Spring Training

Well, Ray and Katie are back from Spring Training. And my peace and quite is over! JK

They had a blast! Katie couldn't stop thanking me!













Unfortunately the Phils lost both games, but it is Spring Training and most of the regulars didn't play. I was disappointed that the players did not sign autographs at either game. Katie did end up getting a game ball from one of the umpires.














She got #75 - Jason Donald to sign the ball. According to Schmidt, he is going to be someone to watch in the future. He plays 3rd base and short stop. We are going to try to keep our eye on him. Hopefully he will play in Reading and we will get to see him.















Jamie Moyer pitched the first game. Katie loves him!
















It's weird seeing Pat in a different jersey! He's still nice to look at!!! ;)















Ray took Katie to Clearwater Beach after the game on Friday. She didn't have her bathing suit, but that didn't stop her!!!















She also got to jump on the large trampoline.

It was a great trip for them. This might become an annual event! (but I think I am going next time!!)














Katie has become a pro at passing the time in the airport!


















FUNNY STORY::: Ray felt the back of his neck getting sunburned, so he decided to flip his hat around to protect his neck... He totally forgot about the opening in the back of the hat. Check out his forehead!!

Florida

Ray and Katie made it safe and sound to Florida today. They go to their first Phillies' Spring Training game tomorrow. Katie is thrilled!!! Will keep everyone updated.

Special Trip

Well, Katie and Ray LOVED the trip to Florida I secretly planned for them. They will be seeing 2 Phillies spring training games in March.

I made them cards that had the Phillies' spring training logo and it said "pack your bags". Katie knew right away! Her reaction totally lived up to how I wished she would react! She is so excited and can't stop talking about it.

We surprised Katie tonight with tickets to Friday night's Flyers game. She has been asking to go to a game for a couple of years. We think she is finally at the age to appreciate the game and not just want to go and get snacks. We got club box seats behind the Flyers bench. (the club box has it's own bathroom so we don't have to wait in those long lines!!!! - definitely worth the added price.)

I just returned from a weekend away with 2 old friends and 5 new ones at the Hamburg Hideaway. I wasn't very productive but I had fun! I even did shots of tequilla.

Scraptacular has a new message board. http://www.scraptacular.proboards.com/ To celebrate our "new" message board launch we are having a party!!! All this month and next month we will be hosting contests and challenges with exciting prizes and fun giveaways. This exciting event will culminate in an online crop with a grand prize drawing to receive a prize package of Fancy Pants goodies worth $50! Come join us!!!!!

Where did this month go???

Well... I have NO idea where this month went!


I have been working a ton of hours lately! I go in early some days (which is getting much harder for me now that I am older...) and stay late other days (when Ray is working from home). I am excited to announce that I just got a promotion!! I am now the Director of our HRA division. It's a new division so I get to mold it from the ground up. I am absolutely thrilled! I am, however, still the project manager and operations manager for our HSA division. I don't know where I am going to find the time, but I am sure I will. (like going in today for a few hours and bringing work home.)

I am taking over as registrar for Katie's soccer club. Right now I am "learning the ropes" from the old registrar. He is so archaic in his ways! I am working on getting everything automated. I will be taking over completely in May.~~ I know... what was I thinking????

Special Olympics is coming up soon. I will be spending all of my waking hours getting all the athletes entered and in heats. Last year was the first year I didn't feel overwhelmed and I wasn't up until 2am the night before! I think after more than 10 years of doing it, I finally have the process down!! I can't wait for the event. It is one of my favorite days of the year.


I took some time off from scrappin' because of my schedule. I finally had the time to get some pages done. They are in the new slide show on the side of the page titled 2009. I have been scrapping a lot of our trip to Florida. The trip was so incredible and I am struggling a little with the pages because I want them to be perfect.


I have a HUGE surprise planned for Ray and Katie in March. I never realized how hard it is to keep a secret from Ray!!! I can't wait to reveal it. I am not sure how I am going to do it, but i will be sure to let you know when I do!


We celebrated 2 birthdays this month. Mine and Olivia's. Olivia turned 2!!! I can't believe how old she is getting. We were not able to go to her birthday party because Katie was attending a friend's party. We did get to babysit her at the beginning of the month. We had a blast!






















Katie has been busy playing basketball and LOVING it!! We are so proud of her. She has really turned into a great player! She is tenacious on defense and she is making a fair amount of baskets! They play 5x5, full length court, and regulation height baskets. They match up the players on each side to defend against each other and Katie is usually picked to defend against the best player on the other team. She is very intense... I don't know where she gets that from!!! ;)

Thanks for taking the time to read about our lives.

Page Maps

I have a page in this month's collection at Page Maps! http://www.pagemaps.com/ The page is titled "They Will Not Fit In The Bathtub!". It's a horizontal 8.5x11 side map.

The journaling reads:

It was the experience of a lifetime! Sean and Katie got to interact with the 2 young Beluga Whales at SeaWorld (Klondike and Aurek). They were able to spend 20 minutes with them. They gave them hand signals to do the tricks, got to feed them fish, and got a hug & kiss from them. Katie actually did a report on Beluga Whales earlier this year at school. They are her favorite whales, so this was extra special for her. Sean didn't stop smiling the whole time! The kids had to wear wet suits because the water temp was 52 F! They didn't mind though. The kids got the whales to tail walk, wave their fins, spin around, jump out of the water, and my favorite, spit water at them! They even got them to speak! The kids enjoyed it so much they wanted to bring them home with us! Sorry kids... THEY WILL NOT FIT IN THE BATHTUB!

Our Vacation to Florida - Day 8

We stumbled across the Beluga Whale Interaction Program at SeaWorld while checking out the park. We tried signing up for it online in the hotel room Friday morning. You have to order at least 2 days in advance. That was out... We were leaving Saturday. We made our way over to SeaWorld on Friday and decided to check with the front desk. Ray talked to a very nice guy and found out there were 2 openings on Saturday morning! He also gave us a major discount! It was a win/win. The kids got a 1 hour experience. 20 actual minutes in the water with the whales. Because they are babies, you don't actually swim with them. Their names are Klondike and Aurek. They are a grey color because they are babies. They will be completely white when they are adults. The kids had to put on wet suits because they keep the water at 52 degrees. They got to help train the whales and feed them fish. They got them to tail walk, speak, turn in the water, jump out of the water, fin wave, and many other tricks. My favorite was when the whales spit water at the kids!

This was such an experience of a lifetime!

This was our last day in Florida. We were sad to leave. It was an absolutely awesome vacation. Memories that will last forever!

We got back to Philly around 9:40pm. It was 30 degrees. I certainly didn't miss that!

Our Vacation to Florida - Day 7

We returned to SeaWorld to go back to the exhibits we liked or missed the first time. We took the Predators Tour. We went behind the scenes of the Shamu Stadium and the Shark Tank. We learned a lot about the animals. I didn't realize the tricks the animals do in the shows are all activities they perform in the wild. The trainers just work with them to train them when to perform them. Katie and I got to pet a shark. We also saw shark eggs. There were transparent and you could see the baby sharks inside.

The kids wanted us to go see the Pearl Divers. I felt bad for them. They looked bored out of their minds! The guy was blowing bubble rings and the girl kept swimming up and down. Sean thought she was cute... He actually posed with her!

One of our favorite spots was the Dolphin Nursery. Dolphins have a 12 month gestational period. They put them in the nursey in their last trimester. They also keep the new babies and thier mothers in there for 18 months while the babies nurse. They were so playful and fun.

Sean and Katie went back on the Kraken while Ray and I stayed at the Dolphin Nursery.

We got to feed the dolphins!!! I HIGHLY recommend it! It was so much fun! You get to pet them before you feed them. They are just gorgeous creatures!

Ray and I decided that we want to move down there when we retire. (only during the winter...) We are going to both work at SeaWorld!!