It is still Christmas and Good News!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and are still enjoying the spirit and love of the season. I notice a lot of people are taking down their trees and ending the holiday, but did you know that Christmas is not over? 

In the Catholic church, Christmas is still celebrated. From the Epiphany, when the Magi found baby Jesus to the baptism of Jesus, which closes the season. I never knew that or maybe I forgot, but I have always kept my decorations up through the month of January, so I celebrated, without even knowing it. So, if you love the warmth and feeling that your decorations bring to your home, enjoy them and keep them up for a few weeks longer. 

I have always felt that let down after Christmas and now I feel a renewed joy with the special masses each week. Next week we will have a special concert after mass with the children depicting the events of the nativity. Whether you are catholic, christian, or any religion or belief, why not keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts, just a bit longer and continue to feel the joy that we get leading up to Christmas, maybe even start your own, new tradition with your family.

This is our church, I love how it is decorated in natural greenery, along with the poinsettias and creche. The church has been a source of strength for us since we lost Danielle and I only wished it hadn’t taken her death to lead us back. The photo is a panorama so it looks a bit distorted.

Saturday was family day, we had Nicholas for the day and since it was nice out, we took a ride to the ocean and enjoyed a picnic at the beach. Grandpa and Nick enjoyed watching the ferry, as Nick ate his lunch.

After lunch, we walked a little on the beach. It was nice and sunny, but the breeze was a bit cool. Nick loved walking in the sand and exploring the items that get washed up with the tide.

I love how he starts getting more independent when we take him places. I am blessed to be able to spend time with him and share our love of nature with him. 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and would love to hear what new things you will be making this year. I have new ideas and will be creating again, so who knows what I will create next.

And the good news? If everything goes well, Nicholas will be a big brother, so something to look forward to in May, a new addition to the family.

              

Weekend Wanderings!

After Friday's paddle, I crashed, that was a bit too much with the sun and paddling against the winds so we decided to do something fun without over doing it. 

Since we never get to the beach during the summer, except in our boats, we decided to go to the ocean and play in the waves. This beach is in Point Judith and the nice thing about it is, it is shallow, so you can walk out and play in the waves without dropping off.

The air was cooler at the ocean but the water was warm.

Going out to play in the waves.

Sunday I was still tired so I decided it was a good day to go to Mystic Aquarium. I haven't been since the kids were little and they had a lot of new things since we were there. We got a senior membership, so for the cost of two visits, we can go anytime for a year and bring Nick along for free, so looking forward to taking him.

They had a lot of beautiful sea displays inside, but it is hard to get good shots through dirty, scratched glass;) I think Jelly Fish are beautiful as long as they are not swimming in the ocean with me.

Not sure what these guys were, but they just looked funny and just sat in their little crate house.

Rock Fish hides with his surroundings. I was taking a photo and Bill was asking, where is it, lol.

I took a lot of photos but most were blurry or washed out from the sun, so next time I will try and go during a cloudy day or later during the day. I did take some video of the beluga whales, they put on a show for me and even made whale cries, but I cannot remember how to convert it for iTunes.

A new exhibit is the Titanic exhibit. There are a lot of fun interactive areas to enjoy and inside some of the rooms, you really feel like you are down in the deeps. Bill and I had fun being goofy on the bow of the titanic, but I forgot she was leaning forward, and posed wrong;)

To end the day, we went to another ocean beach. It was a beautiful day to go and not too crowded. This is East Beach in Charlestown, RI.

This beach was cold and deep, so I decided to sit in my chair and enjoy the views, perfect way to end the day. Now it is time for me to get back to a routine. Today I spent half the day cooking up things from the garden and the other half cleaning, so time for me to relax for the night and tomorrow I can get back to my sewing projects.

Speaking of sewing, I found a wonderful tutorial today. If you would like to make a fun and beautiful halloween bag, check out Christina's tote tutorial at Sometimes Crafter.

What was it giveaway winner!

I admit, I knew what it was, but not what type. So I looked it up and found out it is just a juvenile seagull, simple as that, lol. He had beautiful markings though and a nice wing span.

This is what he will grow up to look like. Though this guy looks a bit rough around the edges.

I used the number generator and number 9 is the winner, Carol of Firecracker Kid Primitives!
Carol, email me with your choice of an epattern or booklet. I also noticed I am close to 400 followers, guess it is almost time for a follower giveaway, so once I hit 400, I will be hosting a giveaway.

Have you made anything new for fall or Halloween? Check out This-n-That's fabric blog, they are having a contest, so check it out and get your entry in.

On Sunday it was so nice, we decide to keep driving and go to the breakers and lighthouse at Judith Point. It was a lot more crowded, and the road is narrower with all the storms, but with a jeep we were able to find a spot in the back lot.

We climbed up a hill that has beautiful views of the area and an area with benches to sit and enjoy the views.

We sat for awhile and I noticed that there was some room opening up at the lighthouse, so we headed over and was thrilled to find out that the gates were open for the coast guard house and we could go out onto the lawn and walk around.

Did you know that the Coast Guard Coordinated the evacuation from Manhattan and that it is known as one of the largest evacuations in the world's history. Here they guard the coast and rescue people who have no sense and stand on slippery rocks;)

This was such a beautiful place to just sit and watch the surfers. We won't mention that the area is surrounded by rocks, but I guess they know where they are.

                                     

And this guy was catching a nice wave. Perfect place to spend the rest of the day.