earth hour

tonight, saturday march 29th from 8-9 p.m. we will be joining in celebrating earth hour by turning off all of our lights and electronics.

although this may seem like an insignificant action for the d'angelo's to not watch tv or be on the computer for just one hour this evening, when you multiply that by the millions of households that are expected to participate in celebrating earth hour, then the significance seems real.

won't you join us in celebrating the earth and start thinking about reducing the amount of energy our world uses in a day or in this case, an hour? if you are interested, don't forget to sign up (they are trying to track the number of households, organizations, schools etc. that are participating).

we'll probably read books to tony by candlelight or play a game. what better way too to be forced to slow down and be a family for one hour in the evening in this busy day in age as well!! tell me what you think you'll be doing during your earth hour?

tv junkie

ok, so i've never been to rehab, but having seen enough lifetime movies in my, well, lifetime, i know the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem...well, i have a problem...i'm a tv junkie!

there are so many shows on right now and so little time. american idol, the hills, celebrity apprentice (good thing the finale of it's tonight), dancing with the stars, the biggest loser...and of course, with the writers back from their strike, all my other usual sitcoms (the office, my name is earl, etc.) will be returning with new episodes in april. agh!!! it's horrible, but as soon as anthony goes to bed around 8/8:30 - i'm glued to the tube!

the hills are alive...

did you watch it? what did you think? paris looked beautiful (i would love to go sometime) and it looked like lauren and whitney had a great time...and oh the drama of heidi and spencer! i wish someone would just put those two out of their misery!!

you're...hired?

who will hear those 2 powerful words? will it be "the ruthless brit" piers or "the american cowboy" trace that wins their favorite charities the big cash? i'd like to see trace win as the "good ole' boy"...but i just don't know how he'll be able to beat piers and his huge black book of big money celebrity friends (did you see the preview with simon cowell talking to piers on the phone?)!

pack your bags...it's time to go!

yea kristy...i'm talking to you! smart thing you were singing the ever patriotic "proud to be an american"...simon was right in complimenting you for that, but unfortunately you just didn't get what he meant by it...you heard, "nice song choice"...what he meant was, "you smart little thing...no one will vote you off immediately after singing that song and taking the chance of being called unpatriotic!" it's time to go...i don't think chikizie would have gone the whole way either, but kristy definitely should have gone home before him.

well, i need to wrap this up...just a few minutes to go 'til the donald and his hair make their appearance on my tv! have a great night!

easter recap

we enjoyed a wonderful easter and hope you all did too. we started sunday off with anthony looking for his easter basket. the little stinker was so funny with this as at several points during the "hunt" he looked right at it and saw it and just kept saying "where is it...i don't see it...". then it was off to church. john attended both services (b/c the choir sings at both), and tony and i joined him after the first service for breakfast at church before the second service. it was a beautiful service (as it always is). all the choirs sang and the kids did very well. anthony even went up to the children's circle by himself for the first time during the service...we'll see if that continues. he wouldn't sit facing the congregation like the rest of the kids. he sat in front of pastor amy and looked at the kids with his back to the congregation...i think this was in part b/c then he could see daddy and mimi in the choir loft this way too. we continued the day visiting with family and enjoying a yummy ham supper. we even had a visit by this adorable easter bunny while at my mom's for dinner.

a montage of the day is below, or you can click here to see the pictures individually.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

happy easter...blessed easter

from the d'angelo family to yours...

fun times

we enjoyed a great "good friday" off of work. john and i both had some things we needed to get done during the morning, so aunt sue and tony had some much needed fun time together. to my surprise when i went to change his shirt after his nap before we moved onto our next event of the day, he revealed one of the fun activities he and aunt sue did...tattoos! whew - remind me never to have her watch him when he gets older...just kidding aunt sue! thank you for the perfect upper arm placement that will definitely be hidden by his easter outfit as he won't let me wash it off, and thank you for it being a disney tattoo!

later on friday afternoon, we met up with the deloretta's at gna pizzeria to celebrate danny's 30th birthday with him and his family. it was a nice time...great food...and tony had a ton of fun as usual with paige (so many girlfriends that little guy has)! they even did a little dancing. here is a cute picture and video, and if you click here, you can view more fun shots of the kids at the party.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

saturday morning started early with a cold, snowy day for the mt. penn mudfest 15k race. this was john's first year running it although we've been going to it for 4 years now to cheer on my friend shane. dave ran it too for the first time in addition to john, as did shane's girlfriend erin.

it was very, very cold in the snow waiting for the race to start and then for everyone to finish. tony and harry were bundled up and were very cozy (harry even slept). john had a blast and although not satisfied with his time, did find at the 7.25 mile mark, he improved his time to that point over last week's race of that length. this was the race last year that got john interested in running and was his goal to finish it...mission accomplished...and i couldn't be prouder of him! you've done a tremendous job with your training and i'm so excited to see you accomplish your next goal of the broad street run in may (10 miles)! click here for more pictures of the race.

as if...

you needed 1 reason why you shouldn't leave a 2 year old unattended while eating yogurt...here are 4...compliments of miss michelle who got to clean up this lovely mess!

feeding the celebrity baby fans...

for those of you that didn't log onto people.com this morning at 7 a.m. for the world exclusive premiere picture of jennifer lopez and marc anthony's twins, may i introduce...max and emme! pick up your copy of people featuring the twins on newstands tomorrow (friday)...i know i will!

happy b-day d!

happy birthday to david (and a happy st. patrick's day to everyone)!

check out this website

click here to view this really cool dutch website...the translation at the end reads: "the products of HEMA now also find you on hema.nl" which basicaly means the products of this company are now on their website...that doesn't really matter unless you're interested in purchasing these particular dutch items, but be patient and just watch...they have one heck of a web designer on their payroll!!!

fun with tony and harry

we had a good time yesterday evening and this morning with harry. corinne and dave went out last evening and met up with some friends for dave's birthday (on st. patty's day), so on their way to philly, they dropped harry off...in style i might add. nothing like a limo pulling up at your house and out pops a baby in an infant car seat carrier. it definitely was something you don't see very often. tony had just woken up from his nap when they arrived so please disregard the messy hair and attire in the pictures with him in the limo.

we had so much fun with harry and it's crazy to see how fast he's changing. he is 7 months old now and is really starting to actually play with tony when they're together. passing each other toys just laughing and "talking" to each other. they really are best friends...and boy does my kid look like a duffer with his "b" in his mouth (it's become quite difficult breaking him of it with harry having his)! here are a few more pictures of the boys from the weekend.

st. patty's day scramble

this past saturday john ran the st. patty's day scramble at blue marsh with david. this race was 7.4 miles long and john finished with a time of 1:20...20 minutes faster than the 1:40 he ran in the ugly mudder 7.25 mile race last month. fortunately the weather cooperated and the rain cleared up, but not after making the trail nice and muddy in spots. i had to leave early to get to the retirement party for the bowman's, however i was able to get a few pictures of the guys at the start before i left and corinne got the finish line shots, which I will add to the album once she gets them to me. click here to see the few that i took. nice job again honey!! looking forward to next week's mt. penn mudfest (15K/9.25 mile trail run)!

the end of an era

today i had the priveledge and honor of attending a retirement luncheon for bill and debbie bowman. the bowman's have been directing the exeter high school musicals for the past 18 years, and following today's luncheon and this evening's final performance of this year's show annie, the chapter will close on their lives as directors. my most favorite memories of high school were auditioning, rehearsing and performing in the musicals, having participated in their 2nd through 5th shows. it all started for me with lil' abner in the pit assisting the accompianist, then on stage in the chorus for oklahoma! and carousel, and finally my senior year as a del sarte lady in my favorite show, the music man. i formed many friendships during the shows and was excited to see some faces i haven't seen since graduating 13 years ago, along with the familiar faces of those i still see somewhat frequently. we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at toscani with entertainment provided by those talents in the room performing songs from the various shows...yes, i even worked up enough xanax free courage to join my fellow del sarte ladies in a little "pick a little talk a little"! there were many tears shed throughout the afternoon as everyone mingled and thanked the bowman's for the wonderful memories and impact they had on our lives. the water works were in full force though when the afternoon wrapped up with 100+ people in the room joining hands and thanking our Creator for bestowing our talents upon each and every one of us and making possible what we did and what the bowman's have done for the past 18 years (this is how we used to start every show). there is just something about seeing a big guy (mr. b) cry that really brings you to your knees. hope you enjoy the pictures and video clips (sorry for the quality...we really need a new camera).

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

dog days...

as many of you know, we are down to one dog now in the d'angelo family. it's been a month now since we took cody to the humane society (on a happy note, we've since been notified that he was adopted, rather quickly i might add) and is hopefully a happy dog once again (we miss you buddy!). tony and abby have been best buds since the day he came home from the hospital, but ever since cody "went to live with his puppy friends" (this is what we told tony), anthony has been very protective of abby, almost like he's afraid she's going to leave too. poor thing. he faithfully says good-bye to her every morning when we leave the house and kisses her goodnight before turning in every night. abby is in return a great admirer of anthony and returns the lovin' every chance she gets with snuggles and kisses (i know...gross!). here is a pic i got of the two of them snuggling before bed the other night...and another after abby had stolen anthony's stuffed rudolph to snuggle with after he had gone to bed.

bumps and babies

ok, so most of you know of my huge obsession with celebrities and babies separately, but do you know of my even bigger obsession with celebrity babies? if you do, it should be no surprise to you then that i earned a "baby genius" perfect score on this fun little "guess the baby bump" quiz i came across on people.com. Ahh, the things I do when the little man is napping!! want to see how you score? - click here to take the quiz (9 questions) and find out...then leave me a comment with how you did!

the ultimate peep show...

thanks to my sister-in-law for sending me this little funny today!

forget dyed eggs and jelly beans...

it's just not easter without peeps and chicks!

7 yrs today

"think of all the years that you had with your grandfather...that is how long God had been waiting for him" -- author unknown

my pop-pop was a very special man, and i thank God every day for letting us borrow him for a while (even if i don't think it was long enough). he is missed very much.

the wait is over...

a special congratulations to our friends bobbi-jo and chris on the pending arrival of their baby....girl! bobbi had another ultrasound yesterday and this one was far more successful than the last revealing that ryan will be welcoming a little sister june 22nd!! here's hoping that the rest of the pregnancy continues to run smoothly and that the spring and summer is as mild as the winter was. ok, be honest...how many of you did i just freak out with the picture above? hee hee!

cleaning out the desk...

congratulations go out to our friend mike g.

who was offered the new job he interviewed for several weeks ago!!

we are very excited for him and wish him the best of luck with his new position and with the daunting task of having to give notice to his current employer...and cleaning out the desk!

i wonder if they'll let you keep your stapler?

***p.s. shannon - the cookies were awesome!!!

roasted tomato basil soup

i am so not a tomato soup fan, however, i'm thinking i will make this for dinner one night this week...i love watching the barefoot contessa yet haven't attempted to make one of her recipes as many of them, as yummy as they sound, seem a little too involved to make after work while trying to keep a 2-1/2 year old happy until dinner. but this one sounds easy enough for a weeknight meal (yet could be a "fancy soup" for a luncheon). i will probably serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches...cuz, fancy or not, you can't have tomato soup without a grilled cheese sammie!

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup plus
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock or water

-preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
-toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper.
-spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
-in an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons
of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. -add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. add the oven-roasted tomatoes,
including the liquid on the baking sheet.
-bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. pass through a food mill fitted with the
coarsest blade.
-taste for seasonings.
-serve hot or cold.

look-alike meter

we always new he was a great mix of the both of us, we just never realized it was almost an equal mix! 3%...what is that anyway?!?