WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3-PEAT! NL East CHAMPS, again!!!!! (and with 4 games left in the season!) and where are the Mets - at home watching sports center?!?!?!?!


We miss our VOICE, but he is looking down on us with a smile. How sweet was that! The entire team paying tribute to Harry.

They don’t call him the FLYIN’ HAWAIIAN for nothin’!!!!!!

Mini Vacation - Ocean City NJ

We had an amazing weekend! We spent the weekend at the Jersey shore with our family. We couldn't have asked for better weather!!! Katie and I built a sandcastle only to have it sacrificed to the ocean... I thought the water was cold, but Katie still went in!!! It was so nice that she could use the boogie board and we just had to sit by the edge of the water. It was a bit windy on Saturday so Katie had a blast flying a kite, Boompa and Nana even got into the fun! We got to see a perfect sunset from the top deck at Uncle Mark and Aunt Sherri's house. It was amazing!!!

Katie and I got up early on Sunday morning and went to the beach to see the sunrise. I think this is going to be our annual tradition. It's a very special time the two of us get to share with each other. It's so peaceful and serene at that time of the morning. We even saw a few dolphins!! It looked like 1 adult and 2 babies. We had another amazing day at the beach. The boys tried some surf fishing, but had no luck. Olivia doesn't like the ocean, so she wouldn't go in, but I think that's a blessing in disguise! Kel didn't have to worry about her in the water. We played a round of trivial pursuit - Boys vs. Girls... all I can say is that we did have fun. There was an air show in Atlantic City so we got to see some really cool planes.

oh.. by the way... even though it's September, you can still burn...

This is a great group shot of us all.

crazy month

well... it's been an absolutely crazy month!
I have been working non-stop on soccer for the club. This is my first year as registrar, so it was a learning experience, to say the least!!! I think I finally have the hang of it. I spent a LOT of days at the soccer field trying to gather the paperwork/pictures I needed to get the players registered.

Katie started playing soccer for FC Revolution. The difference is absolutely AMAZING even after only 2 weeks of practices. Coach Skip is incredible! He has the girls doing drills and they think it's just fun tricks. They don't realize how much they are learning! She will also be a secondary player for the club U11 and U12 teams.

We celebrated Katie's 10th birthday! I can't believe my baby girl is 10! I no longer have any kids in single digits... this really makes me feel old! We went to Tailgaters after her soccer practice for dinner. It was fun cooking the steaks at the big grill. We will be having her family birthday party on Labor Day. She also wants a kids' party at Laser Quest. We will have to schedule that on a Friday night in September. I have been watching WAY TOO MUCH 'Cake Boss' and 'Ace of Cakes'... I decided to make Katie a Beluga Whale. Not too bad for my first time. the body should have been a little bigger, but you get the idea.

We were at Nicole's Red Belt Testing. It was so cool to see her put all that hard work into action! She did very well and received her Red Belt. We then went to her 8th birthday party. It's amazing how time flies!!!

We went to the Old Fiddlers' Picnic at Hibernia Park in Chester County. What a great day!!! We went with Mom, Dad, Kelly, Patrick, and Olivia. It was such a beautiful and relaxing day.

Anyone who knows Ray, knows he is a jokester! He always teases us that we are witches with flying monkeys and brooms... He was teasing Katie one day that she is just a witch in training. She responded by saying she is not... She doesn't have a spell book. I turned to her and said, "We give that to you on your 10th birthday!" I can't believe I thought of something so quickly!! I was able to get an old leather bound book from the Gently Used Bookstore in Douglassville. Ray and I had so much fun shopping for things to decorate it. I am so happy with how it turned out!!! When we gave it to her, she had a nervous laugh, like it could really be a Spell Book!! After I told her it wasn't real, she laughed! This is going to be a fun tradition to hand down to future generations!!!!

I got to spend a weekend at the Hamburg Hideaway with some old and new friends. I had such a nice time... didn't get much done, but what else is new!!! I did work on Katie's spell book and the September Kit from Scraptacular.

Scraptacular Summer Soiree Online Crop

It's almost time for our second ever online crop! Boy, are we excited!!! We really had a lot of fun last time and you can expect more of the same. For those of you not familiar with our online crops, they are a whole weekend full of games, challenges, make-n-takes and prizes. You have the whole weekend to complete our challenges in your own time!Of course, we couldn't wait for Friday so we have started a contest already. All you have to do to be entered is post this banner to your blog or another board where allowed:(If you don't know how, refer to our blinkie/banner tutorial on the forum).

Here is the link to the banner: http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa47/scraptacular8/summersoireeblinkie.jpg

Once you post it, link back to it in the forum and we will pick a winner on Monday, July 20th.We'd really love to have you play along with us this weekend so stop on over to the forum and sign up if you have not already!

We will post a sneak peek everyday of some of the challenges and projects you will find during the crop.And of course, we can't forget the grand prize! Every time you complete a challenge you will receive an entry into our grand prize drawing for a HUGE prize pack of October Afternoon and My Mind's Eye goodies worth over $50!!!

Hope to see you then!

blog candy giveaway on taryn's blog

http://musingsandmemories-taryn.blogspot.com/

jump over to Taryn's blog and check out her giveaway!

New Message Board at Scraptacular

We are very excited to announce our brand new website!Our site has been completely re-vamped to be more user-friendly for you. We have a new gallery where you can upload your latest creations or check out what others are working on. There is also a brand new Forum where you can discuss all things scrappy and non-scrappy. We will be keeping the old message board for you to reference if you need it but all future posts will be on the new forum. The new website will also feature a page about our Design Team so you can get to know them better, as well as a calendar so you can keep track of all of our upcoming events.

See it all here www.itsscraptacular.com.

And here is the best part!

With all this new fun comes a chance for you to get some free stuff. There are several ways to do this. First, anyone who registers for our new site will receive a coupon via email for $5 off your next purchase. Better yet, if you tell a friend they will get a coupon and you'll get ANOTHER one. All for spreading the word! Make sure you post on the forum that you signed a friend up so we can give you the credit. The coupon is redeemable both online and in the store. Directions will be emailed with your coupon.And here's another way to get free stuff. We will be having a gallery challenge from now until June 30th. All you have to do is create a folder in our gallery and start uploading pictures. The person with the most pictures wins a $25 gift certificate to the store!As usual we will be posting a challenge every week on the board. But in honor of our new website we will be offering a prize for each challenge. One winner per challenge will be drawn at random for the rest of the month of June.

So hop on over to the message board for your chance at all these free goodies!

The Great Outdoors!

I LOVE this time of year! The windows are open, the birds are singing, and the flowers are blooming. The garden has really done well this year. I spent a lot of time last fall making boxes out of chicken wire to house my bulbs. It worked!! The squirrels and chipmunks didn't get to them and they came up beautifully. We just mulched and it looks even nicer! My lillies are coming up right now and the orange really pops against the green stems and dark brown mulch.

Katie is now a 5th grader!!! Where has the time gone? I got to help at school for her class picnic and class field day. We had a lot of fun. She is really going to miss Mrs. Paulson! (hopefully we will see her at the next Phillies' Championship Parade!)

We have already gone to the Philly Zoo twice this year (already paid for the membership we bought). We went with Kelly, Patrick, & Olivia in May and Mike, Michele, Nicole, & Tyler in June. It's amazing how different the experience is when you go with toddlers! They are so excited and enthusiastic to see the animals. Katie likes to go and learn about the animals. Although I learn a lot, it's not the same as a toddler making monkey or lion sounds!!!

Katie had her last soccer of the spring season on May 30th. She played in a 3v3 tournament at Amity. It was a great experience! They were 1-2-1, but they were in every game. There were only 4 of them and they each got a lot of playing time! Their games were at 1, 2, 3:30, & 5:30. We needed afternoon games because Katie had a basketball game that morning. We also had the pleasure of watching Olivia for the weekend. She is such a blast!!!

Katie started playing in 2 summer basketball leagues. All I can say is it's going to be a LONG summer! The girls on the other teams have been taught to steal and be aggressive. Our girls have not... enough said! Katie was guarding against a girl who was taller than me! Oh well, it's a learning experience. Her coach is really good, so I am sure he will help them improve their skills. This will get her ready for travel basketball in the winter.

Hopefully the weather will be nice and the kids can spend most of the summer at the pool.

I have been working on soccer every night. I think next year will go much better now that I know what I need. It helped speaking with other registrars at the clinic the other night.

I haven't had much of a chance to scrapbook, but I did make a "star" mini album for a future crop. It is cute! We had our Secret Sister reveal last Sunday. Darlene was my secret sister. She gave me incredible gifts! I actually caught her husband dropping off a gift one month, but I didn't know who he was, so it didn't give it away! I was Beth's secret sister. She knew it was me! It was pretty easy to tell because I didn't buy anything for "my secret sister" from her. Almost everyone else did! Oh well... it was a lot of fun. After the reveal we went to lunch at Sonic and then shopping at Fancy That and Times to Remember. We then had dinner at On The Border. I love getting together with the girls. Lots of laughs!

Ray only has 9 more working days left of work! Time really does fly!

update...

just a quick update since i have been a bad blogger...

it's been a crazy couple of months!!

katie's spring soccer league is over. they ended up 4-2 for the season. they didn't fair so well in the mother's day tournament, but they never seem to play well in tournaments! it's the end of the school year for katie - which means... lots of parties, field trips, and field days! she is playing in a 3x3 soccer tournament in amity this weekend. should be interesting! summer basketball is getting ready to start. she is supposed to have her first practice tonight... weather permitting. she will be playing in 2 leagues, one on saturdays and one on mondays/wednesdays. katie just had her spring concert. she played the trumpet and sang in the chorus. she developed an infection in her gum. her face puffed up on the left side and her eye was closed for almost a day. poor thing, had to have a baby tooth pulled, but now she feels so much better.

day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

day 5

sean finished his freshman year at shippensburg and is now home looking for a summer job. he also turned 19! oh my... where has the time gone?

ray has ~30 days left until his job is done. he is looking for a new job... hopefully closer to home!

as for me... special olympics went better than ever! it was a beautiful day!!! i am now the registrar for our soccer club, so i have been busy trying to get them organized and online. it's a HUGE undertaking! i will be volunteering at katie's school for her school party and field day. i haven't had many chances to scrap. i have some pages and a mini album almost ready to go for the June kit for ItsScraptacular. I LOVE THIS KIT!!!! check it out on June 1st. http://www.itsscraptacular.com/?q=node/1

check out my sneak peaks....

well... that's it for now. thanks for checkin' in on us.