Clarence, New York (voted #34 out of 50 best small towns in the country to live, by the way).



Enjoy your holiday season my friends! And enjoy your tree, real or otherwise. No tree snobbery here!!

Surprise, Surprise!!

Well, as if I didn't have enough to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, I was blessed by the surprise homecoming of my son! We were in shock, since he very sneakily planned his homecoming with family members, all designed to surprise me and his dad. He showed up at my mother's home just as we were sitting down to our Thanksgiving dinner. Talk about having something to be grateful for! I wish I would have a picture of mine & Norm's faces! Shock & tears would cover it I'd say... How wonderful to have him back under our roof! So he grabbed a lovely, home-cooked turkey dinner compliments of Grandma, a shower, a quick nap, some time with his family, and then off to be with friends. Ahhh...life as usual! It's a beautiful thing.... Thank you Jesus!!

Miracles and Thankfulness...

We are quickly approaching my favorite holiday of the year. Thanksgiving. I love this holiday because of its simplicity & for the sheer idea that its a day set aside to gather with those we love and just...be....grateful. I definitely think that this is a lost art in our society...the idea of being thankful for what we have. I know that there are others who have much more materially than I do, but I am sincerely grateful for the gifts I do have. My beautiful & healthy family, our cozy home, and friends & family to share the good & not so good times of our lives. Despite the challenges Norm & I have faced over the last few years, I am determined to be grateful to God for how He's brought us through & how beautifully He has provided for us. I have some friends who are going through a particularly difficult time in their lives. They are struggling to stay afloat financially as well as trying to discover what God's plans are for their lives. They are an inspiration to me. I know that they have their difficult moments, I've been privileged to have them share honestly the enormous weight of their situation. But they inspire because they are always grateful for whatever God blesses them with. One of the things that she always says is that each week, God brings them a miracle. Whether its an anonymous gift card to Wegman's, a word of encouragement or an unexpected job that will help pay for that bill they weren't sure how they would pay. She is in constant awe as to how God continually brings blessings their way. They have learned to trust & are building their faith in His provision each time that miracle comes their way. I think God sends all of us miracles, I just wonder how often we actually perceive them as such. Are we more likely to look upon that job, that clean bill of health, the food in our refrigerator, that paid bill, that respectful teen, that obedient child as merely an everyday event? Do we overlook the everyday miracles in our lives? On a couple of occasions I was able to bless on this family & she referred to ME as the miracle. I really don't think that I am, but I'm open to the idea that God would use me for His purposes and am grateful for it. I remember feeling like, "man, she gets a miracle every week??!! I would like that." Then I realized that if I paid close attention to His gifts, I'd see that I do receive miracles all the time. I also thought that in the moment when God prompts me to reach out to a friend in need, I think I'd rather BE the miracle than RECEIVE one. Either way, its awesome to know that God is working in our lives, giving us just what we need, or using us to show love to another. So, this Thanksgiving, I will be grateful to Him for how He blesses me and my family. But, I will also be thanking Him for the chance to be that miracle to someone in need, knowing that's how He shows His true love to us and how we should do likewise.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my
beautiful friends & family!
I Love You All!!!

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." Colossians 3:15

Love Them Like My Own...

Its a beautiful thing when children enter your life. Sometimes God blesses you with children of your own, sometimes you are blessed to have nieces/nephews, sometimes they are the children of friends. Although I know that babies are a thing of my past, God has seen fit to bless "Uncle Norm & Aunt Sandy" with some pretty awesome little ones! Here are some of their beautiful faces...

My beautiful niece Sophia (dressed here like a pink poodle!)












Elijah, Sydney & Morgan
(cowboy, zebra & Miss America!)














A closer shot of Elijah the cowboy!












Zackary (& his new Mommy Deidra!)















Adorable Cammy (as Dora!)












New baby Aidan (dressed as Tigger!)












My nephew Jake (with Uncle Norm at the Fair)

These children are all so incredibly special & I love them all!

"What children take from us, they give....We become people who feel more deeply, question more deeply, hurt more deeply and love more deeply." Sonia Taitz

How He Teaches Me...

I can honestly say that I have learned more about God & how He loves me through my own children, than in any other way. I can often hear Him whisper to me as I correct a stubborn child or when my heart breaks for them. I can so see how He loves us, so unconditionally, as a parent loves their child. I recently had a conversation with someone who had been babysitting a friend's baby. As this child slept in her arms, all she could think of was the awesome potential of this beautiful little girl & what amazing things might be in her future. At this point in their life, the sky's the limit! The potential is endless & you can't even imagine anything in their world that would not be beautiful & perfect. As I listened to my friend, I thought back to the many times that things didn't go the way I had hoped in the life of one of my children. You see them struggle & want so much to jump in & make everything all better, but you know you cannot. They learn through their struggles, through their mistakes. I can only offer loving arms to wrap around them and an ear to listen. You think back to that baby & all their potential, and wonder how you ever got to this place. My children are no different than me. Than any of you. Who of us hasn't struggled? Who of us hasn't fallen, stumbled or made mistakes. I know that it breaks my mother's heart because I only want good things in their lives. But no matter how many mistakes they may make, I in no way love them any less. I can just imagine God standing back watching me fail, sometimes time & time again, and I can imagine His father's heart breaking...for me. But I also know that no matter what, He promises to "never leave me nor forsake me". I know that because of His Son, I don't have to be perfect in order to earn His love for me. My children don't have to earn my love for them either. I love them simply because they are mine, gifts given to me by my Father. Holding them as infants it would never occur to me to think that I would only love them if they didn't screw up! Thankfully, we too have a Father who doesn't stop loving us when we screw up! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will always love me, just as I know I will always love my children. Unearned, unconditional, unending.

The Beauty of the Barter...

Okay, it is totally NOT my style to show many pictures of myself. Today, however, I'm going to show off just a tiny bit. Well, to be honest, I'm not showing off myself as much as the gifted talent of my friend Meredith. While her husband was away bow hunting this weekend, Meredith graciously agreed to cut & color my overgrown mess of hair in her home. I had priced out the salon I've been going to for years and just couldn't afford it since neither my son nor I work there anymore (working there = significant discounts). Meredith is an extremely gifted hair stylist who works in a very lovely, exclusive salon that I also cannot afford. She & I got to talking the other day and came up with an excellent way to bless each other. Here's what she did for me...










Yeah, my friend added some beautiful highlights & cut about 6 inches off my hair! Happy day! It really was driving me crazy. And what does she get out of it you ask? On Thursday of this week, I am going to clean her entire home. Yes, that is my current mode of employment & one that a woman heading into her 3rd trimester seemed all too happy to accept. She thinks she got the better end of the deal. Looking at these pictures, I beg to differ. She has got talent! I just have a love of cleanliness & order. But, if it makes her & Erik happy, then I will have done my job.

Can I tell you that I LOVE the barter system??!! I have always thought that this is the way to go. Especially for those of us who are a little financially challenged. Like Cliff works on my son's car, I cook him & his family a meal or babysit their boy. It all works out in the end, each side usually feeling like they got the better end of the deal. In a perfect world, we could all make use of the barter system, since I'm pretty sure God gave us all gifts, or at least like in my case, abilities, that others can make use of. I guess it could get tricky when you're say a surgeon, a garbage collector or maybe a mime... But, hey, on a personal level, its working pretty well in my world.

And not only did Meredith send me home with stylish new hair, complete with covered up roots, she gave me a 1/2 dozen homemade cookies! She's the best... Thank you Meredith!!! I love you!

(And thank you Cliff!!!)

Good Cop/Bad Cop...

Say you're driving along & you see a cop, maybe tucked behind a tree or in the u-turn lane of the 290, what do you automatically do?? C'mon, you know...you look down at your speedometer, right? I saw a cop car the other day and did that very thing. In that brief moment, I felt annoyed by his presence. It seems to me that all they do all day long is drive around trying to bust innocent speeding drivers going about their business. Sometimes we don't even THINK about how fast we're going until we see a cop.

So, I got to thinking that don't we sometimes view God this way? Like, we just go about our business, at full speed usually, and don't really think much about Him. Until...yeah, until, we need Him or when we mess up. Contrary to some beliefs, God doesn't just sit around waiting for us to screw up so He can wield lightening bolts at us. While we're expected to live our life as free from sin as possible, He knows our human weakness & is full of mercy. He is our Father who loves & cares for us...rescues us when we are in need.

Let us not forget that this same cop who works hard to keep us all in line, also keeps us safe, day in & day out. This same cop may work at getting a drug dealer off the street or pull over the drunk driver before he kills someone, or generally makes our quiet neighborhoods safe. He even puts his own life on the line...each day...for us. Does that sound like someone we know? We may not want to be reminded that we're doing things we shouldn't be doing (aka sinning), but oh how we cry out to God when we're in trouble. We don't like the cop forcing us to slow down, or heaven forbid, have him pull us over...but we sure would be quick to dial up 911 if someone was breaking into our home. Guess we can't have it both ways, can we? We can't call out to God in times of need, but ignore His presence in our lives the rest of the time. That cop is just doing his job, and if we just follow the rules, we'll never feel the pain of his lights flashing in our rear view mirror.