Family History

A number of years ago I made a mini-scrapbook of my Grandpa Leo (Leo Devine) who passed away in 1979. Grandpa Leo died when I was 12 years but I always had very fond memories of him from my childhood. Unfortunately, I had little, if any, information to journal in the album so I have been scoping out family members for some family history. My cousin (Jeannine) sent me a picture which was a "funeral card" of my Grandpap's uncle (Patrick Wogan)who was killed in action in Italy during WWII. The funeral card listed where my family was from (Cartown, Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland). I always new my ancestors were from Ireland - I was just unsure what part of Ireland they were from. So I am making some progress but have a lot more research to do. It's a scrapbook I wanted to pass down to my kids. I wish they could have known their great-grandfather. He had a positive effect on my life when I was a child and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him.

St. Patrick's Day Parade with the Kids!

Took the kids to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday (March 19th). It was a pretty chilly day, but at least the sun was shining. We watched the marching bands, fire trucks, dancers etc...for about an hour or so and then I took the kids to McDonald's for shamrock shakes. I always thought the shakes were like .99 but now that they put them in this fancy clear cup with whip cream and a cherry on top they are charging around $2.50 for a small - now that's just crazy!

St. Patrick's Day - Downtown Harrisburg

Well I took a half day off of work on St. Patty's Day to hit some of the pubs downtown Harrisburg with some friends. I had an awesome time but come 7:00 p.m. I was down for the count. I cannot hang and drink like I did back in the day. Nevertheless, I had to work the next day so I was hurting pretty bad but managed to make it through the day. You gonna play, you're gonna pay, right? LOL. It was a great time and well worth the mini-hangover!

March 2011 Family Update

I blog every few weeks (OK...sometimes months) with updates of what's going on in the Clapper household. Between karate, dance, Daisys, CCD (and baseball as of next week) we are on the go quite often these days. As of May things should slow down with Daisys and CCD ending for the year. Lil' George was home this past weekend for spring break. Unfortunately, I did not get to see too much of him because as I was coming home from work he was leaving the house to go hangout with friends but I did get to spend some quality time with him on the drive back to West Chester on Sunday. It's still hard dropping him off at school and leaving. Gracie was home sick last week (the entire week) with pneumonia - poor baby girl was so sick and ran a fever for nearly five days. Fortunately, the antibiotic that the doctor put her on kicked in after about 48 hours and she started feeling much better.

Lent stared last week and so did the countdown until Easter. We went to church and received our ashes and all decided to make some positive changes during the course of the next 40 days. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day - my favoritest day of the year (LOL). I will be taking a half day off of work and hitting a few pubs with some friends - it should be a nice time. Hey, let's face it, anytime away from work is a good time. I will also be taking the kids to the St.Patrick's Day parade on Saturday so I am hoping to take some updated pictures and will post them as soon as I can.

Facebook Contact

If you would like to see more updated pictures of the family you can go to http://www.facebook.com/dclapper67 which is my facebook page.

I have all my information set to private so you will have to send me a "Friends Request" to access my photos

Gracies Fundraiser for "The Studio"

As some of you know, Gracie attends "The Studio" which is a local area dance school. To raise money for The Studio to assist children with tuition, costumes, recitals etc...the kids had a fundraiser selling Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. A special thanks to those family and friends who made a purchase(s). Gracie raised over $250.00 and mommy is all "fundraisered out"!

St. Patty's Day is Fast Approaching!

Those of you who know me, know that St. Patty's Day is my favorite day of the year. Why? Well, I have some very fond memories growing up in Rocky Point, New York and celebrating St. Patty's Day with a big parade and great friends - it was always a good time. Last year I took the kids to the St. Patrick's Day parade here in Harrisburg, PA and it just was not the same - you could not even compare it to the St. Patty's Day parades we had in Rocky Point. I don't know, maybe it's because I am older or maybe it's because it's a lot different now than it was back then. I took a 1/2 day off of work on St. Patty's Day so I can go out for some drinks with some friends. I believe the parade is on Saturday, March 18th - I am going to surprise the kids and taken them ...they had a blast last year.