The End of Summer

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to an end and the kids will be starting back at school as of August 31st. I am finally done with all the clothes/supply shopping for all three kids. Can you believe my princess is going into kindergarten, Jacob into 3rd grade and Lil' George will be a senior and graduating this school year. Lil' George has a big school year ahead of him with lots of adult decisions/choices that he will need to make when it comes to college and what his plans are for his future. I think he is struggling with the whole "college" thing. During the past year or so I have been trying to talk to him about college, but it's a topic he keeps putting on the back burner. Part of me knows he is "afraid" of moving on (though he will never admit that to me). So it's new beginnings for all three kids this year - lots of exciting things to look forward to. I would say we had a rather eventful summer with sleepovers, family visiting, trip to Jersey shore, Hershey Park day, visits to Altoona to see grandparents, I even got to see two friends from my school days that I have not seen in over 20 years and our big trip is at the end of September when we all go to Disney. So...we are now counting down the days until Disney World.

Firm Outing - Harrisburg Senators Game

On Friday, August 14th the firm I work for (Eckert Seamans) had a summer outing which included a Harrisburg Senators game at City Island. George and I took Jacob and Gracie to the outing for some hot dogs and hamburgers and around later on we headed to our seats to watch the game. I am not sure how many of you all remember "Elvira" from back in the day (If not - just google her and I am sure you will recognize her)...anyhow she was the guest celebrity that evening and threw out the first ball.

Wow...what a weekend.

What a weekend it was - I planned on meeting up with two high school friends the weekend of August 8, 2009. Cami and Dennis were coming to Hershey with their two little boys (Spencer and Colin) for summer vacation and I made plans to meet up with them. It was a fabulous visit. When I got home from the visit I decided to log on to Facebook and post a message about my visit and I noticed that my long time friend Mark (Dedio) posted that he was in Hershey. I took a chance and shot him a message that I was only 20 minutes from Hershey and to call me. Within one hour my phone rang and Mark called me - I was so blown away to have heard from him and we made plans to get together so the following day Mark and his wife came to my house for dinner where we caught up on the old days.

Weekend at Raystown

We were invited to Raystown for the weekend by our friends/neighbors Theresa and James Hatley and their daughter Makayla. They recently bought a new boat and thought it would be nice to go to Raystown for the weekend and celebrata Makayla's birthday and they were thoughtful enough to invite our family. Unfortunately George had to work and Lil' G has a very busy social life these days so it was just me, Jacob and Gracie. It was Gracie's very first time on a boat and she did great. I was afraid Jake would get motion sickness because his last experience on the boat was not a good one. We gave him some meds prior to the departure and he did great. I absolutely fell in love with Raystown. Even the scenice route drive to/from Raystown was just beautiful. I believe we are going boating with our friends, again, over Labor Day weekend - it should be a great time.

Jacob's Birthday

Well our little man turned 8 years old on July 24th. We had a cookout with some family and friends and it turned out to be one of the biggest and nicest cookouts we ever had. So....we decided to have an annual cookout every year around the same time so we can celebrate Jacob's birthday and invite family and friends over to spend some quality time with that we don't get to see too often. It's so sad that we don't make time for the ones we love due to work and every day life in general. I swear at one point I think I had like 20 kids in my house - at least it seemed that way. We had a beautiful/sunny day and everyone really seemed to have had a good time.

Summer Time Fun

The kids are out of school and summer is just trucking along. Lil' Georgie has been watching Jacob and Gracie during the summer for some extra cash and plus it's a great help to me and George (my hubby). He has taken them bowling a few times, but they seem to be very occupied with their neighborhood friends these days. No complaints from me. I am so use to getting home from work and having Gracie standing there waiting on me with a big hug and kiss and now I am lucky if she waves to me while she is across the street at her friends house. I took the kids to Hershey Park a few weeks ago - my nephew James came down for a two-week visit so we thought it would be nice to take the kids to HP - they had a blast and it was James/Gracies first time on a rollercoaster (well...a big one) and they did great - it was quite entertaining - we all have a wonderful time.

Gracie's bday -

Daddy Turns 40

My hubby turned 40 on June 29th. In celebration of his 40th we made sure we got a few Steelers/Penguin t-shirts and another special gift was a Penguins Stanley Cup jersey. As you can see from the photo to the left, we sang happy birthday and had some ice cream and cake with the neighborhood kids.

Jersey Shore Nightmare

What a nightmare my trip to the Jersey shore was. Long story short - NEVER AGAIN. I booked a weekend trip to the shore, cancelled due to bad weather. Rescheduled for another time but instead of a weekend I did an overnight trip. It took me about 5 hours to get to my destination due to traffic. Jake and Gracie were troopers though - they did not complain once. Me, on the other hand...I was beside myself. I did try and make the best of the time we had between the pool and the beach. In a 24 hour period we spent at least 10 hours driving. It was just me and the two little ones. George and Lil' G went to Altoona to visit the family for the the weekend.

Gracie Turns 5

This year we celebrated Gracie's birthday at Friendlys (Camp Hill, PA). We invited some neighborhood friends and a few friends from her daycare center. The morning of the party I got up and made cupcakes for all the kids. Gracie got lots of presents - it was like Christmas all over again - she was so happy because this day was all about her. Her actual birthday is June 2nd, but we planned it a bit earlier due to school ending and summer vacations beginning. I am starting to run out of places to have the kids birthday parties. We have done the bowling alley, chucky cheeses, Mcdonalds....I think next year we will have it at Build a Bear - I know that's one of her favorite places to go.

The Circus Comes to Town

I took Jake and Gracie to the Ringling Brothers Barnamum Baily Circus (5/22/09) at the Giant Center in Hershey. It was a spectacular show - me and the kids had a wonderful time. I have never been to a "real" circus before so I think I was more excited than the kids were. We got to see the elephants, horses and tigers before the show and we went to the preshow (which started about one hour before the actual event). During the preshow we got to go down on the floor and see the clowns and watch some of the acts. I must admit those elephants were just amazing. If the Ringling Brothers circus comes to town again I will most certainly recommend going to see the show.

Jacob's First Holy Communion

Jacob received his First Holy Communion on May 9, 2009 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Enola, Pennsylvania and we had a beautiful day for the celebration. Guest that attended were Jacob's Godparents (Uncle Marc and Aunt Sue), Uncle Mike, Aunt Nikki (with cousins Noah and Andrew) and our dear friend Pat. I must say...my little man looked so handsome. After the ceremony we all headed back to our house for some lunch and cake and the kids got to go outside and play with their cousins and friends. George and I got to spend some long, overdue, quality time with our family.

Jacob's Gets Promoted From White to Orange Belt

Jacob has been taking karate at The School of Martial Arts in Enola, Pennsylvania for about four months now. This month he was promoted from white belt to orange belt. Jacob has been looking forward to this moment a quite some time now and I must say, George and I were very proud of him.


Attached are some pictures of Jacob with his very first belt (white), some more pictures with him and his new orange belt and also included is a photo of Jacob with his instructor (Master Null).

Georgie's Junior Prom

Wow...my little boy is not such a little boy anymore. This past weekend Georgie attended his junior prom and was accompanied by a lovely girl(friend) by the name of Marissa. Very pretty girl I might add. The prom took place at the Raddison Hotel and there was an after party over at one of Lil' George's friends house (adult supervised - of course). Needlesstosay, I did not see Lil' George until late Sunday afternoon. I was so proud of Georgie because he bought his own prom tickets, rented his own tux and (bought a new tie to match his date's gown), ordered the corsage etc... he not only took care of everything on his own but he worked and paid for the entire prom. That's my boy!

Easter at the Clappers

Unfortunately, we were unable to make it home to visit the family back in Buckhorn, PA this year but we did manage to make the best of the holiday even though we were able to spend it with our loved ones. The night before Easter we colored Easter eggs and we had all intentions of going to Easter Vigil at our church, but opted to go on Easter morning instead - boy was that a mistake, the church was packed. Easter morning Jake and Gracie were up rather early (there's a shock) venturing downstairs to see what all the Easter bunny got them this year. To their surprise, they each got a basket of all sorts of goodies to eat and to some things to play with as well. I was rather surprised that Lil' George made it out of bed, without an attitude, to see what the Easter bunny got him too. After church we came home and I cooked a nice ham dinner and we all spent most of the day eating and watching TV. It was a very long-overdue relaxing day. (Pic below is Jake/Grace before heading out to church).

Motley Crue/Hinder/Theory of a Deadman Concert

Anyone who knows me knows I was a die hard Motley Crue fan back in the day (way back in the day). The last time I got to see them in concert was about 20 years ago (1990) years ago when I was in the Navy down in Jacksonville, Florida. I recently found a concert ticket in my memory box to a Motley Crue concert that was dated back to 1987. This past weekend my friend Shannon and I went to see them at the Giant Center in Hershey along with Hinder and Theory of a Deadman. I don't particularly care for Hinder, but they put on a pretty decent show. As for Theory of a Deadman I never heard of them, nor their music. So..I was pretty much their to see Motley Crue and I must say they put on a good show - I just wish I was a bit closer to the stage. I got free tickets through the firm I work for and the suite is just too far from the stage so you really can't even make out who is who on stage unless you really know the band members. All in all, I had a wonderful time.

Girls Night Out - Hershey Bears Hockey Game

On Sunday, March 1st me and a few of my friends went to see a Hershey Bears hockey game. I normally take the kids along with me, but this time it was an all girls get together and it was a nice time. After the game we all went to Red Robin for dinner. Life becomes so consumed with work and the kids and I tend to forget to make time for myself. So, me and the girls hit the hockey and a good game it was - the Bears won. Below is a picture of Deb, Amy, me and Audra.

Valentine's Day Blues

George and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day - to me it's an excuse to spend unnecessary money (jeez, we are still trying to recuperate from Christmas). I recently lost my wedding band and engagement ring and I thought that maybe George found it and was teaching me a lesson for taking it off and leaving them somewhere or maybe he was getting the rings cleaned and giving them to me on Valentine's Day, but I was wrong. Valentine's Day has come and gone and no rings. I am so devastated about losing them - I have looked everywhere and I cannot find them. I can only hope they eventually appear. Anyhow, my dad has always recognized Valentine's Day and always sends me a dozen roses and a huge box of chocolates and he even got Gracie a box of chocolates this year - so that put a smile on my face.

Future Rock Stars!!

Can I tell you - watching my kids play rock band is so hilarious. They kids are always playing some game or another but what really got my attention was my son's friend (Tom) belting out some tunes from the Eagles (Hotel California) on the mic. It was so funny and the kids all seemed like they were having fun.


My husband and I definitely got a kick out of it so I had to post some pictures.

My Buddy Turns 30

My friend Kori recently turned 30 and her sister had a birthday "surprise" party for her so me and my buddy Audie decided it would be nice to attend and I am glad we did -I had a wonderful time and it was the very first time I played Wii - I scored a 198 in bowling WAHOOO! I also got a kick out of watching Kori and her boxing moves (I still chuckle whenever I think about it).


I included a photo of Audie, Kori and myself. I figured it was time we had a group picture taken of us. We don't get together too often due to work and family life, but we do make sure we get together for our Friday luncheon dates - which is always a good time. It's nice to have good friends.

Spa Time for Mommy (NOT!)

I decided it was time for a little alone time and to treat myself to an at home spa treatment which consisted of a yogurt facial along with some nice soothing cucumbers on the eyes.
Well as you can see from the photos, my daughter is the one that enjoyed the spa treatment.

Christmas 2008

Preparing for the holiday is always fun but it always amazes me how fast it comes and goes though. Santa treated the kids great this year. We all went out for dinner on Christmas Eve and when we got home the kids opened their stocking stuffers and George read "The Night Before Christmas" to them (a tradition we started years ago when Georgie was little). Christmas morning, around 6:30 a.m., Jake went downstairs to take a peak and see if Santa did in fact come to our house. He became about jumped out of his pants when he turned on the light switch and the musical lights started to play. In a panic he ran to shut the music off - it was hysterical because he had no idea I was standing at the top of the steps watching him. I was like "busted" Jacob! I had to literally wake the princess (that would be Gracie) up because she did not want to be bothered until I said the word "presents" and she jumped up with a quickness. Georgie managed to crawl out of bed and join us for the opening of the gifts. He was very helpful with Jacob and Gracies toys and putting stuff together. The day after Christmas Adam, Missy, Annie and James came down from Cresson to visit us for the weekend. The kids all had a blast. It's not too often that they get to see each other so when they do it is always a good time - I know Jacob and Gracie did not want them to leave. I attached a photo of the cousins (starting from the left: Annie, James, Georgie, Gracie & Jacob).

Seasons Greetings to our Family and Friends

This past weekend was a lazy weekend on the home front. It was too cold to do much outdoors so we stayed in the majority of the weekend and just watched movies (oh...and lets not forget football). Thank God the Steelers beat the Cowboys or else my husband would have gone into cardiac arrest. The entire neighborhood knew not only when the Steelers scored a touchdown but also heard the roar of my husband when they won the game. I wrote out some Christmas cards and took a few Christmas pictures of the kids and Moosie to send out with the cards. We hope our family and friends have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year.

Gracie Gets Bangs!

I finally did it - Yup...I took Gracie to get her hair trimmed and decided on "bangs" this time. I loved her hair all one length, but it was constantly in her face. I was very hesitant to get her bangs because I thought she would look "geeky" - but I think she looks pretty adorable!

Jacob and Gracie - Getting Along???

Believe it or not Jacob and Grace managed to get along long enough to do a few puzzles without screaming and fighting with one another. I tried to keep the kids busy over the holiday weekend. It was too cold and wet outside so they were indoors for four days and GRACIE required 100% of my attention. Needlesstosay, I did not relax very much on my four days off from work!

Getting Ready For Christmas

The day after Thanksgiving we break out all the Christmas decorations and get the house ready for Santa's arrival. The kids had a blast listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree with all the beautiful ornaments we have collected through the years. We have ornaments on the tree (that are George's) that date all the way back to 1983. I treasure our Christmas ornaments and I plan on passing them down to the kids when they are grown up and out of the house and starting their own families. Gracie got to put the angel on the tree this year. That ended up being one big fiasco because Jacob wanted to do it (Need I say more? Yes, total meltdown), but he got over it. It took about four hours to get the decorations up and the house back in order - but it looks fabulous!