Thirty-WHAT?!!

Thirty- WHAT?!!  Thirty- WHO?!! Ohhhh, you are talking about me!  In my mind, once I turned thirty (and became a mom, and became very busy to think about the little things) I often forget what year of my thirties I am in.   When I forget I just deduct 7 years from Brad's age, and this year, that was easy.  40-7= 33  

THIRTY THREE  Hmmm, how do I feel about this number?  Well, I'm still closer to 30, than 40, so that's a relief!  Its a palindromic number, which represents perfect balance.  And you know, "balanced" is exactly how I would describe the feeling I get about turning 33.   I'm not as afraid of turning 33 as I thought I once would, instead I'm SO proud!  Even with dark circles and little time to put myself together these days, as in the photo above.... sans makeup and hair brushing apparently.  I stand at such a pivotal place in my life.  At 33 years old, I honestly have everything I have ever wished for when blowing out those birthday candles.   I feel accomplished, and I feel like all of our hard work and time has paid off!  I have an abundance of LOVE, a man I'm still crazy about, a healthy fun marriage, TWO beautiful little boys I get to cuddle with any time of the day, a School Psychology career (I put on hold for the meantime), a DREAM house, many adventures under my belt and more to conjure up, I'm healthy and I'm actually very happy with my post 2-babies-in-a-row body.  I'm more optimistic and excited about life than I was when I was in my Twenties.  I am happy.  I am grateful.  I am lucky!

Below are the flowers I received from my boys.  The flowers on the left were brought to me by Taji.  The orange gerber daisy on the right was given to me by Brad, who told me this will be the first flower we plant in the garden in front of our new house.  So sweet.  Its the Grover Gerber daisy!

 I got a babysitter during the boys' nap time.  First thing on the agenda: I took myself out to a sushi lunch at Wegmans, then 2nd thing on the agenda, a pedicure!  Third, a quick little shopping stop at Kmart, where I bought myself a fun hat.  Fourth on the list:  head back to the cottage and have a birthday dinner with my family at a new Thai restaurant on the lake:

 Taji serenaded me a few times with "Happy Birthday", ( I LOVE his sweet voice) and his favorite song "Somebody I used to know" by Gotye.



 Then we made it just in time to catch the rosy red skyline of the sunset, from our new house.

 Happy Birthday to me!  And many more birthdays like this one!

House Tour VIDEOS

But first, our neighbor's helicopter......... Taj was so excited to watch the helicopter!



And now..... our NEW HOUSE video tour! (since I couldn't FaceTime with my mom (no WI-FI connection) here you go Mami! This is the house empty, no furniture yet, (and this is before recessed lighting and carpet installation), but you get an idea of the layout. For some reason I couldn't upload the whole video on youtube so I have it in 2 parts:
 Part 1
 

Part 2
 


 and little cruising on Lakeside Drive, this was the drive from our new house to the cottage. The village is in the other direction.... I will have to video that another day:

A Day at the POND

 Where do you find a turquoise pond in the middle of a forest, with tree swings, a pebble beach, water toys, and a zip line?  Where else but in West Valley, New York!  Tuesday, of last week, I took the boys on our first adventure road trip, up to West Valley to visit my sister-in-law Amber and her kids Christian, Silvia, Haven, and Finley (newest member, she just turned 1 years old).   West Valley is about an hour north east from Bemus Point, and what a scenic drive we had.  We drove through the Alleghany State Park,  the Seneca Indian Reservation, and Ellicotville (mountain ski resort village).  We passed through beautiful forests until we reached their house.  It was the hottest day of the summer, so Aunt Amber had an idea to take the kids to her friend Michelle's pond.  Yes, only in NY can you have your own POND!  This pond is nothing like I have ever seen.  Its a tropical oasis in the middle of a forest!  Amber's friend and husband really went all out, it is the quintessential summer hang out spot.  There was so much for the kids to do, and a pebble beach, gazebo, music, and drinks for the adults!  It felt like we were at an exclusive resort.

Taji swinging in this cool swing above the water:

Christian zip-lining into the water:

 Silvie paddle boarding:

Taj was in rock heaven, lots of little rocks to throw into the water

 Cousins Finley and Jax playing in their own exersaucers:

Finley, Amber, and myself..... (it was good sister-in-law and cousin bonding time)

Grandma Sue, Aunt Sherry, Sierra, and Cayden also met up with us and we spent the rest of the day hanging out with them (and Grandpa Grover, Brad's dad) at a car show.

This is my favorite photo of the East Coast Cousins (minus the college kids Michael & Nicole):

The kids had soooo much fun playing at the pond, at Aunt Amber's house, and eating hot dogs at the car show.  I'm so glad we now live only an hour from Brad's brothers kids..... they are such polite and sweet kids, and I especially love how Taj and Jax will grow up with their little cousin Finley who is right in their age group (and who is already a little tomboy.) And with as cool of a pond as this one, you can bet we will be back before summer ends!

Reunion-ful Weekend

Last weekend, we had one reunion after another, along with our niece Nicole's high school graduation party.  Saturday we went to Nicole's party, and also had a reunion with the Barron family (Brad's mom's side of the family.)  Sue has 2 sisters and 2 brothers, and this is a photo of their kids (minus a couple)..... Can you spot Brad?

The kids and their kids (the grandkids) (again minus a few):

Close-up of Brad's brother Rodney, 

and kids Finley, Silvia, Christian, 

and Sherry's daughter Sierra on the end:

 Jax with Grandma Sue, meeting his second cousin Hudson for the very first time:

Then, on Sunday, we drove out waaaay into the country and went to the Grover family reunion.  Brad's dad's whole side of the family.  LOTS of people we have never met or knew about.  Here are the usual familiar suspects.... me with Brad's sisters Jody and Sherry:

Closing Day

See us in the above photo?  That was us in 2009, pre Taj & Jax, taking a photo of the rosy sunset Chautauqua Lake is known for, and standing on the lakefront of you would never believe..... the lakefront of the house we just bought!  Looking at our faces, we were A) completely unaware that one day we would be living in Bemus Point, and B) way way unaware that we were taking this picture directly in front of the home we would live in.  How crazy ironic is that?!   I always find it pretty amazing how funny life can play out sometimes... so many coincidences and so many tell-tale signs.

Reflecting upon that evening we took the picture, Brad and I remember pulling off to the side of the road, finding the prefect spot to watch the sunset.  This was, and still is, the best spot to watch the sunset (so we've been told by many residents)......... and now..... this view is ALL OURS..... from practically every window of our house and the 6 outside entertaining areas.  

On July 11th, we closed on our house.... that meant starting on this date the deed of the house was transferred to Brad and I, and the house (and cottage) became officially ours!

Family self-portrait the day we got our keys....... Brad and I were super excited (the boys look funny in this photo, they didn't understand what this all meant, but they sure were happy playing at the house and outside!)

  view from Lakeside Drive:

 the cottage, or as Brad refers to it "the boat house"

Closing day also meant that we could start working on the house..... painting the interior, installing recessed lighting on some of the ceilings that didn't have it, and installing the new carpet.  These are pics of the "before":

Taji excitedly skipping into the kitchen area......

the kitchen that we plan to completely gut and redesign next Spring:

 Taj watched as daddy pulled up to the driveway.  I can't believe we have an actual driveway, and a long wide one, with a big garage!!

 Our own road (long driveway) that leads up to our house, this is the view from the dining room.  If you look closely to the right of the driveway where those 2 trees are, is our "guest" parking spot! :)

The boys playing in the living room

 Here you can see the living room, walls have been repainted since, and in the next year we also plan to completely redo the fireplace area and wall:

 The boys wrestling in the basement:

Here's an update on how we are progressing on the house:  Painting is done, recessed lighting will be installed Monday, painters are coming back to paint the ceilings, carpet is scheduled to be installed the following Monday (July 30th).  Move date, the week of July 31st-August 3rd..... crossing my fingers we are in there as soon as we can be!  Can't wait to move in and make our new home "home sweet home."  I miss our furniture and belongings!

From Surfer Dudes to Country Boys

My little boys went from being California surfer boys to New York country boys!  The nature, the vintage wagons and tractor, the cool beverage tubs, baskets, adirondack chair.......... means only one thing ladies and gentlemen..... PHOTO SHOOT TIME! 

Great timing too..... we needed to commemorate 2 milestones: Taj's 2 year old portrait and Jax's 1/2 year old portraits!

Thanks to my friend Amanda, her and I spent all morning last Friday photographing the boys in the backyard of the cottage.  All we have to do is walk outside and we are surrounded by this amazing nature.  Makes for picture perfect backdrops doesn't it?

 Here is our funny 2 year old, the Taj-meister:

Here is our sweet pea 6 month old, the Jax-meister:

Look what we found....a baby in a bucket!

And an adorable monkey in a tree:

Taj got jealous, and wanted us to take a photo of him in the basket too!

Rub a dub dub...... 2 brothers in a tub!

This last one is going in the boys' bathroom in the new house!
As you can see, we liked putting Jax in a tub, basket, bucket..... whatever we could find, because he not only looked cute but we distracted him from tearing out and eating the grass!