Happy 8th Birthday Bradley!

Weight: 48lb

Height: 48in

At 8 years old you:

• Wear size 7-8 clothes and size 13 shoes
• Have lost about 7 baby teeth already
• Are off ALL your allergy/asthma meds since we moved
• Love playing with Legos, on your computer, and drawing
• Still love to read and have a bookcase full of books
• Make yourself cereal in the morning before we get up
• Are wearing glasses now!
• Still love school and will be in the 3rd grade
• Are still very silly and love playing with friends

We have had a fun filled day today for sure! My big guy turned 8 years old. He requested pancakes for breakfast, so that's how we started.

Next was presents! My mom (Nonni) sent him a card with money (which he spent later on Legos) and we got him a bunch of toys, clothes, and books.

The weather was beautiful today so after presents we all went outside for awhile to play with his toys and take turns riding a bike.

For lunch we went to McDonald's where he got a happy meal then played on the playground with Jacob.

After lunch we came back and had cake and ice cream! He wanted strawberry cake and cookie dough ice cream.

After Jacob's nap, we all went to Chuck E Cheese so he could get his fill of arcade games. Jacob even got to ride some rides! After an hour and a half, we were tired so he cashed in his tickets for some candy. We still have enough tokens to go back another time!

I think he had a great day, and that makes me a happy momma.

Bird Island Pier

The weather here has been just beautiful, and since we are moving away from this area soon I wanted to check out some more things that were on my list. Today we all went to the west side of Buffalo off Lake Erie to walk along the pier that goes parallel to the shore. I pass it on the highway every time I drive into Buffalo, and I knew the boys would love to walk along it. Today was a nice sunny day with a cool breeze, so we took advantage of that! The best part is that it was all free :)

The pier goes really far, I'm not sure how far in all--over a mile? It goes under the Peace Bridge to Canada, and I just think that's so cool to see Canada right on the other side of the water.

This one is looking back at the city of Buffalo:

I can imagine how crazy it gets there in the winter with the lake effect storms rolling in off the lake! I'm sure it's pretty for sunset though.

Tomorrow is Bradley's 8th birthday, so my next post will be about all the fun we had celebrating!

Finding Good Deals for the New House

August will be here before we know it, so we have already started shopping for things we'll need at the new house. Patio furniture was at the top of the list so that we could immediately start enjoying the beautiful weather we have! And of course, we have to have two rocking chairs for the front porch! I ended up finding some great deals online at Sears, so I threw in a lawnmower as well to take advantage of free shipping.

The patio set was a great deal, plus I had a code to get an ADDITIONAL 10% off! I wanted a few more chairs to have plenty of seating for our large patio, but I couldn't find matching chairs individually. I ended up just buying 2 of the sets, that way I would have all the seating I wanted and it would all match so I wouldn't have to worry about getting another in the future. The rockers and lawnmower were also on sale, I qualified for free shipping, PLUS I earned $133 toward my next purchase just for making an account on the website! I put the purchase on my rewards credit card (which I pay off every month) so I also earned points toward free flights. I saved over $1000.

After looking at several stores for grills, we found a great deal on this one for only $99 at Christmas Tree Shops. It even has a burner on the side! We have really missed cooking out, so we will put this to use right away.

We want to change several of the basic light fixtures out for fancier ones, so we looked around and got some ideas for what we like. I like the pendant for our small entryway, the large chandelier for our main foyer, then the smaller chandelier for the dining room.

 We are having some work done on the kitchen before we move in, including countertops. I looked at the local Lowe's to see what my options were for solid surface countertops with beveled edges. I'm leaning toward dark gray or tan/brown.

And of course we'll have to get a few of these since we won't have AC anymore!