HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

To my dearest nephew Joey...
Your uncle and I can't be with you today as you celebrate your first birthday, but we want you to know that we love you very much and miss you! We hope that your first birthday is a barrel of monkeys, and that mommy and daddy give you lots and hugs and kisses from us. After you eat your birthday cake, I hope you get to go visit the neighbors and with mommy and daddy's help say "Trick or Treat." I know you will be the cutest turtle there is. Happy birthday! May you feel our love today, tomorrow and always, and maybe just maybe we will be with you next year!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY AND 2ND HALLOWEENIE!

We love you and miss you!
XOXOXOXOXO

Chicago!

Yes, we will probably all be blogging about Chicago and the chaos that insued. There were alot of Haldamans et al in Chicago for the week, but we were all there for a good cause. Here, are some pictures from the days leading up to the Baptism. Yes, I will save some pictures for Joey's actual bday, but in the meantime, enjoy these.

THREE WORDS

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS.

The flyin' Hawaiian, J Roll, Werth, Utley, Ruiz, Ibanez, NLCS MVP Howard, Feliz, JA Happ, Hamels, Lidge, Madson...WAY TO GO!!! Back to the World Series we go! At least Philadelphia is good in one sport!

I'm leaving...

Not by Jet plane. As most of you know, we the entire family will be heading to Chicago this weekend. The parental units leave tomorrow with Penguin and I, and Rockle leaves either tomorrow night or Friday morning. This will be the first time all of us will be in Chicago at one time since J's wedding. I can't wait. Since I am working tonight, Penguin is driving with my dad in shotgun. Mom and I will be in the back, and hopefully I will be sleeping most of the trip. I am looking forward to this trip. This will be Penguin and my only vacation for a while since I am on a pay off your bills so we can buy a house mode. Anyway, I don't have twitter or anything like that for my phone, and I am going to try to be computer free. I will take lots of pictures, Penguin and I are thinking about going into downtown one day as he has never been there. Anyway, look for many pics to come. Have a great weekend!

Quiz

I don't know if you took a look or not, but Penguin did a quiz because afterall Rockle does them all the time. Go ahead, give it a whirl. I can't do it...doesn't mean you can't!

This weekend

Not too much happened here at the igloo. Joe's niece Danielle came and spent the weekend to get some peace and quiet from the hubb bubb of Brooklyn. All I have to say is WHAT ABOUT THOSE PHILLIES!!! Way to go Cliff! Keep it up, let's beat those Dodgers!

Happy Wedding!

Today, my friend Tina is getting married. It is the first wedding that Penguin and I are going to since our own. I wish I could ask for nice weather, but it is already raining. Ironically, that is supposed to be good luck (although I would have been very upset had it rained on my wedding day). Anyway, I wish her and her soon to be hubby the best of luck. I wish them a lifetime of happiness and love! So, in keeping with the marriage theme, here are some pics from our wedding, and hopefully they aren't duplicates.

So, here's a toast to happiness and everlasting love! Oh, and hopefully later, I will have some of her wedding pics to post!

He finally did it!!!

Penguin finally did it. He's now a blogger. Follow him at Mr. Tatted Irishman.

Walking in a winter wonderland...

Ok, so yes, it is only Oct 16th, but you have got to see this.

I appologize about the picture quality, it was taken with my phone.

Do not adjust your screen, yes, that is snow you see, and yes I did take it today. Penguin and I went up to Walmart in the Poconos because he was looking for a movie he couldn't find at the local Wallyworld. Anyway, we drove through the snow, and when we came out, it looked like this. Guess winter is here! Bring it on!

Wordless Wednesday- Fall

Yard work necessities

I don't know if when I was 2, I needed to wear gloves to help in the yard. Peanut sure does.

And, when she is done with yard work, Nana tells her to clean the car.

I don't know why you clean a car with a dust pan and brush, but it's peanut, I have learned not to ask her any questions. The best part is, when she is finished, she puts it right back to where she got it from.

Fall must be here...

Apparently, the seasons have changed and it is time for fall. I don't know about you, but I think winter is coming sooner than we all were hoping, so it is best to enjoy the fall now. Yesterday, I got to hang out with Peanut, the only child of my sister Rockle. Can I tell you how much fun I had yesterday with her. She sure is a spit fire. Here, are some of the pictures that I took yesterday of Peanut being peanut. Trust me, I think I might have some pictures here to blog for a while.

And, when it was too cold to be outside, Peanut was the life of the indoors.

How beautiful it was.

Yesterday, Penguin and I made an uplanned trip to Bushkill Falls. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is penned the "Niagra of PA." Anyway, if you haven't had a chance to experience it, you have no idea what you are missing. It is absolutely beautiful. Penguin, with a bum knee and all, walked almost 2 and a half hours on one of the trails just so we could see it in all of it's beauty. Next time, or next year, we will go earlier in the day, and maybe get to spend more time there. Anyway, here are some of the pictures. The rest will be on facebook. Hope you enjoy them, they truly do not do the falls any justice.

As we were leaving, this is what we got to witness....

Week in Review

Yes, I know it is only Wednesday, but I thought I would do a recap quickly of the week thus far.
Sunday, I ran. Not for as long as I wanted too, but still, I did it. Now, I just need to motivate myself and I will do it again. This weekend is my next start date with running again. Anyway, on Sunday I ran for 8 minutes and thought my heart was going to explode. So, then I had to walk for 4 minutes. I didn't want to think I was done yet, so then I ran for 2 more minutes, followed by 2 more minutes of walking, then finally a 2 minute run. I was sooo sore, but it felt great. I decided that the route I chose was not the best to start off with...it had hills! I decided on a different route.
Monday, I had to work, but man, I was sore. Again, it felt great, but I thought I didn't want to do too much right away, so I took the day off.
Tuesday, my friend Liz came over with her son Anthony, and we walked for like an hour. We took the route that I chose for running, but just added distance to it. Really, I think I could have walked forever, but Anthony had finally started napping and Liz had errands to run.
Wednesday, again, I am at work, but I still should have done something. Apparently, today I chose sleep. Tomorrow, I am hoping to do the 30 day Shred like I have been meaning to start. I figure it is only 20 minutes, so if I do that on days I work and run on days I don't I will start to get in shape better. I am also hoping to run Fri Sat and Sun. I will keep you all informed. My goal for running this weekend is to make it 10 minutes without having to stop. Then I will repeat that goal for next week, and then hopefully by the time I am in Chicago I can try for like 12 minutes. I have no idea how far I can run in 10 minutes, but hopefully since the terrain will be flat, it should be easier for me.

I will talk to you soon. Jaime, I hope you are having a great vacation. Can't wait to see you! Rachel, hope you are having a good week. See you this weekend? Mom, see you Friday for dinner with Gavin!

Can I get a whoot whoot!

First, I would like to congratulate the NLE champion Philadelphia Phillies! Wahoo! The world series this year might turn out the way Penguin predicted...Yankees vs Phillies. Oh man, what would I do! Anyway, I thought that since this is a new month, I would again try to do a blog a day about the goings on here on the igloo. If you remembered, I blogged about Penguin and I reducing our carbs, and apparently, I am the only one who is sticking to that. Penguin insists that he is cutting down his carbs, yet he can eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting! I, on the other hand, have really tried to stick to this plan. I am currently loving Smartones foods and desserts, and suprisingly to me, they make me full. I am also snacking better both at work and at home. At work, I have my own jar of reduced fat peanut butter and I simply bring in celery. (I was once told by my grandmother that I should eat celery instead of potato chips, so I am trying to do what she suggested). I also try to count my ww points even though I am not on it. For instance, yesterday for breakfast I had a Smart ones english muffin breakfast sandwich.It was yummy! It was only 4 points, and filled me up. Then of course I went to bed (still waiting on my delivery from enell) and slept until about 2. When I woke up at 2, I had some FF Dannon vanilla yogurt with 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips. For dinner, I had Pregresso's Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle soup and since I was hungry, I ate the entire jar....it was still only 2 points for the entire jar! I had that and 2 servings of the salad that Penguin made and the appropriate serving of RF Ranch Dressing (2 tbsp for a serving). After dinner I felt full, not stuffed, but satisfied. About 2 hours ago, I got hungry at work and busted out my peanut butter and celery. Soon, it will be lunch time and I will be eating a Smart Ones meal (I believe it is 5 points), some yogurt and a serving of the chocolate mini rice cakes. I have also made sure to increase my fluid intake. Lately I have felt that I was dry, really really dry. So, to make up for it I drink water when I am at work, instead of snack out of boredom. On a really boring day, I believe I have drank 2.5L of water! Right now, I am only at 500mL, but my water bottle is empty so I better go get more. Hope everyone has had a great week so far. We made it past hump day..the weekend is almost here!