Our own little sanctuary...

Just wanted to share some pics from this spring / summer at our new house. Every time something blooms it is a pleasant surprise since I have no idea what the previous owner planted.

I also love catching wildlife in the yard...I wish I had a good pic of our hawk or the giant turtle that came up to our deck during the last rain storm too, but these are a start.

These are the lily pads in bloom on our koi pond.

These were a surprise, I thought these plants that are also in the koi pond were just green reeds, and one morning there were all these gorgeous purple flowers!

Here is our favorite pond resident "Hoppy" the frog (so named by Gunner). He used to sit on this rock in the sun everyday until Gunner started coming to "say hi" ten times a day and scare him back into the water. Now he has picked a rock that is more hidden and we don't catch him out as often.

These didn't bloom long, but I just love all the azalea bushes, Virginia is known for them and they are everywhere you go for about 3 weeks in the spring. I loved this pink one in our back yard!

Some more azaleas in our front yard (you can also see our new siding and trim in this pic).

Here is the Blue Heron that wants to eat my koi, I wish the pic I took of him flying away turned out, his wing span is amazing!

One of our geese friends from the lake...not as big a fan of the goose poop they leave on our dock!!

I found this duck in our front yard and watched him get in the koi pond and swim around for a while.
I have no idea what this bush is, but the flowers are so cool.



This is another similar one, but even prettier because the leaves on the bush are white tipped. It is strange because there is this one random bush in the middle of a bunch of other things, it almost looks like it ended up there by divine accident.


Well, that is it, everytime I was done downloading pics something else would bloom, there are actually some gorgeous blood red lilies that bloomed this morning...but this gave a tiny glimpse of our little sanctuary and why I just love it here so much!

I am so uncool....

I really should be uploading some pictures of some of the fun stuff we have been doing, but let's face it, you all are probably sick of "here is another picture of us at the beach" anyway...so instead I am going to do an entry about the realization I had tonight...I am completely, without a question, no longer cool in any way, shape or form.

I had this realization when I returned from "movie night" at my church with the boys. The committee I am on is trying to get more family programming off the ground, so I try to be at all events. I decided to go instead of attending the beginning of an enormous block party being held on my street in a neighbor's backyard.

I guess this would be the 1st indication to some that I am uncool, but I didn't really think so. It just didn't sound like fun to be trying to keep Hudson from burning down the place with the citronella candles, pulling beer out of the coolers, drinking whatever alcoholic beverage he found sitting around in a cup, or climbing whatever structure he could break another bone on...and he WOULD be doing all those things. In addition it would be no fun refereeing Gunner's tantrums when he imagines someone is trying to touch his CARS backpack (which he has to currently wear everywhere...sometimes IN his Spiderman costume). All this vigilance doesn't leave a lot of time for socializing with people I don't know...it is ok when there are a bunch of friends who understand when you have to stop 5 times mid-story to say "NO TOUCH" or "DON'T HIT YOUR BROTHER"...but not really a great way to meet new neighbors.

Ok, I digress...so we get home and the boys want to "say goodnight to Daddy" because I made the mistake of telling them he was at the rockin' party we just drove by. So I get Gunner to agree that he will forgo a bedtime story for this privilege, throw Hudson in stroller and head down there. I see several groups of people just walking in, freshly showered, makeup done, cute outfits on...and I realize this. I have not showered yet today, I am in a $15 sundress from the exchange, I have some dried-on, caked-on part of Hudson's dinner somewhere on the $15 dress, I have my hair in a ratty ponytail that hasn't been combed in hours AND I have not applied so much as lip gloss since noon.

It was then I realized...I am not cool anymore. I don't know when it happened, or how, but I have officially broken every rule I made when I decided to "settle down". I was NOT going to be one of those moms who let themselves go...I was going to do ALL the things I did before, looking fabulous, but with my perfectly dressed offspring in tow. WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED!? When did I go from being "Manhattan career woman" to "poorly dressed suburban housewife"...how did I become a stereotype!? I can't even claim any cool extracurricular activities, like triatholons, or fabulous Hawaii trips or playing on a soccer league...the coolest thing I do is my bookclub.

Well, at least I had cute sandals & painted toenails....I guess there are still one or two things that even motherhood hasn't been able to beat out of me. Anyway, my new rule is to find that smart, sassy girl I used to be and bring some of her back...with my kids in tow, who may not be perfectly dressed, but sure do look cute in costume!