memorial day 2008

mark this date down on the calendar...the d'angelo's stayed home today! we had a very productive day, raking out the flower beds, edging, mowing, cutting down some trees/bushes in the backyard we've hated since we moved in (almost 6 years ago). wow - it may not look like much, but for us, it was huge. we just need to mulch and move around some old bushes and plant some flowers (and john has to finish my flower boxes for the front porch) and we're ready to sit down and enjoy! wow...now that i actually write it all down, it's a lot more than i thought! whew!

we enjoyed a lot of family time (well, after t's 3 hour nap, when he finally joined us) and being outdoors. the weather was just beautiful...i would love it if the rest of hte summer was just like today. warm in the sun, cool in the shade with a constant breeze! perfect!

we got to take a break from working when the lutz's stopped by on their walk back home. they left their house and hiked about 5 miles (3 hours) to the top of reading (fire tower/pagoda) and then back to their house...another 5 miles and another 3 hours! they are heading to yosemite this summer and are preparing themselves for the (crazy!) hiking they'll do when they are out there...we would have loved to join them (when i say we, i mean, john...tony and i would have been at some cool spa!), but we just weren't able to fit it into our already packed summer schedule...and budget! have you checked the price of flights lately?

tony loved helping daddy with the bush/tree he cut down in the backyard and helped him load it into the back of his truck to take to the township recycling dump. he loves being a helper!

we hope everyone had a relaxing memorial day weekend and that the week ahead is enjoyable for you as well! we have a 3 day week this week too as we head out camping friday for the weekend! let's hope the weather holds out as nice next weekend as it was this weekend!

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there's no place like home

after a fun weekend out of town (and a ton of driving), there is definitely something to be said about being home! we had a great weekend and the weather couldn't have helped more in making the weekend an even bigger success! the sunny days yesterday and today were just gorgeous and made the long drive (and main reason for not having been back to iup in 8 years) much more enjoyable.

we pulled off of mayer street around 7 a.m. and made a quick stop at giant to load up on children's motrin and tylenol for tony who spiked a high fever through the night. after that little snag in the plan, we were off, tony (still in his pj's) and determined to have a good time at the wedding he's been talking about all week.

after one stop, we arrived at iup, only to find out that it was the culmination of a week long celebration leading up to indiana, pa's hometown boy, the late jimmy stewart's 100th birthday...a huge, huge, huge deal for the indiana residents and an unexpected treat for the d'angelo's.

we enjoyed a great lunch uptown at the coney, walked philly street and "visited" some old haunts, took in some of the js b-day celebration and then headed to campus for a visit to the oak grove and to check out some of the changes that have occured since i was last there.

it was wonderful to be able to share the oak grove and the beautiful (very quiet this time of year...graduation was 2 weeks ago) campus with tony and john. at one point, t said to me, "mama, i like your school...it's nice". it was very cute. we were also able to view the new world trade center memorial in the oak grove. there were several iup alumnus that lost their lives in the towers on 9/11 (many worked at cantor fitgerald). standing tall in the oak grove is now a piece of the twisted metal from one of the towers with a plaque, dedicated on 9/11/02 (one year after the attacks) to those that lost their lives. it's quite amazing to see it that close.

we loaded into the car and continued on our road trip to greensburg, pa to check in to the hotel and get ready for doreen and paul's wedding. we had a great time, and it was nice to share in this special day in d&p's new life together! it's been a long road to get there, and i know i can speak for all of our friend's that we couldn't be happier for doreen as she has truly found her prince ! emotions were definitely high as we watched her on her father's arm walking down the aisle.

everyone had fun at the reception. tony was excellent for being "sick", although he wasn't as into the dancing as he normally would have been and was content to dance while being held by either myself or john (and watch the pretty little girls in their dresses from the sidelines) before crashing in his stroller for the remainder of the reception and heading upstairs to our room for the night.



on our ride home this afternoon, we thought it appropriate this memorial day weekend to stop at the united flight 93 memorial site in shanksville, somerset county to pay tribute to those brave people who stopped the terrorists from sending the plane down in dc and instead into this empty field, thereby limiting the casualties to themselves only.

we personally did not know anyone connected to the 9/11 attacks, however you can't help but be overcome with emotions when you see the field and the items left behind by loved ones for those close to them they've lost. the national parks registry has the typed out transcripts of the phone conversations many of them had with the 911 dispatchers...just a few words into i was unable to continue.

we hope everyone enjoys the rest of their long holiday weekend and hope that in the midst of rushing from one picnic to the next, you are able to stop and take a moment to thank all those people who have left their families and loved ones to fight and then lost their lives so that we may continue to live ours. happy memorial day!

click here to view the full album of photos from our weekend! enjoy!

road trip!

the 3 amigos...err, i mean d'angelo's will be loading up the car tomorrow a.m. for the loooooonnng drive to greensburg, pa to attend doreen and paul's wedding at the mountain view inn. since we'll be making the 5 hour trip to western pa anyway, we'll be making a pit stop at my alma mater, iup, as it's on the way.

it's been 8 years since i graduated and i haven't been back since. keeping up with things i know that the campus is completely different from when i attended, so i imagine it will be very strange for me, almost like i was never there. but there is nothing like spring in the oak grove and lunch at the coney to bring back some fun memories. we'll be stopping at iup for about 2 hours, before continuing our journey to the inn (only about another 45 minutes away) and settling into our room to freshen up and prepare for the wedding.

the weather should be beautiful and we couldn't be happier for doreen and paul. this will be tony's first wedding that he'll be attending too (aside from corinne and david's where he was less than a year old and didn't attend the reception) and he is very excited. he's just ready for the dancing at the reception and asked if we can dance "like dancing with the stars" (his favorite tv show). i'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and post when we return.

yessssssssssssss!

i am soooo excited! apparently i've been living under a rock and didn't see any commercials during last week's bachelor finale because i was taken totally off guard just now as the bachelorette just started for the new season! i love the bachelorette way more than the bachelor series and was so excited to see that this season's bachelorette is deanna pappas from the bachelor two seasons ago.

she was the favorite front-runner to win the heart of brad womack, when he stunned everyone by not picking either girl...i will leave out the few choice words i had for him at the time, but will say that i respect him for not proposing to her just for the sake of the show and then blowing her off months later and breaking her heart even worse than he did during the finale.

i'm hoping she has the same luck as the original bachelorette did. trista rehn met ryan sutter on that show and have been happily married ever since and welcomed a baby boy maxwell alston last july (check out her adorable line of diaper bags here at trista baby)!

which one of the lucky 25 guys is deanna's mr. right? so far after just meeting the guys tonight, i'm rooting for jason, the single dad, account exec. from kirkland, washington.

good luck jason!!! the d'angelo's will be rooting for you!

and then there were 2

we attended may day last night dodging rain drops all along the way...but we were successful in our mission...we won another fish....after daddy dropped $3 (for 15 balls) unsuccessfully trying to win a fish, mama thought she'd try her hand and and put down $1 for 5 balls, getting the 2nd one she threw into the little goldfish and winning fin a friend...meet gil! gil is much smaller than fin, although i'm sure in enough time in the new tank, he/she will grow to be quite big like fin did too!

p.s. we finally got to see fireworks too! luckily we watched them from mimi and poppop's house and were able to stay under the patio umbrella so as not to get too wet as it was pouring til they set them off!

postponed

is anyone surprised? yes, the company picnic is postponed...the actual game part of it anyway. we arrived at the stadium at 6 p.m. for the buffet to start. although our tables were under a pavilion, the rain, mist and wind caused them to be sopping wet. luckily john has the forsight to bring along some bar towels to wipe off the tables/benches with, so our hineys were only damp, not soaking wet.

we enjoyed the buffet for about an hour before hearing that the game would be delayed from the original 7:05 p.m. start time. then it was another hour of eating before finding out we would be receiving vouchers to attend a game anytime we want in the future. so with the 2 vouchers for reserved seats from tonight and the 4 i received for being the event coordinator, i would say it appears we'll have some fun with the phillies in our future this summer!

needless to say we left first energy stadium with full (some would say too full) bellies and drenched clothes...but it seemed that everyone had fun. tony got to spend some time with his buddy aden, so he was happy...and daddy got an unlimited supply of ribs and chicken, so he was happy too...and when my two guys are happy...mama is happy!!

let's hope the weather is better for the berks homes company picnic at the r-phils on july 25th (the weekend before my birthday in case you didn't realize)!

100% chance of showers

bridal (allison) and baby (mary) showers that is...i have one of each this weekend, so i guess it's only appropriate that if i have all these showers to attend, it's actually raining outside, right?!? wrong! i'm so done with this weather...bring on the sun!

tonight the d'angelo's will be attending iron mountains' (my company) picnic at the reading phillies pool pavilion! sounded good when i booked it months ago...2.5 hour ayce buffet, pool for the kidd-o's, b-ball, and fireworks...whoops...who ordered the rain?! anywho, i'll post more after the event tonight complete with a rain-soaked tony d in his phillies finest!

one fish, two fish, happy birthday to you fish!

happy birthday to our golden pet fin who will celebrate his 1st birthday this weekend...who would have thought that a goldfish won at may day last year would be around to celebrate it's first birthday and another may day...we're going to try to win him a girlfriend this year!

to celebrate fin's birthday, this evening he moved out of his cramped and dingy 1 gallon dorm room (my original fish tank i used all through college -- it was on it's last leg...i wouldn't have thought the fish would have outlasted the tank) and into his very large and spacious 2.5 gallon luxury apartment home! tony had fun helping me set the new tank up and talking to fin as i tried to scoop him in the net to transfer him to the new tank.

hopefully we'll introduce you to his new friend this weekend...daddy better warm up his ping pong tossing arm and aim...did he really think he'd get away without having to do it again this year?!

mother's day weekend

i had a great mother's day weekend. i was able to spend the weekend with john and tony and helped corinne celebrate her first mother's day as we were all together camping. we visited oak creek again (and will be back there again in 2 weeks) and broke in corinne and david's new camper! i hope all my mommy friends out there had a great mother's day as well!

during our weekend, oak creek hosted a noah's ark build-a-bear workshop. tony and harry each made a mojo monkey with a surfer dude costume complete with surfboard. it was fun spending time with the little man...the week's have been so busy! we got some great pictures of the stuffing of the monkeys!

shortly after arriving back at our campsite, my mom, nana and dad joined us for lunch to celebrate mother's day...it was a nice relaxing afternoon, hanging out by the fire, eating burgers and dogs and throwing back a couple of beers (or at least just the bottles as they were obviously empty)!

we topped the weekend off with a wagon ride around the campground and homemade waffles on sunday for mother's day breakfast and visiting with john's mom on sunday afternoon! more pictures of our fun weekend here.

flashback...sunday, may 4th - broad street run

john has put yet another race under his belt by completing the philadelphia blue cross broad street run 10-miler! a huge accomplishment for him and the longest he's run yet...the racing bug has definitely bit him and now's he's eager to train for a 1/2-marathon
(13.1 miles) himself!

with 22,000 runners battling each other for a spot on the subway, tony, aunt sue and i decided to forgo seeing john off at the start line and wished him well prior to heading out to the race that morning. while waiting for him at the finish line in the navy yard, we enjoyed a real nice event they have there with a petting zoo (the cleanest i've ever seen), moonbounces and other activities for the children to participate in while waiting for your favorite runner to return. tony made friends with some tiny goats and a calf (which i soooo wanted to take home with me -- yes, i still love cows and someday will live on a farm/land where i can have my very own)!

here's a video of john heading towards the finish line (he doesn't even look tired)!

john finished in 1:52 - nice strong finish!! it was a long day but not without much fun and excitement! you would have thought that tony was the one that finished the race for how he zonked out in the car on the ride home! for more pictures of the day, click here

congratulations john! we love you and are very proud of everything you've accomplished with your running so far and wish you continued success with your races in the future!

flashback...sunday, april 27th - lv 1/2 marathon

corinne completed her first half marathon on sunday 4/27...that's 13.1 miles for those that aren't familiar. she did a fabulous job and got a terrific time of 2:01!! awesome. we are all so proud of her and excited that we were able to be there to witness her accomplish this goal she set last august after having harrison. it was also very cute to see harry recognize his mommy as she ran past him up the hill into the stadium and towards the finish line!

she actually ran it faster than she thought she would and had to skip ahead a few songs on her ipod in order to be able to hear the "rocky" theme song as she ran towards the finish! click here to see some pictures of the little runner! great job neenee! you rock...err, i mean run!!

new venture

as many of you know, i've been diving into the world of custom shower favors. i've done them for my sister's showers and for several others that i've been a part of, but just this past week, completed some custom baby shower lollipops for my first paying customer! ok, so it was for a co-worker's sister's baby shower, but still...i got paid and got another job lined up (this one for a 50th wedding anniversary) because of someone seeing these! keep me in mind...i also make custom burp cloths and other baby care items. i will be working on a website too, but in the meantime, you can just email me at dcodydog@comcast.net .

a picture of the pops i did for my sister's baby shower is in the prior post about her shower from july 2007 - i will try to find some photos of them to post here later, but they were all on my old pc.

the theme of the baby's room was "rocket baby" (a spin on elton john's song "rocket man") and thus the inspiration for the theme of the baby shower and the lollipops

the large dark circle is mint flavored milk chocolate, while the blue star is vanilla flavored white chocolate
the labels were handmade by me as well

front of the hang tag...

back of tag...

typically i would put the mom-to-be's name and the date of the shower on the hang tag as well, but in this case i was asked to leave it off as the shower date was still up in the air.

flashback...friday, april 25th

ok - so i'm a delinquent blogger...there is so much that i have to update on, but just not enough hours in the days/weeks it seems. tonight will be real quick and i hope to update the rest tomorrow!
last friday evening was spent at the antique automobile club of america museum in hershey, pa. my company celebrated 5 years in business and also the launch of a new product.

it was wonderful when the day of the event actually arrived and i was able to see all my hard work and planning come to fruition. i planned every detail from finding and securing the location, hiring the caterer, organizing the limo bus and trivia game to be played on board during the drive from morgantown to hershey. designing and making the invitations and finding and making each of the centerpieces and place cards. for anyone that knows me, you'll know i'm not bragging about all i did to make the event happen, but i'm telling you all this because i love, love, love to do this type of thing!!! if i had all the money in the world and could just work for fun, bridal and baby shower and wedding planning, and design would be where you'd find me. in the meantime i just do it when i can.

the food was great, and everyone at work seemed to enjoy themselves and were still telling me so the end of this week, a week after the event. on the lower level of the museum were some old cars that we were actually able to sit in and take pictures...lo and behold, they actually had some period costumes/dressups we could "play" with as well, and luckily i had known about this ahead of time, so was able to get our in house photographer to bring his camera and supplies to snap photos of the couples/groups...what a success - even those employees who are hard to crack a smile out of got in on the fun. unfortunately our photographer is not finished touching up those photos, so i'll have to post them later. but for now, here are a few pictures from the evening.

the group gathered for dinner on the upper level rotunda

our table clockwise from bottom left: lance, john, me, marjori, bobby, esther and clarisa

the hershey kiss-mobile

i will post some more of the funny pictures once they are finished and i am able to get them from the photographer.